Need some custom level help :)

Discuss the games (no level solutions or off-topic, please).

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Triana
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Need some custom level help :)

Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 4:10 am

How do you get the program to show custom floor tiles?

I put them in the CustomModels folder, and set the level to look there, but can't find instructions anywhere on this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)
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popo
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Post by popo » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:39 am

Are they ready made floor tiles or the ones I made for you to customise?

They won't show up in a level until you put them there in the editor, and the ones I made need customising first with a texture.

There are instructions for using the editor and using custom models on the RTWD website.

http://www.midnightsynergy.com/returntowonderland/

I am in the process of making a website with help on custom models but it won't be ready for a while.

The custom floors that people have made and upload with their levels have already been put in the editor and so show up in the level.

Hope you find the help you need on the website. :D :D
Pauline
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mette
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Post by mette » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:39 am

popo wrote: I am in the process of making a website with help on custom models but it won't be ready for a while.
That sounds great Pauline :D Can't wait to see it :D

Mette
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Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:14 pm

I'm totally new at the game... only been at it for less than a week, and trying to customize only a day. I don't know anything about floors that you created to be customized. However, I have done customized stuff for other games... most notably the Sims and Ultima Online, so I understand basically how it works.

I will be creating my own floors. I just don't know how to get them into the editor. Do they go into the CustomModels folder or somewhere else. Are they named as a model (ex: model3.jpg), or something else. How does the editor know its a floor? I've tried all kinds of things, and just can't seem to access them.

Once I get it INTO the editor, how do I access it from the editor? Will the tiles show up in the editor, or what pre-made tiles do I use? Ex: If I create a house as model1.jpg, I use the "A" tile. What do I use to tell the program to use a floor tile?

If anyone is curious to see the walls/floors/roofs I made for The Sims, the stuff was done about 5 years ago, but still up... have no idea if anyone ever sees it anymore. :) Anyway you can see it here: http://www.patchworkpalette.com/website ... -main.html

I've also created clothing and items for Ultima Online, and if you're interested, you can see them here: http://www.kapowwie.com/Comr/Clothing/menu.htm
This stuff was done in the last 6 months.

I created some houses for Wonderland and managed to get them into my game, and finishing testing on my first custom level. If anyone can point me to the instructions for uploading these things for others to use, I'll do that sometime today.

I've also been making instructions as I go along, as I had a very hard time understanding how to do this. Seems all the instructions are available but all over the place, so very confusing. :)

Thanks :)

Jean :)
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Post by sfseaman » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:42 pm

Hi Jean --

The custom floors are custom models, and should go into that folder. They are then accessed in the editor in the same way that other models are, by pushing <Shift>-M to enter the subdirectory name where you are stroring your models. They should be both a .3DS model file and any associated graphics files (if any) for each model. You can then put them in your level by placing the object -- you can have up to 4 different ones per level. It is important to keep in mind that the square where you place the object for the model will be "occupied" (by the object) and so will not be accessible to characters or meanies during level play. As a result, people have taken two approaches to custom floors. Either you can have a large floor section covering many squares, or by creating a two square model with the inaccesible one being covered by a wall or something in the level and the other one being the square of custom floor you want to appear. (I hope this makes sense). Whatever approach you take remember that where you place the object in the editor will determine which square(s) are unavailable in level play. How/where the floor appears relative to that square is determined by your model file. Whatever is at coordinates 0,0,* will be at the location of the object placement (actually there is a slight offset, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get it to line up correctly. The height coordinate (* above) also takes a bit of fiddling, as the floor needs to be high enough to cover whatever the default tile below it, but not so high that the bottom part of characters disappear. Also be aware that different graphics cards display things slightly differently so that once you post your floor you may get feedback from some people that the underlying tiles are bleeding through, so you may need to do some fine tuning of height. Some "floor" models have varying heights (eg the fog model).

I hope this all makes some sense, but feel free to keep asking people to clarify. It actually is not too difficult once you have worked out the idiosyncracies. The hard part for me is that I have very little graphics/creative abilities so it sounds like you are way ahead of the game there.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Steve
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popo
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Post by popo » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:43 pm

Firstly you need to read the editor help at the link I gave above.

Sencondly, there is a difference between houses and models. The houses only need a jpg file i.e. the house template customised, and saved as house1.jpg etc. The arrows and numbers are used for the houses. You put the files in a folder with a unique name, then type in the name of that folder in the editor using Shift/H. The house folders are saved in the CustomHouses folder.

Any model, including custom floors, need to be saved as a 3ds file, and you need a 3d application for this. I use AC3D.

For a floor you would need to make a rectangle as big as you need it and then texture it with a jpg of whatever you want on the floor. This floor then just covers the one in the game, it doesn't replace it.

You can make individual tile sized ones but, unless you placed the dead spot well away from the tile, you wouldn't be able to walk on it. You can't just make different textures for the tiles in the game.

Models are saved in the same way as houses in their own folder (model1.3ds file and model1.jpg file etc.) and put in CustomModels folder. They are put into the editor with Shift/M. The letters are used to place the model's dead spot somewhere in the level. You can have up to four models in a level, but you can use the same model as many times as you want.

You can't see the changes in the editor, everything looks alike. There are just symbols for the various things. You wouldn't be able to see the things until you tested the level. You need to switch back and forth between the editor and the game quite a lot while making a level.

Hope all that made sense. :roll: :lol: :lol:
Pauline
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popo
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Post by popo » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:45 pm

Oooops! Posting at the same time. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Pauline
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Post by Lillian » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:50 pm

Hi Jean - you certainly seem to have a good model knowledge already.

