RE: Creating New Terrain Option - I'm Stumped (Need Bailout)

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Sigil City - I'm trying to make it so that the Building terrain can "flow" over the hills (the tileset's "raise/lower" feature). I really only need one tile that goes from elevation 0 to elevation 1, connecting the lower group of buildings to the upper group. I've got the tile made, but it won't paint. I'm entirely lost as to why...

 

Here is the Set file entry for the tile:

 

   Spoiler
   

[TILE164]

Model=tps02_f02_01

WalkMesh=msb01

TopLeft=Cobble

TopLeftHeight=0

TopRight=Building

TopRightHeight=0

BottomLeft=Cobble

BottomLeftHeight=1

BottomRight=Building

BottomRightHeight=1

Top=

Right=

Bottom=

Left=

MainLight1=1

MainLight2=1

SourceLight1=1

SourceLight2=1

AnimLoop1=1

AnimLoop2=1

AnimLoop3=1

Doors=0

Sounds=0

PathNode=I

Orientation=0

ImageMap2D=mi_tps02_f02_01

 

This is what the tile looks like when loaded in NwnExplorer (I know explorer mirrors the tile, so I've accounted for that in the .SET file). since the raised corners are at the top of the model in the image, I set them as the lower corners in the .SET file.

 

 

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Sheldomar]

               

Just an idea...

Let's say you call this tile

 

Cobble0

Building0

Cobble1

Building1

 

Do have tiles for

 

Cobble0

Cobble0

Cobble1

Building1

 

and

 

Cobble0

Building0

Cobble1

Cobble1

 

You might need to be able to run the building terrain right up to the elevation change before you can paint a tile that bridges it.

 

...and the "mirror image" tiles too, for lack of a better word, ie

 

Building0

Cobble0

Building1

Cobble1

 

etc...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Sorry I haven't looked around at too many other people's tilesets, but I am assuming something like this has been done before? If not, are we sure the toolset can handle it?

 

I know for a fact it can be done with my method of tweaking the GFF tile indices in the area file, and after you do that, it will load in the tileset just fine (might not be able to alter it though without a crash).

 

Is there an example tileset that actually accomplished this with the toolset? I'd like to see one, or the screenshot of that tile in use.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

The toolset can handle it. Its really now different than the "grassy trees" feature in TNO - just swapping the trees for buildings. I'm just not sure what the minimum number of tiles is that I'd need to create (although the number six seems stuck in my head).

 

In any event, I've started over again this morning - using the grassy trees tiles from TNO as a reference, reworking the ground plane on clones of the building tiles to have the elevation contour required. Once I get them to paint in the tileset, I'll go back and adjust the building z-heights to fit to the new ground contours.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Sheldomar]

               

I've made this type of terrain before - if I could figure out how to link an image here I'd be glad to post a screenshot...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_s e n]

               

i think you need one tile with these corners and its mirrored version to get your tile working

building 0

building 1

cobble 0

cobble 0

 

if you already have all raise lower tiles for the building-only terrain

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_s e n]

               

just to explain how it works, basically to get the raise lower work you need move a single corner height at the time, so for example before getting 0011 working you need 0001 tile and its mirror

same appplies with different buildings, draw on paper the 4 tiles affected by the raise lower brush and change the value of the shared corner. thats the four tile variations you need to get that working

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Ok, you lost me...

 

Here is the area I'm trying to "bridge" with the new tile - note the elevation 0 to elevation 1 tile bracketed by the two blue high lighted tiles.  I have the tile made - the buildings need to abut the edge of the area and face toward the bottom of the screen.

 

 

This picture shows the tile - in the middle - fudged into place by setting it to "cobble" in the SET file on all four sides. As you can see it needs to connect to the "building" terrain on both the left and right sides.

 

 

Expanding upon the fudge I made to get the above screenshot, I decided to try fudging the adjacent tiles...AND much to my surprise it worked. I now have the buildings linked, but I'm not sure if this method will cause issues.

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Sheldomar]

               

You just need a tile with all Cobble on the right side (elevation 1) relative to that screenshot, and Building/Cobble (elevation 0) on the left. Then another one with all Cobble on the left (elevation 0), and Building/Cobble on the right (elevation 1). The tiles will look similar to the middle one, except the building terrain will only run to the center of the tile, not all the way across.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Michael DarkAngel]

               

Do you have Rules in your .set file?  If so, try removing them.  If it doesn't paint without any rules and you are sure you have all the necessary tiles, then you may need to create a rule to let the toolset know what you want to accomplish.

 

MDA

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_s e n]

               

i used to get some toolset crash issues when lowering terrains that did not have all the tile variations necessary, thats an engine bug maybe involving the set rules, dunno really, maybe it was also crosser-related... anyway, if you know the "path" that leads to the tile paint, it is good and if the toolset doesn't crash, i am sure it will work in game too! the only thing to notice is that when you have such complex way to paint tiles (when  you don't have all variations), it may prove difficult for other builders to use it and even for you to remove it, since you have to go back step by step the way you followed to paint the tile

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

I'm not going to mess around with this anymore. Its taking away too much time from other work efforts on the module. Once the module is complete, I'll go back to this and finish it off.

1. It works in game.

   
2. It doesn't crash the toolset.

   
3. It doesn't prevent further building in the area.

   
4. It's not meant for release beyond the module it accompanies. Therefore any builders that do decide to scalp out the hak and use it for their own purposes will be doing so at their own risk.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               

To illustrate what sen was saying, here is a crude visual representation of the three tiles you need to paint that along an area border. If you want to paint hills on the buildings in any arbitrary location you're going to need to support various configurations of all-building tiles as well (hills on the rooftops, if you will), but for now:

 

 

You can get away with just one of the corner options, though. Just makes it less versatile and slightly harder to paint in the toolset.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

That's what I was looking for - thanks _Six. I'm a visual guy - hard for me to see it unless its drawn out for me. That drawing makes it clear.