map idea. but i need hheellpp!!!!

[ashkenaz]

hey guys this is my first post [ i think ] but i want to make a map.  [what a surprize]



i dont know how. 



so i set out today to find  a mentor in this.[basically, i want a partner to help make a map, and to teach me how to make one]




my idea is a rather large map [huge] and its going to be a forest that is very very dense. players will start out on an elevated area by the team flag. there will be 4 cannons [which can be used 1 time per a game, if possible] that will shoot players just under half way across the map. like in catapult carnage. im thinking of having a few rivers or streams. [the map is going to look like the amazon forest  my insparation, lol ]


i want it to have the following things.......


=huge trees

=some hollow trees with windows for sniping

=branches in trees for fun ambushes and getting around

=leaves will be on trees like in the armeggedon
pines trees [you can walk through them]

=a few sand pits around river banks {eliminates all players who walk into it}

=tarpits around forest {same as sand pits}

=wirlpools in river{same as the tar and sand pits}

=lots of bushes, plants, and grass on the ground that can be walked through and used as cover

=a few plains here and there

=modes include capture the flag and team elimination

=there will be tropical environment sounds.

=from what i see maps can be programed to do certain things, and if thats true, then i will program it to reduce lag by alot for such a large level [IF it is possible]


so thats a few main things to expect IF i can get someone to help me map and texture [a lot of custom ones will be used for sure]  they will also be my teachers in mapping and texturing [i can also get 2 partners, a mapper and a texturer]

and for those of you who haven't noticed this map wont be fast paced but meant for concealing yourself and sneaking around [ideal for tourneys]. i want it to be very colorful and breathtaking from textures of tropical flowers and plants.

i hope someone will help me!!!!


thanks for your time,
   
                        jake
                           a.k.a ashkenaz

P.S.  anyone interested ???email me at bonafide. carbon@comcast.net     i dont check often so dont get mad at me, make sure you give me how long you have been mapping/texturing and other usefull information. if the maps can be programmed then i need some one who knows how to program maps.
!!!Always remember!!! i am willing to simplify the map if it was proven that there is no way i can do something!!!!

[y00tz]

Jake, don't be intimidated by people posting and giving you a hard time.

Too be blunt, I don't think this map idea would work, but feel free to prove me wrong

A couple of points...
-The Digital Paint mapping community has yet to actually produce trees that are even half-way decent looking.
-This game doesn't 'support' sniping as much as others might.
-The community has only a single plant model.

For mapping:
-Download BSP w/ the pball textures.  This is available on this site
-Read as many tutorials on the site as well as guides for new mappers.  Even if you get a mentor, read these anyway, it will truly help.
-A pretty good computer.  A map this big will take a long time to compile (lighting wise)

For textures:  (this is something I've been doing a lot lately)
-A digital camera.. something over 4 megapixels works great.
-Wally 1.55 (link anyone?)
-Photoshop (or GIMP)

Don't be discouraged Jake, maybe you can pull it off.  I really doubt you need (or will find) a 'mentor'.  Just post here with things that you need help on, after you've exhausted all possible tutorials and forum searches, and practice a lot.   Make several maps before you attempt this big map.

And most likely, after you've made several smaller and easier maps you will decide whether or not you have the skill set, patience, and creativity to produce the large map. 

By the way, if you're picturing a map bigger than anything we have now, keep in mind that it will run VERY slow because of all the polies.

To view polies in any map, whether it's one you made or an existing one, type 'r_speeds 1', and look in the bottom left for 'wpoly' which shouldn't go above, maybe, 1000?

Cheers and good luck,
y00tz

p.s.
"map idea. but i need hheellpp!!!!" is pretty colorful.  Tone it down, maybe use 'Map idea, help requested', it should be just as effective.

[Eiii]

You've got to crawl before you can walk. It's generally a rule that no one's first few maps are any good. Start small, make some simple box-maps, move up to multi-path, then try whatever it is you want to try.
Keep in mind that the engine has limits while making a map. Your map, as you've described it, is a huge open area with lots of brushes, transparent brushes, and water. If that were realized, it's r_speeds would be far too high to be playable, let alone played over a network.

[ashkenaz]

true true,

but if the maps are programmable i have some backround knowledge that could help redouce lagg to what you would have in a map like blitzkrieg. for instance the computer only displays things in sight not things behind tree or bushes and further more displays movement only in a certain area [in a large map like my idea, only 10 or so would be near you at one time] so bushes and parts of trees your computer wouldn't see then wouldn't be recorded at all, making lagg small but download time BIG unfortunatly, unless pball incorporates a download manager which in fact would cut the time by 300% [not making this up, ill maybe post something about it in 'suggestion']. And seriously im 13, and after taking a test i found out that 60% of my knowledge was at collage level, and nothing below high school!!! it makes me just a little mad to think that people can't work together with a kid whos actually quite smart and can catch on quickly for an idea that is easliy modified and dude trees can be made easily i think so because when i saw this thing, on what i think it was shazam33, it convinced me a decent tree is easy to make. [i saw this thin ledge in there, in real life it would be and inch wide, in game tho it was nearly invisible, so i concluded that it would be easy to make thin brances and stuff so it looked realistic!]


my parents started a new buisness so we are tight on the budget but with help i think we could cut the time by 2 or 3%! i mean y00tz seems to have too much time on his hands. he can make textures like when i see his posts he makes tons of stuff there



jake

p.s. i apologize for making you feel bad [if i did] and for my  keyboard, its horrible and can't type some keys. also i try to watch the tut movies on some of the posts but my comp used to be my grandmas and she couldn't see very well so the comp waz set up to make everything BIG and i can't change it so watching videos is so hard cause i have to grab all the bars and move them so i can follow the arrows

[ashkenaz]

oh and iforgot i plan to make it like 4 dark ages put togethes and formed into a rectangle [2 dark ages wide and 2 dark ages long ,    it is longer than it is wider right??] my parents yard tho is very full of exotic plans so getting the right 'look' in textures wont be to hard.

