IDIOTS GUIDE TO MAPPING

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-20 21:10

i need some help from good mappers out there with an idea i am trying to make with BFEditor
i am a complete NOOB at it so whn i mean help you need to give me step by step help please i am so lost :S
1 - where do you get all the buildings and stuff from?
2 - how do i put them on the map?
3 - how do i make spawn points?
4 - how do i make capture points and put them in order for AAS?
5 - how do i make the spawn/capture points for certain teams?

any help would be really appreciated as i really want to get this map of the ground, if i get some answers to these questions i'll be able to put up some screenshots.

thanks

(any help from R-DEV Rhino would be reeeaaaly appreciated)

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-20 23:21

The idea behind the map is:
a british aircraft carrier was in the yellow sea searching for north korean subs and submarine production plants, after several weeks behind enemy lines it was attacked by a squadren of korean fighter jets, the ship managed to destroy most but substained coneiderable damage, soldiers were forced to abonden ship and are marooned on an island with 1 merlin 1 liitle bird transport and 2 boats east of a small village and beach in south china. the jets on the carrier have flown back to japan to send word of the sinking and so british forces must secure the beach, village and old WW2 defences for a succesful rescue to take place.

the CP's are
(in order they need to be taken)

british island camp (start here)

wharf

trenches + river mouth

shrine + village

jetty

observetory

ill try and get an overview screenshot posted soon.
anyfeedback on my idea for map would be welcome.

Griffon2-6 · Post by **Griffon2-6** » 2007-02-20 23:41

http://www.bfeditor.org/forums

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-20 23:45

ive been checking there loads but i can never find the specific things im having trouble with, and what do you think about my map idea?

Post by **77SiCaRiO77** » 2007-02-21 00:22

if you know spanish , go here

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-21 11:46

i need some help asap, i followed all of rhino's steps and it installed well, ive started making my own map
problem - when i change the level settings in level editor to the teams i want (chinese vs. british ) i select the models for the soldiers ( heavy or light ) but it wont give me any options for the fields above that, so i just have to leave them blank but it says fields cannot be left empty!
please help soon someone :S

Post by **Rhino** » 2007-02-21 12:07

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan wrote:i need some help asap, i followed all of rhino's steps and it installed well, ive started making my own map
problem - when i change the level settings in level editor to the teams i want (chinese vs. british ) i select the models for the soldiers ( heavy or light ) but it wont give me any options for the fields above that, so i just have to leave them blank but it says fields cannot be left empty!
please help soon someone :S

dont use the bf2 editor to set up the teams.....

do it by hand in the init.con file.

V3N0N_br · Post by **V3N0N_br** » 2007-02-21 12:08

Just put anything there, you change the teams later on init.con file, inside your map's folder

Your map idea seens great, try posting an image (might be on paint), although there's already a view of the map just by reading it...

Ok, let's see:

1 - where do you get all the buildings and stuff from?

First select LEvel editor (you'll probably be in terrain editor).
Go into the left part of the editor (Resoursces bar) and select Bf2/Objects/Staticobjects -> There you'll find most of the things you'll want. Also, there are a few more folders other than Staticobjects, like the Vegetation or Roads folder.

2 - how do i put them on the map?

Drag'em drop'em. From the resourses bar to the editor window.

3 - how do i make spawn points?

Into level editor mode, right-click somewhere and go into "Create Control Point". After you create it, you right click again and select "creat spawn point".

4 - how do i make capture points and put them in order for AAS?

Read above, AAS I don't knolw, but it'll probably be through notepad.

5 - how do i make the spawn/capture points for certain teams?

???? You mean only 1 team can cap?

Post by **Rhino** » 2007-02-21 12:50

do the tuts on this page... http://bfeditor.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4323

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-21 12:58

???? You mean only 1 team can cap?

sorry no, that i was before i learnt how to place cp, i thought you placed them and then assigned them to a team thats what i meant
and as for screenshot, ive tryed attaching a word document with one in, im not sure if it worked

thank you so much for the help, ill prob run into other difficulties later and post them on here.

and what is the init.con file. that rhinos talking about? could you take me through it step by step?

V3N0N_br · Post by **V3N0N_br** » 2007-02-21 13:38

Ok, go into
C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\mods\ (wichever you named your editing mod - predit for example)\levels\YOURLEVELNAME\init.con
Or whatever path fits your Operational System language.
Open it with notepad. IF you can't find the file, just use your system search to look for it (just make sure it's the init.con inside your map's folder)
Also, you only need to do this once you're gonna run your map on BF2.

Make sure you use Bf2_Tpaint and other usefull small software that will be very helpfull when talking about saving work and making a basis for you to aprimorate.

