Topics

46

Suggestions & Requests / Heart Container

« on: May 11, 2011, 08:14:56 PM »

Heart Container

• Sets health to 100
• Walk through to acquire/use (Works like T+T2 ammo)
• Item respawn time preferences?

[/list]

47

Help / Server Appearance on Master Server

« on: May 05, 2011, 11:14:07 PM »

My dedicated server posts to the RTB server and Master Server three times or so, and then goes "no user/host entry in master server, re-sending authentication request."

When it is doing this, and waits to post to Master server, it does not appear on the Master Server list. How can I make it always appear on the list? :|

Console:

(at the time in question, it was not appearing on the Master Server)

48

General Discussion / Portal 3

« on: May 04, 2011, 01:20:15 AM »

Welcome to Ostinyo and °Core°'s Portal 3 experience. Portal 3 runs through Blockland using Blockland mods.



Coming this summer, you will be able to experience the full variety of gameplay Portal 3 has to offer.
Portal 3 will be hosted at Ostinyo's server, and will display both single and multiplayer campaigns - with full storylines.



Only helpers allowed at the WIP server, I will PM you the password.
The server will be open to beta testers sometime this winter.

Portal 3 on Blockland features:

• Full campaign storyline with individual chapters
• Custom map (brick/interior combination)
• New Portal modifications

Currently recruiting help! Need:
- Small models
- Scripting help
- Voice actor (possibly)

Comment below with questions, comments, concerns or suggestions!

49

Suggestions & Requests / Original Map Suggestions

« on: April 27, 2011, 10:15:29 PM »

I will take map suggestions here. Unfortunately, I am already working on 3 maps with 6 more maps in the holding tank, so I'm only looking for one or two absolutely astounding suggestions. Hopefully someone will find inspiration from somewhere and post an epic idea here.

Do not post:

• Mario Raceway
• Block Castle
• Sky City
• Deathstar
• PacificOceanPark
• Disaster
• Hogwarts

Please post pictures along with your suggestion, unless there are none for it because it is completely original. If you can draw out your idea that would be great, visuals always help.

Also, no map edits. We want original ideas only here.

50

Suggestions & Requests / Roaming Bot

« on: March 13, 2011, 07:23:23 PM »

Seriously, I've been searching forever for this, as I thought it would have been made by now.
This is an AI Roaming Bot that does what it says - roams. These bots fill up all those quaint little villages with no one living in them.

The bot only roams a certain radius, and basically stands around for intervals of about three to five seconds, before moving off in another random direction, while staying inside the radius.

This reminds me of Runescape... D:

51

Help / Events - Print Name

« on: March 11, 2011, 01:30:46 AM »

How would I, if possible, make an event through VCE or something to the effect of when one player clicks a brick, their name is placed upon print bricks (VCE prints?) and when another person cones along, there name is put below the last name and so on?

Possible?

52

Help / Server Problems

« on: March 07, 2011, 10:22:22 PM »

I have a few server problems that I'm sure people have answers to that are probably caused by some random add-on for all I know. Please post if you know solutions.

1.) Bottomprint Bar
At my server, the bottomprint message bar is always there, no matter what. How can I get rid of it when it's not in use?

2.) Centerprint
At my server, when you click a brick and a centerprint message pops up, and then whip out your tools or brick, the centerprint message goes away. This is extremely annoying because people who open and close their tool inventory often only see messages for a split second. Anyone know what's up with this?

I'll probably think of even more later, pretty sure I had three problems before posting this. I believe this goes in help.

53

Mapping Help / Problems and Questions

« on: February 28, 2011, 12:52:34 AM »

I have a few problems and questions I have been experiencing when making maps.

1.) WATER
This is really bad. Whenever making a waterblock who's water does not reach the ground, the water is not visible past the scale of the water, but players may still float at that level all across the level. For instance, I made a pool with 64x64x3 water, and it is only visible in the pool, and yet you can float 30 bricks up all across the map. If you dip down below the water, there is no buoyancy. Anyone know the solution to this problem? It would be extremely welcome.

