Looks like a map from OpFor. I think one of the first places where you get to meet those alien troopers.
Don't know the name though.
Forum posts
void main is not legal C++.
Not that I'm into language standards or something, and it's (imo) a rather small detail, but oh well.
Good points, m0p. I haven't seen return codes being used frequently, but they do come in handy sometimes.
Not that I'm into language standards or something, and it's (imo) a rather small detail, but oh well.
Good points, m0p. I haven't seen return codes being used frequently, but they do come in handy sometimes.
@vs49688: main should return an int. And I wouldn't call your code any less complex; it's roughly the same amount of lines and a similar construction.
@The_(c)Striker: in your code, those if statements can be replaced by else-if statements. Those checks logically belong 'together' in a group, so why not link them together? Only if A is not true, go and check B, C & D. If A is true, then forget about B, C & D.
Oh, and you could link the delay to the input: if the user entered something between 2 and 4, then wait for (1000 * user-input) milliseconds.
Also, it's better to just place a breakpoint at the end of a program, rather than a system("pause") call. Right now, your resulting program will always wait for user input, whether you're running it from your IDE or not.
@The_(c)Striker: in your code, those if statements can be replaced by else-if statements. Those checks logically belong 'together' in a group, so why not link them together? Only if A is not true, go and check B, C & D. If A is true, then forget about B, C & D.
Oh, and you could link the delay to the input: if the user entered something between 2 and 4, then wait for (1000 * user-input) milliseconds.
Also, it's better to just place a breakpoint at the end of a program, rather than a system("pause") call. Right now, your resulting program will always wait for user input, whether you're running it from your IDE or not.
Speaking about years, is it 2009 yet? Or maybe, is it 2010 yet?
Kinda suitable for a thread started in 2008, I guess...
Kinda suitable for a thread started in 2008, I guess...
Suggestion: map an art style or form. Choose a single theme (mondrian, escher, abstract, renaissance, pixel art, vector art, origami, etc.) and create a small map that gets that theme across as strong as possible. Basically, the first thing someone should think about your mondrian-themed map should be 'mondrian'. The maps name should not contain any hints. Most creative use of the most obviously clear theme wins.
Might be a bit too texture-heavy though.
EDIT: Evil genius lairs with evil genius traps and evil genius superweapons and evil genius don't-push-me red buttons are cool.
Might be a bit too texture-heavy though.
EDIT: Evil genius lairs with evil genius traps and evil genius superweapons and evil genius don't-push-me red buttons are cool.
I'd like to point out that creating decent levels and content comes down to experience and plain hard work - a lot of it. If you've never done it before, it's easy to underestimate the amount of work.
So, I'd say, start creating a few basic map layouts and get them up and running quickly. Get a feeling for how much work it is, try to determine what level of quality you'd like and how much resources you can spend on it.
After all, I'd be sad to see a lot of work go to waste because you took on too much from the start. Lack of motivation and proper leadership has killed many mod teams. If you want, you can do some research into that. There should still be various articles available on the subject of mod team management.
So, I'd say, start creating a few basic map layouts and get them up and running quickly. Get a feeling for how much work it is, try to determine what level of quality you'd like and how much resources you can spend on it.
After all, I'd be sad to see a lot of work go to waste because you took on too much from the start. Lack of motivation and proper leadership has killed many mod teams. If you want, you can do some research into that. There should still be various articles available on the subject of mod team management.
EDIT: Damn that coding tut, why didn't it tell me about ANYTHING being case sensitive tired -Probably because that tutorial assumes you already know that. It's pretty standard stuff.
Don't worry, I didn't know those things either, 6 years ago.
@raver: 
(very nice!). Did you make those textures yourself?
@Tetsu0: nice brushwork you've got there. You may want to create models for the sails and animate them, to get some breeze in there. That'd be cool.
(very nice!). Did you make those textures yourself?@Tetsu0: nice brushwork you've got there. You may want to create models for the sails and animate them, to get some breeze in there. That'd be cool.