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-21 23:36

ive sorted out teams and soldiers now, it was because i hadnt loaded them into the editor yet

ops:

well, this is turning into my own little problem page

v3non you are being an absolute LEGEND

more problems for you to put into dumbspeek for me

1 - cant find any cool static object like bridges, destructible buildings or rocks (not that thyre very cool but essential in the map)

2 - i tried to load up th map to have a look at it but i got an error at about 15% about something to with overgrowth / but i havent put any in yet!

3 - i placed an intersection whilst making my roads by accident and now i cant get rid of it!

4 - when placing object spawn points for my CP's like British Base, i try and put in a merlin and it comes up with an MEC ( might by chinese on second thoughts) even though its a Britain Vs. PLA map

pleeeasse help a poor homeless crippled orphan child V3nom

Post by **Rhino** » 2007-02-21 23:40

1. sure you are looking in the right spots?

2. run it in window mode, see what error u get.

3. click on it, press delete in the move tool...

4. sometimes when you place a object spawn it will show the other teams spawn vehicle you have set (team 1 or team 2s), if you look in your list when select the object template, it will say "UK vs MEC Transport chopper", you want the "UK vs Chinese Tranposrt chopper"

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-21 23:46

1 - ive had a good look but i could have missed some, are rocks in static objects or do you sculpt them?
2 - i did run it in windows, because i followed all your instrusctions about setting up edditor to the letter and got the liitle pr_edit shortcut, the error that cam up was that it couldnt open a file about overgrowth

3 - ive done that but it just deleted the moving axis so now i cant even select the intersection

4 - i dont have any uk vs chinese only chinese vs uk at best ( is that the same thing?)

ive made a right hash of it havent i rhino?

ops:

Post by **Rhino** » 2007-02-22 00:04

1. off the top of my head for rocks: staticobjects>common>rock(size in meters) bridges etc you can find in the roads folder, some bridges are in places you would not exspect them to be, just look hard for them they are there if the other objects are.

2. take a screenshot and post it.

3. make sure you are in the move, or select tool (not the road tool) and drag a box round it, then in your recoreces bar you should see the intersection selected, click on it to make sure its the only thing selected, and press delete.

4. yes they are the same thing

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-22 00:37

ive only put in the first british base yet, but this is AASv2 so i was wondering how you put CP's in order of how to be taken?

THANKYOU RHINO

Post by **Rhino** » 2007-02-22 01:23

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan wrote:ive only put in the first british base yet, but this is AASv2 so i was wondering how you put CP's in order of how to be taken?

THANKYOU RHINO

we will be publishing lots of info about guide lines etc in the near future with any luck, but for now you just need to set the flags up etc

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-22 13:34

cheers rhino, also i find rocks and loads of cool sruff in the load resources box so i loaded up static objects and loads of stuff was missing from the folder which it said it would load up.
also, is the most amount of textures you can make 6?

lastly for my town bit, ive put down some cobble stone type texture but then it fades into the grass around the town, i know this is good with other textures but it just looks weird, is there something like concrete squares you can place down for the urban areas?
( i might just have to use dirt instead)

V3N0N_br · Post by **V3N0N_br** » 2007-02-22 14:13

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan wrote:cheers rhino, also i find rocks and loads of cool sruff in the load resources box so i loaded up static objects and loads of stuff was missing from the folder which it said it would load up.

?????

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan wrote:also, is the most amount of textures you can make 6?

That's the most amount of detail textures. Detail textures are the ones you'll see when you're close to the terrain. But, you can use as many color textures as you like. Color textures will bee seen from far away and will give the detail texture an equivalent "tone".

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan wrote: lastly for my town bit, ive put down some cobble stone type texture but then it fades into the grass around the town, i know this is good with other textures but it just looks weird, is there something like concrete squares you can place down for the urban areas?
( i might just have to use dirt instead)

Have you generated lowdetailtexture?

About concrete squares... there are a few static objects.
Try looking into:
objects/roads/staticsnoblend/concreteblock-generic or anything lik it
objects/staticobjects/_middleeast(or whatever)/city_architecture/sidewalks
objects/staticobjects/xpak_objects/_middleeast/sidewalks

S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan · Post by **S.A.S jackwebsterdunstan** » 2007-02-22 16:05

cheers v3nom, ive sortd out all those problems now and ive officialy finished 2 bases!!! british island and trenches

i was wondering, you know al falluja region? the rope bridge going across the canyon? do you know which resource folder its in because i want it from the cliffs going over the sea to the wharf/oil rig type thing

ill try and get some screen shots up (paints not working and i dont have photoshop) because id really love your imput as i have seen your chuncheng outskirts map and it looks awesome! cant wait to play it with you, especially in the bunker
J