Post by mutantleg in Custom Maps and Editor tips

Viewing post in Custom Maps and Editor tips

1) flares

create a regular light
select it
use the console command: FR 64
(FR stands for flare radius and the number you write will be its size)
you can change the sprite with the command: MT f5
where f5 is the sprite name (possible sprites are in the Zortch\editor\spr9 folder)

2) key behind glass

this is an engine limitation - it only checks if you hid the key behind energy doors
only possible solution right now is to make the container bigger so you cannot touch the keys radius
sorry about that 😔

3) green reactors
you actually found a hidden cut feature
(it was another sort of reactor for a different room)
the green reactors you can find within the actors:

wgen is the wall generator
xgen is the large green generator

4) skybox

if you are using preview map (with play command) these await a patch for to be tested
if you using already the custom maps let me know (it might be an error if they don't work)

5) sparks and smoke

these are also actors
you can find them in this row:

they meant to look like little arrows to show the effects direction

let me know if you need more help with any of these
for the skybox I possibly still need to make a patch

Splatpig631 year ago(+1)

this is an engine limitation - it only checks if you hid the key behind energy doors
only possible solution right now is to make the container bigger so you cannot touch the keys radius
sorry about that 😔

Kinda expected. I assume the only solution would be to rewrite the script to set a smaller keycard hitbox radius, or at least give the opportunity for any modders who want to mess around to do it.

you actually found a hidden cut feature
(it was another sort of reactor for a different room

Really like the effect tho, and I could see it being repurposed to make another sort of shield ray particle effect that powers up a shield.

And for the green generator, I could see useful to set a way to make custom green generators (setting lenght and the destroyed shape) within the engine in a similar fashion in which you make doors or other moving platforms. Sizable particle effects would be cool too, if possible.

If you want to make a shield barrier and connect it to the generator, do you use the LINK command, right? Guess I can do the same with trigger barriers linked with NPC spawns.

if you are using preview map (with play command) these await a patch for to be tested
if you using already the custom maps let me know (it might be an error if they don't work)

The skybox works fine ifI'm playing or using the map preview in the engine, its just the same one. I wanted to swap it with one of the other skys showed in the game.

Hopefully this feedback can help.

Splatpig631 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

Fun fact: I've manged to add a couple of custom Dall-E textures through the shortcut method, and seemingly worked. They do appear in the editor and preview mode...

...but once I run the game, they appear as a white block

Is it something to do with how the texure file have been written in the \tiledata.script ?

I've downloaded the texture pack from your games and right now I'm planning to bring back the unused Zortch custom textures, and it would be nice to have a CUSTOM or at least be able to set any custom texture under the correct tab (like if you made a metal texture, you put it under the METAl tab and so on...).

mutantleg1 year ago(+1)

for the game only the texture name matters (as long as it find it's ok)
it might be missing from the Zortch/data/mapskin folder
I made a handy guide (also includes the steps you are familiar with - just a draft for a future editor manual)

(and of course I still need to fix it to make this easier - sorry for taking so long)

Splatpig631 year ago(+1)

Don't worry about it, take your time to work on it ;)

Something strange I've noticed tho is that my Zortch files are not in the same place as you showed them to be. This is strange, since the game running hasn't had any problem with it. This is how my files look on the main folder:

And on the editor folder:

Could this be the reason why the custom textures doesn't seem to work regardless of your guide?

mutantleg1 year ago

yes, you need to create the Zortch/data/mapskin folder manually and put a copy of the texture there for the game to see them

Splatpig631 year ago(+1)

It worked finally!

mutantleg1 year ago

you actually need to use tags:

for wgen - the wall generator:
- first select the entity
- use the command DT 5
- deselect it
- select the door it activates
- use the command T 5
DT in this case means Destination Tag
and T is for Tag (and you need to use a seperate tag for what your want to activate)
you can browse all tags set on a level in menu option 8 (tag info)

linking only works for switches (like the doors on E1M1)
but tagging them like this should work
the difference is switches don't destroy the energy door - only toggle it

( for the large generator (xgen) you don't have to it automatically destroys all energy doors)

Splatpig631 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hey, how do I switch between skyboxes? Still haven't figured it out yet. At the same time, I wanted to try terrain deformation and I was curious to know what are the best tricks to mix two textures toghever (like when you create a floor with two ground texture or you want to put a graffiti or flyer on a surface).

I would also like to create a instadeath barrier (like when the player fall out of bonds they instantly die) for a map I'm working on, it is possible?

mutantleg1 year ago (1 edit)

Skyboxes:
i'm still working on this one (to let you view them in preview at least)
right now you can only set them if your map is in the custom folder
and you have a script set up for it (an example on how to do it is Zortch\custom\cutmap2.script )

Mixing textures:
for posters I recommend using separate geometry and placing them near the wall

another alternative is to split the walls (quad edit mode (M) mode 5)

you can make a terrain plane by pressing T and dragging it around (works similar to box creation)
(also quad edit modes 7 8 and 9 are designed to work with this kind of geometry)

to mix terrain textures you can set textures by vertices:
- enter quad edit mode (M)
- enter mode 2
- here you can select vertices and use Q and E to set textures on them
(note: blending textures this way doesn't work on BSP )

Instadeath:
there is no insta death in the game (or at least there used to be but I don't remember leaving in anything capable of it)

there are a few alternatives - there are ways for making ground that can hurt you:

just leave a hole in the ground - if you fall of the map it teleports you to the start

you can place lava (set the texture to the red lava texture - only works on ground that you can walk on - works similar way to damage in doom)

press V and draw a zone
in mode 6 (properties)
hold E and set the zone to be Lava or Nuke

and I don't recommend it but you can make a mover that can hurt you by:
making a box
select it
in mode 6
set it to be Drill

mutantleg1 year ago

it's still a bit convoluted but I guess it's usable now:

I uploaded a new version to Patches.zip (Build 1828)

you need to also copy over the new editor (if it says XED 3231 in the window your good)
- enter mode 7 for map info (this is only needed to see your change)
- now if you use the command line command:
SKY city3
- you will see the info change (Skybox:city3)
- in the preview (play command) it should use that skybox
(and you don't have to bother with the scripts later, in fact this overrides any other sky name set in script)

(skybox preview in the editor is still broken -- I spaghetti-ed myself into the corner 😔

Splatpig631 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

Appreciate the effort, hope you can fix the preview system for future updates as well.

I kinda feel bad to be the only one using this thread tho, I was hoping to see at least more people showing some of their custom maps as well.

Btw, how many skyboxes are in the game? Having a full list might be useful to research.

mutantleg1 year ago (1 edit)

you can find them in the data.dat (it's just a zip file) in the sky folder:
canyon
canyon3
cave
city
city3
crater
dirt
ice
icealt
jungle
night
prison
trash
trashnight
(some of them are unused or half finished .. or not finished at all)

Splatpig631 year ago(+1)

Thanks!

Splatpig631 year ago(+1)

Have you updated the editor to include custom skyboxes with a simpler process?

mutantleg1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

I remember changing it - but I just checked and turned out there was a bug in it:
you will need the fresh new (and not yet official) Build 1926 from the Patches.zip
the process now is:
in the editor use the console command to SKYNAME to set the skybox
e.g. SKYNAME city5
then you will need a directory with that name in the custom folder
e.g. custom/city5
(or custom/sky/city5)

(it will only be visible ingame)

itch.io

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