Stupid Demo Level!

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glitchhunter09
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Stupid Demo Level!

Post by glitchhunter09 »

So yeah, I was wanting to create a duplicate of Pine Valley so it could be edited by people but it seems the demo level is just as nitpicky about being edited as the retail levels are. Also seems that even NOT deleting anything in a retail or beta level can cause shit to go wrong. So, I want to create an editable version of PV but I can't if I have to build everything, including the ground textures, from the ground up! Is there a way I can do this without having to build stuff from the ground up?
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by awesome24712 »

The only way I could think of doing is by exporting the objects one at a time, keeping the same coordinates, and importing them into a new level with the same .wtd.

I've edited the demo level before, even deleted some stuff. It worked fine for me (besides one time when it seemed the terrain was tilted, but the objects weren't, was very weird).
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by hppav »

Export single object (with all sub-objects if applicable) with the same coordinates, import into level, test in game, if it works then make a backup and repeat.

I believe that if you shift-click you can select all copies of a model, so for things that have hundreds of copies like trees and rocks you can, after importing the "-00" object and all its sub-objects, you can go into the level you exported it from and select all the copies by shift-clicking and export then import into the new level and it should place all the copies objects where they should be.
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by tatu »

Remember NOT to ever just rename the levelfiles themself. Also, you should be sure to check the middle option you can when saving a level, the "Generate SCN Partitions" one. This will avoid many crashes and speed up the loading time of the level.

On another actually really important note Draco told me a few years ago. It's actually really dangerous to delete any objects (even duplicates of whatever you got) in a level. Deleting anything will mess up the partitions (IIRC) and might 'cause unwanted crashes. Draco also said that you should always place the guns and dinosaur as the last thing you do cause removing just a gun can 'cause that you hold the gun wrong and wierd stuff like that. This is also the reason why many magnets for doors etc get messed up in-game even when they worked the first time.

On the other hand. The best thing you can do, to avoid problems, is to, when the level is 100% finished, export everything and then reimport it into a new fresh level, removing many stages where it can get messed up.
What Draco did for JPDS, was making a base level, with most base objects in the basement, making it really easy to import everything again.

As far as I know, JPDS didn't experience a lot of crashed during the last years of development, because of the planning and different methods we used. I will release many unreleased JPDS stuff later on when I'm able to, and I will try to explain some of it.

For the most important note when dealing with offical levels. If you ever want to edit and play around in them, then you should export and import everything into a new fresh level.


As for another note Glitch: I dont think you shouldy use words like "Stupid Demo Level" since it's not that the demo level is stupid, rather that you are not familiar how to edit retail levels. A problem I don't believe have been discussed alot on the forums, on how to work with them in a safe way, and that's also another reason why there isn't many fan levels based on retail levels. And that's something that acutally takes alot of time, and I know there had been said many times that the retail levels are unstable to edit in a safe way without exporting and reimporting everything in a fresh level. Just a thought ;)
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by glitchhunter09 »

Uh, how to I port multiple copies of the same object into a level at once? Do I use Geomadd and if so how?

edit: Ehem... Tatu, you missed the issue, Yes I generated .scn partitions. (I always do.) I did delete a raptor I ported in when messing with PV beta. (doesn't make much sense since it wasn't part of the level originally.) Also, I apparently put this on the wrong board... oops...

Edit 2: How come I didn't realize that before. The option's right in the TPM save. DOH! lol
Last edited by glitchhunter09 on Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by awesome24712 »

If you export multiple objects at once, it won't go to the base -00 object. So you will be able to export the copies of the objects and then use the "import directory" option in GeomAdd.
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by hppav »

glitchhunter09 wrote:Uh, how to I port multiple copies of the same object into a level at once? Do I use Geomadd and if so how?
My wording wasn't clear.

1. Import the base "-00" object and all it's subobjects into the new level.
2. Test the level to make sure it doesn't crash and then make a backup.
3. Select all the copies in the original level (I believe it's shift-click, it's been a while since I've done it) and export them all as one TPM. (Export selection to TPM option).
4. Import this TPM file into the new level.
5. Test the level again to make sure it doesn't crash and that all the copies work fine, then make another backup.

In my experience this causes the least amount of problems. If anyone does it any different, you can chime in :P
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by glitchhunter09 »

Yeah, it worked. The Demo level has never looked so nice and full of vegetation. It's kinda weird playing the demo level with more vegetation. (though eventually it will become a duplicate of Pine Valley. For now though, it's still the demo level with more vegetation. )

Okay, I ran out of texture space again... (I really need to expand the level's filesize beforehand....)

Anyway, I need someone to increase the texture space to the maximum (because I tend to mess up) as I intend mipmapping most of the textures to keep the quality good and close to being on par with the retail levels. (this includes ground textures.)
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by tatu »

glitchhunter09 wrote:Anyway, I need someone to increase the texture space to the maximum (because I tend to mess up) as I intend mipmapping most of the textures to keep the quality good and close to being on par with the retail levels. (this includes ground textures.)

Either you always use Shell Generator to make a fresh level, or if you work with retail levels, use can still use the retail levels .SWP file with textures. Using a new .SWP however will resault in loosing the bumpmaps.

About the terrain textures. Go to Terrain->Select first terrain object in TresEd and export that one. Then import that first of all into a new level to use that palette in the new level. This will make it looks just as good as from the level it was exported.
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Re: Stupid Demo Level!

Post by glitchhunter09 »

I think I've got the textures down in terms of color. I'll let you be the judge though. Seems like the ground texture in the demo level was changed as well. I ported the Beta level's base ground textures over to remedy this and it worked surprisingly well. After the texture space is expanded, I'm probably going to do Rocks next after I port over the mipmap = false versions of the textures. I honestly don't feel comfortable expanding the texture space myself though. (Shell generator doesn't like me I don't think. Sounds pretty dumb to say that though as it's just a program.)

edit: damn, the update swp option NEVER does anything. =(

Edit2: See? This is why I can't do it myself. Because I have no idea what I'm doing as the stupid update swp option never does anything. It says added 0 new textures, replaced 0, and etc and it doesn't have an option to force replacing either like the Import options do... Ugh, can someone please CLEARLY explain how to update the swp properly or do it for me? I can't continue work until this is done.
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