Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:01 pm Post subject:
Few questions by a mapping noob
Subject description: plz help <3
So yeah... Tiberian Suns competitive online community (which im part of) finally found its way to cnc:net and found out that we can play ts maps of any size now! Probably old news to you guys but it's like finding america for us.
So I've started making maps suited for online play that are visually appealing aswell, well at least I try to. But I'm still new to all this and I have a few questions. Note that I have read through a ton of tutorials and instructions on this site and didn't find the answers I was looking for.
Tunnels!
So I'll start off with a real noob question: I can't get my damn tunnels to work! I placed them in straight lines and on equal height. I do know about the place tunnel function and have read the instruction of final suns help, however the ss' are so pixelated that I can't figure it out still.
Bridges!
By now I can place working bridges, repairable and all that. My question is if it's possible to place bridges crossing craters?
Lightning!
How can I modify lightposts?
Modified Fun Maps!
As you guys surely know you can edit the rules.ini for specific maps to change some values like prices etc. It's also easily possible to make new units out of existing values like putting a rpg head on a titans body etc. But is it possible to use voxels or shps from this site and put it into a map so it can be used with vanilla ts?
3rd side on cnc:net for vanilla ts?
there have always been a ton of fun maps for ts, even multiplayer missions. The one I'm talking about was made by ptapiok or something (really sorry as it's surely misspelled but I simply can't remember his name correctly) He made a 3 player mission map for ts vanilla online play. You've had to start the map and get de-synced. Then you start a game again and had 4 available sides (Nod, GDI, a 3rd side which name I forgot and civilians). The 3 sides stood for player 1 2 and 3 and were attatched to certain colors. On the second try the map worked fine as you were able to pick the other side. Is this still possible on cnc:net?
That's all I can think of for now, I'll add more as I encounter problems. I will attatch the map with the bridge-crater problem so you can visualize it (it's the map connecting middle to bottom right) and also the best map I've made so far so you can tell which level I'm on.
Tunnels!
So I'll start off with a real noob question: I can't get my damn tunnels to work! I placed them in straight lines and on equal height. I do know about the place tunnel function and have read the instruction of final suns help, however the ss' are so pixelated that I can't figure it out still.
What exactly isn't working?
-units don't enter at all
-units reappear at wrong places
-units vanish
Note: FinalSun creates the second tunnel wrong. When you draw a tunnel, the second one in the [Tubes] section is one distance too short, so you have to edit it with a text editor and fix the tube.
ItsMeSeb wrote:
Bridges!
By now I can place working bridges, repairable and all that. My question is if it's possible to place bridges crossing craters?
If you mean with craters, slopes and different high terrain, then no. The bridge has to go over even terrain.
ItsMeSeb wrote:
Lightning!
How can I modify lightposts?
add the ini section of the lightpost to your map and adjust the light keys
e.g.
Code:
;invisible orange light post now emitting purple light
[INORANLAMP]
LightVisibility=3000
LightIntensity=0.01
LightRedTint=2.0
LightGreenTint=-1.0
LightBlueTint=2.0
ItsMeSeb wrote:
Modified Fun Maps!
As you guys surely know you can edit the rules.ini for specific maps to change some values like prices etc. It's also easily possible to make new units out of existing values like putting a rpg head on a titans body etc. But is it possible to use voxels or shps from this site and put it into a map so it can be used with vanilla ts?
No, a map can only use rules.ini keys. New graphics and art need art.ini entries and they need to be put in mix files so the game can find and use them.
ItsMeSeb wrote:
3rd side on cnc:net for vanilla ts?
there have always been a ton of fun maps for ts, even multiplayer missions. The one I'm talking about was made by ptapiok or something (really sorry as it's surely misspelled but I simply can't remember his name correctly) He made a 3 player mission map for ts vanilla online play. You've had to start the map and get de-synced. Then you start a game again and had 4 available sides (Nod, GDI, a 3rd side which name I forgot and civilians). The 3 sides stood for player 1 2 and 3 and were attatched to certain colors. On the second try the map worked fine as you were able to pick the other side. Is this still possible on cnc:net?
houses are defined in rules.ini and since a map can use all rules.ini coding, you can set new houses in a map.
However, cncnet doesn't read rules.ini and has the houses hardcoded into the interface. So, unlike TS, which gets into a semi-corrupt state once it has started such a modified map, the cncnet client wont give you on the second start the new houses.
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:32 pm Post subject:
I made a Tunnel fixing tutorial a little while ago, but it looks like I'll have to update it.
Remember in maps, you can use the Image= tag, which will use the art entry of whatever you put under Image=
You can make custom voxel and unit graphics to come with your maps, but you'd have to name them something that's already in Vanilla's rules.ini
For example if you made a voxel, called it bggy.vxl and put it in the directory, then all your Nod Buggies would come out looking like that voxel. _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
Tiberian Odyssey mapping department. Discord The Team Black Index QUICK_EDIT
That's why i don't like external hoster like imageshack. They like to remove the linked image and leave the tutorial crippled. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Lin Kuei Ominae:
Tunnels!
I've tried it many times and was given many unsatisfying results. The best yet was units moving through the tunnel but get stuck at the end. Unfortunately Team Blacks tutorial doesn't really help a noob like me without the ss.
