• 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 How do I .....? The Thread for all questions more than general.

hey guys, i "discovered" something! i was annoyed that bad usage of tanks would ruin the gameplay on some CA maps, especially pariserplatz. basically because stupid tankers would use them as bulldozers and rush into enemy lines. so i wondered if i could set up blockingvolumes that only block vehicles, and it can be done!

so im going to set up volumes on pariserplatz linked to the spawnareas, so tanks simply cannot go ahead of the infantry and have to stay at a certain distance of the next objectives.
on a same note, is it possible to have a volume that warns tankers that they are reaching to close to the enemy, and must stop advancing, before they actually hit the blockingvolume?

Just for everyones Info you have to set the blocking volume to blockclasses true. then set the classes to block took me a while but the class ROTreadcraft is the one that stops tanks. weirdly though I have a few blocking volumes all set the same way and I dont think that they all do the blocking function for some reason I think it has to do with the height of the volume for some reason.
... maybe that saves someone some time.
 
Upvote 0
Actually, I have a question too.

I'm adding in descriptive text to my map's Level Summary and I noticed that the editor doesn't like apostrophes...at least it doesn't like mine. For example, if I type the following text into the summary area "the Army's strength was undermined by the commander's incompetence", it then comes out ingame looking like this: "the Army~s strength was underminded by the commander~s incompetence". Why are my apostrophes being replaced with "~" tildes????:(

try putting your entire line or text in quotes. or is it already?
 
Upvote 0
They will? Even if I cant see them in wire mode?

If you can't see them in WireFrame mode, they are not being rendered (unless you have it hidden or de-grouped or something)

If you have a room that is zoned off, the only way the objects inside will be even considered to be rendered is if you can see into the zone (ie: you zone off a building, if you can see the zone portal you have in the doorway).

Then things like Cull Distance can be taken into consideration (i'm not sure of the exact order, but I would imagine it's like this). An example in RO would be if you have a map with several narrow alleyways, and no roof-top access. You can zone off the entire alley way.. it might be like 4096uu long and full of alley-way debris.. but some of it you might want to still set cull's on due to the configuration of the alley itself.

For a 1000uu^2 room, i would only set culls if you have alot of meshes. Frankly i'd question why bother even zoning a 1000uu^2 room (hard to imagine the situtation without pics/layouts)..


remember kids.. zone smart.. zone.. S-Mart.
 
Upvote 0
I'm sure there's some way to code in "TouchMessage" capabilities like there are with the MineVolume. But you'd have to add the custom package to your map distribution, or otherwise see if you could have it embedded in your myLevel package.

A dirty way of doing this would be sommething like a class-based proximity trigger. The advantage would be that it doesn't take any custom work.
 
Upvote 0
i made quite a few static meshes now with the sdk and it is for the DH mod, so i made a new .usx package instead of saving them into myLevel. it all works fine, everytime i create a new static and save it into the new .usx package i need to close the editor so it asks me if i want to save the changes made to it.
the problem is that some sm's, even if they show up in the correct package in the sm browser and i can add them to the map without any problems. when i close the map and re-open it the editor tells me he couldn't find those sm's and sets all reference to them on "null".
i tried re-saving them in the package but it won't help, i did notice that those sm's are the ones that had already been saved in another package, but i re-edited them with a new skin and saved them in the new package.
for now i placed them in myLevel and it works ok, but i would prefer to have them all in the same .usx package.
 
Upvote 0
You could make a Group in your myLEvel Package that has the name of your map or something. If others open your map in the editor and then they open their own map, your myLevel package remains open but it is neatly organised in its own Group. So much for the ease of use.

For your re-skinned StaticMeshes: You don't need to save them again! Just use them in the map, then open their properties, go to Display and then add a "Skin". It will use the currently selected texture. If you replaced the wrong texture, remove your "Skin"-change and add another one below that and leave the first one empty. Use your texture there and see if that was the right one. Do that until you are satisfied with the results.
You don't need to re-save the SM then.
 
Upvote 0
Q: i would like to tone down the skin of a bush hedge SM, but the texture it uses can't be exported, it looks like a shader or something, when i select the texture and rightclick "save to folder" it says "no texture selected"

IS it a shader? You can't export shaders/combiners/etc since they are more of a procedure list then a texture.
See: http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/MaterialTutorial.html
Open up the shader and see what the actual texture it's modifying is. Export that texture, make your adjustments, re-import into your new package. Copy the shader and update it to look at your newly imported material.



Edit: Damn.. EvilHobo beat me to it! ;]
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
thanks guys! it can work now, another problem came up now.
it seems when i export the original texture, do simple changes to it like desaturate, and re-import into a copied shader and allocate it to the mesh, it looks fine from close up, but when you move back the mesh becoms verry thin untill you can see through it. while the original SM, when moving back faded into an almost solid bulb through wich you can't see. seems like the texture loses it's characteristics when being edited.
all settings in texture and shader are exactly the same, as original ones
 
Upvote 0
This is what happens when you use mip maps with a transparent background on the texture instead of a solid colour. You'll need to reopen the .dds file in Photoshop and fill the transparent or black background with another colour. It is best to use a colour that matches the original mesh closely because this outer texture does bleed into the texture as it gets mip mapped.

