Level Design New to Map Making

[coldplatypus]

So i'm looking for a game that will be around for a while and that i can learn to map for. I was thinking i would do this with RO2. My question is this,
Should i be learning to use the UDK or should i wait for a specific RO2 "map editor"? Aren't they the same thing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[worluk]

The Hos Editor will probably be a version of UEd with some HoS specific additions. So your best bet for the time being is to get started with the UDK.

 

[coldplatypus]

The Hos Editor will probably be a version of UEd with some HoS specific additions. So your best bet for the time being is to get started with the UDK.

As in slightly different UI and some added HoS objects?

 

[smokeythebear]

As in slightly different UI and some added HoS objects?

The UI will be identical except for backround art I think.

I think the best thing to do is take a look at released footage and choose which similar setting you would like to use for your map. Then you can get to work on terrain and use bsp as a substitute for buildings already seen ingame. That way when RO2 sdk does ship you have your terrain ready and can copy paste around the larger architecture.

 

[coldplatypus]

Ok thanks a lot. In the unlikely event that one of my maps is deemed playable...

Do RO players demand that their maps be modeled on actual battle grounds?

Are there any performance issues that i could cause when making a map?

Last two questions i promise

 

[Drecks]

Ok thanks a lot. In the unlikely event that one of my maps is deemed playable...

Do RO players demand that their maps be modeled on actual battle grounds?

Are there any performance issues that i could cause when making a map?

Last two questions i promise

Question 1:
This is hard to predict. You could make a very good map with a fantasy theme. It wil be picked up by many players. Still you can find people who will tell you "This never happend we won't play this"

Question 2
Its important to consider performance when you make a map. So keep that in mind from the start. This link might be usefull.

 

[coldplatypus]

Question 1:
This is hard to predict. You could make a very good map with a fantasy theme. It wil be picked up by many players. Still you can find people who will tell you "This never happend we won't play this"

Question 2
Its important to consider performance when you make a map. So keep that in mind from the start. This link might be usefull.

Thank you! I only just had my first play around with the level editor today and i was surprised at how easy it was to sculpt the terrain and add foliage.(that is all i have done so far and i expect that adding buildings and optimizing will be much harder.)

In regard to question one, do you mean fantasy as in castles and princesses? Or, what i was thinking of, fields, buildings and trees arranged in a way that is fictional but believable.

 

[worluk]

Make a map that plays decently and it will get played.
Make a 1:1 representation of some real world place with **** performance and crappy gameplay and it wont get played (beside maybe by a handfull of people)

When the HoS SDK comes out you can place the meshes that come with it on your map (dont overdo it, nothing worse than a map that looks like one third map A, one third map B, and the last third is copied from C). If you are having a good time mapping and you really feel your map should distinguish from the rest, you probably wont get around making some meshes yourself or find someone who can help you with that.

 

[smokeythebear]

Thank you! I only just had my first play around with the level editor today and i was surprised at how easy it was to sculpt the terrain and add foliage.(that is all i have done so far and i expect that adding buildings and optimizing will be much harder.)

In regard to question one, do you mean fantasy as in castles and princesses? Or, what i was thinking of, fields, buildings and trees arranged in a way that is fictional but believable.

Adding buildings and optimization is really not hard at all. It's really just drag and drop/cloning a set of modular structures. I think meshes automatically cull any geometry they block from view so optimization is almost done for you.

Fantasy as in fictional battle is what he means. Most maps are based on some event but the terrain is made up by the mapper. The map represents not specific terrain of the battle but what type of engagement was happening. As long as it looks believable then it's fine and you might as well align it to some historical place if you feel it's right.

 

[Drecks]

Yeah I ment a fictional theme. So it looks like an excisting place, but isn't
It can look like whatever area you want but fits in the WW2 theme.
Once done you just name it Whateverovko....

Just fool around with the leveleditor as much as you can. There are plenty
of good tutorials in other topics. Here are two great links.

[url]http://www.hourences.com/tutorials/[/URL]

[url]http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/3D_Tutorials.html[/URL]

 

[coldplatypus]

Ok. Thank you very much for the support. I am currently watching video tutorials like a madman. The map that i made? Tried to play it and got two errors.

I don't remember it being easy to sculpt terrain in Hammer. Was i just missing something and being an idiot?

 

[coldplatypus]

Heres a picture that i uploaded not because it looks pretty, but because it includes every problem that I'm having with the map editor.

1. Lighting needs to be rebuilt.

2. Paths need to be rebuilt.

3. As seen in the bottom right hand corner, the shadows seem far too extreme. It is not that the area is shaded. It is completely black. Perhaps this is something to do with number 1.

4. Strange corrugations that appear on textures that aren't very close to the camera. These can be seen on the grass to the left.

Thanks.

Ps. first person to answer these questins gets an imaginary :IS2:

 

[Drecks]

What you should do is open up one of the maps which comes with the UDK. Then take a look how they build these. Take a look on the skymesh settings.
Seek for heightfog and lightning actors. There is much of info to see in these maps. Seek for worldsettings.
You can find these actors at

edit ---> find actors

Then start from scratch by one of hourence's is tutorials.

For your questions.

Ignore the path rebuild and you don't have any light nor sky.

 

[smokeythebear]

Yeah remember that you can copy paste lightmass settings in world settings from other maps as well. Then you can tweak to get it how you like. With that you get no hard shadows on the terrain.

For the texture probem you are getting just check the material you are using. It looks like the specular map and normal map don't match the texture.

 

[Mc Diddles]

Working on an African themed map.

While I'm waiting for the RO SDK I've been messing around with the UDK and I have a few questions regarding terrain changes. Is there an easy way to pull it off similar to the Cry Engine or Far Cry 2 editor? From what I've been trying it looks way to odd and blocky as hell.

Running on the September 10 engine due to someone saying its going to be most like Red Orchestra's sdk

 

[smokeythebear]

Check if you can easily export terrain hieghtmaps from either editor if you are more comfortable working in them. Nothing should look blocky with the terrain, if it does increase the tessellation.

 

[daschewy]

Make a map that plays decently and it will get played.
Make a 1:1 representation of some real world place with **** performance and crappy gameplay and it wont get played (beside maybe by a handfull of people)

When the HoS SDK comes out you can place the meshes that come with it on your map (dont overdo it, nothing worse than a map that looks like one third map A, one third map B, and the last third is copied from C). If you are having a good time mapping and you really feel your map should distinguish from the rest, you probably wont get around making some meshes yourself or find someone who can help you with that.

What is your opinion about re-using meshes but keeping it of a consistent flavor?

This is one thing Ive always had trouble with in mapping, what is the right mixture between unique gameplay and unique visuals. I figure its best to get the gameplay down and if needed in later revisions add different art to make it unique.

 

[worluk]

Imo nothing wrong with reusing meshes as long as it doesnt look like its copy n pasted half a map (recognizable mesh combinations).

As for the mix of visuals and gameplay, block out a map, have reasonable distances between spawns and objectives, a tad faster maybe for the defenders, depending on the planed area, and test it with a bunch of guys. There you will already get an idea if it plays decent or not. Change stuff until it plays good in the basic variant, add enough stuff then that you dont have the feeling of playing a UT99 map (aka RO-substracted_cube_with_meshes.rom). If you are happy, release it, if public play shows gameplay errors, release another version, if not dont.

As for visuals: Maps are like women there, the looks are what attracts first, no matter how fun they are.