Creating a map

[SpiderGlitch]

I've been considering learning how to make a map, like all the stuff in workshop. Is it difficult for someone who's just starting to learn?

Additionally, I found the "level creation" guide by BlackEagle, before anyone posts it here. Anyone have some tips for making a level that aren't mentioned in the guide?

[cannonf0dder]

Not very difficult at all, I started with a bare minimum of UE2 experience and picked this up really fast, it's very much just like a giant jigsaw puzzle or clicking meshes together.

The level creation guide is, for the most part, all you'll need, the rest is all learned though playing around once you've gotten the hang on it.
You may need a bit of help with kismet scripting, there's plenty of tutorials around the net for that, or ask here on the forums, BlackEagle, AJanitor or myself normally have good advice and tips on what you're trying to accomplish.

For you're first map, start simple and small-ish. Don't overshoot and make a huge map, you'll find it hard to "populate" with things and may end up with either a big barely messy map or a big overly messy map. Getting a good balance of size to mess is key for an enjoyable map.

Basic tips I'd give you. hmmm.

Block out and test the size of your rooms a lot before adding onto it, I've found myself having to remake whole sections of map because one room was too big or small for it's purpose.

Try to keep the triangle of water>bin>furnace within a good range of each other, and the maps boundaries. Long long walks to and from them can get tedious.

Always playtest the map fully to check for stuck trash, un-fixable bullet holes and broken blood splats.

Make sure you setup the world info as in the guide, doing this wrong can cause people to loose office trophies and stuff.

I wish you good luck on your first map and look forward to seeing another new creator in the workshop. Any problems or questions, feel free to pop them over in the CC forums, we're always happy to help out.

[SpiderGlitch]

Originally posted by cannonf0dder:

I wish you good luck on your first map and look forward to seeing another new creator in the workshop. Any problems or questions, feel free to pop them over in the CC forums, we're always happy to help out.

All noted, thanks for the reply! (:
I'll be sure to keep these tips in mind, if I can get the level maker thing working I'll probably start later today

Oh, a question though; If, for example, you want certain others to test your map, or just use it to play with friends, is there a way to share it without making it public?

[cannonf0dder]

Yeah, there's 3 options when uploading it, private, friends only and public.
You can also change that at any time via the steam workshop.

Edit:
Enex for the mapping community also posted some mapping tuts on youtube, here's a link to the 1st.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcwhKeAUmew

Sometimes it's easier to see something done, rather than just reading it.

[A JANITOR]

yeah monkey see monkey do is the easiest approach to the editor

you won't really need to test in multiplayer unless kismet gets like a spider web from a mental hospital
all the kismet stuff in BlackEagle's level guide will work fine in multiplayer


few tips so you have more fun building instead of fixing a broken game=

only ever save your own map file via the save as option in the editor
never save anything that isn't your map file
eg
if copy incinerator from caduseus and when ya load your map editor might ask you to save caduseus=press don't save otherwise if ya save it then that map will bno longer work in multiplayer

if accidentally save something that isn't your map file delete it and verify the game cache to re-download caduseus etc
if editor ask to save gp something when exit editor again press don't save
start your map ingame and if there a texture or something missing then that is what's making the editor ask to save gp something on exit=simply use a different material on affected surface/object

avoid using any custom assets from other creators maps so your map won't become dependent on those as required dlc
ie dont use stuff from oil rig/postal etc in your map
sometimes its good to unsubscribe from everything on workshop so ya don't get confused with the content browser on what is vanilla and what is custom assets
vanilla stuff usually allways has vc in its name:)

i stay subbed to others maps as There is a wealth of information in Kismet and in the subject of creating custom assets esp in mine and fodder's maps
not sure what does what
right click on something
find in Kismet and find in content browser as well as the actors properties are very helpful
when in Kismet right click on stuff
find actor in level will also be super helpful

enable realtime sound in editor to fix sound not working bug in editor
disable autosave ingame and in editor
disable steam cloud sync in the vcd updates tab in steam library
open saves folder and delete all the autosave files including the autosave files in the backups folder (create a backup copy of your saves folder 1st)

why do that=if you test map ingame before uploading it to workshop it will screw up steam cloud sync and map will fail to upload to workshop

delete autosave files with steam cloud for vcd disabled will fix that permanently but make sure autosave ingame options is also disabled
save the game manually=it works way better:)

what happens if ya have steam cloud enabled for vcd and you delete the autosave files=
as soon as ya start the game steam reinstall deleted saves over n over again=map fail to upload to workshop
so be careful of that and also make sure there is no spaces in your udk file name so that doesn't bug out on ya

anyway good luck
the welder is the bug maker=set fire to everything to see if welder scotch marks go outside the map
ie through gaps in meshes or into out of bounds areas
make sure mop can reach the ceiling via j harm etc
sniffer is bug detector to sniff out mess outside the map if it goes there:)

most important thing is=
have fun as the editor is loads of fun to use:)
use save as often as editor likes to crash when it feels like it=normal:)

keep an updated backup copy of your map file on desktop incase ya accidentally corrupt your map

more video help
Devin sherry and horence have lots of ue3/UDK 3 tutorial videos on YouTube
most of it works in VCD but you will find that anything related to unreal tournament is missing from vcd
it does contain the base editor stuff which is super helpful
see a video is a lot easier than deciphering the codex in the epic forums and that's if ya can get epic to show udk3 stuff instead of ue4

avoid unreal script via udkfrontend as vcd has no source code

i was able to complile a flashlight script in a backup copy of the game via an ini file tweak and using udklift.exe as a temporary workaround until devs added get player rotation and location node to kismet so i could delete my old script as it had map creators sharing it which would chuck script warnings if there was more than 1 copy of my old script file in the game directory!
with help from the Devs but that can be a massive can of worms=use kismet instead=lots easier:)