Bridges!
Well screw that then, thanks for the answer
Lightposts!
I've already seen a post similar to your answer but I don't know how to connect a rules.ini to only a single map usable in vanilla ts. When I double click on a lightpost it says rules.ini definition but yeah.. no idea how to edit it then.
Another question related to that: I take it that I can only edit the existing lightposts' values but not add new ones?
And how can I make an existing lightpost invisible? (the negative red lightpost for example)
Team Black wrote:
I made a Tunnel fixing tutorial a little while ago, but it looks like I'll have to update it.
Remember in maps, you can use the Image= tag, which will use the art entry of whatever you put under Image=
You can make custom voxel and unit graphics to come with your maps, but you'd have to name them something that's already in Vanilla's rules.ini
For example if you made a voxel, called it bggy.vxl and put it in the directory, then all your Nod Buggies would come out looking like that voxel.
so you're saying I'd have to give up on a titan for example to get a new unit? Well that's completely fine.
So I could for example use the mechs from Lin Kuei Ominae's signature and replace them with existing units for a single map usable in vanilla ts? That would solve my problem. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:51 pm Post subject:
Oh yeah don't forget, you can also use the hidden units like 1TNK 2TNK and MLRS that are in local.mix
I *think* you can use the Image= tag on any voxel, even if it doesn't have an art.ini entry. I haven't tried that in a long time though _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
Tiberian Odyssey mapping department. Discord The Team Black Index QUICK_EDIT
Been some time since I worked on ts maps, now I have a new project which is a tower defense map basically.
Now the problem I've encountered is that my towers dont aim at the waves of units (neutral units spawned by a trigger)
How can I make my towers automatically aim and shoot at neutral units without having to manually tell them to?
The other problem I've encountered is this: The way I spawn my waves is by having the tag on repeat and
Trigger 1: 56 Local Set...
Trigger 2: 80 Reinforcement (team) [at waypoint..]
Trigger 3: 57 Local clear...
Letting some time pass and repeat for next wave (time between local set/clear is about 20)
My intention was to have a steady flow of units, but it seems like it spawns 20 units per second (even though the Taskforce is set to one unit). This results in an overflow of units i.e. 20x20 filled with units within seconds.
Is there a way to restrict the spawning of units to a field of 3x3 and stop the trigger from creating new units outside of that field as long as they are all filled?
How can I make my towers automatically aim and shoot at neutral units without having to manually tell them to?
You can't without hex editing the game.exe. This behaviour is hardcoded.
You can use the Executable Modifier (see my sig) to change your exe.
However, to make you map work, every player would need your modified exe too, which makes the map not instantly compatible with the normal game. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Thanks for the fast reply!
Somehow a friend of mine who unfortunately can't be contacted anymore made it work in a map of his (The map should be attached to this post). But I can't figure out how, do you maybe know a way to work around this problem?
While I try to make a singleplayer map, he made a multiplayer map. It gives you an internal error if you try playing it alone but works perfectly well with 2 or more players online. The towers did attack the units automatically and he also had the solution for the other problem I stated in my first post... if only I could contact him again.
Maybe you could check the map out and tell how he made it work because I'm stuck... <3
Ah you haven't mentioned it's supposed to be a singleplayer map. In singleplayer it's indeed no problem at all. Just use a normal house/side like GDI or Nod and not Neutral. In SP you can also create duplicates of the existing houses like Nod1,GDIB etc which also the campaign maps are doing.
What your friend did was adding the following code inside the map
Setting MultiplayPassive=false and Multiplay=yes basically changes the Neutral house into a regular one like GDI and Nod.
Doing this in a map can lead to some strange sideeffects however, like in the next MP game you can also select Neutral as your playing house, which in turn doesn't work, since Neutral is no complete faction with buildable buildings and units.
ItsMeSeb wrote:
My intention was to have a steady flow of units, but it seems like it spawns 20 units per second (even though the Taskforce is set to one unit). This results in an overflow of units i.e. 20x20 filled with units within seconds.
Is there a way to restrict the spawning of units to a field of 3x3 and stop the trigger from creating new units outside of that field as long as they are all filled?
This is most likely a problem with your triggers and not a game problem. Check the timing, the way the trigger is fired (probably more than once) and your taskforces/teams.
No you can't restrict the spawning area to 3x3. It simply takes the next free cell for another unit.
You can also upload your map so some of the experienced mappers (unlike me) can check it. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
When WaveA1 (the local) is set, the repeating "Wave A1 Light Inf" trigger will create the team once every frame (1 second = 60 frames on Game speed 5), which means that the spawned units will fill the whole map in a few seconds. To fix the issue, you need to add another event to "Wave A1 Light Inf", I'd use 13 Elapsed time with some seconds depending on how rapidly you want the infantry to the spawned.
There would also be simpler ways to achieve this; instead of locals, you could have "Wave A1 Light Inf" disabled by default, then enabled by "Wave A1" (see trigger action 53) and then again disabled by "Wave A1 (End)" (using trigger action 54). That way, the repeating "Wave A1 Light Inf" could do with only one event, 13 Elapsed time. _________________ CnCNet Client | CnCNet TS patches | More Quality-of-Life Improvements for RA Remastered
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