All my maps are terrible anyways lol, I can just hope to release one thats decent and build off that
[Video Tutorials] How to Make TF2 Maps
- Thread starter Crash
- Start date
- Nov 25, 2008
- 782
- 849
I know this is quite the bump, but I wanted to thank you for doing these! I was out of the game for a few years and needed a nice refresher. While it was a bit fast, because I had the basic knowledge stuffed away, I understood and was able to follow along. Do you plan on adding anything more advanced in the future by chance?
Possible topics to go over:
Possible topics to go over:
- Displacements
- Advanced Triggers (Dynamic props changing on cap, forward spawns killing enemy teams in them upon team change, etc)
- Advanced CP_Steel Style Logic
- Attempting to create a new game mode and what goes into making sure you can succeed.
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I think this serie is for beginners who want to try their hands at mapping. If they find mapping interesting then they can follow other tutorials/read wiki. Therefor I dont think Crash should make complex stuff, like steel logic or gamemode/logic tutorials
I don't think there's any part of making a tf2 map where a player-scale reference isn't useful. From first blocking out to final details, they're always useful.
If you really want to be neat, put them in a visgroup and hide them. Waaaay less time consuming than putting them in, taking them out, putting them back, taking them out again, etc ad nauseam.
If you really want to be neat, put them in a visgroup and hide them. Waaaay less time consuming than putting them in, taking them out, putting them back, taking them out again, etc ad nauseam.
We are talking about YM here...
Great video, VERY pertinent to the horde of new mappers we have lately since the biggest issue I see with most new maps is scaling.
I always have a visgroup in my maps that I call "scaleRef." In it, I have player models and sentry gun models (as prop_static so even if I forget to hide the visgroup, they don't get compiled). Usually I go with sniper, heavy, and/or pyro. Sniper models are great for checking sniper deck visibility. Creating this visgroup is the first thing I do after making the first brush.
For sentries, I set the fade distance to 1024/1024. Then whenever I select the sentry model, I can see the coverage that a sentry in that spot will have in a nice little bubble.
Glad you mentioned the VDC wiki in that vid. Sometimes I will set fade distances on a scout.mdl to his jump height (320 hu) to make sure scouts are able to access places I want them to be able to go. You can also do this for movement speed if you like, but I find it better to compile and actually time how long it takes for each class.
Finally, this vid is actually worth a watch. It was made for CSGO mapping, but making your first layout like this -- eg, no walls, just floors and timing how long it takes each class to get to points of interest -- is a really good way of getting scaling right. It's useful to modify it for TF2 by add planned height variation to the floor sections.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/c...-top-down-layout-to-bsp-block-in-workflow.php
I always have a visgroup in my maps that I call "scaleRef." In it, I have player models and sentry gun models (as prop_static so even if I forget to hide the visgroup, they don't get compiled). Usually I go with sniper, heavy, and/or pyro. Sniper models are great for checking sniper deck visibility. Creating this visgroup is the first thing I do after making the first brush.
For sentries, I set the fade distance to 1024/1024. Then whenever I select the sentry model, I can see the coverage that a sentry in that spot will have in a nice little bubble.
Glad you mentioned the VDC wiki in that vid. Sometimes I will set fade distances on a scout.mdl to his jump height (320 hu) to make sure scouts are able to access places I want them to be able to go. You can also do this for movement speed if you like, but I find it better to compile and actually time how long it takes for each class.
Finally, this vid is actually worth a watch. It was made for CSGO mapping, but making your first layout like this -- eg, no walls, just floors and timing how long it takes each class to get to points of interest -- is a really good way of getting scaling right. It's useful to modify it for TF2 by add planned height variation to the floor sections.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/c...-top-down-layout-to-bsp-block-in-workflow.php
Any chance you could make those into a prefab? Like the TF2 Doors prefab set in ABS?
I guess I could, but it's pretty simple to set up. Just make a new visgroup, add the models you want for scale reference. Don't think you really need a prefab. Plus the important part is using visgroups, and I'm not clear if visgroups carry over from a prefab.
I almost specifically mentioned this, but chose to leave it out for simplicity's sake. I already felt like the episode was a bit disjointed with a lot of little tips. But, it's mentioned in Grazr's guide, so at least it's out there. It is a super handy way of doing it, though! The scout fade is a neat idea, too! Thanks!
