Monster Media 1996 #15

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============================================================================= MAP EDITING FAQ v0.2 BY BRETT GMOSER============================================================================= CONTENTS: 0: About this FAQ 0.1 Who made ALL This? 0.1.1 How do I contact the author? 0.2 What you should have gotten 0.3 Revision History 0.4 Thank-you's and Credits 0.5 Where to get this FAQ 1: Information & Other Stuff 1.1 What are maps? 1.1.1 What else can I do with MAP files? 1.1.2 Can I extract the original .MAP files from the game? 1.2 What do I use to make maps? 1.2.1 Can I make maps other games? 2: Making Levels, basic 2.1 Ok, I have the editor, how do I use this thing? 2.2 First levels suck 2.3 Your basic, one-sector, horrible level 2.4 Your basic, two-sector, horrible level 2.5 Your basic, two-sector, not-so-horrible level 2.5.1 Floor/ceiling heights 2.5.2 Changing textures 2.5.2.1 Panning and stuff 2.5.3 Skies 2.5.4 Shading 2.5.5 Slopes 3: Onto the cool stuff 3.1 Intro 3.2 Hitags and Lotags 3.3 Sector Effectors 3.4 Locators 3.5 Music & SFX 3.6 Respawns 3.7 Acticatorlocked 3.8 Activators 3.9 Checklist 4: Your not-so basic, awesome level 4.1 Intro 4.2 Teleporters 4.3 Water 4.4 Lifts 4.5 Glass 4.6 Vents 4.7 Security Cameras 4.8 Regular, DOOM-Type Doors 4.9 Collapsible Bridges/Bridges 4.10 Dukematch/Co-op ONLY Stuff 4.11 Fun With C-9 (Includes how to blow holes in walls) 4.12 Swinging Doors 4.13 Rooms Over Rooms 4.14 Sliding Star Trek Doors 4.15 Splitting Star Trek Doors 4.16 Teeth Doors 4.17 Auto-Closing Doors 4.18 Nuke Buttons 4.19 Secret Areas 4.20 Sound List 4.21 Mirrors 4.22 Conveyor Belts/Water Current 4.23 Gears 4.24 Subways 4.25 Colored Lights 4.26 Demo Cameras 4.27 Co-op/Dukematch Starting Points 4.28 Facts on dimensions 4.29 Spawning Stuff 4.30 Active Tripbombs 4.31 Locked Doors 4.32 Earthquakes 4.33 Light Switches 4.34 Open Door, Room Lights Up 4.25 Shooters 5: Finishing Up 5.1 Map Authoring Template 5.2 Uploading your level ============== ABOUT THIS FAQ ============== 0.1 Who made ALL this? My name is Brett Gmoser (silent G). I have a lot of free time on my hands. I am a hard core Duke 3D fan, and I've played it non-stop since the day it came out. I made levels for Wolf 3d, DOOM, DOOM ][, HeXen and ROTT, so I figured, hey, why not make Duke 3D levels? Well, I got my CD 2 days after it started shipping, and as soon as I fired up the editor, I, just like you, figured out just how complicated Duke levels can be. I spent day and night (really) figuring stuff out. As it ended up, after just three days I found that I had a knack for making Duke levels. I have 2 ISPs, and as I surfed through to Duke 3D Editing folders on AOL, compuserve and the Apogee BBS, I saw people were having trouble. So I decided to make this FAQ! 0.1.1 Ho do I contact the author? Well, I prefer to get email through my internet account, and the address there is "gmoser@gramercy.ios.com". I'm also on AOL, my screen name there is "GutenTag11". You can find me on the 3D Realms BBS as "gmozmer". Here is a list of my current web sites: http://gramercy.ios.com/~gmoser/duke3d/ My Duke 3D Site. Pretty good, if you ask me. :) http://users.aol.com/gutentag11/cheats.htm A page with lots of cheat codes, offers my program which is called CHEATS!. I wouldn't DARE give out the rest of the addresses because they all suck....:) 0.2 What you should have gotten In addition to this file (MAPFAQ02.FAQ), you should have gotten the following things in the ZIP file (MAPFAQ02.ZIP): TELEPORT.MAP WATER.MAP LIFTS.MAP GLASS.MAP CAMERA.MAP BRIDGE.MAP HOLE.MAP SWDOOR.MAP SOS.MAP SLSTDOOR.MAP SPSTDOOR.MAP TDOOR.MAP MIRROR.MAP CONVEYOR.MAP SUBWAY.MAP CLITES.MAP QUAKE.MAP ACCESS.MAP SWLITES.MAP DRLITES.MAP SHOOTERS.MAP TEMPLATE.TXT Please note that the MAP files were designed to make whatever it was supposed to make, not to look good. :) 0.3 Revision history v0.1 FAQ Created. Everything is new. v0.2 LOTSA stuff added, some errors corrected. Thanks to all the kind people that pointed them out! Added about 7 new things, many other updates. Added section 5: Finishing Up. 0.4 Thank-you's and Credits First, I would like to thank 3D Realms for such a great game. Thank you also to all the people that gave me support, and the people that have this FAQ posted on their web page. I would like to give credit to Per-Erik Nilsson for the dimensions facts, and Tempest for making great tutorials on how to make Star Trek Doors. In addition, ALL the kind people that told me how great I was, how much they liked this FAQ, pointed out errors, and gave me support. If I didn't email you back, sorry, I had a LOT of mail concerning this FAQ. Thanks Guys! 0.5 Where to get this FAQ Well, you already have it, but in case you lose it, or would like another version, here are some of the most reliable places to get it: http://www.erols.com/yeagers GREAT HTML version here, ZIP can be downloaded, along with all the MAPs separately. My favorite. http://www.3drealms.com/duke3d.html Check the FAQs portion of this page. http://www.newreach.net/~avenger Among the best of the Duke 3D pages, they've got LOTSa levels and FAQs, including this one. Has text version to look at. http://www.bayserve.net/~mike Go to the Duke 3d page from here. http://gramercy.ios.com/~gmoser/duke3d My site, I'll post it here first if I make v0.3. If you know of a great site that has this FAQ, please tell me so I can add it. PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL NOT BE SENDING IT THROUGH EMAIL ANYMORE BECAUSE I SPENT ABOUT 1/2 HOUR A DAY SENDING FAQS. DO NOT ASK. Thank You. ========================= 1: Information About Maps ========================= 1.1 What are maps? Maps are user levels for Duke Nukem 3D. They are in the same format as the actual levels, and are fully customizable as far as levels go. Map files are not only for Duke 3D, but the same format is used for all of the games that use the Build engine. Build allows for many new things like moving sectors, rotating sectors, parallaxing skies, slopes, and lots of other stuff. The possibilities are endless! 