Just a suggestion... [closed] Created 19 years ago2005-03-15 15:23:30 UTC by odin

Perhaps creating a page for the most obvious problems and their solutions....for example...I have a huge problem with lights Could put a section for lighting within that problem page, and explain the errors, and the solutions to those errors....same for entitys, and so on....just a suggestion. :

You could always write this and we could post it as a tutorial...

hank you for the compliment, but Mr. Monkey, I am a idiot....lol...I dont know enough about errors to do this.....but seriously, thank you

Anybody else want to volunteer to make anything? I'm a bit over-busy myself at the moment, but I might be able to do something o'er Easter if nobody else wants to. It's a good idea, because while we have tons of information, it's a little disarrayed at present.

No thanks.

Nah, the compo and NS is too much at the moment.

IS THERE NO HERO AMOUNG US THAT CAN SAVE THE DAY?

I will if nobody else does :P.

I could write a tutorial on "How to make an average map look good: an introduction to the wonders of texturing and texlights"
Or just some unspecific techniques or tips to make maps look good while keeping r_speeds down, the balance between speed and detail, etc

Hm. Seems a bit vague. If you could make it impressive, I think it'd be alright though :).

I think it'd be nice that people that have been mapping for a long time shared some of their personal knowledge, the type of things that are rarely seen in tutorials but are the ones that really make maps be good

Every little bit helps....the only thing this site doesnt have though is......errors, and their specific solutions...The forum rocks, its good to list the details of problems, but if its something someone could just go click on, and see their problem, with its solution beside it...now that would be on-time. I will help in anyway I can, I mean I know some errors and how to fix them, but a lot of you have been mapping for a few years now...you have seen your share of problems, and found their solutions..thats where your knowledge will be very useful to this avenue.

I don't know if this is any help but the Snarkpit has a list of common compiling errors in there tutorials.
http://www.snarkpit.com/editing.php?page=tutorials&game=HL2&id=129
If it is no help then sorry i'm new to all this editing stuff.

well , do you know what im going to for my good deed this year, im going to re-write the ent guide to not only give what it does now, but a small tut to explain how to uses each ent and the basic problems taht can occur with it. either that or just do that in a tutorial format.

Good show M_gargantua....now we need the same inititive for lights, and pretty much everything else....if we can get one person to tackle a section, then someone else to tackle a section, and so on, this page can come together, and pretty fast.

I haven't mapped in a while but have some free time. I could at least start it and get an overview/outline of what needs to be done. I may need some assisstance with answers. Is this for HL1 mapping only or just about everything from texture importing to using an entity. I'm one of those organized people so If anything, it will be nicely put together.

What exactly is needed to be done?

Im guessing:
1. Dividing everything up (compiling, entities, textures, etc.). Possibly ending up with an outline of some sort.
2. Search through the forums for obvious questions.
3. Fit the Q & A into the outline.

Thats pretty basic, but I'm not sure what else Odin wanted in this section.

Well, basicly problems and their solutions. Granted, there are a shit load of errors, and a large portion of them are complex problems....but their are also a lot of problems that can be answered quickly, eliminating un-needed forum posting.....if its an error you know the answer to, write it down....if everyone does this, this page could be a hit. I also want to say kudos on everyone working on this project.

We mods can:

• Edit the Entity Guides;
• Post tutorials.

The real idiots don't even look at the tutorials anyway, no matter what their problem is.

Haha, true

I've written some HL2 stuff that's lying around my HD :<

You mean guide-style shizzle?

Perhaps creating a page for the most obvious problems and their solutions....

That is exactly what this site is. 9 times out of 10 if you enter your problem under the 'find' text box, and search in 'forums', you will find the answer to your problem.

The tutorials are another matter, as you can't do a full text search. So, I would recommend all newbies--not meant as a slight--to read every tutorial. You won't understand everything immediately, but as you become more sophisticated, you will be able to go back and re-cap.

I can't see that as a slight. I did exactly that myself (some of them several times) and I'm always recommending it to the more sensible of the proles who pass through.

No kidding, the 'find' utility is underrated and underused. We need to make that option a bit more obvious or targeted. I didn't find its true usefulness until I read through half of the tutorials. Rather than making a completely new tab of 'N00b Problems', let's enhance the 'find' accessory and make it more obvious (In mainly visual terms). Just my opinion. Not much work and lots of relieved stress.

Its sad to say, But until I read that, I have NEVER seen that option......so indeed, making it more obvious would be nice.

Odin, why are your avs always so disturbing? I have toe say though, your previous one was scarrier, somehow!

Thats the kinda art I do, I love horror.....Im christian beleive that or not...but I like horror art.....fixing to load another one, its not really scary, but I like it.

I could help I guess but I don't fully understand what your asking :/

How about a tut on cubemaps...
or Don't use model/wall textures etc

Basically you are asking what most of us have learned through trial and error.

History:
A long time ago, we thought it would be a good idea for people new to mapping to list their problems and the solutions they found, so we could generate a noob's guide.

This didn't occur, because as most of us are aware, once you get started in level design, you learn as you go and don't have time to jot things down.
The next best thing was to post tutorials on basic concepts to help people get an understanding of the simple things.

The best site I found for explanations of 'how it works' was Firebinders Test Chamber.
This is limited to theory of level design, but gives the viewer some good insights into the way HL works.

I doubt anyone has the time to write up a tutorial, or wiki on the most common basics of design... and I wish M_gargantua all the best in rewriting the 200 entities with full interactive linking.

What is it about the tutorial 'light' that lacks what you need? Maybe we can add to that?
1292 topics about Light have been discussed in the forums, if the answer is not there... let us know

Its more the technical errors that people get frustrated with rather than how to go about doing something. In general, errors. I'm new to this site but as I've look at many of the forums, I've seen that most problems happen when they try to do something the wrong way. I kind of like griz's spec about the search option. I doubt anyone will want to type up all that stuff. Or at least get a link. I'm a self taught person so I'm not sure what sites are good. This goes, however, look like a very respectable site.

Yep,
Fully support any attempt to streamline a simple FAQ style tutorial.

What you guy's probably don't know is that the 'Find' or search bar (when searching Tutorials) at the top depends on the keywords we enter when a tutorial is published.
A couple of years ago, we just stuck with the basics, and have updated search keywords when people have brought it to our attention.
It is a limited function!

I've seen that most problems happen when they try to do something the wrong way.

Yep...
Fully agree with this.
Reducing forum posts by producing some sort of FAQ seems like a good idea. Best of luck...
Let me know when you finish it.

Andy, I have since figured lighting out fully, so I lack nothing in that department, but others will lack....looking back on when I posted this thread, i wasnt really thinking about how in depth and huge the section would be...now, I see it would be pointless....this topic should be closed....lol

Can I close it?

No...
But I can,

Thanks to all for you thoughts.. keep them coming.

I swear I'll write that leak tutorial next week.

I will write that down Seventh and make sure you do otherwise you will be cursed for 1000 years

While your waiting:
Ways to prevent Leaks

Handy...

hank you for the compliment, but Mr. Monkey, I am a idiot

such an interesting sentence...

Yes indeed.

Kanske han har problemen med hans handen :S

well, add a "t" and you will have what was supposed to be my completed sentence. Ahem, thank you and good day.