I am quite a novice but have recently been using custom floor tiles.

Here are some easy steps :shock:


Create a new folder in CustomModels e.g. Jeanfloor1.

Copy your floor jpg file into your new folder. Name your first floor tile "model1.jpg" - then if you want to use more than one floor tile name the next "model2.jpg", etc (you can only use up to 4 different tiles).

I have attached a zipfile that has custom floor dimension tiles for the game. There are different sizes in it - but for 1 square floor you use 1x1.

Chose your floor size and copy/paste into your new folder and rename it model1.3ds, model2.3ds, etc

When in the editor, create a new level and press SHIFT M and type in your folder name - jeanfloor1. Then use the ABCD floor squares in the editor to place on your level. A = model1 B = model 2 etc.

If you have the game running in the background, you can switch between the editor and the game to view your level to see if it has worked. Don't forget to save your level in the editor so you can see changes.

Hope this makes sense :P
Attachments
floors.zip
(6.58 KiB) Downloaded 190 times
Lillie
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Post by Lillian » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:52 pm

Ooops we were all typing and posting together - I'll get me coat :shock:

You'd better listen to the experts above more than me - as I said, I am new to this :wink:

Nice websites by the way - the Sims designs are beautiful and the clothes very elegant :lol: :lol: :lol:
Lillie
Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:08 pm

So what you're all saying is that there is no such thing as an "floor" tile. Its just an object taking up a space.

Going to try to upload my houses... hope it works. :)

Note: These files must be placed in their own directory called "Gingerbread"
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gingerbread.zip
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Last edited by Triana on Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:14 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:09 pm

Wow! It worked! :)

Thank you all for the help! :)
sfseaman
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Post by sfseaman » Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:32 pm

Wow! Really cool houses.

A couple of housekeeping details. Generally people create the zip file so that it will create the appropriate directory when it unzips (you can do this by highlighting the directory -e.g. gingerbread and adding the whole directory to your zip file. Next upload the file to the Custom Content forum (and I would encourage you to do this, these houses are coo!) so that other people can find them. Finally create a level using the houses and upload it to the Custom Level - Deluxe forum. The convention generally is to label the new topic as "New Level (advanced) [levelname]" as the "advanced" label indicates that there is custom content. When you upload the level, also include a copy of the zip file, or tell people where to find it. I also would encourage you to create the level, even if it is a simple demo level, as this will maximize the number of people that will look at it.

Again, I love the houses, and if any of the above info is stuff you already know, I apologize. Looking forward to seeing more.
Steve
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Post by sfseaman » Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:34 pm

Oh and popo and Lillian - it's fun tripping over each other. Actually, I think we each offered slightly different approach/info so it probably gave a more complete picture than any one of us.

Toodleoo!
Steve
Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:24 pm

Steve,

I've tried every option I can think of and cannot get this to create the zip with the folder name. Even tried creating a gingerbread folder (with all 4 files) within the gingerbread folder. When I extracted it, it extracted 8 house files but no folder. Any ideas?

Will try to finish the demo level while I wait for more instruction. :)
Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:38 pm

Another question...

Is there any way to generate new monsters if killed?

I saw there was a way to create new boxes, but can't find anything on monsters. :)
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Post by Lillian » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:50 pm

Triana wrote:Another question...

Is there any way to generate new monsters if killed?

I saw there was a way to create new boxes, but can't find anything on monsters. :)
There is only one way to re-create monsters and that is a MOTHERSHIP UFO She is scary :? :? :? :? You will find the icon of a large UFO in the Editor.

That is the only one - thanks goodness :shock:
Lillie
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popo
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Post by popo » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:51 pm

No new monsters I'm afraid. Anyway, most of us don't want them to come back from the dead. :shock: :lol: :lol:

If you put your house files in a folder for the editor, just zip that folder and upload it. When it's unzipped there will be one folder with the files in it. The zip file is always the same name as the folder.

To zip and unzip do the following....

Right click the folder and select 'send to' and then 'zipped/compressed folder'.

Then right click the zip file and select 'extract all' to start the extraction wizard. Browse to the CustomHouses folder then click next and the file will be unzipped to there in its folder ready for use.
Pauline
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popo
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Post by popo » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:52 pm

Lillian wrote:
Triana wrote:Another question...

Is there any way to generate new monsters if killed?

I saw there was a way to create new boxes, but can't find anything on monsters. :)
There is only one way to re-create monsters and that is a MOTHERSHIP UFO She is scary :? :? :? :? You will find the icon of a large UFO in the Editor.

That is the only one - thanks goodness :shock:
Ooooh yeah, I forgot that one. :shock: :shock: :oops: :lol: :lol:
Pauline
Lillian
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Post by Lillian » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:54 pm

popo wrote:
Lillian wrote:
Triana wrote:Another question...

Is there any way to generate new monsters if killed?

I saw there was a way to create new boxes, but can't find anything on monsters. :)
There is only one way to re-create monsters and that is a MOTHERSHIP UFO She is scary :? :? :? :? You will find the icon of a large UFO in the Editor.

That is the only one - thanks goodness :shock:
Ooooh yeah, I forgot that one. :shock: :shock: :oops: :lol: :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

And I couldn't answer her first question about zipping folders like you :wink: :wink: :wink:
Lillie
Triana
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Post by Triana » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:04 pm

I'm not getting the same options to zip that you are. Trying to figure out in my own programs how to do the same.

I tweaked my custom level, rechecked it, and put it up for download. Would appreciate any comments on making it work better. :)
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