I've done VWO and HBO. VWO was indeed a bit long - motivation was a slowly declining curve, heh. In the end, it wasn't so bad, and I'm glad I finished it. HBO was better though: more practical, not too long. I even kinda miss the amount of spare time I had during those years.
I'm currently in touch with some Chinese students. All of them are doing a second study here in Holland. Maybe it's not so that Asians are simply smarter, but they do seem to have a more study-oriented culture. It's fun though: they practice their English with me and I learn Chinese from them.
So yeah, who needs a Berlin wall if you have a Great Wall already?
I'm currently in touch with some Chinese students. All of them are doing a second study here in Holland. Maybe it's not so that Asians are simply smarter, but they do seem to have a more study-oriented culture. It's fun though: they practice their English with me and I learn Chinese from them.
So yeah, who needs a Berlin wall if you have a Great Wall already?
Tell me Scottie, if you can, you have destroyed so much (posters), what is it, exactly, that you have created?Just felt like saying that.
Oh, and you do keep him away from crowbars, right?
Where?!
It's going to be pretty tricky, yes. I remember doing this years ago. I ended up with 100+ entities or such. trains, targetchange's, relays, invisible buttons... and I don't know if that was even completely fool-proof.
For multiplayer, I'd go for a simple platform, nothing fancy. Doors slow down gameplay and an elevator that's more often than not on another floor is just too slow for most people.
For singleplayer, it could be useful here and there, but at that point, why not use Spirit to make it yourself easier?
For multiplayer, I'd go for a simple platform, nothing fancy. Doors slow down gameplay and an elevator that's more often than not on another floor is just too slow for most people.
For singleplayer, it could be useful here and there, but at that point, why not use Spirit to make it yourself easier?
It really pays off.Literally, heh.
I became a game-programmer half a year ago. Nice work, nice colleagues and free chocolate milk. Still doing some game-design and art in my spare time, too.
Still doing some game-design and art in my spare time, too.I'd say, take a look at some 3DS Max tutorials to find out how to set up your viewports. It sure is possible to get 4 viewports, if that's not the default setting already.
Can you give us some more information? Anything specific you're doing in that part of the map? A lot of transparency perhaps? Entity-work? Can you post some screenshots? Does this happen on your computer only or also on other systems?
I don't know what exactly could cause such sudden drops but the more you tell, the better the chance someone here will figure it out.
I don't know what exactly could cause such sudden drops but the more you tell, the better the chance someone here will figure it out.
Depends a bit. If I were you, I'd take some time to familiarize yourselves with the Source SDK code-base, then see what things you can pull off with it. Make a list of things you'll need to do and try to estimate how much time you'll need for that, based on how easy or hard the experimenting phase was. Ultimately, you'll be the ones that have to do the programming so if you don't feel sure about it, then chances are you won't make it in 6 months.
Beethoven, 7th Symphony - conducted by Karajan.
As far as I know, that's not important as long as you don't include them in the map. At least, a quick test with the above batch file worked fine for me.
The following batch file should do the trick, when put in the same folder as your compile tools. Just drag a .map file onto it to compile it. Doesn't matter where the .map file is located.
"%~dp0hlcsg.exe" "%~dpn1"If you're only benchmarking compile times, then there's no need to know about the Half-Life folders at all, only the compile tools and the .map file matter.
"%~dp0hlbsp.exe" "%~dpn1"
"%~dp0hlvis.exe" "%~dpn1"
"%~dp0hlrad.exe" "%~dpn1"
I just like to add something that I myself was curious about: when you edit your post, the last post time will be updated to the last time you edited a post. So, editing a post essentially has the same effect as posting another comment, so don't worry about edits not getting noticed.
One more note: personally I believe it's a good thing to clearly mark edits. Something like 'EDIT:' in front of it should do.