2.) LIGHTING
On interiors, the lighting is always all messed up to where the actual individual shapes of the interior are. Is there any way to fix this? It looks horrible.

3.) PARTICLES
How would I go about making my own particles for my maps. For example, creating custom waterfall particles, fie particles, etc... and packaging them correctly within my map for use. I have no clue how to make a particle from scratch :(

4.) SKYBOXES
Could someone write up or explain how to successfully make your own skybox from nothing? I'm wondering exactly how to do this, and what program to use. I believe Photoshop would be best, and hopefully I'll have it soon. I've tried adding my own skyboxes with the correct sizes for the pieces (in pixels) but can't get it to work. Do you need to do something to the resource.dml? Or is it because I didn't have the overview and underview or whatever?

I may think of more things soon, but please help if you know solutions to any of these problems, as these are my main "no knowledge" areas in Mission Editor.

54

Suggestions & Requests / Radar

« on: February 21, 2011, 02:40:00 AM »

A circular radar that shows your position and the position of enemies.

The ideal radar would be one that works with Spaceguy's TDM mod and shows where teammates are at all times but only shows enemies when they fire a weapon. If this isn't possible, whatever.

Can anyone make this or is it too complex?

55

Suggestions & Requests / Roller Coasters: Possible on Blockland?

« on: February 08, 2011, 06:52:53 PM »

Roller Coasters
Are They Possible on Blockland?

The idea: A 'Roller Coaster Car' vehicle snaps to 'Roller Coaster Track' pieces. Riders can control the forward and backward movement, but the car always stays on the track, and is affected by gravity (speedwise).

The 'Roller Coaster Car' vehicle:


The 'Roller Coaster Track' pieces:

• Straight Piece (4x4x1)
• 45 Degree Upwards Incline (4x4x4)
• Straight To Upwards Incline (4x4x2)
• 45 Degree Downwards Incline (4x4x4)
• Straight To Downwards Incline (4x4x2)
• 90 Degree Turn (8x8x1)

All track pieces would be Blockland style, and possibly have nubs shooting downwards to allow for connecting to supports. These few track pieces alone would allow you to make some gnarly full-circuit coasters.

I don't know if it is possible to make such a vehicle that can snap to special bricks, so could people please shed light on the subject? Minecraft already has a roller coaster mod out, I noticed.

56

Mapping Help / Ostinyo's Mapping Tutorial

« on: December 29, 2010, 04:03:24 PM »

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Mission Editor
    - Editing the Terrain
    - Painting the Terrain
    - Terrain Textures
    - Adding Objects
    - Sky
3. Packaging
4. Torque Constructor
   - Overview
   - Adding Textures
      - Unifying Faces
   - Interior Lighting
   - Exporting Interiors
5. Advanced Creations
   - Empty Squares
   - Terrain Formation
6. Mapping FAQ



1. Introduction:

Welcome to Ostinyo's Mapping Tutorial. It is recommended that you read this tutorial all the way through if this is your first time learning to make maps. There are many other great tutorials out there, but this tutorial will try to cover just about everything I know. Granted, there are still some things out making maps that I have yet to learn.

This tutorial will tell you all you need to know to make exceptional maps. If you do not know already, Torque is the game engine Blockland runs on and therefore all scripts and maps run on Torque. This tutorial will not cover scripting, which uses Torque script, but if you wish to know how please view KINEX's Scripting Tutorial.

For making maps there are two main ingredients: Mission Editor and Torque Constructor. Another ingredient may be Terragen depending on whether or not you decide to use it for skyboxes.

*Please note that I made this tutorial in Windows, so if you are a Mac user some aspects of mapping in Blockland covered in this tutorial may be different for you.



2. Mission Editor

First of all, you need to have Mission Editor. If you do already, please skip down to the '*' below.
Download Mission Editor HERE. Place this file into your Blockland/Add-Ons folder. You will not need to activate it the add-on to your server, it will start up as long as you have the add-on.