0.1.1 What else can I do with MAP files? Well, not much else. MAP files are not like DOOM's system where you had WADs and PWADs. MAP files can only take in levels. 0.1.2 Can I extract the original .MAP files from the game? Yes, you can. In the \goodies\build directory of your Duke 3D CD, there is a program called KEXTRACT. Copy it to your Duke 3D directory and use the following command: KEXTRACT DUKE3D.GRP *.MAP This will extract all the original levels. Also, when you go into build, you can use the command line BUILD E?L?.MAP The first ? is the episode #, the second ? is the level. For the bonus levels of episodes 2 and 3, use ?? for level 10 and 11. Look at them and see how much work was put into them...boy! :) 1.2 What do I use to make maps? Currently, the only editor for build is BUILD by 3D Realms. It is the official editor and was used to make all the real levels. How does one obtain this editor you ask? That's simple. BUILD is on the CD that registered Duke 3D comes on in the directory \goodies\build. 0.2.1 Can I make maps for other games? No, not really. BUILD is made specially for Duke Nukem 3D. You could probably make a simple one-roomer with no objects or sprites, but nothing that good. ======================= 2: MAKING LEVELS, BASIC ======================= 2.1 Ok, I have the editor, how do I use this thing? Yes, at first, BUILD looks VERY complicated. It is used by with the keyboard. Since you have the actual editor, and not a pirated editor, you should have BUILDHLP.EXE in the \goodies\build directory of your CD. It's the official BUILD handbook, please read this ENTIRE thing to learn the basic keyboard commands. 2.2 First levels suck! Lets face it, your first level IS going to suck. This happens to everybody. I HIGHLY reccomend you make you first level suck on purpose. This will get you used to the format and the way of doing things in BUILD. So lets get started on our first horrible level! 2.3 Your basic, one-sector, horrible level Now that you've read everything above this, it's time to make your first level. We'll start off very basic, and move on to the cool stuff. First, we'll make a one-sector room. Here's how: First, make sure you are in 2D mode. (Since you've read BUILDHLP, you know how to get there) Position the cursor somewhere on the grid. BUILD automatically starts you out in the lower-right corner. You shouldn't worry about this.....yet. Press the space bar to enter line-draw mode. Move the mouse around, see what happens. Nothing special, except that when you press the space bar again, this is where the next line will start. For now, we'll just make a square room. If you want, when you're done, you can position the cursor on one of the vertexes, hold the left mouse button and drag the vertex around to change how the room looks. Next, place the arrow somewhere in the room, and press scroll lock. This puts the starting point in. Pardon my artwork, but it should look something like this: _____________________________ The -'s and :'s represent the lines, : : and the --> is your starting point. : : : --> : : : :____________________________: At this point, you can save and run your level. Pretty cool, huh? 2.4 Your basic, two sector, horrible level After you've tried your new one-sector level, fire up BUILD and go to it. If we wanted to make and elevated surface in the middle of the room for absolutely no reason other than to learn how, we would place the cursor somewhere inside our sector, and draw a new box. We'll call the box you just made "BOX B" and the other will be "BOX A" It should look something like this: ________________________________ : ________________________ : : : : : : : BOX B : : : : : : : :______________________: : : BOX A : :_______________________________: Now, click on the outer portion, and enter 3D mode. Notice what it did. You now have the new box as walls facing outward, and you can't go in the box that you made. It's just walls. We could leave it like that, but we want an elevated platform, right? So, go back into 2D mode. Place the cursor inside BOX B. Now, hit ALT+S. Notice that the lines that make up BOX B have turned red. This means that those walls are "Two sided walls", and the box inside has now turned into what is called "Valid player space". Go into 3D Mode, and watch what happened. The room should look exactly like our one-sector room did. Utterly useless, but read on.... 2.5 Your basic, two-sector, not-so-horrible level Ok, as I said, we are going to make an elevated surface. But we just GOTTA do some other things, right? :) 2.5.1 Floor/ceiling heights Go into 3D mode now, and point the mouse at BOX B. To make BOX B elevate, use the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys. Try it with BOX B's floor and ceiling, along with BOX A's floor and ceiling. Our surface is now elevated. 2.5.2 Changing textures Well, we have our cool floor and ceiling heights, but we have to do something with that ugly grey texture. Well, here's how: Point the mouse to the texture you want to change. Hit the 'V' key. You will now have a screen with that ugly texture, and you can go down and see the names of everything else. It's like this because that's the only texture we've used. Later, when we use more, the ones we use will show up automatically. Anyway, for now, we want pictures. So go ahead and hit the 'V' key again to get all of the items. Scroll down till you find a cool texture, and hit enter. The wall has now changed textures. 