Basically foliage in RO (and most engines) will always have unavoidable problems that must each be weighed before your choice of texture options is made. These options are;

1. Leave off mip maps altogether

Good - No colour bleed. Texture will not disappear. Often must be used on thin railings (see Odessa) or else the texture will disappear or have the outer texture completely bleed in and fill the gaps causing the railing to look like a solid sheet of metal without any open spaces at longer ranges.

Bad - The texture will not be optimized and will 'shimmer' or pixelate at longer ranges.

2. Mip maps on with transparent or black background.

Good - No colour bleed. Optimized.

Bad - Texture will disappear at longer ranges, although it may not be noticeable for larger objects in the texture such as a thick bush or something similar.

3. Mip maps on with coloured background.

Good - Texture won't disappear. Optimized.

Bad - Texture will completely fill up with the outer colour as it bleeds in. If this is used on a railing texture, for example, at a certain mip level (or distance from the texture) the gaps between the railing will be filled up and become solid.

Remember, for solid textures without transparency, you want to leave them at DXT1 no alpha when saving out of Photoshop and always check the mip maps button when importing to UnrealEd. If you do not tick off the mip maps box your texture will not be optimized and will 'shimmer' / look ugly. We see far away objects blurred in real life which is basically what mip mapping does. It lowers the resolution on the texture based on your distance from it, so always use it for non-transparent objects!

Here's a basic list of the DXT types and their uses. Much more info can be found online. The Nvidia Plug-in for Photoshop that allows you to save textures as .dds can be found here.

DXT 1 no alpha - Use this for all solid textures that do not have any transparency.

DXT 1 1-bit alpha -
This means that each pixel will either be 100% transparent or 100% opaque. Most textures with basic transparency needs will use this.

DXT 3 -
Used for textures that need pixels to be partially transparent. Useful for water, glass, etc. or any texture of that nature. I have also used DXT 3 when DXT 1 with 1-bit alpha has caused masking issues (objects behind the texture being rendered through the object in front or similar problems).

DXT 5 -
This is used when DXT 3 causes masking issues and is generally left to objects that the player will see through up close (windows, scopes, etc).

Your best bet is to find a similar texture in the editor and see if it is DXT 1/2/3/5 and then do the same.

If this is confusing (and it probably is :eek:) I could explain further or do a mini-tutorial sometime, just let me know. :)

As an additional note, has anyone tried to set custom mip map levels in Photoshop with the Nvidia .dds plug-in? They don't seem to work. It would be nice to define the rate at which the texture gets mip mapped.
 
Upvote 0
im using the free Gimp program with a dds plugin, im used to working with mip maps already. this particular texture is DXT5. ill try it right away!

edit: when i paint the area around the branches then the whole bush looks like that, only when moving away the bush looks better like it should.

could it be that every mip map is painted seperately with gradually more and more foliage, so the bush keeps looking good when moving away? can mip maps be exported?
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I need some kind of explanation of how normal maps work. I recently created many new building facade textures for a new map I'm working on, and I have no idea if I have normal maps on them ore if they are working correctly. To make things less confusing I'll put my questions in point form :p

-Do I need to use 3DSMAX to make an effective normal map?
-Does the .DDS texture tool automatically create a normal map? How can I view it?
-Lets say I have created a 3d mesh based on a 2d facade texture, would it be wise to create the normal for the texture based on the 3d mesh? How would I do this?
-Is there any plugin to create/edit a normal map in photoshop?

So far it seems all of the textures I have made look fine. I just had to do a lot of small edits in PS like strengthening edges and contrast in general. I can post my WiP if needed.
 
Upvote 0
Is there another way to determine which SpawnArea is used?

The stock maps seem not to use the precdence and Required objective system from the properties.

This system seems buggy to me (spawns are compeletly random and the opposing enemies start at each others spawn points). My entries in this list seems not to have the slightest effect ...

I want to make shifting and advancing Spawn Areas (lots of recappable objectives), I think I could use a MasterSpawnAreaManager for this :(

And I don't think it is a problem with the CC stuff I am using :rolleyes:
 
Upvote 0
@SchutzeSeppe
i made quite a few static meshes now with the sdk and it is for the DH mod, so i made a new .usx package instead of saving them into myLevel. it all works fine, everytime i create a new static and save it into the new .usx package i need to close the editor so it asks me if i want to save the changes made to it.
the problem is that some sm's, even if they show up in the correct package in the sm browser and i can add them to the map without any problems. when i close the map and re-open it the editor tells me he couldn't find those sm's and sets all reference to them on "null".
i tried re-saving them in the package but it won't help, i did notice that those sm's are the ones that had already been saved in another package, but i re-edited them with a new skin and saved them in the new package.
for now i placed them in myLevel and it works ok, but i would prefer to have them all in the same .usx package.
maybe you did not saved the .usx package in a mod/static meshes directory but in the RO/static meshes directory , might be worth a look?

i can imagine that a moddir/staticmeshes/ddd.usx with textures from
RO/textures/ddd.utx could make the editor say could not find path etc.
especiallyif the former textures you used were from moddir/textures/ddd_org.utx

also i noticed that a static mesh that you put in the myLevel package and you than save the map WITHOUT actually putting the mesh in the level it will be gone next time you open the editor ... lost a churchtower once that way.. :mad:
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0