Newbie Mapper w/ Questions

[mattriddle]

I enjoy playing Team Fortress 2, and around the time of the release of the Medic achievements, I found a fun server based around a map called Mario Kart. I found the level to be a lot of fun and I wanted to make a level like it. The person who made it directed me towards Hammer to make it. I downloaded it and it was pretty easy to start playing with it. I made buildings, read tutorials on making sliding doors, stuff like that. But I have a bunch of questions on the actual modeling of the maps.


How do you get the sweet models from TF2 games into your map? Like the benches, and lightswitches, and ceiling lamps, etc?
How do you get textures to scale properly? I want to use the red/blue signs for a billboard outside the team's base, yet it doesn't scale at all and forces me to displace it 100's of pixels in weird directions to get it into the center. It's just not working right.
Where do you find all the cool tf textures? I have used the tf keyword in the texture search, but Mario Kart uses textures not in the texture viewer. I want a texture for cement or a road, but can't find anything.
How to tile sky textures properly on huge back walls? Also, some textures, like sky textures, when I load the map in tf2, bug out like show up through my buildings and it just messes up. When I replace it with a metal or normal texture, it doesn't do it.


Can anyone help with these questions?

Thanks

Matt

[AWESOME-O]

1) Place an prop_static entity
2)Press shift+A, select the face of your texture, than you can do some scaling
3)Those textures in mariokart are custom, they dont come with hammer
4)WTF do you mean?

[DasMatze]

4)WTF do you mean?
He put a skybox texture on a brush. You have to put the tools/skybox texture on it and define the skybox under map/preferences.

DasMatze

[Youme]

for sky textures you've got to use the tools/skybox texture
Then in map>map properties you have to set the 'skybox texture name' to something like sky_goldrush_01

[Dox]

1. its an entity call Prop_physics, Prop_static, or prop_dynamic
2. you scale textures with the 6th tool down, dont know ehy it wouldnt scale correctly for you.
3. mario_kart features alot of custom textures you have to make yourself. but standard TF textures can be found by using the "TF" filter in the texture browser
4. http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=116

Have fun! Also the custom server you were talking about, was it one of Teddy Ruxpin's?

Edit: wow, when I started writing this post there were no replies :P

[AWESOME-O]

faster than lighting!
Also dont forget about the http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc282/Lolz1337/thanks.jpg button if you find that someones post/help is usefull

[Géza!]

To start from the basics, I highly recommend this page:http://www.halfwit-2.com/?page=home

[mattriddle]

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Here's another question.

How do you make glass? Do you just draw a block and give it a particular texture?

[Géza!]

Basically yes, but you can find some tutorials on the page I posted about making breakable glass (Even though it's not recommended for TF2).

[mattriddle]

I want to add some signs around my spawn room, but I want them to be flat on the wall (not a unit thickness). How do I do this without putting a brush inside the wall?

I remembered someone saying to break your wall down into parts and then apply the texture to that wall, but aren't the signs transparent around the sign (in the texture)? How could I have the wall texture and the sign texture (on top)?

[Géza!]

The answer is an overlay. But I suggest doing a whole bunch of the tutorials form halfwit-2 before really working on your map. Believe me, it will be much easier after.

[mattriddle]

I tried to put decals on stuff, but I get that same error I was getting with the skybox texture thing, with it showing through my building. I was trying to put a TF2 sign on a wall using the decal tool.

I checked out all of the tutorials on half-wit, but most were directed towards half-life stuff with only a few actually being that useful on a tf2 map. But it helped a little.

[Youme]

I checked out all of the tutorials on half-wit, but most were directed towards half-life stuff with only a few actually being that useful on a tf2 map. But it helped a little.

/bludgens you for being dense

Work though this - http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Your_First_Map

use this as your bible - http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SDK_Docs

Use this for pretty much everything - http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=807

And if a tutoiral is for another source game IT DOESN'T MATTER because all source games are 98% the same!

[mattriddle]

I already did the "your_first_map" thing a few days ago when I first started making a map.

I just figured out how to select specific sides of an block and apply a texture just to that side. That is probably how I was supposed to make the billboard correct, huh?

I'm learning everyday from this.

Does my map need to have a way to win built into it for it to work? I know Mario Kart has control points, but he made it impossible (or close to impossible) to get to the last one so nobody can really win. I was wondering if he did it because he had to have a way to win in the map or if he wanted to see if people could actually win. I'd much rather have my map like a deathmatch map (if possible).

[AWESOME-O]

Cough *Gimmick* Cough,
but you can create Deathmatch maps, there mostly the easiest to make.
and highest rated on fpsbanana.com :(For a deathmatch map you dont have to mess with entitys for letting someone win etc

[mattriddle]

The only reason I play tf2 now is for Mario Kart, and Unreal 3 is a horrible sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004, so Deathmatch in tf2 seems like the best of both worlds.

[Sgt Frag]

The only reason I play tf2 now is for Mario Kart, and Unreal 3 is a horrible sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004, so Deathmatch in tf2 seems like the best of both worlds.


