Raap

It's difficult to customize due to various things being hard coded when it comes to the W3D user interface. That's how the launcher (any launcher) came to exist, as a way to work around that. Besides, when I said the launcher needs to be more "graphically interesting", I meant pretty much what the old game menu tried to do, but with more development control. There is no reason the launcher eventually wouldn't be able to change appearance based on the selected W3D project, in APB's case, to resemble the classic RA menu, with the needed shine and polish. Functionality-wise there isn't anything the in-game menu can do that an external program like a launcher could not, but the in-game menu on the other hand, is much more restricted. You won't be able to really add features to it like W3D project browsing or a chat lobby. Which comes back to my point, the launcher could easily make the in-game menu obsolete with sufficient development contribution.

I hope the launcher can see more development done to it. Ideally I'd like to see it replace the old in-game menu you can access by clicking "single player", and be more user friendly as well as more graphically interesting. The launcher is the first thing people see when wanting to try any W3D project, it needs to do a better job selling that initial experience, in all ways imaginable. Unfortunately these things cost time from select few people here that can actually contribute to it.

I hopped in briefly on the tail end of the evening, unfortunately I had to bail quickly again as I was having latency problems with the server (I think it is a routing issue). I hope people enjoyed it. I do wonder, was there are specific point new/casual players consistently mentioned as a potential problem? A question that needed answering a lot?

Hey, In very short, BHP no longer exists, and W3D Hub is a split-off from BHP plus other W3D projects under one banner. Development of APB essentially falls under the W3D Hub banner now. The main developer for APB is Pushwall, with some people contributing things. There are reasons to everything but the short version is that some people disagreed on things and now here we are. APB isn't dead. Delta (the current version) is without a doubt the best version of APB to ever be released. The only real flaw is that not many people know of APB Delta since tons of people quit during Gamma and the death of the C&C franchise.

Do not use old files for buildings. We no longer directly place buildings into levels. Instead, we use a proxy mesh for this, which uses a dummy version of the actual building. When called in-game or in LE, the proxy mesh causes the actual building file to load in its place. The reason this works like this is two fold; Firstly, if Pushwall wants to make a change to a building, he has to modify just the building file, and all maps are automatically updated (well, minus vertex solve). Secondly, it slightly improves performance in 3DS. The second reason is why I personally proxy up a lot more things than just buildings, but I would not recommend that you do this for now. I've attached a proxy file for you, as well as another file with some common map props. Running your map in an unsupported Level Edit will cause problems, but at least you can weld these objects into your maps. The SDK will no doubt offer a newer version. I'm sharing these files to help you scale your map and help you create your base terrain in advance of the SDK arriving. VERY IMPORTANT: Don't just spam a bunch of these proxy objects like barrels on your map and call it a day, each proxy object is a preset which needs to be loaded in-game. Too many of these will cause significant client performance issues especially without the visibility culling system implemented into your map. If you want a lot of crates somewhere, consider making custom ones and make them a single mesh, or merge all the meshes of the crates. Do not EVER merge two meshes that use different materials, you will get a 3DS message pop up when you do this asking for 3 options, close this window to make sure the object merge does not happen. Meshes with several materials like crates and barrels merged as one, will cause significant performance issues in the W3D engine. I once made this mistake with the advanced sub pen interior, I had to completely re-texture and mesh split the building from scratch to solve it, time you could spend elsewhere. DeltaOfficialProxyAssets.rar

Typically web based applications like to think I'm from Germany when I'm not. Common case is any web browser that hits a website with location/language detection, even websites like PayPal generally very "conveniently" display everything in German... When I don't understand a word of it. As for changing your location, you can do it via a VPN as well. My VPN basically allows me to make my location appear from 100+ different countries if I turn it on, but it's not a gaming VPN service, it's for, eh, streaming. Yeah. Don't try and be funny and change it via some dodgy "free" service though. If you want this sort of service, you need to pay cash for it, because free options means you're being used (nothing is free). Anyhow, low player count. Kinda missing the Beta/Gamma (launch-) era population, but back then the C&C franchise was not dead.

Did the advanced naval yard layout confuse them to the point where they considered you to be part of the environment, or what? Edit: Wait, you're an Allied spy, why are you spying on your own team?!

