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Share .MAP Files - Learn From Example


Silverhawk2000

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Hello All,

 

I was just wondering what people thought about the possibility of sharing .MAP files to learn how to create certain things in JKII.

 

I think that some of the Tutorials out there (like those by RichDiesel) are great but sometimes people still have difficulty getting things working right. I know that I learn best be seeing working examples of stuff. That way I can examine it and see what makes it tick, so to speak.

 

I am not proposing that people share the source code for their whole maps with the JKII Community, but just individual rooms that show off things like:

 

Working Elevators

Dome / Cone / Sphere Structures

Moving Platforms and Trains

Cool Structures (Composed of Brushes and/or Meshes)

Other Movement Effects (Like that Cool Welder in the Single Player Game - The one welding to Pod Frame)

Visual Effects (Torches, Flames, Electrical Effects)

 

All shared samples would just use the Standard JKII Textures, that way the person would only need the small .map text file.

 

:cool:

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However many people choose not to do this because there just too lazy :p -I'm not trying to affend anyone who is a tutorial maker but like I said it would just take too much time. Its a lot easier for them just to quickly write some stuff into the HTML doc. This is probably why. And not only this but it might get confusing with the downloader downloading all these maps and not remembering which ones which.

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I realize that tutorial makers dedicate a lot of time and effort to showing people how things are done, and I, like many others I'm sure, are gratefull for what they do.

 

The fourms are great to ask individual questions to figure out how to do things, but it takes quite some time to read through posts to learn how to do stuff.

 

Thanks to all those people like Bubba and RichDiesel who help get us started.

 

Who ever said learning was easy...

 

I'm not advocating people spend their precious mapping time writing tutorials, only perhaps to share small portions of their work to help out others.

 

Everyone is always eager to show off their .BSP / .PK3 compiled maps for people to play, but there is very little or no .MAP source code available. Again, I'm not interested in laying my hands on full maps, just small pieces here and there that show how some of the more complicated stuff is achieved.

 

Map On !

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Maybe this would make me a jerk or something but i have a big problem with putting out a .map file of things ive done. Some of the stuff i did in mohaa maps and what ideas im including in my rpg map for jk2 i havent seen rpg map makers try or do yet. I would rather write a tutorial then have someone just select something out of my .map file. Just something about it that bothers me, and im too tired to think about it lol

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Anything you would learn by looking at a MAP file you could learn by looking at the map in-game. The only advantage to releasing a map with a pre-made dome, arch, etc would be if someone didn't know how to make it themselves.

 

Don't take the shortcut - put in the extra time to learn Radiant so you're familiar with the concept of WHY it works, not just HOW it works.

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I sometimes look at a downloaded map and see architecture and entities in a level that I would love to know how to make (me being very new to JK2 editing), but I do agree that people should not use other's work as prefabs.

 

Even the best and most straightforward Tutorials, still can be hard to understand for someone who had never worked on such a program.

 

Rich Diesal had a wonderful feature in which you can download the map made for the lesson which worked if someone made a mistake.

 

This is why I would like to see from .map files included with a download.

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you learn by DOING, not just by looking....a tutorial gives you the steps, and you can follow them generally, but you can also adapt the ideas and techniques to suit your own ideas and purposes...if u just had a .map u'd just copy and paste and learn nothing

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Originally posted by master_thomas

Even the best and most straightforward Tutorials, still can be hard to understand for someone who had never worked on such a program.

 

I disagree. I had never had any prior experience when I started mapping, and I went thru all the tutorials I could get my hands on (the basic ones too, on how to use the programs... almost the entire first section of Rich's tutorials are geared to people who have NEVER used Radiant before). It was slow, but I learned the process before I went to other maps. If you're just looking at the end result (i.e. from a map file), you'll have NO idea how they got from point A to point B, and you won't learn the technique.

 

Just bite the bullet and study - it'll turn out much easier in the end.

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Originally posted by dvader28

you learn by DOING, not just by looking....a tutorial gives you the steps, and you can follow them generally, but you can also adapt the ideas and techniques to suit your own ideas and purposes...if u just had a .map u'd just copy and paste and learn nothing

 

So how did the first guy accomplish something even before any tutorial was written? (Devil's Advocate Here)

 

There is definitely no substitute for DOING, but looking helps.

 

I would never just Cut and Paste. I would examine and replicate. Check what components are needed, examine their properties, etc...

 

If you only cut and paste, why bother being a mapper at all. Part of the fun is figuring stuff out. It's just nice to have a little help once in a while.

 

Glad to see my thread has started a lively little discussion. :)

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The first guy knew how to work Radiant because he most likely helped DESIGN radiant - therefore would know how to use it. The original tutorials written for Radiant were based on the blood and sweat of many hours of trial & error of those brave pioneer mappers.

 

If they can figure out how to do it without instruction, surely you can learn to do it when you've got a tutorial helping to instruct you.

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