Oh you just signed your death warrant!!! If I were you I'd start running! Seriously, I'm suprised you survived even mentioning Mario Kart seriously, but to say that's the only reason you play TF2 :crying::cursing::thumbdown:

[AWESOME-O]

Run mattriddle, RUN!

[Nineaxis]

Who gets to do the honors?

[AWESOME-O]

/me takes his knife

[mattriddle]

what is the problem?

[Youme]

what is the problem?

Saying you only play for mario kart isn't wise around here a huge proportion of our mappers hate maps like mario kart (including myself) and will go to extremes to stop them being played because we feel they are damaging the image of the game (which they are)

However, lets not turn on the guy because his tastes are different; after all homosexuals and members of ethnic minorities get equal rights to everyone else, why shouldn't those who don't care about their eyes get equal rights too?

[Sgt Frag]

Well, I was joking (mostly) :)

Mario Kart has got quite a bad rep on this forum as not only a VERY BAD example of TF2 mapping. But it's also VERY annoying to play (at least IMO and others as well).
Personally I went on a server and lasted about 45 seconds max, don't think I died I just couldn't handle the music/visuals.
Fun Maps in general are generally frowned apon 'round here (not by myself particularily). Then there's Mario Kart.... But hey, it's not a 'rainbow map' :D

[mattriddle]

I can see why hardcore tf2 fans might not like it, but it definitely brings a much more relaxed and fun experience to the game. I like those intense games on 2fort where the teams are fighting for that last point, just as much as the next person, but it's a lot of fun to run around and snipe people and be invisible for minutes, and torch people from across the map, and shoot rockets with your shotgun.

I don't see why both types of gameplay can't occupy their own space and live peacefully with one another.

I love Mario Kart because I used to be a big fan of Unreal Tournament, and Unreal 3 was made way too realistic and didn't have the same fun qualities of mindless killing that it's older versions had. I think it would be great if tf2 could incorporate some of that kind of stuff into it's maps.

It's like the surfing thing. It's a great idea for a fun map. I know people that play the surfing maps just for the surfing part, not even to kill people. When a single game can appeal to multiple groups of wants/people, then it has a much higher chance of growing throughout the years.

We both want to see more players in the game and we both want to see the game grow. We are just approaching the issue from two different angles.

Either way, if you don't want to say anything mean and just want to be quiet, that is fine with me, but you guys have the experience, not me, and any help I can get from you will help tremendously.

[Snipergen]

I understand your point mattriddle, and I say this honestly, but you will probably don't understand this point of view yet because you maybe are too young(?)
But Mario Kart is just a map that actually destroys everything what TF2 stands for. And that is superb art direction and gameplay.

[Nineaxis]

Anyone who has listened to the dev commentaries will have a respect for the ten years Valve spent piecing the game together. The first time I went through them, I was amazed at all the thought and planning the designers went through. Then on this forum I was introduced to the multiple slideshow presentations Valve made to showcase their design for the game, further supplementing my respect for them.

They released the SDK, and people abuse it with Mario kart, orange maps, and other gimmicks that have no intelligent thought put into them.

[mattriddle]

Define intelligent thought. Just because a map doesn't have a design like one of valve's maps doesn't mean it has no intelligent thought. It might not have the same mindset as valve's maps, but it's directed towards a different kind of gameplay.

You want strategy in maps. A plan, to do this and this, and then you have to do this with this character to get over here, but this character is not as good at this point, and this character is better. You aren't going to find that kind of logic in surf/mario_kart. Does it make them bad? I don't think so. Maybe you do. Maybe we should agree to disagree.

I can understand how you could feel that surf/mario_kart maps take the game away from what it was originally designed around, strategic classes and maps, but I think it's awesome that the game is so open that people can design maps like surf/mario_kart that bring a new feeling and mood to the game. Players get bored of games that can't bring something new every now and then, and games die when players get bored of it. Look at Unreal Tournament. The basic game is alright. But throw in all the mods and mutators, and you have hours and hours of fun you can have trying out all the different stuff. The ability to generate new experiences in the game gives the game many more years of life.

That is why I feel people should accept surf/mario_kart maps as a necessary evil. You might not like them, but the game would be at a loss without them. How much of a loss is negotiable. But take it from me, a casual player, once I get bored with something, I rarely come back to it. I got bored with tf2 around the time of the first achievements coming out. A handful of maps that are just played over and over again. Certain classes being way overpowered (imho), and I wasn't going to wait around for things to change. I found surf maps, which lead me to Mario_Kart maps. I didn't have to worry about overpowered classes because everyone was overpowered (shotguns one-hit-killed, spy could cloak for a minute or two, medic could overheal someone and make them almost unkillable. None of that stuff mattered, because I was having fun again. Now look at me, I want to make a map, and give back to the game. And none of that would had been possible if I hadn't had found the surf/mario_kart maps.

It's a necessary evil, deal with it.

edit: No...better, go play them, and have fun.