Level Design Setting up the overhead map

[Hardcore Hartzer]

Hello, I nearly finished my map but I really don`t know how to set up the overhead map. Please explain it to me or drop me a link if there`s an exsisting tutorial.

PS: There`s this one map error:"Destructible is not light mapped" how can I solve it?

best regards

 

[Twrecks]

Should get you started:

[url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=74835[/URL]

[url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=94283[/URL]

[url]http://wiki.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?title=Red_Orchestra_2:_Heroes_Of_Stalingrad/LevelDesign/OverheadMapGeneration[/URL]

 

[®omano]

Destructible is not light mapped

did you build the light before getting this error?

 

[Hardcore Hartzer]

Should get you started:

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=74835[url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=74835[/URL]

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=94283[url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=94283[/URL]

http://wiki.tripwireinteractive.com..._Stalingrad/LevelDesign/OverheadMapGeneration[url]http://wiki.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?title=Red_Orchestra_2:_Heroes_Of_Stalingrad/LevelDesign/OverheadMapGeneration[/URL]

As always a great help. Thank you Twrecks!

And building lighting always fails at the step when it`s running lightmass but it worked earlier when I also had destructibles.

 

[®omano]

I would like to have the capzone showing like in-game, you know with the red/blue color when active/captured by axis/allies...
I know there is this tutorial: http://wiki.tripwireinteractive.com..._Stalingrad/LevelDesign/OverheadMapGeneration
For me it is totally unclear.. I made a simple overhead map, wich is accurate and show exactly where you are in-game, this is a great start, but not capzone showing...
I know i can simply draw dashed-lines over the map, but how can I achieve a proper overhead map with the capzone lines which are changing colors when captured ..???

 

[Spaehling]

i explain you via steam.

in short. your need to create a single psd or gimp file for making the capzones with an alpha map for the transparents. its a bit complex. but you can explain it to the community after i explained it to you

 

[®omano]

Ok! a few hours later, I managed to understand all about the capzone texture, how to create them and all (and we found a 'bug with them too hehe), thanks to Spaehling! He spent a lot of time (hours) to explain and show me how to do all from scratch!!

In return I will try to make an addition to the existing tutorial for this part of the overheadmap tutorial.

 

[Catalavos]

Hey all,
Does anyone have the instructions for setting up the overhead map that used to be on the HOS Wiki page? The site is currently down and I need a refresher on how to set up the individual spawn and objective volumes. I tried doing it by memory this weekend and it didn't work out the way I had hoped.

Thanks,
Catalavos

 

[PsychoPigeon]

I don't have the direct instructions but my crude way of doing it is to draw the diagram of the volume and place it in the centre of the page, save as png. Import to package and connect the png to the ROObjective icon (type tex in the search bar), go ingame and see if it matches up. Sometimes it doesn't and you have to keep editing bits off and importing again until it all matches. If anyone has a faster way than this I'd like to know.

For the overhead you just make the maps bounds volume covering the area you want on the map, lift it up to 7000 height, go into top down view in lit mode until the map bounds is around the edges of your screen and hold F9 and click in the window which saves the image to your mydocs>ro2>screenshots folder. Sometimes my file needs editing to get it to be accurate ingame then import the png and connect in world properties.

 

[Catalavos]

I'll give it a shot; thanks

 

[Twrecks]

Since the vehicle patch my overhead map only displays properly with a loaded 512x512 2d texture, however the scale of the capzones are scaled up 2. The desired 1024x1024 only shows the upper left quadrant and the capzone textures are off in and clipped. Bah!

 

[Twrecks]

meh


There's a flag in the Texture_Properties dialog called "LODGroup", set it to TEXTUREGROUP_UI ...

 

[PsychoPigeon]

Thanks Twrecks, had this problem also

 

[Twrecks]

I keep forgetting how to do this stuff, so here's a guide for Objectives:
1a. Select your ROVolumeMapBounds (large red square), all your objective actors, and their assigned ROPlaceable volumes.
1b. Then, take a top-down screenshot of your map. (Print Screen).
1c. Paste the screenshot in a new Photoshop file.
1d. Crop it to the ROVolumeMapBounds. Should be a square.
1e. Resize the screenshot to the same size as your overhead map (1024x1024).

If you did everything right, should look like the above pic.

2a. I cut-n-paste my overhead map on another layer for a check.

3a. Changing the overhead map's opacity, I can see everthing lines up well.

4a. The Objective actors tell the game where to draw your objectives on the minimap.

 

[Twrecks]

Now the fun part.
5a. Draw stuff on a new layer.
5b. I use the marque tool to select around the an Objective's ROPlaceable Volume.
5c. Fill with white.
5d. Use the marque to select an offsetted area inside the white, and cut.
5e. This leaves a nice crisp white border.
5f. Place a Black Dot on the Objective actor, you'll need this later.

6a. Draw borders and dots for each objective, each on their own layer.

7a. Open a new Photoshop file with a size of 512 x 512.
7b. Divide it up with a checker pattern so the center is easily seen.
You can use the image below.

8a. From your overhead photoshop file, copy-n-paste a layer for the objective.
8b. Drag the layer so the black dot on the center of the checker.

That was easy.

 

[Twrecks]

9a. Next, change the background to black (fill).

10a. Break the border into dashes (short lines). I used the erase tool.
10b. Flatten the image to one layer.
10c. Select ALL, and copy.
10d. Goto your channels, and paste in the alpha channel.
If you don't have a alpha channel, add a new channel and paste.

11a. Save your image as a 32 bit Targa (tga).
11b. Open the editor (SDK), and import the tga into your map package.
11c. make sure the "Alpha to Opacity" is ticked.
11d. "LODGroup" must be set to TEXTUREGROUP_UI.
11e. OK

12a. Find your objective actor and open it's properties (F4).
12b. With your new objective texture selected in the browser, click the green arrow for "Map Zone Texture".

13a. Save your map. It will compress your new texture for in-game use.
13b. Play your map and bring up the minimap.
If your overhead map is assigned in the world properties, and all your objectives are set up properly in Kismet, everthing should look fine.

WARNING, if you move an Objective actor, or the ROplaceable volume seperately, you will have to do all this again. Move them together, and the border will shift with them.

 

[-=}WoLvErInE{=-]

Good work!

 

[nymets1104]

Any suggestions on the best way to do this if your map isnt a square? mine is more like 700 x 512

 

[Twrecks]

The overhead map will always be square. Fit your play area into the biggest square you can make.