EDIT: As for double posting, it's merely a definition issue. Your definition differs from ours, but what matters is that in this community, posting twice in a row is frowned upon, same content or not.
One more note: personally I believe it's a good thing to clearly mark edits. Something like 'EDIT:' in front of it should do.
EDIT: As for double posting, it's merely a definition issue. Your definition differs from ours, but what matters is that in this community, posting twice in a row is frowned upon, same content or not.
You guys are using the latest version of the compile tools, right? The ones made by some members of the mapping communities (ZHLT, or whatever version is currently considered top-notch)... because the old tools are seriously outdated and limiting.
As for using multiple levels in Counter-Strike, I think you're out of luck there (and you're probably either using limited compile tools, or you're not optimizing your map sufficiently, or you're trying to cram too much into one level). I'm not exactly sure how level-changes are handled by CS - if they are at all - but it certainly would be inconvenient to wait for a level-load in the middle of a game. So don't bother trying.
As for using multiple levels in Counter-Strike, I think you're out of luck there (and you're probably either using limited compile tools, or you're not optimizing your map sufficiently, or you're trying to cram too much into one level). I'm not exactly sure how level-changes are handled by CS - if they are at all - but it certainly would be inconvenient to wait for a level-load in the middle of a game. So don't bother trying.
Looks more like C#, not C++.
What tutorial did you look at, Spike, and what IDE are you using (and for that matter, what language did you finally decide to go with)?
What tutorial did you look at, Spike, and what IDE are you using (and for that matter, what language did you finally decide to go with)?
Read that . You guys talk like professionals , really .I program for a living, so yeah.
Anyway, in the forums that I hang around on nowadays, the following articles and books are occasionally recommended:
C++ Language Tutorial
Correct C++ tutorial
'Thinking in C++' by Bruce Eckel
Perhaps you'll find them useful somehow.
I'm not saying you should learn a language by reading a book - clearly practice is needed - but I am saying that, by disregarding language-specific books, you will hinder your progress.
Because by simply practicing, you may easily overlook things and draw wrong conclusions based only on the results you're seeing.
Yes, books on design patterns and other theories teach you things that are useful across language boundaries, I'm all for that. But if you're working with a specific language, then investing some money on good books about that language isn't a bad move. Call it reference instead of theory for my part (although I'm talking about more than just reference purposes), but this is an important aspect that many programmers seem to ignore. I'll admit, this is more important for a tricky language like C++ than an easier, more forgiving high-level language such as Ruby or Python, but we are talking about C++ here.
Let's put it this way: by learning from tutorials, you'll have to look for one each time you encounter a problem. You'll probably do some more searching on the side, so you'll encounter a few nuggest of information every now and then. If you buy a good book, you would get a bucket of nuggets, all nicely packed together. Sure, you might've gathered that by on-line research and other means just as well, but that often takes a lot more time than reading a good book. After all, reading is reading, it's simply that books combine a lot of stuff together.
Because by simply practicing, you may easily overlook things and draw wrong conclusions based only on the results you're seeing.
Yes, books on design patterns and other theories teach you things that are useful across language boundaries, I'm all for that. But if you're working with a specific language, then investing some money on good books about that language isn't a bad move. Call it reference instead of theory for my part (although I'm talking about more than just reference purposes), but this is an important aspect that many programmers seem to ignore. I'll admit, this is more important for a tricky language like C++ than an easier, more forgiving high-level language such as Ruby or Python, but we are talking about C++ here.
Let's put it this way: by learning from tutorials, you'll have to look for one each time you encounter a problem. You'll probably do some more searching on the side, so you'll encounter a few nuggest of information every now and then. If you buy a good book, you would get a bucket of nuggets, all nicely packed together. Sure, you might've gathered that by on-line research and other means just as well, but that often takes a lot more time than reading a good book. After all, reading is reading, it's simply that books combine a lot of stuff together.