Before you begin, you will want to make your map its own folder. Go into your Add-ons folder and create a folder named "Map_yourmapnamehere".

Now open up Blockland, and start your own server at Flatlands (make it single-player because others will glitch out if you edit online). If you do not have Flatlands, get it HERE.

Once you spawn in Flatlands, hit F8 (Admin orb). Now that you are in your admin orb, hit F11.



Now you are in Mission Editor, congratulations!

First thing you will want to do now you are in Mission Editor, is go into Window>World Editor Inspector>Mission Info>Dynamic Fields. Change the name and save name from Flatlands to your map's name. Then click 'apply'.



Now go to File>Save Mission As... Click on the Directory folder and change it to your map's folder. Then change the title of the mission to "yourmapnamehere.mis" and click save.



You officially now have your own map! But you haven't done anything yet, so we need to start editing the map.



-EDITING THE TERRAIN

To edit the terrain, you need to first get into the Terrain Editor window. Just click Window>Terrain Editor (or F6) to open the Terrain Editor Window. Now there should be many little boxes around your cursor.

To change the terrain's shape, click on 'Action' and select how you would like to change it. Here is what each of the different actions do:

• Add Dirt - adds dirt creating hills
• Excavate - takes away dirt creating ditches
• Adjust Height - allows you to hold down the left-click button and drag the terrain upwards or downwards
• Flatten - flattens the terrain in the certain area (on a slope it will use the medium point)
• Smooth - makes the terrain smooth and evens it out
• Set Height - sets the height back to where it was originally, this is a good tool for trying something over

Remember that you can use ctrl+z to undo any terrain changes!



To change the diameter of the brush (to make it apply to a larger amount of area at a time), click Brush>(size). The brush sizes also have shortcut keys (alt+#). Now let's try making a massive canyon that crosses the entire map. Due to terrain repetition, the canyon will extend endlessly throughout the map, and there will be multiple canyons. I used a 15x15 soft brush (circle) and the excavate action, which lead me to this result:



Also make sure to use soft and hard brushes to affect the landscape in order to fit your needs.
 

• SOFT brush - affects the middle more than the outside, good for changing the landscape slowly and carefully.
• HARD brush - affects the entire area of the brush the same amount, allowing for fast landscape changes.

Here's an example demonstrating the difference of using a soft and hard brush. The left is a soft 15x15 brush, and the right a hard 15x15 brush. Using the action Add Dirt:



Tips: A quicker way of making something large like a mountain range would be to use Adjust Height with a 25x25 brush.
        If you are editing a large area, click Camera>Fastest and you'll be zooming around the place like the wind!

You have made a canyon across the map... but there aren't any shadows? Do not fear! You need to relight the scene! Click Edit>Relight Scene or Alt+L and hooray for shadows!



By changing the terrain you may edit your map size. This is possible by going into Window>World Editor Inspector and selecting Terrain>Misc. The square size is the size of the terrain - in squares. You can change the square size to a larger number to increase the size of your map.



Unfortunately, by going past the default (8) to a size above, you will break any water on the map. Also your terrain textures will become more stretched out and not look as nice.



-PAINTING THE TERRAIN

First off, go to Window>Terrain Texture Painter. Flatlands comes with 5 textures, TTgrass01, TTdirt01rock, TTicefrosty1, TTgrass01snow, and detail1. You can click on a different texture, and then click over the terrain to apply that texture where your brush is. I used a 9x9 brush with TTdirt01rock and painted the bottom of the canyon to make it look like this:



However, you must add non-default textures into your map's folder, and import them from there. Default textures may be imported directly from any default maps (Bedroom, Kitchen, The Slopes, etc.). Note that if you import a texture from a non-default map, anyone who does not have the non-default map will not download the texture and a default texture will take the texture's place. 

Therefore, be sure to import all non-default textures straight from you map's folder, even if they're from another map!

Note: Be careful, painting has no undo!
          You do need to include default textures in your map's folder.




