F.a.q.

[Stouf]

agree on this with DaSniper... Hello DaSniper !!!... Very boring thing to do...

[Deesies]

To change your map name. You have to manually open about 10 different files and change the name of the map inside each one on about 45 lines and then change the name of some files in the info folder and all that.

Don't suppose you know which ones?

[DaSniper]

Posted the files needed to be changed in the post above.

[Trevfirestorm]

No I havn't tested it, but it is my best educated guess that people would have to download the map to be able to play on it.

the original question was about minor changes to existing maps, so logically following the old serverside modding rules you can change object spawners (but donot rename them) and things of the dynamic nature... staticobjects may or maynot be possible serverside, the rule in 1942 was that they are not visible when you add them server side but they are physically there (collisions possible but no graphics showing tothe client)

as game physics is controlled bythe server they can be changed serverside but graphics are all client side, but as i said i have not yet tried serversiding any bf2 maps yet as the gaming community i belong to has only ranked servers at this time so theres no point for meto try it at this time

[=DNC=BongSquad]

the original question was about minor changes to existing maps, so logically following the old serverside modding rules you can change object spawners (but donot rename them) and things of the dynamic nature... staticobjects may or maynot be possible serverside, the rule in 1942 was that they are not visible when you add them server side but they are physically there (collisions possible but no graphics showing tothe client)

as game physics is controlled bythe server they can be changed serverside but graphics are all client side, but as i said i have not yet tried serversiding any bf2 maps yet as the gaming community i belong to has only ranked servers at this time so theres no point for meto try it at this time

Yeah my guess was also that it would be similar to bf42. There were plenty of modded el_alemein maps that didn't require downloads.

[Deesies]

Posted the files needed to be changed in the post above.

Thanks but found an easier way.

Just tell it to "save as" and it'll ask you what you want the new name to be. Then you just change the .desc file in info folder, you have to rename the .desc file and go into it and find the old name of your map and replace it with the new one.

[-R|F-Glitch]

Thanks but found an easier way.

Just tell it to "save as" and it'll ask you what you want the new name to be. Then you just change the .desc file in info and voila :)

What I was about to say.

[maranello]

why don't we just do this...instead of everybody asking questions, why dont we just tell here "what we actually do know" about the editor...so if we see someone who knows how to do something particular which we are trying to figure out, we'll just ask our question.

what i know:

1. minimap
2. commander's map
3. loading page map
4. loading page background image
5. map description
6. roads
7. spilines
8. lightmaps
9. heightmaps
10. surrounding terrain (how to activate it, how to paint it etc)
11. how to make water transparent
12. various day and night tweaking settings under lightsettings (in other words how to have fog, dawn, night maps)
13. how to fix the problem with texture blocks (textures look good when you are close, they look bad when you are far away)
14. how to fix 15% and 62% crash problems
15. how to make combat area
16. undergrowth
17. overgrowth
18. how to pack the map
19. how to fix the problem with the flags when you change your map to have a MEC vs US battle (MEC flags remain chinese).
20. how to get UAV, Artillery, Satellite Trailer working
21. how to assemble USS Wasp (aircraft carrier)
22. lowdetailtexture (blocky textures)
what i don't know

1. how to fix the issue with the particles (when you shoot the ground, there is no dust coming out-->http://forums.totalbf2.com/showthread.php?t=24055)
2. the error message "some polygrones are not clipt correctly"

dont be lazy and please read this topic carefully. i had actually started a different topic but our moderator wanted me to post my answers under this topic. but i still see many questions "terrain problems, fog, %15 crash, undergrowth and etc" PLEASE DONT BE LAZY AND READ. if you want to get answers, you need to read or nobody will help you. we are here trying to help people out because of gesture of goodwill. i have answers to many of your questions, but you need to ask the question first so i can answer them. thank you very much.

PS adelkhf thanx for the answer about stationary weapons. :)

[Chaz1587]

Re: Faq

Ok, so soon as you know quite a lot of stuff. Could you please tell me how to do the loading screen for my level, description etc. Also, i have made my level and its just one big square at the moment, how do i do all the surrounding terrain ready for the combat zone...? Cheers

[imported_dehahs]

mapping vs modding

hi,

i'm only interested in mapping. i have models of buildings of my own that i want to incorporate into the map.

now can i make this in the default 'bf2' mod or do i need to create a new mod to have my own buildings in a map?

i'm just confused. heh.

thanks.