Completely wrong, potatis. I have never read a programming book in my life, and I know several programming languages. Practical experience is a lot better than reading some stupid old book. I knew nothing about PHP when I started TWHL3, nothing about C# when I started Twister 5, nothing about Visual Basic when I started my first VB program, nothing about C++ when I started that, either. To be fair, I was taught Java, Assembly, C (and C++, but this was after my first C++ project) and Scheme at uni, but not from a book.While I'd agree that good books are hard to find, there are still some good ones around. You're hindering your progress by ignoring them. I had been working with C++ for various years but only when I read 'Effective C++' by Scott Meyers did I learn various important things I had missed before.
Practice is indeed very important, but some theory to back it up is certainly not a bad thing. A variety of things can be picked up from on-line tutorials and articles, but many of these are of poor quality and you'll be missing out on some important stuff if you rely on on-line resources only. Certainly C++ is one of the more tricky languages.
And no, when you know one language it's not always a matter of learning a different syntax. Some languages are similar enough for that to make sense, but others can be radically different and will require a different mindset altogether. Which, I believe, is a good thing, as it teaches you how to approach a given problem from different angles.
@The(c)_Striker: you'll need an audio library (such as fmod) for that. However, since you're still quite new to programming, I would advise you to get more familiar with programming itself before jumping to such libraries.
I'm looking forward to Fez, Braid (PC version) and Half-Life 2: Episode 3. That's about it. I mostly play indie games nowadays: many are either free or cheap and there's some great games out there.
I'd say that C++ and C# syntax is rather similar (although I'd argue that C++' syntax is more complicated). But that's probably the biggest similarity between those languages.
Take a look at Python if you want to see a different syntax. Or, even better, Lisp. Once you've seen some of those languages, C++, C# and Java really do look similar.
Take a look at Python if you want to see a different syntax. Or, even better, Lisp. Once you've seen some of those languages, C++, C# and Java really do look similar.
If you're just making applications for your own use, then don't worry. But if you're planning to distribute them to others, you'll have to take such things into account: not everyone has the .NET framework, not everyone has the same version, etc. I'm no expert on how widely .NET versions are available but these are things to keep in mind.
I'd say that Python (or Perl, or Ruby) is a far more useful language - it's easy to learn and quite productive to use.
As for GUI programs, Penguinboy already said what I wanted to say. If you don't mind the .NET dependency, C# really is the way to go.
As for GUI programs, Penguinboy already said what I wanted to say. If you don't mind the .NET dependency, C# really is the way to go.
Just a wild guess - but perhaps the orientation of the gun in Hammer has some effect?
Rory, can you post a compile log of a 14+ hour compile, as well as your compile settings?
Normal compiles usually take between 15 and 60 minutes for most of my maps, final compiles can take up to a few hours. Then again, I'm making sure my maps are fairly optimized. This guide might be useful - although it mainly deals with run-time performance, several things also affect compile times.
Normal compiles usually take between 15 and 60 minutes for most of my maps, final compiles can take up to a few hours. Then again, I'm making sure my maps are fairly optimized. This guide might be useful - although it mainly deals with run-time performance, several things also affect compile times.
First subdivide the large surface, then extrude one of the two resulting faces to create the seats. That'll leave you with both seats and a rectangular surface.
Actually, someone made a HL2-in-HL mod. It's in the Reissues package.
Of course, you wouldn't recreate HL2 in HL exactly as it is, but you can try to emulate HL2's atmosphere in HL, making HL2-esque levels.
Anyway, if you want this mod to succeed, then you'll have to do some planning. You'll have to decide what to put in and what to leave out. HL2 is a big game, it took a few dozen people multiple years. You'll likely run out of motivation before you're done, unless you set yourself clear, achievable goals. Which likely means, a small mod consisting of a few levels only. You can always add more to it later on.
Of course, you wouldn't recreate HL2 in HL exactly as it is, but you can try to emulate HL2's atmosphere in HL, making HL2-esque levels.
