Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 3:08 pm Post subject:
A few random questions.
Subject description: Trains, map creation and game crashing.
Hello,
I've been playing C&C since it first appeared on PSOne and found Dawn of the Tiberium Age a couple of years ago which is great so thanks to everyone involved. I've recruited a few friends to play DTA also.....my next mission is to get my 11 year old nephew involved.
Anyway, this is my first post here and I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions for me?
1) Trains: I see it is not possible to put troops in to trains but is it possible to move/drive the trains?
2) Map Creation: I'd love to start making my own maps but would like some tips and advice from anyone who has done it before. Also, what is the minimum and maximum (guess there is no real maximum) amount of time it takes to create a map?
3) While playing, the game ALWAYS freezes (and doesn't recover) if I click 'menu' in the top left corner of the screen. Is there a fix for this?
1) On several maps (most of my maps) you can put troops in trains. However on no map you can control the train.
Player controlled trains don't work that well, why they aren't used in any map.
Though if you create your own map with the included map editor, you could create a track and place a single locomotive on the tracks, which you give to one of the players so they control it. But having it also pull some wagons doesn't work.
2) my advice, take a look on some of the included maps. Then try to create your own.
The process is pretty simple.
-create a nice layout (put some basic cliffs, rivers and water areas). Also think about resources (ore / tib) and try to place them in a strategically nice way.
-add detail like trees and different terrain
-finish detailing the resources (place the ore/tib patches manually to give them a more random look)
-adjust the map lighting and add some invisible light posts and adjust the color values of the light posts so they look good. Again check other maps which have a lighting that you like
-as a final optional step you could add a few trigger for fun, like day/night lighting changes, meteors on certain places, randomly appearing tiberium monsters etc, so the players have something to discover and giving them a nice surprise.
The more time you spend on it, adding details and fixing bugs the better.
3) Don't know about this one. I would suggest you try one of the other renderer in the options menu of the client (not ingame options). One of them could work better for you and also fix the freezing menu. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
It sounds like you're most likely using the Default renderer on Windows 10 (or 8) and like Lin Kuei Ominae mentioned, you need to change this to fix your issue. I recommend changing it to DxWnd and see if that gives you good performance (mind that the ingame options menu windows are invisible with this renderer until your move the mouse cursor) and otherwise try TS-DDRAW. There shouldn't be any need to try any the other renderers unless neither of those 2 give acceptable performance. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
1) On several maps (most of my maps) you can put troops in trains. However on no map you can control the train.
Player controlled trains don't work that well, why they aren't used in any map.
Though if you create your own map with the included map editor, you could create a track and place a single locomotive on the tracks, which you give to one of the players so they control it. But having it also pull some wagons doesn't work.
2) my advice, take a look on some of the included maps. Then try to create your own.
The process is pretty simple.
-create a nice layout (put some basic cliffs, rivers and water areas). Also think about resources (ore / tib) and try to place them in a strategically nice way.
-add detail like trees and different terrain
-finish detailing the resources (place the ore/tib patches manually to give them a more random look)
-adjust the map lighting and add some invisible light posts and adjust the color values of the light posts so they look good. Again check other maps which have a lighting that you like
-as a final optional step you could add a few trigger for fun, like day/night lighting changes, meteors on certain places, randomly appearing tiberium monsters etc, so the players have something to discover and giving them a nice surprise.
The more time you spend on it, adding details and fixing bugs the better.
3) Don't know about this one. I would suggest you try one of the other renderer in the options menu of the client (not ingame options). One of them could work better for you and also fix the freezing menu.
It sounds like you're most likely using the Default renderer on Windows 10 (or and like Lin Kuei Ominae mentioned, you need to change this to fix your issue. I recommend changing it to DxWnd and see if that gives you good performance (mind that the ingame options menu windows are invisible with this renderer until your move the mouse cursor) and otherwise try TS-DDRAW. There shouldn't be any need to try any the other renderers unless neither of those 2 give acceptable performance.