-TERRAIN TEXTURES

Painting is simple and can be done quickly. However you should learn to make your own textures. To make your own textures, follow these steps:

• First go to CGTextures.com (or to any other textures website)
• Go to ground or rock and find a good TILED texture
• Download the texture preferably as a tiled 600x600 (or close to the same number on both sides of the scale)
• Now go to Picresize.com and select your picture (from your desktop)
• Resize your picture to a 256x256 PIXELS PNG image
• Now save the picture to your disc (desktop)
• Drag the image into your map's folder (Blockland>Add-ons>Map_NewMap)
• Go to your map in-game (you'll need to restart Mission Editor) and click 'Change' or 'Add' a texture in the Terrain Texture Painter window
• Select your texture from your map's folder and now you can use it on your map!

*Note: Be sure to use tiled textures, meaning that they can loop forever and have no seams.



-ADDING OBJECTS

There are many objects you can add with Mission Editor, including add-ons. Indeed, if you need a chopper in your map, just use a Cobra Attack Helicopter and you're all set! To do this, go to Window>World Editor Creator, and then find the list of objects on the right side-bar. To make a pine tree, simply use Static Shapes>Base>Data>Shapes>Sharp Trees>Trees>Oaks>Sharp Oak02 (the only oak available). This may seem complex when written out, but really it is very strait forward in-game. You can do this with all other objects too, including light bulbs, a wrench, or any other default add-ons. Make sure that the object comes from *BASE* and not Add-Ons or else other people may not be able to see the object. You may also make your own objects if you know how to model, and save them as a .DTS file. Then just add it to your map's folder and go through Add-Ons>Map_Yourmapname>Yourobject. This is all pretty straight forward stuff.



You can also add interiors in this same fashion! Try going to Interiors>Add-Ons>Map_Bedroom>bedroom. It looks black! Well, you haven't relighted the scene yet! Go to Edit>Relight Scene and now you can see its textures! Once you have made your own interiors, you can add them just like this *from Map_yourmapnamehere*.



You can also meddle with your objects by resizing them. (you don't just want that dinky little tree or that 10x10 block of water do you?) Let's try making the Oak bigger. Go to Window>World Editor Inspector and click on the object. Then simply go to Transform>scale> and set it to 9 10 10.



Cool! Now you can make things gigantic. In the ("_" "_" "_") for the scale, the first number represents the x axis, the second the y axis, and the third the z axis. Therefore, by making it ("0.1" "0.1" "10") you are making an extremely thin and tall tree. Remember to always hit 'apply' to make your changes take effect!



The same can be done with the rotation of the object, but for the position it is easiest to use the x, y, and z axises to drag it around instead of messing with numbers. The easiest way to rotate objects is by holding down the Alt key, and then dragging them around in whichever way.

Water is an object, and works in this exact same way. Try adding water by going to Window>World Editor Creator and selecting the Mission Objects>environment>water tab. Name the water whatever you like, and hit 'OK'. Note that wherever you are looking is where the waterblock will appear on the ground.



Then go into Mission Editor Inspector and edit the size of the water, the wave magnitude, and many other aspects. Fiddle around with it and you'll get it. Another cool thing about water is that you can use your own textures for it in the Media, by simply using 256x256 textures like with the terrain. Check out this cool water I made in 5 minutes!




-SKY

SUN

You can find the sun in the Window>World Editor Inspector>Sun tab. Then go into 'Misc' where you can change the azimuth, elevation, color, and ambient properties of the sun by changing the first digit of the numbers.



Azimuth: Changes the direction of sunlight on the x axis. This will affect shadows.
Elevation: Changes the direction of the sunlight on the y axis. This will affect shadows.
Color: Changes the color of sunlight.
Ambient: Changes the color of natural lighting. This can be used to express day, morning, evening, or night.

It will take a long while to get the hang of it, but just mess around with numbers and you'll get used to how it changes.

SKYBOX

Now I will tell you how to change the skybox, using default skyboxes and ones found off the internet. I will not be going over how to make a skybox, which is a more complex process. If you would like to make a skybox, I would suggest using Terragen, which is the program I believe most people use to make their skyboxes.

