Basic Mapping

Jean_Luc_Picard

<div class="IPBDescription">Woah, this is wicked looking</div> Holy... I just took a look in the thread above about how to map... holy CRAP, Hammer looks very... intrecate... at the least.

Jebus H... I haven't a clue WHAT you're supposed to do <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Maybe it'll make more sense when I get home and put it on my dad's computer (screw him, I'm doing it anyway) <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->


Either way, I think I'm gonna need major help... I tried this before (I didn't remember till I saw the screeny of the Hammer program) and I couldn't get it to recognize NS... so I might need some major help

Kouji_San

don't let the hamer interface scare you just read the help file included in the hammer install and check out what everything means <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[edit usefull stuff]
left menu:
4th one from the top <b>Entity tool</b> add lights/playerstars etc...
5th on from the top <b>Block tool tool</b> create walls/ceilings etc (they are just blocks...
6th one from the top <b>Texture tool</b> yup you guessed right for adding textures to faces on the walls/ceilings you created with the <b>Block tool</b>

Just experiment with these three and read lot's of tutorials the first link I gave you in the other post should help you out a lot...

<span style='color:gray'>mod phase this one to help forum pls, no need to flame people even though it is not really a topic for the ns forums. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--></span>

Jean_Luc_Picard

*wipes brow* jesus... I've looked through most of let me die's tuitorial for the hammer/bc setup... I dunno if it's still up to date (I think it is, I just sent him a PM to ask... since some links seem out of date and such)


Good lord... lol, this is gonna be more than I thought (sweatdrop)

*prays that Flay will someday make a mapper built-in to NS <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> *

Kouji_San

hehe lol... Welcome in the world of mapping Jean Luc. Now you know what it's like...

remember persistance is what you need. And a lot's of it <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[edit]
omg grammar and typos... I really need some sleep >_<

Jean_Luc_Picard

*throws away his bottle*

Hmm... perhaps I should switch back to the non-alcoholic variety <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

*hic*

Mantrid

Calm down, read the help manual, check out some tutorials, but mostly, do what I do with just about any program: play with it. Click things, drag things, and learn by doing. Mapping looks difficult, but the real difficulty is the ideas part.

Well, that and avoiding Invalid Brushes.

MrBen

I'm currently learning the serious editor and i know what it's like to look at the interface and just go.... "?" and run away crying. It isn't really that bad though, after a day or two i'm starting to know what some of these buttons are do and learn my way around and i only read 2 simple tutorials.

You need to find yourself some good tutorials. <a href='http://collective.valve-erc.com' target='_blank'>http://collective.valve-erc.com</a> is the best place to start, has a lot of good tutorials on there.

Here is a link to a stickied thread on their forums i started, this is a complaition of nearly all the mapping sites and things i know and the rest of the community knows so you should be able to find some very good basic tutorials from one of the sites listed here as well. <a href='http://www.chatbear.com/board.plm?a=viewthread&t=243,1035382626,19199&id=329157&b=9&v=flatold' target='_blank'>http://www.chatbear.com/board.plm?a=viewth...7&b=9&v=flatold</a>

The key is just to take it one step at a time and to not get ahead of yourself. Good luck <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Mantrid

Biggest rules of mapping: Save often, and back up your files.



Don't lose that masterpiece that took you hours because your computer crashed.

HanzGrub3r

I think the biggest rule of mapping is taking things one step at a time and not offending people by being blasphemous in an open forum...but that's just my thoughts..

EEK

Hammer is easy, it's just a bunch of tools. I's how you use them where it matters. This is like being scared because a hacksaw looks complicated <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

BigD

There are some great built in tutorial maps (or were?)

and there are some great little tutorial maps found at <a href='http://www.thewavelength.net' target='_blank'>the Wavelength.</a> Download some and just play around with them. Time and patience!

Nemesis_Zero

Generally, I'd suggest you check one of the very good general mapping resources, such as the Collective, before tackling NS mapping.

<span style='color:white'>***Moved.***</span>

esuna

Also for tutorials, there's a few good ones over at <a href='http://www.snarkpit.com' target='_blank'>snarkpit.com</a>, including a few really good ones on realistic terrain and pipes.

But yeah, mapping may seem difficult at first, but with a little effort and work you will find it a lot easier.

Bear in mind, however, never release your first map, it will be crap. No matter how good you think it is, it won't be. Your first map will essentially be a "test map" you'll get every compile problem under the sun, hit every limit and generally break everything horribly, and then you'll fix it and figure ways to optimise and map more efficiently. When you finally have that revelation, <b>then</b> you start work on a map worthy of release. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Jean_Luc_Picard

Hmm... thanks yall! Good tips

I'm home and my dad gave me the go ahead for Hammer and all that stuff (cause I managed to remove the Data miner from his computer... I think)

Anywho, I've started setting up Hammer... I just need to know... what .wad files do I use for the textures? 0o" I can't seem to find a tuitorial that tells me <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->

BTW- would anyone here mind testing my first map? I've decided to take the advice I've seen here and not release to pub my first 2-20 maps (depends how long I take to get used to Hammer <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->) but I don't have any friends nearby that play NS... so I can't really do a LAN party... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->


Anyone here willing to be my lemming? ^-^


Thanks for your support dudes! I've re-gained my faith in NS.org (the S&I forums kinda killed it 0o")

brute_force

The wadfiles you should need are only

ns.wad
ns2.wad
and possibly halflife.wad

As for testers, head on over to #nsmapping at irc.gamesurge.net. Soon we'll have servers up, where we'll be able to test all maps. This is also a good place to ask questions.

Mullet

Where do you get NS2.wad?

Confused

mullet: it comes wth ns3.0 there was a release thread in the mapping forum. but, i figure we all at least have ns 3.0 at this point

Guile

This site made it all click for me:

<a href='http://cariad.co.za/twhl/tutorial.php?id=25' target='_blank'>http://cariad.co.za/twhl/tutorial.php?id=25</a>

I just started mapping and this tutorial really helped. Give it a try <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->.