2.5.2.1 Panning and stuff Texture panning is a great feature. You can scroll a wall up and down, possibly to meet other textures on either side. To do this, go into 3D mode. Point to the texture you want to pan. Next, hold down the shift key and use the arrows on the number pad to pan. Cool? You can also shrink and enlarge the texture (this also works for sprites) by using just the arrow keys. If you ever totally mess up a wall, you can get it back by pressing /. If you like the way you panned or shrunk a wall, you can hit the > key to do it all around. 2.5.3 Skies If you tried to change the ceiling to a sky, and it looked all wrong, you can fix that very easily. In 3D mode, point to the sky, and press the 'P' key. This is called parallaxing. It makes the ceiling (or floor for a neat effect) look like it arches and goes forever. Very cool stuff.... 2.5.4 Shading Well, to make it darker, all you have to do is point at a texture and hit the + and - keys on your numeric pad. To make the whole room dark, just shade all the walls. 2.5.5 Slopes Slopes are quite easy, actually. All you do is go into 3D mode and point at the wall/ceiling you want sloped. Then, use the [ and ] keys to slope. That's it! ============================== 3: ONTO THE COOL STUFF, BUT... ============================== 3.1 Intro First off, please do not proceed unless you have read and done all of the above, or you will not understand anything below this. Deal? Ok. Second, PLEASE read the following part... because if you understand it, you will be able to do this stuff ALL on your own. :) 3.2 Hitags and Lotags These are some of the hardest things to explain. I'm going to explain it like this: Lotags are usually defined by the game, and they describe how something is going to act. Lotags can be changed by placing the cursor on what you want to change and pressing 'T' for sectors, and 'ALT+T' for sprites. Hitags are usually defined by the user. They explain where something is going to go to, or what's going to activate it. For example, it could be where a teleporter is going to teleport to, or what switch a conveyor belt is going to stop for. Hitags are defined by using 'H' key for sectors, and 'ALT+H' for sprites. 3.3 Sector Effectors Sector effectors are just what the name says. They say what will happen to a sector when you blow that crack, flip that switch, open that door, or activate that touchplate. They need Hitags and Lotags to go with them. 3.4 Locators Locators can determine where a Recon Control Vehicle goes or where a subway turns or goes. You get the idea. 3.5 Music & SFX One really good thing about Duke 3D is that YOU define the sounds that a door, lift, or just about anything for that matter makes. Use this to say what sound these things make when used. Stuff like teleporters and other things do NOT need this. 3.6 Respawns This is used to make something appear when something happens. The event can be the killing of a dancer, or stepping on a touchplate sector. 3.7 Activatorlocked These are used in locked doors. Read section 4.32. 3.8 Activators These are used to activate Sector Effectors through a switch or a touchplate. 3.9 Checklist There are a bunch of things you must do before you make/upload a level. Here's a checklist: Before starting on your level: [ ] I am comfortable with the editor I am using [ ] I have made my first level, and it sucks [ ] I have a good theme for my level [ ] I have planned it all out [ ] I have read this ENTIRE FAQ through, and understand how to do everything. [ ] I understand everything talked about in section 3 Before Uploading your level: [ ] I have filled out a MAP authoring template [ ] I have a story line [ ] I have gone through EVERY part of my level so many times that I think I'm going to kill myself. [ ] I have had other people use my level [ ] I have tested my level using multiplayer =================================== 4: YOUR NOT-SO BASIC, AWESOME LEVEL =================================== 4.1 Intro Again, as before, PLEASE do not advance to this part of level making unless you have read and understood everything above it. :) This is because this section will be the part where you really make your two- sector level AWESOME. It is the stuff that was used in the real levels, and I'm going to explain to you exactly how to do everything. If in doubt, I have provided separate .MAP files for each technique, and near each set of directions, I have put what .MAP file to look in. 4.2 Teleporters Map Name: TELEPORT.MAP Teleporters are some of the easiest hard things to make in Duke 3D, so we'll start with them first. First, make the following room: ____________________________________ : : We'll call this fig. a. The : : outside box is just your normal, : : basic room. Make the two inner : : Sectors (marked with a "T") valid : ___ ___ : Player space. If you want to make : : T : : T : : it look good, put the grid size on : :___: :___: : the biggest one, and line up the : : "T" sectors with the grid. Use the :__________________________________: teleporter tile for the floor, and raise the floor. The next step is the hard part. Place a sector- effector sprite in the middle of each of the "T" sectors. Since this is your first teleporter, make the Hitag for this sprite 1, and the Lotag 7. 1 is because this is your first teleporter, and if you made another, you would change it to 2. 