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Level Design Anyone know how to password a map?

The simple fact that you posted your level and screenshots of it weeks ago would allow you to contact Tripwire and use that as proof.

The only situation where you couldn't justify of your ownership is in the case of an internal beta, and seeing the level get stolen by a tester. I'd suggest posting about it online first, sending it to you by mail regularly (so you have a dated version of it), or adding your signature in the level somewhere (hidden texture).

You could also prove you created it by keeping the sources of the static meshes you create in 3D applications if there's any.

There's not much you could do about preventing people from opening it, but if you're careful enough, you can make sure that they couldn't use it for anything money-related. You wouldn't be able to stop them from releasing a port for instance, but they'd be unable to enter a contest with it if you can prove you created the level.

So my advice would be to just take the extra precautions I mentioned and don't worry about it. If your level is good enough, it could definitely get ripped/ported, but that happens to most of us, and as long as money isn't the issue, you just have to swallow it down and let it go. You can't track people and you can't force them to obey you.
 
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There's nothing to worry about if you post your map first, there will be a record of it and Tripwire ain't stupid. Just don't do something stupid like not announce your map to anyone and round up a bunch of people you don't know to test it.

There's no reason for modders to hold "Private Beta Tests" before a map launch. The only reason people do that is to make other players jealous and make them feel like they're part of the "in" club. My opinion of course.
 
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Ive seen it b4, a passworded map.

Is there a way to lock your maps so people cant edit them?


Load up KF-Heresy and try to view it in the editor. You can't edit or view it in other viewports. The most you can do is view it in perspective view and see the lighting and textures. Either there is a button to just unlock it and edit or view it which i dunno how to or it is locked. If you find how to do this please PM me it or post it here if you can actually lock it. Glad to see that we share the same concerns.
 
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the reason y is because i dont want anyone to steal my map for the contest. 10k is alot of money and people will do anything for it.

haha this guy is so full of himself.

Load up KF-Heresy and try to view it in the editor. You can't edit or view it in other viewports. The most you can do is view it in perspective view and see the lighting and textures. Either there is a button to just unlock it and edit or view it which i dunno how to or it is locked. If you find how to do this please PM me it or post it here if you can actually lock it. Glad to see that we share the same concerns.

thats disappointing, but now i understand why no one has been able to fix up KF-Heresy. if someone could unlock it and do some work on it, it would be awesome because that map is in pretty bad condition.
 
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You can set all your actors to Advanced -> HiddenEd. That way they won't show up in UnrealEd. They can still be searched for, selected that way, and then set to HiddenEd=False to make them visible again but it's a pita to go through all of them and do that.
BSP can also be deleted after the last rebuild. The geometry will stay and the map will work, but there won't be any BSP left to steal in UnrealEd (except via intersecting, as the geometry is still there).
That's about as good as it gets, I think.

But why would you want to do that?
 
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Load up KF-Heresy and try to view it in the editor. You can't edit or view it in other viewports. The most you can do is view it in perspective view and see the lighting and textures. Either there is a button to just unlock it and edit or view it which i dunno how to or it is locked.

Kinda ironic, considering that KF-Heresy itself was made by another mapper and later converted to KF. xD
 
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You can set all your actors to Advanced -> HiddenEd. That way they won't show up in UnrealEd. They can still be searched for, selected that way, and then set to HiddenEd=False to make them visible again but it's a pita to go through all of them and do that.
BSP can also be deleted after the last rebuild. The geometry will stay and the map will work, but there won't be any BSP left to steal in UnrealEd (except via intersecting, as the geometry is still there).
That's about as good as it gets, I think.

But why would you want to do that?


luls, i like how u explained everything and then said why would u want that, nice. Kinda reminds me of those cheesy movies where the bad guy tells his whole plot to the good guy before killing him, then ends up dying coz he gave away his secret, not that anyone is bad here :D
 
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And the peanut gallery strikes again...although you do seem to bring this on yourself a lot Dragonfel.

I don't know how to lock a map. If you don't trust the community to test it without trying to steal it (which is pretty insulting to the community, btw), then test it yourself. Whatever testers can tell you are things that you can see for yourself. The only thing you can't do is stress test performance with 6 players....but that shouldn't really matter. Frames will suck if the design was poor regardless of how many players are present (since # of specimen active doesn't really change that much).

Either way, having your eyes on the prize can be a good thing.....but you can over do it too. If you aren't willing to trust the community, then pay the price and test it yourself.
 
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To be honest if you are making a map just because of the competition, then you shouldn't really be making it at all. Yes the contest may be an incentive to make it, but it's really about dedicating your work to the community. Wouldn't it be a shame if the contest winner was never heard of again leaving a nice map that could be made better? The contest was probably created to encourage players to play the game and help develope it to let it live longer, which is something that I definately want as the game has so much potential.
 
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