Re: TGNS Map Making Team

**Yer Mom** · 09-10-2006, 06:27 PM

Awesome Roland. (I'll never call you bent... lol)

This is an SS I took of a VERY rough MS. The scale you see here is exact when compiled an ran. The green block is the info_player_start entity. (If you want to scale your rooms accordingly, Irish and I discovered that the info_player_start entity is the exact size of a marine in game) (The redish thing you see will be deleted or textured differently. I've got a lot of editting and detail making to do to MS):

http://prophotohost.com/uploads/6d24469542.jpg

This is a very rough made ready room. I'm not going to put entirely too much detail into the ready room, but I do plan on adding a LOT of detail to MS:

http://prophotohost.com/uploads/3924477e6a.jpg

More later.

Update: This is a more detailed MS:

http://prophotohost.com/uploads/5aafa4c982.jpg

-Mom

**Ferris Bueller** · 09-10-2006, 07:49 PM

very nice. wheres my onos?

**Sirusblk** · 09-10-2006, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Yer Mom

I like the Assembly Line idea. It adds to the factory effect.

Anyone else?

Sirus, I can't seem to grasp what you're trying to set up when you refer to setting up Hammer 3.4 for NS. You can set up any Hammer for NS, unless you're refering to launching the game from Hammer after compiling the map, it just takes configuration and I explained that the other night in the TS Session, and a guide to do it is also located in this thread a few pages back.

Just confused on what your trying to set up?

-Mom

Have you found out how to set up the Hammer coupled with the Source SDK? If you have, I'd love to know how since I can't figure it out. That's Hammer 4 I believe. Hammer 3.4 is the the latest version you can download from the VERC Collective. The problem with Hammer 3.4 is that it's not set up for any game right out of the box. You have to set it up yourself.

We all take for granted how to set everything up. I only wish to make it as easy as possible for those who have no experience just be able to jump in and get started right away. I wasn't trying to tute my horn, and I'm sorry if I came across like that.

Other than that, I like everyone's ideas. Especially Wyzcrak's about Bort Processing

-Sirusblk

**Yer Mom** · 09-11-2006, 01:02 AM

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking for when you say set up Hammer 4 for NS. Do you mean the .wad's and the ZHLT stuff?

When you set Hammer up, or under the game configurations tab of the Tools>Options menu, it asks for an FGD file. The file is located in your NS folder and it's named ns.fgd. Once you set that file up as your FGD the only other things you have to set up for NS map making are the textures. Click on the textures tab of the Tools>Options menu and click Add WAD. There are two .wad files in your ns directory named ns.wad and ns2.wad. These are going to be your textures.

Other than that, the only other things you can do to "set up" NS for Hammer is to make it run NS when you compile the map. I advise against doing this, but if you absolutely want to, you have to create a desktop shortcut from Steam>Games, right click the shortcut and copy and paste the last attributes in the Target line. They should be: -applaunch 70 -game "ns". To make Hammer run NS when compiling the map, you have two options.
1: Hit File>Run in Hammer. It should automatically be set to run Normal, and there will be a box to add the above parameters into. Then just click Ok.
2: If you are on Expert, the the last clickable box in the left menu is $game_exe. Add the above parameters to the Parameters: box, and Hammer will open NS automatically when finished compiling.

-Mom

**Slayer of Hippies** · 09-11-2006, 01:27 AM

Let me first start out this post by officially declaring that hammer 4 is a gigantic pain in the ass.

Ok now, I tried this while we were doing the TS thing and the results are as aforementioned. Steam won't accept NS as a valid mod, so every time you run hammer with NS set up, it screws it over and sends it back to HL2 or whatever your default is.

Fix? Ok, I think that running hammer directly might fix it (as steam SHOULD have no opportunity to get in the way) but when I try to do that it can't find its core files (the steam files, incidentally - HI IM SLAYER AND I LOVE STEAM)

Anyhow, if you can make it find those files somehow, and then launch it directly from the run_hammer.bat or whatever, then yes, maybe MAYBE it would work.

In other words, get 3.4

PS: If anyone knows a fix to this, it'd be real nice to hear it.

**Dr. Pepper PhD.** · 09-11-2006, 01:31 AM

Hey mom... i dont have the time nor the ability to work on maps... but i do have some ideas that i could draw out when bored at work and stuff... do you want me to pm them to you or are you only working on one map at a time?

terrible grammar sorry

**Sirusblk** · 09-11-2006, 01:40 AM

Sorry I couldn't articulate my ideas into words quite like Slayer of Hippies could. Hammer 4 just doesn't accept Natural Selection. I too am looking for a fix, but so far haven't seen it.