7 is because that is that is the Lotag for teleporting. That's it! Notes: Note that whatever angle the sector-effector sprite is facing is the way that the player is facing when he/she comes out of the teleporter. You could have the player come out facing a wall with 10 aliens to his back...but you didn't get that idea from me! :) 4.3 Water Map name: WATER.MAP Like teleporters, water is very easy. First, make a square sector. Put another sector in the middle of it, this will be the top of the water. Next, make a sector anywhere (except in the outer part of the first one). One thing you must make sure of is that both of the inner sectors are the same EXACT size, and that they are valid player space. When you're done, it should look like this: Now comes the hard part. We're working ____________ now with the inner sector, since that is :______B_____: the water. Sector A is going to the top of the water, so change that SECTOR's Lotag to 1. This signifies that this sector __________________________ will be "on top" of the water. Do the : : same thing to sector B, but make the Lotag : ______________ : 2. This tells the game that this sector will : :______A_____: : be underwater. Next, put sector-effectors : : in the same place of sector A and sector B. :_________________________: Just like teleporters, this is your first piece of water, so make the Hitag for both sector-effectors 1, and the Lotag 7. That's it! 4.4 Lifts Map Name: LIFTS.MAP There are four different kinds of lifts: 1. Starts at top, comes down. Ceiling stays put. 2. Starts at bottom, comes up. Ceiling stays put. 3. Starts on top, floor and ceiling come down together. 4. Starts on bottom, floor and ceiling come down together. These are pretty easy to make. I would guess you know how to arrange the sectors (if not, look at LIFTS.MAP). Here's how you make the sector tags: (DO NOT MAKE SECTOR EFFECTORS, JUST USE H FOR FIRST #, T FOR SECOND #.) All Hitags are zero, so put the following #'s for Lotags: 1. 16 2. 17 3. 18 4. 19 For best effect, put a MUSIC&SFX sprite in the lift sector, make the Hitag and Lotag (For MUSIC&SFX sprite) 73 for Hitag, 71 for Lotag. 4.5 Glass Map Name: GLASS.MAP Glass, believe it or not, is fairly easy. The procedure is as follows: Make the following rooms: __________ _________ : : : : The sector in the middle should be valid : :_: : player space. Next, go into 3D Mode. : : : : Point the cursor to the ceiling of the middle : : : : sector, and press 'M'. An ugly brown texture : :_: : will appear. Press 'V' on this texture and : : : : select the glass texture. Next, go into 2D :_________: :________: mode. Point to the line with the glass texture. Press 'B' to make it so you can't walk through the glass, and CTRL+H to make the glass breakable. You've got yourself a new window! 4.6 Vents Map Name: NONE There's no map for this because it is so easy. All you have to do is put the vent sprite on both sides of the opening, make it hittable, (use CTRL+H in 2D mode) size it down, and make the vent have that metal texture as a floor. That's it! You might want to size down the second sector to make it look something like a vent. :) 4.7 Security Cameras Map Name: CAMERA.MAP Look at CAMERA.MAP for this one. Pretty self explanitory. :) NOTE: The Hitags on cameras are how much they will turn from their original starting position. Experiment! 4.8 Regular, DOOM-Type Doors Map Name: NONE This is easy. I'm sure you know how to make doors in DOOM. Make 3 sectors, the one in the middle is your door. Make the ceiling come down to the ground. Add nice textures, put a Sector Lotag of 20 for the door sector. That's it! 4.9 Collapsible Bridges/Bridges Map Name: BRIDGE.MAP Bridges, despite what you might think, are extremely easy. A bridge is actually a sprite. (Check BRIDGE.MAP for sprite #) To make the bridge collapsible, like in E1L1, give the bridge sprite a Hitag. It doesn't matter what number, as long as it is unique to that bridge. NOTE: You may have to use the 'R' key on the bridge sprite to get it the way you want it. 4.10 Dukematch/Co-op ONLY Stuff Map Name: NONE To make an object appear only in Dukematch or Co-op play, go into 3D Mode. Point to the sprite with the cursor and hit the RALT+P keys. (This is to change the palette) Type in '1' to make the object "Dukematch-only". That's it! 4.11 Fun With C-9 Map Name: HOLE.MAP C-9 is the source of most of the explosions in Duke 3D. Here are some facts: A.) If you shrink C-9 (Use > and < keys on numberpad in 3D Mode) all the way (widthwise), when you play the game you do not see it. It can still be operated, but only by an OOZCAN, another C-9, or a crack. B.) A C-9 sprite can be activated by an OOZCAN, crack, or another C-9. C.) You can have a Dukematch-Only hole by making the crack Dukematch- only. (See 4.10) Well, that's it for the mile-long fact list...:) Now, to be able to blow holes in walls.... Step 1: Make the following sectors: ____________________ : : : :____ : :_A__: : :_B__: : :_C__: : : : : :____________________: Sectors A, B, and C should be all valid player space. We could have sectors A, B, and C as all one sector, but we want our hole to look cool. So make it 3, and arrange the slopes of the floor and ceiling and the heights of the floor and ceiling until you've got a nice hole. Add nice textures, the stuff inside the hole will be what it looks like when blown out. Step 2: Put a crack sprite somewhere. It really doesn't matter where, it'll work just the same. I prefer in front of the hole. :) Make sure that it's directly on a wall, though. Give the crack a Hitag. Something unique, not the same as any other cracks. I used 213 in my map. Step 3: Place a Sector Effector *Sprite* in sectors A, B, and C. Give them your unique Hitag, and a Lotag of '13'. Step 4: Place a C-9 sprite in sectors A, B, and C. Now, go into 3D mode. Use the '4' and '6' keys on your NUMBERPAD to shrink the C-9 WIDTHWISE as much as possible. If you don't know what I mean, look at my map. Step 5: Go back into 2D mode. Give each of the C-9's your special Hitag. Now, the Lotag for the C-9's is up to you. That determines how long it will be before the C-9 blows up. You can have it happen right away, a long way away so the player walks up to the hole and has C-9 blown up in his face, or all three go at different times. For now, just put 20 for the middle one, 40 for the left one, and 60 for the right one. This makes a nice explosion, and is not bad for a beginners hole. Step 6: You're done! Play the level! In future hole designing, you might want to know this: 1. You can have the crack shatter as many sectors as you want, just make sure they are of all equal Hitags. 