Newbie Mapper w/ Questions

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mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
I enjoy playing Team Fortress 2, and around the time of the release of the Medic achievements, I found a fun server based around a map called Mario Kart. I found the level to be a lot of fun and I wanted to make a level like it. The person who made it directed me towards Hammer to make it. I downloaded it and it was pretty easy to start playing with it. I made buildings, read tutorials on making sliding doors, stuff like that. But I have a bunch of questions on the actual modeling of the maps.

  1. How do you get the sweet models from TF2 games into your map? Like the benches, and lightswitches, and ceiling lamps, etc?
  2. How do you get textures to scale properly? I want to use the red/blue signs for a billboard outside the team's base, yet it doesn't scale at all and forces me to displace it 100's of pixels in weird directions to get it into the center. It's just not working right.
  3. Where do you find all the cool tf textures? I have used the tf keyword in the texture search, but Mario Kart uses textures not in the texture viewer. I want a texture for cement or a road, but can't find anything.
  4. How to tile sky textures properly on huge back walls? Also, some textures, like sky textures, when I load the map in tf2, bug out like show up through my buildings and it just messes up. When I replace it with a metal or normal texture, it doesn't do it.

Can anyone help with these questions?

Thanks

Matt
 

AWESOME-O

L10: Glamorous Member
Mar 20, 2008
779
132
1) Place an prop_static entity
2)Press shift+A, select the face of your texture, than you can do some scaling
3)Those textures in mariokart are custom, they dont come with hammer
4)WTF do you mean?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
for sky textures you've got to use the tools/skybox texture
Then in map>map properties you have to set the 'skybox texture name' to something like sky_goldrush_01
 

Dox

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Oct 26, 2007
588
62
1. its an entity call Prop_physics, Prop_static, or prop_dynamic
2. you scale textures with the 6th tool down, dont know ehy it wouldnt scale correctly for you.
3. mario_kart features alot of custom textures you have to make yourself. but standard TF textures can be found by using the "TF" filter in the texture browser
4. http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=116

Have fun! Also the custom server you were talking about, was it one of Teddy Ruxpin's?

Edit: wow, when I started writing this post there were no replies :p
 

AWESOME-O

L10: Glamorous Member
Mar 20, 2008
779
132
faster than lighting!
Also dont forget about the
thanks.jpg
button if you find that someones post/help is usefull
 

mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
Thanks everyone for all the help!

Here's another question.

How do you make glass? Do you just draw a block and give it a particular texture?
 

Géza!

L4: Comfortable Member
May 12, 2008
183
40
Basically yes, but you can find some tutorials on the page I posted about making breakable glass (Even though it's not recommended for TF2).
 

mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
I want to add some signs around my spawn room, but I want them to be flat on the wall (not a unit thickness). How do I do this without putting a brush inside the wall?

I remembered someone saying to break your wall down into parts and then apply the texture to that wall, but aren't the signs transparent around the sign (in the texture)? How could I have the wall texture and the sign texture (on top)?
 

Géza!

L4: Comfortable Member
May 12, 2008
183
40
The answer is an overlay. But I suggest doing a whole bunch of the tutorials form halfwit-2 before really working on your map. Believe me, it will be much easier after.
 

mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
I tried to put decals on stuff, but I get that same error I was getting with the skybox texture thing, with it showing through my building. I was trying to put a TF2 sign on a wall using the decal tool.

I checked out all of the tutorials on half-wit, but most were directed towards half-life stuff with only a few actually being that useful on a tf2 map. But it helped a little.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
I checked out all of the tutorials on half-wit, but most were directed towards half-life stuff with only a few actually being that useful on a tf2 map. But it helped a little.

/bludgens you for being dense

Work though this - http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Your_First_Map

use this as your bible - http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SDK_Docs

Use this for pretty much everything - http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=807

And if a tutoiral is for another source game IT DOESN'T MATTER because all source games are 98% the same!
 

mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
I already did the "your_first_map" thing a few days ago when I first started making a map.

I just figured out how to select specific sides of an block and apply a texture just to that side. That is probably how I was supposed to make the billboard correct, huh?

I'm learning everyday from this.

Does my map need to have a way to win built into it for it to work? I know Mario Kart has control points, but he made it impossible (or close to impossible) to get to the last one so nobody can really win. I was wondering if he did it because he had to have a way to win in the map or if he wanted to see if people could actually win. I'd much rather have my map like a deathmatch map (if possible).
 

AWESOME-O

L10: Glamorous Member
Mar 20, 2008
779
132
Cough *Gimmick* Cough,
but you can create Deathmatch maps, there mostly the easiest to make.
and highest rated on fpsbanana.com :(For a deathmatch map you dont have to mess with entitys for letting someone win etc
 

mattriddle

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2008
12
0
The only reason I play tf2 now is for Mario Kart, and Unreal 3 is a horrible sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004, so Deathmatch in tf2 seems like the best of both worlds.
 

Sgt Frag

L14: Epic Member
May 20, 2008
1,443
710
The only reason I play tf2 now is for Mario Kart, and Unreal 3 is a horrible sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004, so Deathmatch in tf2 seems like the best of both worlds.


Oh you just signed your death warrant!!! If I were you I'd start running! Seriously, I'm suprised you survived even mentioning Mario Kart seriously, but to say that's the only reason you play TF2 :crying::cursing::thumbdown: