Various questions... again!

[nataq]

First of all thaks again to all that helps!

Going very well so far on my map. Quite ready to light everything up soon. Before that I need to fix some small things.

1- I have prison bars that face a sky brush. The bars are spaced at about 8 (or 16?) units and they look good that way. I dont want to put them any closer. But then a rocket can just disapear if sent through the bars. Since they seem closed together I would like if I can use an invisible/solid brush where a rocket would explose when hit, not disapear into the void. How do I do that ? I think I tried just the "nodraw" attribute but didnt worked. I have to try again tonight but if there is some trick please explain.

2- Player clip. Where is that texture located ? I found more than one but when applied appears in the map and is solid. I really mean player clip, not the same as I ask in #1.

3- When compiling, I always have lots of lines under Arghrad that says "Couldnt load texture xxx". Map seems to light fine though but I could be wrong. In my .bat the line about arghrad is this one:
C:\Users\lizeje\Desktop\Compile\\arghrad -threads 4 -bounce 16 -chop 128 -chopsky 1024 -chopcurve 128 -gamedir C:\quake2 -moddir d:\Jeux\quake2\lmctf C:/quake2/lmctf/maps/minionsreunion.bsp
I have extracted the textures in the lmctf folder under a folder called "textures". This is where gtkradiant is pointing for textures. I know Arghrad is independant.

4- Hint brushes. I have read about them but still dont get it. Anyone can put it simple ? Like I select all brushes that "I think" are details then turn them into Hint brushes and voila ? Is that only to reduce compile time or is there an impact while you are playing the map ? Compile time with todays computer (at least mine) is only a few seconds...

Thank you again!!

JF

[nataq]

Forget number 2. Found the player clip flag and working great

[nataq]

Please ?

Also, im trying to flip the texture of a ctf flag... can we do that ?

Thanks!

[m]

Sorry, I missed this on my visits the last couple of days.

1 - You're sort of stuck on the rocket no go boom bars thing. You could try placing a 2 unit brush behind them with the front surface flags set to trans 33 and 66 and make the back surface flag nodraw. I haven't messed with it yet but when I get home later today I'll work on it.

2 - You got it, yay!

3 - Try dropping the -bounce and or the -chop 128 one at a time. And what version of Argh are you using? At least one was horribly fussy.

4 - Hate to make you wait (again, on my way out the door for a bit) but I'll try and come up with a simple map example to show how I've had success.

5 - I'm no help with flag, it may not be possible. I just use the texture on a solid brush and do it the old fashion way -100 on X or Y depending on the need to flip or mirror.

[m]

I re-found this link

files.volved.com/qsr/qoole250_cd/rust/tutorials/hint/hint.htm


It's pretty okay to understand and apply though I've had better success using different "methods".

- For one, when I know I have a bum-load of broken surfaces in a large area I try and align major vis blocking walls at the X/Y 0-0 axis. (read dead-center of the map) Z does not matter so much unless you have a really z-heavy focused atrium or arena.

- Another thing to note; if it's a large open map or a space map forget hint brushes and try to use textures as detailing.

- And even more importantly, detail brushes are your very best friend in a detail loaded map. Use them prodigiously, especially when they intersect with other brushes and DO NOT block l.o.s. or touch entity and sky brushes.

[nataq]

My map is kind of a big outdoor area so i guess i will forget about hint brushes. When compile everything looks good and run well.

I still have those cant find texture messages i will try what you say. Also when loading the map i have lots of cant find texture message in the console but then again everything looks good...

I think im done with the map now

How do i go about packaging it all up so everything is fine when distributing it with all textures, sound and stuff ? Im searching for a tutorial or something.

Im quite there! Ill post the map in a few days when it will be packed

Thianks again!!

[m]

Good on ya'

There's a great utility that helps get textures and things sorted out a bit.

q2.backshooters.com/pub/misc/mapfilegatherer.zip

It's easy to use, just make sure that all textures that you use in editor are also in their proper folder structure in the Quake2 folder...Quake2/baseq2/textures/"your textures".

When I zip mine up I like to make a folder and add folders as follows;

maps
textures
sound
env

And anything else such as bot pathing, mod requirements and such. Select all the folders and zip them to "Your map name here". That way users can simply 'aim' the file at Quake2/baseq2 and let 'er rip. There're many ways to do it, that's mine, hope it helps.

[nataq]

Excelent! I try that!

[nataq]

The tool just keep freezing on me Im on Win7 64bit. I also tried to run the tool in compatibility mode but still freezes. I can specify the source (my lmctf folder?), the target (any folder I want ?) then I select my .map and it freezes there. Maybe its because I dont select the good source and target ? Can you help me there ? I didnt quite understand your last post... Thanks!

[nataq]

Ok I triedsome other things but still not there...

I dont mind gathering the files manullay. What I understand is that I need to do a .pak file if I have custom textures. To create the .pak file I have come across pakexplorer but it wont accept longfile names that I have a plenty. Then I saw qped that supports longfile name but ant find a valid installation file. Each time I download it it starts an installation of another program call vgrabber. Where can I get a utility to create my pak file ?

Thanks!

[nataq]

Found pakscape! So far so good!

[Deleted]

pakscape not necessary needed .... just zip you map files.

create a new directory, and copy all your new files from editor tmp directory too your new clean map directory.

nataq1\baseq2

- env
- maps
- sound
- textures

nataq1.zip

Done!

[knightmare]

Winpak will quickly build pak files: soldieroffortune2.filefront.com/file/Winpak_pak_extractor;149
It can also extract all files from a pak, making it useful for merging paks.
EDIT:
That's apparently an older 16-bit version that won't run on 64-bit operating systems. I uploaded the 32-bit v1.3 here:
winpak13.zip (144 KB)

[nataq]

All great info! The zip suggestion is to extract later before playing or is Quake 2 able to read it now ? As I understand, pak file dont need to be extracted, just placed in the baseq2 or mod folder and voilà. Correct ? I'll try winpak 32 bits on my 64 bit system!

As always, big thanks!!!

[nataq]

Map posted in the map section! Try it out!