2. If you want a HUGE explosion that'll last about 10 seconds, fill the ENTIRE room with C-9, shrink them all, and give them your Hitag. Set them all for different times, and watch it blow! Set records for how long you can stay alive with C-9 blowing up in your face! 3. Have JUST C-9 blow a hole by replacing the crack with a C-9 sprite. Make sure it's not on the wall, and KABOOM! 4. Use KEXTRACT to extract the original levels, get ideas from them. 4.12 Swinging Doors Map Name: SWDOOR.MAP These are EXTREMELY hard at first, but when you know how, you can do it with the snap of a finger. I recommend you follow these directions and make your own before you look at the example, because the example is very confusing. STEP 1: Make the following sectors: _____________________ : : : : : :__________ : : : : A : B : : : : : :_________: : : : : :___________________: They should be both valid player space, and the line separating them should be red. STEP 2: Now, we make the doors. This is the hard part. Go into sector A and make the following: ___ : : : : : : :__: It is important that you realize that you must make the doors in a valid sector. Doesn't matter which one, but a valid sector. STEP 3: You should now have something like this: _____________________ : : : : : :__________ : : : : A : B : : ___ : : : : : :_________: : : C: : : : : : : :__: : :___________________: First, make sector C valid player space by moving the cursor in it and pressing ALT+S. Give it a Lotag of '23'. Move the vertexes over to where the door will be. The upper right vertex of sector C should overlap the upper left corner of sector B. Sector C's right line should overlap sector B's left one. Get it? I hope so. :) STEP 4: Make another sector C, and place it below the old sector C. The new sector C's bottom vertexes should overlap the new sector C's top vertexes. You should have this: _____________________ : : : : : _:__________ : : : : : A :_: B : : : : : : :_:_________: : : : : :___________________: I hope you understand this part. If not, please look at SWDOOR.MAP. If you still can't get it, send email to gmoser@gramercy.ios.com. I'll try to help you. STEP 5: Now, the tricky part. You have to put a sector effector at the pivot points of the two doors. Sound easy? Well, kinda, but you have to get it just right. Turn grid locking off, and move the sprite to the corner, but not ON the corner vertex. Just enough so that it doesn't touch anything. Next, give the sector effectors a unique Hitag, and a Lotag of 11. STEP 6: For the next step, the docs appear to be wrong. They say change the palette number of the sector-effector to change the direction that the doors go, but actually, you have to point the SE's the way you want. Check SWDOOR.MAP for more details. STEP 7: Raise the floor of the door up to the ceiling, add nice textures, and you're done! NOTE: A door will not appear to work right when: The floor/ceiling is sloped The floor/ceiling is a different height than that of the doors, from the beginning of the door to the end. (i.e. A door will not work if swinging off a curb) 4.13 Rooms Over Rooms Map Name: SOS.MAP This is quite easy to do. First, make a big sector. Make the ceiling high, choose some nice textures. Make a place leading from that, and up a staircase or slope. Go around until you get to one of the sides of the first sector. You should something like have this: ______________________________________ : ________________________ : : : : : : : :______: : : 0 0 : : __________________________________________ : : : : : : : : : : : : : :__: : : : : : :________ : : : : : : : : : :__________________________________________: Now, the two 0's are the ending vertexes for the sloped hallway. I know they look nothing like it, but bear with me. :) Now, start making a new sector, starting from the 0's. Make it inside the first sector. DO NOT put vertexes on the lines for the first sector. just let the lines overlap. Now, travel up your slope, and go into the sector you just made. Right now, it's at regular floor height. Just raise the floor, and you've got a sector over a sector! If you need help, look at SOS.MAP. Now, the general rule for rooms over rooms, is make it the way it is above. You don't have to make it EXACTLY like it, just make sure the stacked sector is made of all white lines. Get it? Good. 4.14 Sliding Star Trek Doors Map Name: SLSTDOOR.MAP Sliding Star Trek doors, despite what you might think, are very easy. But, they can be very hard to teach by way of directions. If in doubt, look at SLSTDOOR.MAP. Pull it all apart. These doors are just 2 sides that pull apart. An example from the real game is the door leading out of the arcade in E1L1. STEP 1: Make the following sectors: _______________ ________________ : : : : : : : : : :___"___: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : D : C:A:B : E : : :__:_:__: : : : " : : : : : : :______________: :_______________: Ok, now. Sector A is what we will be working with. Insert 3 vertexes on the bottom and top lines of sector A. If you're not sure what I mean, the lines to insert the vertexes are marked with a ". They should be side by side, parallel to each other. STEP 2: Slide the two middle vertexes into