First, let's try changing the skybox to a default skybox. Go into your Blockland/base/data/skies folder, and you will see the default skyboxes that come with Blockland. Open up the skybox folders and look at them, you will recognize them from Bedroom, Kitchen, Slate, and The Slopes. The default sky is plain blue, and can sometimes suit a map perfectly.

Now, let's try putting Sky_Spooky1(Slate's skybox) into your map. In Mission Editor, go into the World Editor Inspector tab and select Sky. Go to the media, and at the material list change it to "base/data/skies/sky_spooky1/resource.dml". Now hit 'apply'.



Check out that epic skybox! That's how simple it is to change the skybox of a map to a default skybox. However, there are few default skyboxes to choose from, and you will want more options. Let's look into how to get our own skybox!

Let's try downloading a skybox off of the internet for use in a map. There are many different websites you can go to in order to download skyboxes, but here's a few trustworthy sites for a reference:

http://3delyvisions.com/skf1.htm
http://amethyst7.gotdoofed.com/env.htm
http://www.tutorialsforblender3d.com/Textures/Skys/Sky_Box_2.html

Now go to any one of these websites and download a skybox. They may come in a .RAR, for which you will need to use 7Zip or another program in order to extract their contents.

Please view the rest of the skybox section of this tutorial here.


3. Packaging

This section will describe how to package a map correctly in order to make it available for public use. I would advise you gather all necessary parts in a folder titled Map_(yourmapnamehere). Then highlight everything in the folder and right click. Click on Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder. Title the compressed folder Map_(yourmapnamehere).zip!

You will find that the only things required to run your map are the first two items. However the rest are needed to keep it fail-proof and spice it up. Here is the full list of what needs to be included in your compressed (zipped) folder:

• Mission File (.mis)
• Terrain File (.ter)
• ML File (.ml)
• Namecheck (.txt)
• Description (.txt)
• Map Picture (PNG, JPEG)
• Object Files (interior, textures, etc.)

-Mission File (.mis)

This is one of the easiest files to add. Look for the file named (yourmapnamehere).mis, located inside your map's folder (if you saved the mission into that folder). Add the mission (.mis) file in your map's compressed (.zip) folder.


-Terrain File (.ter)

Another easy file to add. Look for the file named (yourmapnamehere).ter, located inside your map's folder (if you saved the mission into that folder). Then drag and drop your terrain (.ter) file to the compressed (.zip) folder.


-ML File

When you are finished with your map, save it and exit Blockland. Start up your map again, and once you have spawned, exit the game again. Now go into your map's folder and find the latest .ML file located there (search through the times). Delete all other ML files and add that one to your compressed (.zip) folder.


-Namecheck (Text document)

Add a text document (by right clicking and going into add) to your map's folder and name it "namecheck". Then double click it and edit it to say "Map_YourMapNameHere".


-Description (Text document)

Add another text document to your map's folder and name it "yourmapname". Then double click it and edit it to say a description of your map which will appear on the start game screen. The most common format of this is as follows:

Title: (Your map name)
Author: (Your name)
Description: (Map description)


-Map Picture (JPEG, PNG)

This is the grand picture of your map that will be displayed on the change map or start game screen. To have this picture displayed, your must first take a screenshot of your map in Blockland, and then drag that screenshot into your map's folder. Then rename the picture to "yourmapname". It can be a PNG or JPEG image, but I recommend you make it a PNG so that other players will be able to download the image. You can also edit the image or use an internet image for the map, the only true requirement is that the name of the image is the same as the name of the map.


-Object Files (interiors, textures, etc.)

All interiors, textures, and other object files must be in your map folder, and added into your map from your map folder. For example, when you import textures and interiors you must go through your map's folder, not another map. However you may take textures/interiors from default maps that come with the game (because everyone will have these maps). However you must be sure to include all textures used in your map's folder, and have imported the textures from your own folder, not another map's.