[Eiii]

You can't 'program' maps the way you're talking about. That engine work, and Pball already does that VIS stuff.

If you think you can make a tree, go for it. But I really don't think you should start out with such an ambitious project.

[Zorchenhimer]

i saw this thin ledge in there, in real life it would be and inch wide, in game tho it was nearly invisible, so i concluded that it would be easy to make thin brances and stuff so it looked realistic!

Do not do that with brushes. You will want to kill yourself before it's over. You'll want to use md2 models. (Yes, you will have to make them)

Also, you should listen to what y00ts and Eiii have said. Make smaller maps first, and work your way up to this one.

[y00tz]

Shazam22?  That is not a tree, it's a giant lollipop.

[nightryder]

for a mentor it might be easier to just get on irc then go to the channel #pbmappers there is always some one there and if you leave a question someone usually gets back to you eventually. termin8or and s8n are usually in there and there a couple of the best so they know what theyre talking about and im sure if they have time they would help, or teach you some things. there are other mapping channels but i dont know what theyre called.

[Chef-Killer]

oh and iforgot i plan to make it like 4 dark ages put togethes and formed into a rectangle [2 dark ages wide and 2 dark ages long

Did you play to long on the OTB-Speed server?

Aeh, this is the map darkages in bsp (Have a look at the right box):


I think the purple rectangle is the maximum size of a map. So how do you want to put in something like 4 darkges? The limit ends at almost 2 darkages. And there are lots of other limits.

You can try to make the map. I wish you good luck for realise your idea. But i wouldn't spend a lot of time into a maybe not working (?) map.

[ashkenaz]

.............................. ` all right       hey listen i was in bad mood last nigh i apologize for it but i got a question        how do you make like a 'booster pad'?


chief killer thanks never new it would have limits  'sigh'
ill try to cram it all in [ it seems to have limits going up and down, maybe i can make it 2 floating blatforms one below one above but making it seem as if there is light below too like above,  now i confused myself 

nightryder i dont think ill be spending all my time doing it but hel would be liked from them, you get my flow? cause you dont need to be commited you just help out once in awial

yootz its the one with a lolipop that it has the ledge ,when you choose to go underneath the bridge in one corner before you go in to tunnel youl see a box if you stand on the box you see a thin ledge leading to the elevated camper platform

zorch thank idk the difference between a brush and a model so ill read up on models. thanks

eiiiiiiiiiii alright you cant. hmmmm ill improvise [pball should seriously get a physics sand box, that would help the popularity alot, especially from me. im used to halflife physics, they have a great mod called garrys mod, youtube it, really]

i think that covers all the helpfull posts i still want help on the booster pads [im trying for something like the catapults in catapult carnage] thanks

jake

[Eiii]

hey listen i was in bad mood last nigh i apologize for it but i got a question        how do you make like a 'booster pad'?

Trigger_push. Target it to a func_null you want the player to hit.

There may be simple physics some day, but I really doubt there'll be anything close to Gary's Mod. That's a game for good computers. This, not so much.

[y00tz]

how do you make like a 'booster pad'?

Play the map "Bombsaway" and you will come to find it has exactly what you're thinking of, and even better, here is the source of how it works: http://dplogin.com/forums/index.php?topic=1171.msg11779#msg11779

[jitspoe]

Trigger_push. Target it to a func_null you want the player to hit.

It's info_notnull, actually.  The null's are used for targeting spotlights and get deleted during compilation.

The type of map it sounds like you want to make will not work well with the current map format.  Trees can't be made to look decent with brushes, and with models, they won't have any collision detection.  As eiii suggested, you should probably start out making some simple maps.  Don't even release them.  Just use them to learn the level editor.  Read and follow this guide carefully to begin with: http://dplogin.com/forums/index.php?topic=5150.0.  Once you've learned how to use BSP, spend some time working on a map you plan to release.

Oh, and if you're going to brag about your intelligence, at least use proper grammar.

[Spook]

rofl, way to be an excretory opening at the end jits =]

[Eiii]

Oh, and if you're going to brag about your intelligence, at least use proper grammar.

<3

And I thought func_pushes were similar, as in they just calculated the angles. Does that mean that if there were magically a moving func_notnull, the jump pad would launch you do different positions?

[jitspoe]

I believe so.

[ashkenaz]

jitspoe i thank you like i would thank god............................ -.-

[ashkenaz]

sorry for the double post but i have gotten to a conclusion. i am going to make a small map to see if i can create a good tree. my plan is to make a large oak looking tree in middle of a circular arena and on four sides of the arena will be elevated platforms where you spawn on booster pads that shoot you into the tree. the tree will be filled with rooms, platforms, and ladders. [maybe balconies] it will be elimintation.  hey yootz do you think you have a good bark texture, and some leaf texture?
i plan on making it in many stages realeasing different versions with better stuff every time. ;}

[KiLo]

I believe jitspoe posted a bark texeture recently somewhere here.