the exact middle. They should overlap. Next, take the top and bottom vertexes and slide them on the line that separates setctor A from B, and A from C. Again, if you don't know what I mean, look at SLSTDOOR.MAP. STEP 3: You are now done constructing the door. Add some nice textures. Now, go into 2D mode. Point the cursor to one of the triangles that you made by sliding vertexes. Doesn't matter which one, top of bottom. Hit the 'T' key and give it a Lotag of 9. At this point, you can use your new door. To make the door nice, put a MUSIC&SFX sprite and a GSPEED sprite in one of the triangles. Give the GSPEED sprite a Lotag of 64, and the MUSIC&SFX sprite a lotag of 259. NOTES: 1.) The texture of the door will "squish" when it is opened. No way around it. 2.) For some odd reason, the door's sound will play twice when the door is opened. No way around this. :( 4.15 Splitting Star Trek Doors Map Name: SPSTDOOR.MAP These have got to be the COOLEST doors in the game, and they're quite easy to make. Here's how: STEP 1: Make a regular Star Trek Door. (See 4.14) STEP 2: Go into 3D mode. Choose nice textures. Point the cursor at the triangle part, and make the floor and ceiling meet in the middle. Keep in mind that the floor and ceiling of the triangles will be the floor and ceiling of the door sector when the door is open, so choose a texture like 1156. You are now done constructing the door. Just a few little things to go... STEP 3: Go back into 2D mode. Point at one of the middle triangles. Give the sector a Lotag of 26. At this point, your door is done. To make it nice, add a GSPEED and MUSIC&SFX sprite. Give the GSPEED sprite a Lotag of 128, and the MUSIC&SFX sprite a Lotag of 527. You're done! 4.16 Teeth Doors MAP NAME: TDOOR.MAP Another cool door, and it's real easy to make. STEP 1: Make the following sectors: ________________________ ______________________ : : : : : : : : : :_____________: : : : _____ : : : : :__B__: : : : D : _____ A : E : : : :__C__: : : : :_____________: : : : : : : : : : :______________________: :_____________________: They should all be valid player space. STEP 2: Raise sector A, B, and C's ceiling to match D and E's. Leave sector A's floor alone, but make B and C's floor low enough so that you can't see it, even looking down. Add nice textures. STEP 3: Give sector A a unique Hitag, and a Lotag of 29. Place one sector effector in sector B and C. Give the effectors the unique Hitag you gave sector A, and a Lotag of 22. You're done! You might want a MUSICANDSFX sprite with a Lotag of 166 in sector A, up to you. 4.17 Auto-Closing Doors MAP NAME: NONE To make a door auto-close, put a sector effector in the door sector. Give it a Lotag of 10. The Hitag is how long the game should wait before closing the door. 128 equals 4 seconds, this is usually the best. 4.18 Nuke Buttons MAP NAME: NONE All you have to do for a Nukebutton is put the sprite (#142) on a wall, and give it a Lotag of '32767'. Also, to end a level, put a sectoreffector in a sector and give it a Lotag of '65535'. This will end the level when the player walks on the sector. 4.19 Secret Areas Map Name: NONE To make a secret area, put a Sector Effector in the sector. Give it a Lotag of '32767'. 4.20 Sound List Map Name: NONE I'm not going to list all of the sounds and what theydo here, at least for now. You have a list of them in your Duke 3D directory, though. Open up DEFS.CON. There is a list of all the sounds starting at line number 646. 4.21 Mirrors Map Name: MIRROR.MAP This is pretty easy to do. Before you do this, go into MIRROR.MAP. Turn on no clipping (DNCLIP). Walk through the mirror. Weird? This is a hall of mirrors effect, and you are actually in the room behind the mirror. To make a mirror, make the following sectors: _____________________________________ : : : : ________ : : : : : :___: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : C : B : A : : : : : : :___: : : : : : : : :________: : : :____________________________________: Sector C is the room behind the mirror. As a rule of thumb, it should usually be twice as big as sector A, if not bigger. The mirror will usually work if sector C is the same size as sector A, but sometimes if you look in the mirror at different angles, it gets messed up. Now, go into sector A, in 3D mode. Point to the ceiling of sector B, and press the 'M' key. Change that ugly texture to the mirror texture, which is number 560. Next, point to the new texture and press the '1' key. This makes the wall 1-sided, and there will now be a pink backround and you can't see into the other room. Next, go into 2D mode. Point to the wall that the mirror will be and press the 'B' key and 'CTRL+H' keys. This makes the wall block you and hittable. If you want Duke to say "Damn, I'm lookin' good!" when you use the mirror, give the wall (use ALT+T on the wall for Lotags, ALT+H for Hitags) a Lotag of 252. You're done! 4.22 Conveyor Belts/Water Current Map Name: CONVEYOR.MAP This is pretty easy. Note that to make water current, it's the same deal, just put water on the floor and give the sector a Hitag of 1. First, make your conveyor belt. Just a flat sector, maybe the conveyor belt texture for the floor. Add a sector effector. Give it a Hitag of 24, and point it the way you want the conveyor belt to go. That's it! To make it go faster, put a GSPEED sprite in the conveyor sector. Give it a Lotag of your choice. The higher the Lotag, the faster it will go. Look at CONVEYOR.MAP to learn how to make a switch turn it on and off. Pretty self-explanatory. 