Anyway, if you want this mod to succeed, then you'll have to do some planning. You'll have to decide what to put in and what to leave out. HL2 is a big game, it took a few dozen people multiple years. You'll likely run out of motivation before you're done, unless you set yourself clear, achievable goals. Which likely means, a small mod consisting of a few levels only. You can always add more to it later on.
I last opened Hammer a week or two ago, I think. Been working on a danmaku game recently so mapping is on halt for a little while. Shouldn't take long before I do some stuff again though, it's more or less on-and-off for me these days.
But yeah, lack of time - or rather, presence of higher priorities - is also a strong reason.
But yeah, lack of time - or rather, presence of higher priorities - is also a strong reason.
Looks interesting so far. I like the first part especially, looks like some nice combat there, having the combine up on the roofs and all. Proportions and such seem to be fine there, too.
The last part - big building, excavation entrance - doesn't really do it for me though: the room is too large to make much sense and the antlion combat seems less interesting. I think it's the lack of layout there, and the fact that it looks like an endless stream of antlions while it isn't - most players will expect antlions to continue to pour in, as that often happened in HL2 and it's episodes.
Those 'rules' are something to keep in mind: while you can create your own rules and expected behaviour, going against an established rule can confuse players somewhat. If you get what I mean.
As for visual detail, I know you're not in that stage yet, but it might be a good idea to sketch out some styles for yourself. How is that area supposed to look, where is the player, what looks fit well with that theme? What scenery can one expect there?
However, I think it's good to continue tweaking the gameplay for now and adding some more area's, to ensure that you don't loose sight of the big picture. Keep it up!
The last part - big building, excavation entrance - doesn't really do it for me though: the room is too large to make much sense and the antlion combat seems less interesting. I think it's the lack of layout there, and the fact that it looks like an endless stream of antlions while it isn't - most players will expect antlions to continue to pour in, as that often happened in HL2 and it's episodes.
Those 'rules' are something to keep in mind: while you can create your own rules and expected behaviour, going against an established rule can confuse players somewhat. If you get what I mean.
As for visual detail, I know you're not in that stage yet, but it might be a good idea to sketch out some styles for yourself. How is that area supposed to look, where is the player, what looks fit well with that theme? What scenery can one expect there?
However, I think it's good to continue tweaking the gameplay for now and adding some more area's, to ensure that you don't loose sight of the big picture. Keep it up!
Looks interesting so far, S3IZURE.
I wonder, since I never used Quark, how would you compare it to Hammer?
I wonder, since I never used Quark, how would you compare it to Hammer?
Hello, and welcome here.
Your mod idea sounds nice, a bit Crysis-inspired I assume? Don't feel ashamed to post screenshots, I'm sure the folks here can give you some helpfull feedback. I, for one, would advise you not to focus on looks alone: it can become a distraction that keeps you from finishing the overall mod. Getting things working first and then spicing them up usually works better. Ah well, enough un-asked-for advice. Good luck with the mod, and keep us posted.
Your mod idea sounds nice, a bit Crysis-inspired I assume? Don't feel ashamed to post screenshots, I'm sure the folks here can give you some helpfull feedback. I, for one, would advise you not to focus on looks alone: it can become a distraction that keeps you from finishing the overall mod. Getting things working first and then spicing them up usually works better. Ah well, enough un-asked-for advice. Good luck with the mod, and keep us posted.
Doesn't any of the other editors run on a Mac? QERadiant, Quark? Probably not, but perhaps that's worth a try. Well, at least Quark is open-source so it should be possible to compile a Mac version, if you're into that kind of thing...
Why not just add another command to your Hammer compile menu that copies your map to somewhere else? You can use full path-names there, you're not limited to those $path variables only.
A few days ago I hung two batch files under the Hammer compile menu, where the first STARTs the second, that does the real compile work. Since the first batch process returns almost immediately, Hammer doesn't stall during the compile. I'm still looking into automatically embedding files using Map Analyst or, if possible, Pakrat. That's where GUI programs generally fail to be usefull, in automated toolchains.
