Level Editors Unite!

[Raptor]

Hello all,
Sorry to bother you, but I've got a few questions. A couple of days ago I dusted off my copy of Unreal for the PC. After playing around with the single-player game for a while, and turning a few bots into strawberry jam, I fired up the level editor. A few hours later I had created three classics: Box, Box_with_a_hall, and Big_empty_room_with_lots_of_guns. After getting the hang of it again, I've started on a HUUUUGE DeathMatch level: A whole Goa'uld ha'tak-class mothership. I'm going to try and get a friend to load it onto his website so you can download it.
To get to the point (yes, there is one), I was wondering if any of you had attempted something like this, either for Unreal or another game. If anyone had any skins, maps, weapons, etc that I'd be able to use, I'd be very thankful.
The next map I've got planned? A Tok'ra tunnel system. Hopefully I can create tunnels that will grow/expand/shrink, etc as the game goes on!
Thankyou for your time,
Raptor

 

[spookypumpkin]

soz, i got lost after the third word!!

 

[HeyLynny]

Sorry

Me too!

 

[skoon]

eh?

 

[imported_Nemesis]

well i understood it perfectly well not perfectly, but u no
ummm...yeah ive atempted sumthing like that b4, i tried doin the whole SGC in worldcraft for half-life, it ended up rubbish, trashed the file and never did another one..it took too much time

if ur gunna create a map, it would prolly b a good idea to create one for a popular game, i know unreal is a popular game, but its old and not many ppl play it. half-life, quake 3 or unreal tourney would b a good idea not forcin ya, just a suggestion

i havent used the lev editor in unreal b4, but that shrinkin/expanding thing, i dont think you can have physical objecs do that in a map, not the walls anyway. but if you create some animated textures for it, it MIGHT end up lookin the way you want, dunno

and if u want to put it on a site, i can put it on mine as well if you want, have it well-known. just email me webmaster@sg1fanzone.co.uk and ill get bac to u as soon as possible.
so call if u need anything, soz but i cant help you with ur mapping

 

[skoon]

...eh?

 

[Gemsong]

Blank look

 

[Raptor]

I'm actually doing it with Unreal Tourney. Sorry Nemesis, I've got both Unreal and UT, I just forgot which is was using!
the UT editor I'm using (UnrealEd 2.0) is pretty good, but unfortunately has no help file. I got some walkthoughs off the net though, and it's fairly easy once you know what you're doing. It is possible to make walls that move back and forth (it was in the original unreal somewhere, as I recall, and I've seen a friend do it, I don't remember how, though.), and I've experimented with an EXTREMELY basic version of the Goa'uld transport rings, but they look fairly bad so far.
I'm getting Half-Life soon, so prehaps we could share a few ideas. Hmmm... a Gordon Freeman, PhD vs. Major Samantha Carter cage-match could be interesting...
Thanks for actually understanding what I was talking about,
Raptor

P.S. To all you people who don't know what I'm talking about, there are two answers:
#1: Forget about this thread and go take a nice long nap, or
#2: Do a search on the 'Net for 'level editing'. That should get you up-to-date.

 

[imported_Nemesis]

i think my sam, i mean sam, would win that
i havent actually played half-life properly, i borrowed it off a friend and i just use the base files to play things like counter-strike. but worldcraft is a very nice proggy, dont think u can make moving walls in it though, but thats just me, and i dont no much.

i was thinkin a while back about makin an sg-1 mod for half-life, but that would take ages and i have no idea where to start
u no anything bout half-life coding? or game programmin in general? cos it could end up really good

 

[skoon]

how rude (walks off grummbling)...