4.23 Gears Map Name: GEARS.MAP To make gears, make a gear sector. You know, make it look like a gear. I didn't have the time nor the energy to make a whole lot of prongs on my gear, so I just made a cross. Just the same. Anyway, decide on a pivot point for the gear. Insert 3 sprites on the pivot point. Go into 3D mode. Make 2 of them sector effectors, and one sprite #418. Use relative alignment (R key) on sprite #418 to make it lay flat. Go back into 2D mode. Give both of the sector effectors a unique Hitag, not the same as all the other gears. I used 20. Then, give one of the sector effectors a Lotag of 1. That's it! To make the gear sound good, put a MUSIC&SFX sprite somewhere. Give it a Hitag of 8000, and a Lotag of 89. For multiple gears, do the same thing only leave out the sector effector with no Lotag. 4.24 Subways Map Name: SUBWAY.MAP To make subway cars, first make a subway track. Doesn't have to be too elaborate, something like a race car track. First, we'll make the engine. Make a simple square sector, for our first subway. Later, we can make bigger and better cars, but for now just use a square. Make the square valid player space. Go into 3D mode. Go into 3D mode and do anything you want to the car... i.e. make the floor higher, put nice textures, etc. Next, put a sector effector in the subway car. For the Hitag of that sector effector, we'll use the number 1. 1 is because the subway is going to start at locator number 1. For the Hitag of the sector effector, put a 6. 6 means that this is the engine of the train, and all cars will follow it. Now, the locators. Put locators (sprite #6) around the track. Each locator tells the car where to go next. Look at SUBWAY.MAP if you need an example. Now, put Lotags on the Locators. It is important that you DON'T give the first locator a Lotag, or the game will crash. Give all the other locators Lotags going in number order, from second to last. (Leave the first alone) You have your self a subway! If you need more help, look at SUBWAY.MAP. Now, if you wanted to make 2 cars, make another subway sector. Give the sector effector (you do not have to make new locators) a Lotag of 14 instead of 6. If you want to have multiple trains on one track, give the first train SECTORs a Hitag of 1, the second a 2, and so-on and so-forth. Also, to make it so the floor doesn't move with the car, go into 3D mode and point to the floor of the car. Press 'R'. 4.25 Colored Lights Map Name: CLITES.MAP To make colored lights, make a sector. Choose textures. Change the palette number (use ALT+P) of the walls, ceiling, and floor to a number from a list below. Next, add a sector effector. Change the sector effector's palette, and give it a Lotag of 4. The only palette numbers for lights that seem to work are: 1 = Blue 2 = Red 7 = Yellow 8 = Green 4.26 Demo Cameras To make a camera in your level that will play back demos after they are recorded, put a sector effector somewhere (preferably where you want the camera :) ). Give it a Lotag of 27. The Hitag is how far the camera can see. Experiment a bit. 4.27 Co-op/Dukematch Starting Points To make co-op and Dukematch starting points, put a Duke sprite (his initial frame) in your level. That would be a Dukematch start. To make a co-op start, give Duke's sprite a Lotag of 1. Co-op starts should all be at the beginning, with the player 1 start. Dukematch starts should be where no player is at an advantage, i.e. near a good weapon, etc. 4.28 Facts On Dimensions This was taken from the Apogee message base, and was written by Per-Erik Nilsson (perni@lysator.liu.se). Everything is measured in units up how many times you press the PGUP/PGDOWN keys. For the shooting ones, aim up/down was not used. Measure Duke Standing Duke Ducking Min. height for Duke to enter a sector 11* 6 Max. height that Duke can walk onto 3 0 Max. height of floor Duke can shoot above 8(9)** 3(4)** Min. height of ceiling Duke can shoot below 10(9)** 5(4)** As above but using RPG 11 6 Max height of floor Duke can jump on to 20 0 Min. height of wall to place tripbomb on 10 4 * Duke can also enter sectors with a height of 10, but he will automaticly duck. ** Second number is when only some of the shots will get past 4.29 Spawning Stuff Map Name: NONE This section will cover three things: CANWITHSOMETHING's, killing stuff and something else comes up (i.e. kill a dancer and a monster comes) and touchplates to make monsters come up. (i.e. in E3L1, when you step on the shaded sector on the top of the building, a monster pops up out of nowhere) 1: CANWITHSOMETHING's are the garbage cans that when you "kill" them something pops out of it. To make something come out, get the sprite number of what you want to pop out. Give the can a Lotag of the sprite you want to come out. Done! 2: Kill something, something comes up. This is used for stuff like when you kill a dancer, a monster gets up and tries to kill you. What you have to do is this: STEP 1: Put a dancer somewhere. STEP 2: Put a RESPAWN sprite where you want the monster to appear after you've killed the dancer. STEP 3: Give the dancer a Hitag. Doesn't matter what, as long as it's the not the same as other dancers. STEP 4: Give the respawn sprite a Lotag. Make it the same as the Hitag you gave the dancer. STEP 5: Give the respawn sprite a Hitag. Make it the # of the sprite you want to appear when you kill the dancer. That's it! Touchplates to make monsters come up are the exact same thing as dancers, only change the dancer sprite to a TOUCHPLATE sprite. 