[CrimsonBlaze]

Re: Faq

Ok, so soon as you know quite a lot of stuff. Could you please tell me how to do the loading screen for my level, description etc. Also, i have made my level and its just one big square at the moment, how do i do all the surrounding terrain ready for the combat zone...? Cheers

loading screen:
In the Info folder in your map directory
Description: in the Info folder theres a file called Your_Map.desc, edit this so its like <briefing locid="your description">

loadmap.png -> 800 x 600
gpm_cq_16_menuMap.png -> 455 x 299
gpm_cq_32_menuMap.png -> 455 x 299
gpm_cq_32_menuMap.png -> 455 x 299

^ image sizes based upon the Al Khafji docks map, not sure if the menu map images are full correct as the sizes look abit odd.. moving swiftly on

combat zone is done by using the button to the right of the road button, it looks like a green C with red stripes behind it. right click -> add control point to place, or just hold alt and left click.

doing the surrounding terrain... this can either be done by using one of the terrain editing tools at the edge of the map and when a box says "do you wish to activate this heightmap" click yes, alternatively you can go to the surrounding terrain box in terrain editor and right click the grey boxes and click on create patch. To view them go to render -> surrounding terrain -> toggle all (or whichever onw you want)

[maranello]

Re: Faq

Ok, so soon as you know quite a lot of stuff. Could you please tell me how to do the loading screen for my level, description etc. Also, i have made my level and its just one big square at the moment, how do i do all the surrounding terrain ready for the combat zone...? Cheers

for loading screen...do you mean the background image or the map on the right side?

loading screen background image is basically a png image that represents your map. you can take a screenshot in your map. it will be saved in my documents\battlefield 2\screenshots. take the file with png extension. rename it as loadmap.png and put it in your info folder.

for the map. you will also need this for minimap (in game the radar map). when you are done with your map. in terrain editor click "show" under minimap on the right side. this will create the most current minimap for your map. it will be saved to the folder called editor in your map folder. exit the editor. open that folder, you will have a file named minimap.dds its size is 16 MB. you will need a program to open dds files and resize them. if you have photoshop, download the nvidia plugin for the dds file, if you dont, download directx sdk tool june 2005 edition, it has a free directx tool. once you have one of these softwares, first save that minimap.dds file on your desktop or some temp folder so if something goes wrong you dont mess up the original one. open it, and resize it to 512 x 512 and save it as ingameMap.dds and put that file into the folder called hud\minimap in your map folder. it will ask you if you want to overwrite the existing file, say yes and save it. now for the same file again, rename it to gpm_cq_16_menuMap.png, gpm_cq_32_menuMap.png, and gpm_cq_64_menuMap.png and put these 3 files into your info folder. these are basically representing the loading screen minimap pictures for 16, 32, and 64 player modes respectively. in the future when you learn how to make different layers, meaning that you basically use the same map but create different versions of it for 16, 32, and 64 player modes, you will change those png files.

CrimsonBlaze says that you need to save those files in a different size. well it really doesnt matter. the guy who made al khafji docks saved them in that resolution because he probably let the program decide the most appropriate resolution. i would save it as 512 x 512 because that is the same resolution on the original map files. but it really doesnt matter, you can leave them as they are, the only difference its gonna make is that your map will have a big size and people will have hard time downloading it. no matter which size your pictures are, as long as they are bigger than 320 x 200, the game fits them to that screen.

CrimsonBlaze explained surrounding terrain very well, there is only one thing i want to add, be very careful. surrounding terrain is buggy and it may cause your map to crash and unfortunately if that happens, by the time you figure out it has bugs in it, you may not be able to recover. just letting you know.

any other questions are welcome, i m here to help. take care y'all.

[maranello]

Re: mapping vs modding

hi,

i'm only interested in mapping. i have models of buildings of my own that i want to incorporate into the map.

now can i make this in the default 'bf2' mod or do i need to create a new mod to have my own buildings in a map?

i'm just confused. heh.

thanks.

you, unfortunately, need to create a new mod, which by the way means people who want to see your buildings or different vehicles can not only download those files, but they need to download the entire mod, which has a size over 1.5 GB. so unless you r with some modding team which will release a different game mod so that its worth downloading, i wouldnt recommend going into that.

[-R|F-Glitch]

Undergrowth

Creating Undergrowth

1. Open up your Terrain Editor and then choose Undergrowth.
2. Go to Render at the top and select Toggle Draw Undergrowth which ever one you are working with this will allow you to see your undergrowth.
3. Go to the resource bar and right click on material and then choose add material.
4. Make up a name referring to what it is going to be used for and then select a color. Click the + sign.
5. When you created your new material right click on it and choose Add Type. Create another name. Click the + sign. Material is general while type would be specific.
6. Select the type you have made and select a mesh and texture in the tweak bar. Mesh is the way it is going to look meaning height and positioning, for example if you select hexagon you'll get a hexagon of the texture you are using, you'll have to play around with this to see what you want, I use hexagon and seagrass01 for my meshes. Texture is what material is going to be used. Set density to .5 and variation to .2 you can play around with these if you want to learn more.
7. Select your brush size "usually 1-10" and stregth "usually 100" and start putting down your undergrowth.

Hope this help, if it doesn't PM me.

[Chaz1587]

Re: Faq

Hi, i have a small problem with a wooden bridge i have made. The bridge goes over a little stream and i have connected three different segents pretty much alligned together and a wooden support underneath it but when i finished and decided to generate lightmaps in a low resolution the bridge turned into a broken bridge?? It is still there but looks destroyed. Any ideas?

ps - Have u seen the new king kong trailer. Wicked.