A few days ago I hung two batch files under the Hammer compile menu, where the first STARTs the second, that does the real compile work. Since the first batch process returns almost immediately, Hammer doesn't stall during the compile. I'm still looking into automatically embedding files using Map Analyst or, if possible, Pakrat. That's where GUI programs generally fail to be usefull, in automated toolchains.
New screenies. Visually not very attractive yet, but the layout has been redone from scratch after I got some feedback on it:
You can download the latest version here (.rar, 1.2 MB)
Visually not very attractive yet, but the layout has been redone from scratch after I got some feedback on it:Looks nice 'n moody, doodle. It's a singleplayer map I assume?
I get what you mean about the texture variation. This is a very early stage though, the final result should look something like this (rough sketch :P):
I also have an updated version that contains a new layout, for anyone that wants to check it, here's a download (.rar, 0.5 MB).
It's a singleplayer map I assume?I get what you mean about the texture variation. This is a very early stage though, the final result should look something like this (rough sketch :P):
@The Hunter: the top is flat, it would be hard for aircraft to land otherwise I suppose.
@Habboi: visuals are very, very early. Once the layout is finalized, I'll start churning out custom models and materials.
@World Crafter: too bad, those screenshots did look interesting. Perhaps you can still use this map as style inspiration, while planning the gameplay and other aspects ahead?
Anyway, that building is an outpost, a watchtower and aircraft launchpad in one. It's for vtol's.
I've gotten some feedback on the layout on the Snarkpit and I'm reworking that a bit now. Visually, I still want to go for the same style, but the layout should change quite a bit. Less geometric, more naturally shaped and flowing.
@Habboi: visuals are very, very early. Once the layout is finalized, I'll start churning out custom models and materials.
@World Crafter: too bad, those screenshots did look interesting. Perhaps you can still use this map as style inspiration, while planning the gameplay and other aspects ahead?
Anyway, that building is an outpost, a watchtower and aircraft launchpad in one. It's for vtol's.
I've gotten some feedback on the layout on the Snarkpit and I'm reworking that a bit now. Visually, I still want to go for the same style, but the layout should change quite a bit. Less geometric, more naturally shaped and flowing.
I had 38C in mind, do you think that's distinct enough? 
Well, the visuals are very early, they merely show some of the colors and lighting that I'm going with. I've got some placeholder props in there too already, but haven't skinned them properly yet. It's the gameplay I want to get right first - did anyone give it a try already?
Well, the visuals are very early, they merely show some of the colors and lighting that I'm going with. I've got some placeholder props in there too already, but haven't skinned them properly yet. It's the gameplay I want to get right first - did anyone give it a try already?
Looks nice, DocRock.
And yes, I'm mapping again. The following shots are from an early alpha version, as I'm still trying to get a good layout and gameplay going in this map, but they should give a good impression of the style and theme already:
For those who are interested, you can check out the map too (v06): download (1.1 MB). Please tell me what you think about the layout. Suggestions are welcome.
And yes, I'm mapping again. The following shots are from an early alpha version, as I'm still trying to get a good layout and gameplay going in this map, but they should give a good impression of the style and theme already:
I think you'll need to give some more info - it's pretty hard to tell what's going wrong right now.
Did you set up your info_landmarks correctly in both maps? Do you have any other trigger_changelevels active in the map and if so, are you sure you're not accidentally triggering one of them?
Did you set up your info_landmarks correctly in both maps? Do you have any other trigger_changelevels active in the map and if so, are you sure you're not accidentally triggering one of them?
Could be. Technically, that shouldn't be very difficult, so when you keep in mind they had some programmers working on Opposing Force, that sounds reasonable.
Freedom Fighters, indeed.
Your turn, Tetsu0.
Your turn, Tetsu0.
Ok, here's a hint: it's about Freedom.