new map

[tronman63304]

ok just thinking out loud, but o well just thought i would ask. it would have been cool but wont work.

[tronman63304]

i have a new question.
can i change the skin that an ICP has to a different ICP skin color. so its lets say a blue ICP(i tried using the internet ICPs but they don't work like the ICP_regular models they just stand there).

i'm making progress on the level.

edit: i forgot.
can i create an energy zone like the health zones. where you receive health when you are in the zone, but have it be energy?

PLEASE let me know if i didn't explain well

[TronFAQ]

To change the ICPs' color: you can just copy an existing ICP CAIHuman object, and give the copied object a new name in the Nodes panel by renaming it (select the object, right click, and choose Rename). The only things you need to change are the ModelTemplate, and to take into account the fact that you now have to spawn two types of ICPs in whatever trigger or object that is causing them to spawn (eg. msg ICP_Red spawn; msg ICP_Blue spawn). You can leave everything else alone. If your ICP is standing there doing nothing, it's probably because he doesn't have a weapon attachment in his right hand.

For an energy zone, add a new object to the map and click the plus + beside VolumeBrush when the Object Type window pops up. You'll now see EnergyZone as one of the object choices. After adding it to the map, you can resize it by clicking on the button in the DEdit toolbar that looks like a circle and triangle (Object Edit mode). Make sure to go back to Brush Edit mode when you're done (button with solid wireframe cube).

In its Properties, you set the EnergyDrain value to a negative number to give energy instead of taking it away. The EnergyZone object is invisible, so you'll need something else to give the players a hint that they can recharge their energy in that spot.

Again, I might be covering some familiar territory here, for the benefit of newcomers to DEdit who could be reading this in the future.

[tronman63304]

thanks a ton

[tronman63304]

okay now i'm having problems. i made a door and so i start the game and part of its not there. its a big 6 part door. four pieces are just gone. any idea why this is happening? its not invisible its just not there. i put the brush in a world model just trying things to see if i could fix it and the door parts show up but now it don't move when i activate it .
the parts of the door that are still there work right. and i checked the door movements and speed so it should at least go somewhere when i activate it. right?

i know im asking a lot of questions but i'm almost done just making a few small changes and add-ons

[xistence]

Possible reasons:
- Each brush of those parts not visible might set to be of a wrong 'Type' (->Properties of Brush). If it is something like 'SkyPortal', 'Occluder', etc. that might confuse things.
- Bad texture used, which is using alpha by accident
- WorldModel is set incorrectly (alpha == 0.0 or blendingtype does not match what the texture is supporting)
- Brush accidently link to an object that might not show the brush (so like VolumeBrushes, etc.). You might need to check further up the hierarchy if you structure might be that complex. Even a parent-parent...-node might create that problem.

For a more specific answer, some more specific details might be necessary.

[tronman63304]

how bout if i make a small level that you can see the problem and see what the problem is.
but what i don't get is there are several copy's of the object and, i didn't change any properties you mentioned. also its an object from the game i just copy it and used it. also also i only put them in a world model after the problem

[xistence]

As mentioned, this is to specific to make an estimation without clearer details. A possible way would be to rebuild the map step by step, inserting smaller parts, objects and geometry of the confused map into a new rebuilt one, testing it after each step to localize which part(s) creating that effect. If you found it, then you could deal with each of its setting, also step by step, checking everytime.

[win3k]

Morning chaps

What X said.

There are literally dozens of things that can cause the phenomenon that you describe, ranging from the obvious (world model visible=false) to the less obvious (incorrectly specified occluders).

In this case, it might be worth you putting the problem piece into a *very* small world so that I (win3k at btconnect dot com), or one of the other brethren can take a look.

As a wider issue, from what you describe you appear to be continually editing just one world file? If that is the case, I would encourage you to maybe think in terms of saving a new version of the world every once in a while (like every day or so). The reason is pretty simple: when your map suddenly turns to garbage/breaks/won't compile/ crashes dedit (all of which can happen), all you need to do is go back to a previous version, and then re-apply (carefully) the edits you had in mind, testing as you go.

win3k

[tronman63304]

well i have been making new world files ive lost alot of work befor so any time i make a change that i want to save a spot i make a new version number it started at 1.0 now its at 2.3

i made the small map and now theres a problem with it so will be posting in just a bit to give the map

edit:
heres the map
http://www.filefront.com/user/tronman63304
file name is door_test.zip you need to put the files in the following directory to use the map:
C:\Program Files\Buena Vista Interactive\Tron 2.0\Custom\worlds\RETAILMULTIPLAYER\DEATHMATCH

[win3k]

Morning chaps

OK - here's what I see:




There are a couple of points:

1. If the "problem" is the missing geometry on the outer red circle, that's straightforward - the polygons in a dedit brush are single sided, so you need to duplicate the circle, and flip the faces of the duplicate to fix it.
2. More worrying, if I step off the yellow pathway, I fall for something like 30-45 seconds before hitting the ground. I am not at all sure that you intend for that to be the case, so either you have a ridiculously large bounding brush (here's a clue: too big) or somethings gone seriously askew with your map.
3. Without the map source (.lta, .ltc) I can't actually do anything other than confirm that problems exist.

win3k

[tronman63304]

sorry i didn't put it in i thought i did... the red circle is a one sided object from the level i created it is exactly what it is suppose to be. i don't know why you fall for so long, i did not make it that way i will see if i can fix it for the lta

i think i fixed the fall problem and i added just the brushes from the door and the ltc in the .zip:
http://www.filefront.com/user/tronman63304
file is still: door_test.zip

[win3k]

Afternoon chaps

Righto - problem found, identifed and nuked from orbit [Go Team LDSO!]

Basically, your naming convention isn't liked by DEDIT/Lithtech. You named the various SlidingDoor objects things like "1/4th_01", "1/4th_02" etc. but the "/" character isn't acceptable (although granted, there is fanny-all documentation or indeed any error message suggesting that this is problematic). To fix it, rename the SlidingDoor objects to "14th_01", "14th_02" etc, then change the associated commands from the SlidingSwitch to reflect the new and improved naming convention, and Bob is very much your uncle.

That aside, I'm liking the models you've built muchly. Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

win3k

[tronman63304]

thanks i feel stupid

did you see the orange?

edit:
if i have a trigger send a message "msg activeplayer (kill)" like the teleport but to kill someone?

[tronman63304]

So then, you ask, "why didn't you tell me that in the first place?!" Because it's better to work with .TGA files if you can. They support alpha masks, while .PCX files don't. Later on as you get more ambitious you might start wanting to make your textures transparent, and that's where alpha masks and .TGA files come in. It's best to start working with them now, already. Otherwise you're just going to hit this same road block later on, anyway.

You can load two separate .PCX images (one the main image, the other the alpha mask), but like xistence said it's more hassle.

well i'm working on a transparent texture now and i have had all the free suggested programs. so i'm using tga's now. i'm sure its very simple and i'm just not making the connection yet but i cant make the alpha map work. needs to have the colors as a negative of what they are but i cant make it work right.