4.30 Active Tripbombs Map Name: NONE If you don't already know how to do this, active tripbombs are sprite #2566. You might have to size it down a bit. 4.31 Locked Doors Map Name: ACCESS.MAP To have a door locked, do the following: STEP 1: Put an access pad somewhere. Give it a Hitag of 212. Make up a Lotag (I like to use 3, 4, and 5) and give it to the access pad. STEP 2: Put an ACTIVATORLOCKED sprite (#4) in the door sector. Give it the Lotag that you gave the access pad. That's it! Now, that will make a blue access pad. To make a red and yellow one, you have to change the palette number of the access pad. You might want to change the key, also, if you you want the player to be able to use the pad...:) Change them to one of the following: (Use ALT+P in 3D mode) 21 = Red Access pad 23 = Yellow Access Pad 4.32 Earthquakes Map Name: QUAKE.MAP To make earthquakes, follow these steps: STEP 1: Make the sector that will be altered during the earthquake. Make it look like the finished product of the quake, i.e. make slopes, altered floor/cieling heights, whatever. STEP 2: Make the sector that will activate the quake. If you don't know what I mean, it's the darkened sector in QUAKE.MAP. STEP 3: Now, to add sprites. For each sector that will be altered in the quake, put a Sector Effector sprite and a Master Switch (#8) sprite, both in the same sector. Raise the two sprites to where you want the height of the floor to be before the quake. It's really hard to get it perfect. Sometimes you'll get raised floors that just won't go down. In that case, I presume you have a slope. Put the 2 sptires (Sector Effector and MASTERSWITCH on the AXIS of the slope. The last sprite to add is a TOUCHPLATE sprite (#3) in the sector that will activate the quake. (The darkened sector in QUAKE.MAP) STEP 4: Give ALL the Sector Effectors a Lotag of '2'. Give the TOUCHPLATE sprite a unique Lotag. Give the same lotag as you gave the touchplate to the MASTERSWITCH sprites. That's it! NOTES: A.) To make the earthquake make scraps of rock and metal fly around, put a sector effector sprite where you want the scraps to start. Give it a lotag of '33'. Now, if you want stuff to just roll around on the ground, keep it on the ground. To make it come from the air, raise the SE 33 sprite to the cieling. B.) To make Duke say "Holy Shit!" when he steps on the touchplate sector, give the touchplate SECTOR a Lotag of 10225. 4.33 Light Switches Map Name: SWLITES.MAP This is easy. Here's the step-by-step: STEP 1: Make a sector. STEP 2: Set the sector brightness (Use ALT + +/- in 3D Mode) to how bright it should be when the lights are on. Then, set the shade of everything that you want dark when the lights are out. (Use '+S while pointing at the desired wall/floor/ceiling/sprite) Mine is 50, which is totally dark. STEP 3: Put a light switch on the wall. Give it a unique Lotag. Put Sector Effector sprites in ALL the sectors that will be lit up when the switch is turned on. STEP 4: Give the Sector Effector(s) a Hitag that is equal to the switches Lotag. STEP 5: Give the Sector Effector(s) a Lotag of 12. That's it! 4.34 Open Door, Room Lights Up Map Name: DRLITES.MAP I'll use the step-by-step method for this one: STEP 1: Make 3 sectors, you know, a room (to be lit up), a lit room, maybe with ligihts in the back, and the door sector. To make it look cool when the room lights up, make 2 extra sectors on either side. You know, make it look a bit like my map. That's the way I like it, your choice. STEP 2: Do the same thing you did in step 2 of section 4.33. STEP 3: Put a Sector Effector sprite in the door sector, and in all the sectors that will be lit up when the door is opened. STEP 4: Give all the Sector Effector sprite a unique Hitag, and a Lotag of 8. You're done! 4.35 Shooters Map Name: SHOOTERS.MAP I couldn't think of a better name for it, so this section is called shooters. You know, things that shoot shrinkers, mortars, lasers, etc. Here's how to do it: STEP 1: Make your sector that the shot will come from. Make it look nice. STEP 2: In that sector, put a Sector Effector sprite, a GSPEED sprite, and a MASTERSWITCH sprite. STEP 3: You MUST have a switch turn the shooter on, so put a switch somewhere. STEP 4: Give the switch and the MASTERSWITCH sprite a unique Lotag. Give the MASTERSWITCH sprite a Hitag of 50. STEP 5: Place the sector effector where you want the shot to come from, and angle it to where it will shoot. (The rockets and lasers ait themselves, but do it anyway, or they just crash into a wall). Give the sector effector a Lotag of 36. STEP 5: Now, to decide what to shoot. Do this by giving the GSPEED sprite one of the following Lotags: 1636 = Lizard Goobs 1625 = Alien Lasers 1650 = Mortars (Like the first boss throws) 2605 = Rockets 2556 = Shrinkers You've made s shooter! If you don't understand, look at SHOOTERS.MAP. =============== 5: FINISHING UP =============== 5.1 MAP Authoring Template The is also in the ZIP file. Fill this out and include it with your level. ====================================================================== Title : Name of your level Author : Your name E-mail : Your email adress Web Page : Your URL, if you have one Description : Set the mood here Additional Credits to : Anybody that you would like to thank for helping you, etc. ====================================================================== * Play Information * Episode and Level # : Single Player : Yes/No DukeMatch Level : Yes/No Difficulty Settings : Yes/Not implemented * Construction * Base : New level from scratch/Modified (Map name) Editor(s) used : Known Bugs : * Where to get this MAP file * FTP sites: BBS numbers: Other: =========================================================================== 5.2 Uploading Your Level The final step is to upload your level. Here are some good places to upload them: Send them to: avenger@newreach.net mike@bayserve.net yeagers@www.erols.com gmoser@gramercy.ios.com* Upload them to: ftp.cdrom.com head2head.com Post them to: alt.games.apogee alt.games.duke3d If you run a Duke 3D site and would like to be put on the list, please tell me and I'll add you. * This is me. Please send your level here. Not only will I post it on my page, but I like to see how this FAQ helped people.