[A JANITOR]

wanna copy incinerator the easy way=
open caduseus
hold crtl+shift and left click on everything that makes up the incinerator
with all the incinerator actors selected
press ctrl+c to copy it
open your map right click n pastes here then put it where ya want it
save your map open caduseus again
open kismet and find the incinerator kismet sequence
hold ctrl+alt+shift and draw a box around it then it go all yellow
press ctrl+c to copy it
open your map n open kismet
then press ctrl+v to paste the kismet ya copied
press pie button=green play button
toss something in the incinerator=
magic it works instead of building it from scratch:)

can do same thing with doors and elevators but only have to change a few values to get the elevator to move where ya want it to go:)

open all the vanilla maps and workshop maps in the editor and you will see how everything is setup=
monkey see monkey do=lots easier

i made station seven before this game had any tutorial guide=back then i opened editor for 1st time=WTF is this n how do dat=wing it=spectacular accidents happen in the level editor

never press the red button next to editor pie button or it will break the level editor
do not press emulate mobile features

if accidentally pressed that
go in config folder and delete all the ini files that have udk in its name and verify game cache to fix it

verify Game cache is useless if ya don't delete broken files 1st
8-10 files missing=still broken
more than 10 files missing then steam will fix it
please remember that one as steam skips corrupt files if ya don't delete bad file/s 1st

once your map is on workshop don't delete it as it can be updated as many times as ya want!!!

[A JANITOR]

if swarm fails to build lighting
click the settings in the swarm window
will see a cache directory right at the top and the 1st letter is a drive letter that is set to D drive
if VCD is installed on C drive change the D to a C and rebuild the lighting/build all etc
that will fix the swarm agent for you:)

theres always someone Here to help ya

[SpiderGlitch]

Thanks, huge help. Hopefully I can get this done with the map looking decent XD

[CarThief]

Well, sounds like they said most of it.

But i guess my own advice would be stuff like, uh...
-If you're curious how something's made, go look at it in the editor! Great way to learn new things.

-Get used to using Spacebar as a means to swapping from movement/rotation/scaling modes, it helps a lot.

-Get used to selecting multiple things by holding left CTRL as you click them, likewise, you can unselect an thing from a group by clicking it while holding left CTRL if said thing was already selected.

-Hold Right Mouse Button while moving the mouse and using WASD to move the camera around and look around freely. You can also hold Left Mouse Button instead for a different way of moving that's not entirely based on what you're looking at.

-If you need to adjust something in some way (size, rotation, scaling, materials, etc), be sure to open up the Properties tab for whatever you've selected. Though i have trouble remembering how you open it, hm... Something called "Actor Properties", probably, in some menu? Double-clicking an item should also open it, i think. The "Actor Properties" window will show you all manner of variables about the currently selected actor, so you might as well keep it open for most part, for quick changes to whatever you've currently got selected.

This allows maximum control over how you change something, but it's slower, so if Spacebar doesn't cut it, use this. Also great for disabling the "snap to grid" feature if you want to do really miniscule/precise movements/rotations with your mouse. (Helpful for ensuring items are ON a table or the floor and not floating ABOVE it. :P)

-I believe you can select multiple things in Kismet by holding left CTRL and left ALT and dragging the mouse? Likewise, holding CTRL lets you select multiple things in such menus too. (Even works in the map itself, i think! Great for selecting the entire map.)

-You might need to relocate/rotate a structure/item made of several static meshes, to which i'd recommend you select them and rotate them via Spacebar swap and mouse. Also, the last thing you selected will be used as the "center point" of the thing you're moving/rotating, so keep that in mind! This is also a great way to shrink an object made of several static meshes via spacebar swapping to scaling and well, scaling it with the mouse.

-Find the option in the upper toolbar that lets you select transparant objects, enable it if you need to select something transparant, it's a real lifesaver. Generally helpful to keep on, but sometimes your map is so full of particle effects (like fog/smoke) or other transparant things, you'll want to turn it off.

-Before you playtest a map or play it through the game, make sure you use the "build all" thing, that builds lighting for you (don't forget player spawn points, either)!

There might be some other useful buttons, but its been a while since i made maps so its a little fuzzy. Just don't click the "emulate mobile features" button (kinda looks like a red brick) since it'll litterally brick your editor and you'll have to delete your editor configs to use it again.

Lotta useful stuff in there but those seemed like a good point to start on, i'm sure you'll find more interesting/useful features to play around with.
Oh, and save. A LOT. Even make back-up versions every now and then, or every once in a while just use Save As and make like a "[mapname]2" file of it, and after some time a "[mapname]3", so you got something to fall back on IF it somehow gets corrupted or broken.

And don't mark any packages as "dirty", just ignore em if such a message appears. The editor can be a little weird. Don't mess with any packages/maps besides the one you're building, don't save them or mark them as dirty or whatever, just ignore em and leave em be.

Edit: Oh, and don't forget to load packages so you can see what assets are available to you. Its been a while but there's folders in Viscera that contain map assets, and you can use other folders too like the "game" folder containing game assets. The DLC's and free additions have their own folders, too. No harm in loading content so it shows in your Content menu, so by all means, load away!

Loading goes the fastest if you do it in the startup map/screen, gets noticably slower in a proper viscera map. And you're gonna have to do it every time, so may as well do it there.