Thank you for replying and offering advice. I'm not as computer literate as you so some of the terms you have used went over my head. Any chance you could explain things in layman's terms? QUICK_EDIT
-start the client (DTA.exe)
-click on Options
-in the Display dialog you see the "Renderer" option
-change the renderer as mentioned by Bittah
-save settings and start a game to test if ingame menu works now
menu works-> done
menu doesn't work or game speed is very slow->try a different renderer
-start the client (DTA.exe)
-click on Options
-in the Display dialog you see the "Renderer" option
-change the renderer as mentioned by Bittah
-save settings and start a game to test if ingame menu works now
menu works-> done
menu doesn't work or game speed is very slow->try a different renderer
repeat till you found the best working renderer for you
Great! Much easier than I thought.
I'll give it a go.
While you are here, could you put a very rough time frame on how long it takes to create a map?
Brilliant! Done what you guys suggested and it now doesn't freeze! Thank you!
Could you tell me what the stars mean at the side of the maps when selecting skirmish options?
Though the time highly depends on map size and detail.
A decent looking small 2 player map can be done in about 2-4 hours.
A huge 8 player map with lots of details, triggers and little gimmicks can take 50+ hours.
Stars show which maps you've completed and at which AI difficulty setting. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Though the time highly depends on map size and detail.
A decent looking small 2 player map can be done in about 2-4 hours.
A huge 8 player map with lots of details, triggers and little gimmicks can take 50+ hours.
Stars show which maps you've completed and at which AI difficulty setting.
Ah, so it doesn't take as long as I thought it would to create a map, great.
Not that i know of, at least not for DTA. Though the editor is pretty self explanatory.
-click File->New (then answer the menus, usually click Next)
-then place things on the map
--on the left you have buildings, trees, overlays etc (see the texts explaining what kind of objects they contain)
--in the bottom you have on the left terrain, on the right single overlays
-when done, save map
Not that i know of, at least not for DTA. Though the editor is pretty self explanatory.
-click File->New (then answer the menus, usually click Next)
-then place things on the map
--on the left you have buildings, trees, overlays etc (see the texts explaining what kind of objects they contain)
--in the bottom you have on the left terrain, on the right single overlays
-when done, save map
not much else to explain here
Ah great.....I'm going to give it a go now. QUICK_EDIT
Can you tell me how to launch a map so I can play and test it?
Sorry for all the questions, is there a guide I can consult rather than driving you mad?
Don't worry, you're not driving us mad We're glad to help.
To play your map,
1. Save your map to the <DTA directory>\Maps\Custom\ folder
2. Open DTA
3. Go to the Skirmish menu
4. Switch to the "Custom Map" game mode, and you should see your map in the map list. Select the map and start playing! _________________ CnCNet Client | CnCNet TS patches | More Quality-of-Life Improvements for RA Remastered
Can you tell me how to launch a map so I can play and test it?
Sorry for all the questions, is there a guide I can consult rather than driving you mad?
Don't worry, you're not driving us mad We're glad to help.
To play your map,
1. Save your map to the <DTA directory>\Maps\Custom\ folder
2. Open DTA
3. Go to the Skirmish menu
4. Switch to the "Custom Map" game mode, and you should see your map in the map list. Select the map and start playing!
Great! I'll give it a go shortly.
Thanks again for being friendly and generous with help. QUICK_EDIT
Spent a while designing a map and for some reason I can't delete the 'Ore Mine' or 'Alt Ore Mine' I have placed on the map.....any advice as I don't want to have to restart from scratch?
On the tree view on the left in FinalSun, click on "Delete objects" (the last item in the whole tree) and then simply click on the ore mine on the map.
You guys are bloody great! Better customer service than any company! QUICK_EDIT
Just finished my new map and saved it in the same way as I did the with the first test map I created but sadly it isn't in the 'Custom Map' section of the Skirmish option.
The test map I created is still there but not the new one? QUICK_EDIT
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