Here is an example of what a fully functional, packaged map should look like. The zipped folder title is "Map_NewMap"



Notice that the map contains an interior.

Do not add any folders into your zipped folder. If there are any folders contained in the zipped folder, the map will not function properly.

57

Maps / Ostinyo's Maps - Goodbye old friends :(

« on: December 25, 2010, 12:21:13 AM »

This is my complete list of maps that will be updated with the release of each new map.
Check out my own project website and server thread for further information about my maps and builds.

Goodbye (v1)

Summary:    Goodbye Blockland maps );
Description:    This map is a memorial to the many adventures had on the terrains and interiors of past maps. Goodbye Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen, Slopes, Tutorial, GSF maps and countless others - you will be missed! I will attempt to update this map again before v21.
Released in 2012

Download




Medieval Kingdom (v1)

Summary:    Explore and build on this large medieval map!
Description: The full version of this map includes a massive castle, a small village, and a small castle across the mountains.
Released in 2012

Download




Downtown (v1)

Summary:    Dogfight, anyone?
Description:    This map sports a large city set upon an island. It's the perfect environment for dogfights, rooftop wars, or to just drive around in!
Released in 2011

Download




Bathroom (v2)

Summary:    A dank and musty bathroom.
Description:    This life-size bathroom is good for any sort of building.
Released in 2011

Download
Click Here to view this file on the RTB Downloads System




Cemetery (v1)

Summary:    Happy Halloween!
Description:    This map includes a graveyard and a church, and is perfect for a zombie defense mini-game.
Released in 2011

Download
Click Here to view this file on the RTB Downloads System




The Jumps (v2)

Summary:    Fun Ski/Snowboard 2-Base TDM Map!
Description:    The Jumps is a great map for a fun TDM with two bases on each side of a river. There are jumps on each side that allow land vehicles (or skiers) to ride over and invade the opposing base. Or you can simply whip out your skis, and enjoy the ride!
Released in 2010

Download
Click Here to view this file on the RTB Downloads System




Paradise Island (v1)

Summary:    Flat island map with a tall mountain.
Description:    It has a large flat surface for building. Has nice textures, a mountain, beach, and the water is buoyant.
Released in 2010

Download
Click Here to view this file on the RTB Downloads System




Ski Resort (v1 BETA)

Summary:    Mountain map made for skiing, and has jumps into two small bodies of water. It is also a good map to ride vehicles on, and has small, flat building surfaces. The skybox, snow particle, and textures are from The Slopes.
Released in 2010

Download




Upcoming:

Shipwreck Island


Further Down the Road:

• Apocalypse
• Block Vegas
• Pacific Ocean Park
• Sky City

Personal Server Maps (not public):

• Warzone - finished with winter version
• Nuketown - finished
• Damavand Peak - WIP, Nuketown compatible

Plus, check out my Mapping Tutorial to get started on making your own maps!

Do you enjoy my maps?

58

Help / Vehicle Limit

« on: December 20, 2010, 04:29:57 PM »

How can I make the physics vehicles limit above 20? It seems to be impossible, and yet at other servers they have at least 30.

59

Help / File Manifest Takes Longer?

« on: December 09, 2010, 07:39:42 PM »

Ever since... v17? When Badspot changed the add-on download system through Blockland, it takes exceptionally longer for me to download add-ons and spawn in-game.

The file manifest takes forever... and before it used to just be 'downloading this file' then 'downloading that'. Each would take a second and I was in. But now it is 'downloading file 1...' and each file takes at least 30 seconds.

Is there are problem here or am I just going to have to live with it? I liked the old system better, as far as getting in-game quickly goes.

60

Help / Stunt Plane Help

« on: November 09, 2010, 05:45:57 PM »

My Stunt Plane will not work for my server. I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it from Blockland Forums, RTB Forums, and RTB Downloads via Blockland shortcut.

Does anyone have any clue why my Stunt Plane will not work for me? It appears in the enabled add-on list, but it doesn't appear in the vehicle spawn menu.

If you can help, muchos gracias.
If you can't help, don't post.