 

[Raptor]

Sorry if I insulted you, Skoon, or anyone else who came up with blank stares. I just think that sleep is a very good thing, and the human race would feel a lot better if they stayed in bed for an hour or two longer.
Now Nemesis, on to the fun stuff... or not. Unfortunately, I don't know much about H\L coding (I don't even have the game yet. I should in a couple of weeks, though.), but I do know a bit about programming in general. Even better, that friend of mine I was talking about is very good when it comes to programming (He's an IT guy), and would be quite willing to help us out.
I've come up with a great idea though, a first for me. I don't know if you've played much UT, but along with the standard game modes (DeathMatch, Team DeathMatch, Capture the Flag, etc...) there is a mode called Assault. One team protects their objective(s), such as a self-destruct switch, and the other team trys to activate or destroy it within a set time. If you've seen 'The Serpent's Lair', I think you know what I'm getting at. One team runs around the ship planting C4 and generally causing as much mayhem as possible, while the other has to stop them (and possibly repair whatever they've destroyed). If the attacking team completes their set objectives, they could try and escape the ship, either through the 'gate or by stealing a couple of Death Gliders. I've modelled about 1/8th of the ship without textures so far. I was wondering if you know where I could get any screenshots of the ship, inside or outside, that I'd be able to model textures off, or that show a good layout of the ship.
Thanks for all your help. If you'd like to PM me next time, that'd be helpful, as this thread is slowly slipping off the bottom of the screen.
Thanks,
Raptor

 

[iceycat]

I definatley have to agree with Half Life as your editing game of choice. There is simply more out there from my personal experience in teaching you how to do it. Besdides Half-Life comes with Worldcraft a fantastic level editor. Unreal level editing seems more centered on how to throw a bunch of guys into a multiplayer deathmatch and let em at it, where as Worldcraft allows you to do more special effects kinda things, and since there are more resources out there for it anyway it just makes sense to use it! By the way in Worldcraft to do what you are talking about with the walls is possible..... If you take 3 seperate sections of hallway each the same size except for the middle hall which will have an innerdimension 1 unit larger than the outer dimension of the 2 outside halls, basically treat the 2 outer halls as a sideways sliding door that starts in the open position. As the player crosses an invisible trigger zone the two "halves" of the sliding door come together creating the illusion of a shrinking hallway. You can program them to stay together, or to revert back to bieng seperated, you can also adjust the speed of this to your liking so that the hall will shrink slowly, or quickly. There are other ways of doing this also, but that is the one that comes to my mind. Sorry for the length but I thought I'd help out a newbie editor ( I sorta am too ). By the way I did try to make up a mock up of the SGC but with no real dimensions to go by, I couldn't seem to get the proportions right so I gave up. Now if someone had mock up blueprints for the SGC.......

 

[imported_Nemesis]

blueprints of the sgc? easy!
seen into the fire? if u have then you've got what ur looking for right there, i know its not the whole base, but its most of the important part of the base.

they should have a screen capture sumwhere on http://www.p3x595.com

look around
and i think u can get some pretty good pics of death gliders on there as well
and yeah ive heard of that mode, in tribes 2 its kinda like seige, one team attacks, one defends.
now, are we seriously gunna start this mod for half-life? cos i have no idea how to program

 

[iceycat]

Hmm, actually starting another half-life mod? I wouldn't mind but it would have to be a group effort to actually get it done. The only real problem with establishing your own mod is getting someone who will create model meshes for you, and also someone who can write code. The people who both have the know how, and the desire to help in those two categories are pretty hard to come by. A texture editor would be nice too, but thats usually a luxury you can make do with what's already out there. I dunno, if enough of the right people came together on this I'd be interested in helping.

 

[imported_Nemesis]

well i could model 3d meshes, i have the equipment, but i just dont know how to. i guess i could learn, i already know how to do all the basic stuff, but human meshes are really hard to do

 

[iceycat]

hmm, any other takers out there? Nemisis, how easy would it be to model say a staff weapon for first person use? Or a P90? Any coders out there?

 

[imported_Nemesis]

a staff would probably be quite easy, though ive never tried, first person makes it harder though. but i have no idea how to texture map, or use a MAX model in a half-life game...do u no?

 

[Neo]

Originally posted by spookypumpkin
soz, i got lost after the third word!!

LOL... me too....

 

[iceycat]

no, sorry my only area of specialization lies with the actual map editing, and level design within worldcraft.

 

[imported_Nemesis]

ok, we need some coders then.
r we actually gunna start a mod? if so, i can start looking for some ppl, i can make pretty good websitees, so i can make one for the mod