Something isn't pointing at your APB installation in order to 'fetch' the latest scripts and presets, and to my knowledge, those registry entries are the only ones. I do have a tool that handles this for my version of the tools, but I currently got an old version sitting between what you have and what Pushwall uses, so I think it's best you remain waiting for the SDK release.

Open regedit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Westwood Studios\LevelEdit. In that directory you will find 5 more folders, browse through them and see if you find anything that is pointing to something outside of your APB Level Edit installation directory, then correct it. Do not touch anything else. If in doubt, do not touch anything at all and wait for the new SDK.

Fair enough, and I stick to what I wrote; Everyone got their methods, and providing the end result both functions and looks as you want it to, then that's a valid way to work. Do note however that in a job environment you are often forced to work using a specific development method, for various reasons.

By heightmap you mean an image file that scales the height of vertices based on an RGB value? If so, don't do that, you will get very poor results and you'll spend more time fixing things than you would have if you simply made the mesh yourself. Making a plane with Z-axis movement only, is the most simple thing you can do in a 3D program. You shouldn't need special methods to create this, because frankly, if you struggle at this point, you need to learn the basics anyhow. I've personally never used blender, although in the past it was reportedly resulting in meshes not optimized for games due to the way blender creates meshes. I don't know what it is like today.

Small update for those that care; Still working on it, but RL hit me on the head as I suddenly found myself having to secure a bigger budget for an unexpected living location change happening in august. I will absolutely be finishing this level and I'm not running off without doing so (I visit these forums daily). And I absolutely still plan on the Fjord remake after Siege is done. I confess that Siege has, once again, outgrown the initial development scope. The plan was a "quick fix-up" to release something within a reasonable time frame, but both play testing as well as my personal wishes for the level, indicated that a simple fix-up would not result in a fun level to play on. Frankly, during the play test, the level was downright boring to play on. This meant I had to plan a number of large changes (such as the bases), which takes more time to complete. I would have been done about now however, were it not for RL priorities. With that being said, beyond Siege and Fjord, I am not planning any further levels for APB. In part due to not wanting to promise things I might not be able to deliver, but also due to reserve my right to change my mind. On a positive note, perhaps by the time Siege is finished, some fancy programmer dude developed a replacement method for creating W3D files so I no longer have to use horrific tools like 3DS Max 8, usage of which currently is the digital equivalent of pulling your own nails off with a screwdriver; A terribly messy and painfully slow process.

I'm not disagreeing - I simply suggested there are more ways to go about things. The cutting example was given as a proposed solution to issues seen in Raptor's image. Your answer requires a restart of the work in order for it to properly function to the best effect. Historically my work for APB has always been mostly revolving around editing and fixing issues, so as a result I generally think from that point of view. My last two contributions are no different, originating primarily from old work (HW dating back to 2006, Siege to ~2011). It's always a lot easier to work "clean" on a fresh project, which is why some of my newer assets are less messy. Edit: To be clear however, ChopBam has a lot more experience in this work than I do (I do not do this for a living). So please don't consider my point of view in any way as something that de-values Chop's input.

As I said, everyone got their methods. Extruding things certainly works as well, and it is something you will inevitably also end up doing in various places (same applies to many other tools), but you will always run into situations where you will have to edit mesh in other ways, including cutting, for example to correct light solve problems.

I would not recommend using the mirror tool for terrain, it creates a very copy pasted feeling. Using a plane mesh and using only Z-axis movement of vertices should pretty much exclusively be used for open landscapes as it is an easy and effective way of creating a smooth looking surface. In any other case you will want to manually shape the terrain. Best example here for you is your hills, which I assume are supposed to become an impassable barrier that boxes in your playable space. By using Z-axis movement to shape it you will get a lot of jagged corners, which has a range of different complications as a result. But proceeding from this point onward is possible. First, activate the snapping option, then within the editable poly menu, locate the cut option. This option will allow you to essentially carve into your plane mesh from verticy to verticy (the snapping tool ensures you cut from corner to corner without creating unnecessary additional polygons which would make the mesh harder to work with later), this way you can "draw" which direction the polygon edges face and in this way, remove the jagged appearance of the terrain. That's just one little thing you should do, there is a lot of things you can do to make things look better, but you will have to just experiment with what works for you or not. There really isn't a 100% shared path that content creators have, everyone has their methods, what matters is that the end result both functions and looks as you want it to.