That is why I'm recomending everyone to 3.4

-Sirusblk

**Yer Mom** · 09-11-2006, 03:13 AM

Dr. Pepper, I'd love to hear your ideas, PM me whenever you want.

I don't mean to sound rude, but you guys are going to have to understand that the thing that's going to take the most time out of this map is detail. If you want this map to be worth playing, we're going to need a lot of detail.

You don't have to do a room, you don't have to do a hall, all I need as far contributions go are detail. Make a roof, make a wall, make some pipes that look wicked that I can put somewhere, anything that I can add to the map helps, it doesn't have to be whole segments at a time.

That said, I am not denying anyone the opprotunity to actually make a room or a hall or a hive for that matter. If people want to do whole areas of the map, I don't mind at all, I just need to know who is going to and who isn't. I can have this entire thing done in 5 months time on my own (note: 5 months will be an alpha version, not the finalized version itself), it's just going to speed up the process with people contributing.

-Mom

**Irish Pirate** · 09-11-2006, 12:37 PM

I will probably take Water Filtration as the hive I make. Assembly line is tempting as I could do a lot with it but common sense tells me I won't have that kind of time. I will design it to be in the southwest corner of the map.

If I'm not online feel free to e-mail or pm me with things you would like me to prefab for you.

**Yer Mom** · 09-11-2006, 12:54 PM

Problems in the AM is what I'd title this thread.

Leaks are going to be a problem by many of you making this map. Don't get frustrated, and give up if you can't find a leak, it's okay, no one can. When you go to compile the map, the compiler (Hammer) creates a log file. The compiler will give you a detailed location of that log file once a problem is found while compiling. That log file will hold VALUABLE information regarding what's where and who's doing the wrong thing over there in the corner.

Two other neat little tools I just found for troubleshooting are under the Map menu on the top toolbar. Map>Entity Report will show you every entity on your map in a list. Map>Check for Problems will list every problem Hammer finds before compiling the game. (Note: Map>Check will NOT find leaks)

The Map>Check function is designed to show you problems that it finds in the game with brushes. For instance, if you use Vertex Manipulation on a brush and create an object that the world sees as invalid, the compiler won't tell you what the problem is or leave a report of it in the log file, the only way to find out if you have an invalid object is by using the Map>Check function. (Note: It IS possible to create invalid objects WITHOUT using Vertex Manipulation.)

Hope this helps.

-Mom

**Irish Pirate** · 09-11-2006, 02:08 PM

If you have a leak I recommend loading the map and using the "pointfile" command. This will draw a line from the entity that returned the error and scribble all over your map eventually going through the leak which should look like a nasty flashing pattern of the nearby textures. You can use a spectator/noclip to follow it or move the spawn point in the map to the coordinates of the entity that gave you the error to help find it.

**Curlydave** · 09-11-2006, 04:44 PM

Another leak finder: Make a huge box (doesn't have to be hollow) containing half of your map, and compile. If the leak is gone, cut the box in half and repeat. If not, move the box to the other half of the map and check again. (It should compile.) Keep shrinking the box and compiling until it points to the leak.

**Yer Mom** · 09-11-2006, 09:39 PM

This map is consecutively taking longer and longer to compile as I go, but I don't mind. I'm scaling down the work I do each day, but I'm getting things done. I've created a marine start that has 3 exits. I've got the room ceilinged and etc, but I have a large pipe going thru the middle of it, and I need feedback. I don't figure it'll mess with the comm's view too bad, but I know it will. Tell me what you guys think.

Marine Start
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/2b090f6f20.jpg
Marine Start Ceiling
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/541fce78e8.jpg
Hallway Outside of MS
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/b4a2b9030a.jpg
Ceiling of the Hallway Outside MS
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/3932546030.jpg
Other End of the Hallway Outside MS
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/a9d407b031.jpg
(This glass will be more transparent, sorry)

All of those shots are taken in game. Compare them to this shot of MS from Hammer to get an idea of scaling in game.

Marine Start inside of Hammer
http://prophotohost.com/uploads/390d792302.jpg

So what do you guys think?

-Mom

**bentring** · 09-11-2006, 10:58 PM

It's looking good.

As I've been attempting to learn hammer a bit more, along with the tutorials from interlopers.net, I'm beginning to wonder if I may be better off just drawing my ideas out and letting someone else hammer them.

Maybe I'll have more luck when (if!) I can get a few hours uninterrupted from the kids.

Also Yer Mom, would it be possible at intervals to upload the map somewhere so we can view it rather than purely by screenshots?

**Yer Mom** · 09-11-2006, 11:11 PM

Definately possible, but I don't know where I can host it from. I can always send it to people thru MSN or one of the IM's. Otherwise, I'd have to have someone FTP it for me or something. Or someone tell me a site I can host it from?

-Mom

Thread Tools

Display