• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

Level Design 50% Done with first large map, need discussion

gunslingor

Grizzled Veteran
Jan 11, 2011
232
56
Hi follks,

So, last friday I was just thinking of old memories and got a hair up my butt to make a killing floor map of an old ravev location I used to go to. I've always been into 3D, but never actually figured it out well enough to make anything...I am a computer engineer irronically=).

Anyway, from last friday to saturday i worked non-stop on the map... low and behold, I learn I'm supposed to be coding in KillingFloor SDK, not what I was using, UDK.... Only about 22 hours down the drain.

So, I rebuilt everything Sun and Mon, got snowed in on tuesday, and started added textures, custom textures, meshes, etc.

I got the texture thing down pat now, FINALLY! Can Place meshes, can't really seem to scale them well though, but I can't make meshes yet.... I think I can figure that part out.

Anyway, as you all know programming, especially in 3D, is often a one step forward 2 steps back 3 steps forward 5 steps back kind of process. I've been going through this the last 5 days while learning to make this map, but I think I have the majority down and pretty good technique. Now the questions:

1. When I host listening server to have friends test it, it downloads way to slow for them, like .1% every 5 seconds. THe file is only 20 MB. Whats causing it and how can I fix it?

2. Please, give me warnings. What to avoid, what I might be forgetting to do, etc....

I'm taking this a bit seriously and want to avoid disasters.

Thanks webheads.
 
The only advice i can give you is to use blocking volumes so the players can't exploit the static meshes. Also, your friends are DLing the map at this rate, because you havent changed the values in your .ini i think. But i suggest you to upload the map on a website, and just give the link to your friends so they can DL it faster.

Hope it helps, and welcome in the level design forum =)
 
Upvote 0
Alright, well, I couldn't get my friends to download the map via killingfloor, since it was moving at .1% every 10 seconds, so I uploaded it and had them download it.

Niether they nor myself could host. we both had the map in the maps folder. At first, it didn't show up in our map list, eventually it did. I think when I added KF- to the beginning of the file name it show'd up, not sure what he did. KNow why? Anyway, once it show'd up in our list, and one of us hosted, it was still downloading at .1%/10s regardless of who hosted, even though we both had the map.

I gotta learn this sometime and I'm bsorbing like a spunge right now, in the zone in a way. So, how do you get a map ready for online play? Haven't been worrying about the white list yet, but I do want this thing to be operational fully in 3 monthsbut its a pretty big map.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Well, if you host "KF-something" and your friend only has "something" you can't expect KF to figure out that it's basically the same. As far as the game is concerned you're hosting some map your friend doesn't have so it tries to load it.

Have your friend rename it too! If you're using home-made packages (e.g. for textures) make sure to send those along to your friend also (or use the so-called myLevel package).
 
Upvote 0
the speed is throttled on a listen server to 10kB/s for each person downloading the FULL file, so as not to lag the server for those who are currently playing (this is built into unreal itself)
easiest way is to zip it and upload to someplace fast (filefront.com works great) another way to do it is to compress the map so a redirect can handle it, (cmd prompt: ucc compress //maps/kf-mapname.rom = kf-mapname.ukx) upload it to a redirect server (specified in the killingfloor.ini) then everyone can download the supercompressed map super fast.
 
Upvote 0
thanks

thanks

thats all good info, thanks. But I sent him the map via google docs, he installed it, eventualy showed up in the map list after fiddling, he played it. I did the same on my end. But when either of us hosted, in still downloaded at .1% every 10 sec.

Also, it NEVER showed up in the map list in the lobby.... days of testing.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0