Eh, I suppose we should be happy that water shaders still aren't a thing yet. I haven't noticed an FPS drop myself, but if I recall correctly, the Gamma stealth shader was reportedly not very optimized/poorly implemented. I might be remembering this incorrectly, though. AFAIK, mines also use this shader, which might make it a bit over-used. Food for thought; Can we set the shader effect/type/quality per model? This way we could have the best looking "light distortion" effect exclusively for Phase Tanks, and a different version for Gap Generator effects, which makes sense since Gap and Phase technology is supposed to be different, so why have them look the same? Gap "stealthing" could just be a plain transparant grey color filter (so you can see the models full geometric detail, but just with a transparant grey, single color effect). Mines could then have another lower demanding effect.

That's a registry issue. Have you used something like CCleaner? Older versions of it have been known to delete some LE registry entries (the current version doesn't have this problem). I'm not sure what the updated tools change specifically in regards to this - my tools are also outdated by now. With some luck, Pushwall can provide a quick overview on whats different in the updated tool set.

simple map-making will be a thing!? finally..... I can put an end to my procrastination... Define "simple"? The SDK contains the tools needed to add game logic to your 3DS-designed levels, not a magic wand that makes level design "simple".

I"m gonna miss that broken bridge. It always amuses me everytime I play that map, I always see an empty stuck vehicle at the bottom of that broken bridge. I remember one time we were Allies planning an early truck rush and the passengers were spamming chat/radio telling the driver stop as he drove onto that bridge and spoiled the rush. Trap bridge. Honestly those bridges are in need of a remake, they are some of my earliest brush-up map props and it shows. I got enough on my plate currently, though...

So that's LOD's fault then. I'm not sure, that particular model state only seems to be preset on that map (maybe 1-2 more maps). It doesn't change LOD state no matter where you point your camera.

If they weren't proxies they would be untextured and have no collision. What do you mean? game 2016-06-19 13-57-38-99.png ??? It's the same way other bot kills are handled (like OT technicians and base defenses) and doing otherwise requires a new weapon preset for every single bot. Inspect the guard towers and compare them to other maps, they are a low LOD model. The crate isn't there, which likely means that the trap can move over it and pick it up. You might need a scripting solution for AI generated kills then, to broadcast them like normal kills with a "user" included. Also, On Hostile Waters, the Allied base, the light facing the Radar got moved to a place where vertexes were not drawn to support it, resulting in light bleeding.

Of course. But that doesn't devalue your work to keep this project running smoothly. Edit: Good work on the Stormy Valley update, here is a few things I noticed after a quick rune-through: - The guard towers still use the proxy model as their model, and not actually function as a proxy. - The mud near the lake uses too high scaled UVW coordinates, making the texture look very blurry. - Consider making the edges of the lake transparant, it looks very unnatural right now (a common problem with water in APB). - The mountain tunnel lights bleed through to the top of the mountain, I suggest replacing the lights with the small tunnel lamp ones. - The trap church windows do not display correctly from outside. - The weapon kill messages used by the church trap could get renamed to instead refer to the object using it? For clarity in the kill message. - There doesn't appear to by any crate in the church... - The fucking church, man. - Not map related but the chain fences absolutely MURDER you in seconds, it seems overkill. - Not map related but the Mammoth Tank is now the Mountain Goat (it can climb quite steep terrain). Not sure if you can consider this a bug really since it actually improves the handling, but just something I noticed.

You've been quite busy I see, Pushwall!

Well, you could easily set that up. But you probably do not want to set that up...

It takes a lot of time if you want to do it right. The cave system on Siege for example is fairly small but easily took me about 8 hours to make, this includes the model work, as well as texturing, collision and W3D settings, and error correcting. I could easily put more hours into anything I make, and typically, more hours translate into better quality and detail. At some point you need to call it a day though because you'll end up spending too much time on one thing or reach W3D limitations. What I personally find works for me, is deadlines. It acts as a constant mental note that I need to wrap things up after spending X amount of time on a specific part of a level. For your first project you should not focus on delivering anything though, but rather to just learn things for yourself. I believe I said it before somewhere else; Your first level should be developed with no intention to release it, and purely focus on learning. Then your next project can be your first real release-worthy level, since you will have started developing it from the beginning with a better understanding of things. A shining example is my earliest work for APB during 9935. That stuff was just plain awful, hastily created in order to release more levels as quickly as possible. Granted I was a lot younger then as well.