Editor Tips and Tricks

[HughJass]

I disagree with that one a bit. Sometimes I get totally sick of working on an area, so its nice to work in a different area for a while, and then go back with "fresh eyes"

agreed, i actually like to do other maps when getting sick of making one map. I get a lot of new ideas in my head as i switch from a different setting for certain maps.

[Zoddom]

hey guys, i got problems with 2 of my maps:
i noticed, that they only work in windowed modus, otherwise b2d...
then, after changing spawnpointsettings, after noticing that you couldnt spawn at the beginning (xD), i got b2d even with windowed mode

[pr|Zer0]

A useful command while in the editor(ESPECIALLY for tutorial posting) is capturing screenshots of the editor screen:
renderer.dumpScreen
SS's are saved as dds's on c:\users\username\documents\battlefield 2\screenshots\

[Pvt.LHeureux]

Thanks Payne, that will be usefull.

[pr|Zer0]

aint posted in here for some time, soo much for the idea of updating it every day

anyways I dunno if any of you know this but was looking though the keyboard shortcuts for the editor today and noticed something that I had never seen before.



Basically this means when you copy an object, and paste it with that command it will paste it in the exact same place as the object you copied it from. Really good for making walls etc

just be careful not to forget to move the object otherwise you will have 2 meshes there taking up extra memory ingame

hope this helps

Note:
CTRL+SHIFT+V will paste in place, but also the object will snap to the terrain(actually, the anchor of the object will snap to terrain). SO if you have a wall which is "burried", the object you just paste will snap to terrain in "normal" position. Dunno if "Snap to object" option can make any difference.
Now, on rotate mode with one object selected, if you rightclick on one of the circles, it will rotate the object with 90 degrees on each click.

[Microwaife]

You can disable that the editor will load f.e. the animation, object editor and material editor.

1. On the top bar click on the "tools" tab
2. go to Add-In Manager...
3. and click on the plus signs next to the feature you want to disable, in this case for the purpose of mapping I will disable the animation editor, material editor and object editor
4. then uncheck the box which says "Autoload"
5. click ok

AFAIK this won't screw anything up inside the editor, if it does please tell me.

This helped me alot because when I accidentally clicked on animation editor my BF2editor would crash.

[pr|Zer0]

Roads:

1. If you have two or more different roads intersecting, in order to change priority you need to alter the priority setting in road template, not in a road spline. Road spline prio has effect only on roads that have the same template.
2. When setting up a road spline, use as much as possible terrain grid snap (best is to use 1/2 terrain grid snap). This way the road will look better because the spline points are aligned, and curves will look much more better. To do that, go to Snap toolbar on upper side of the editor.
3. On a road spline, from start to end, the second and second to last spline control points represents the start and respectively the end of your chose road texture.
4. If you plan to make a roundabout, is better to use a large static (I used an oilsilo which I sink it into the ground), then follow the chosen static contour to place your spline control points. the roundabout will look very professional . Dont forget to delete the static you have used to guide you.
5. Careful with "Apply spline" button !!! If the spline is not on the ground, when you hit apply spline, the ground will raise to meet the spline. If you want to lower/elevate the spline and not the ground, use SNAP SPLINE instead(its not always available) If the snap button is not available and you know a control point is above the ground, grab a control point and drag it upwards, and you will see snap spline becomes available. When you hit that, ALL control points for that spline will snap to the ground.
Apply Spline button is very handy for creating ramps.
6. Static intersection. Its very recommended to use them(especially on tarmac roads), but take a look at point 3, above. Make sure the second and second to last spline's control points are overlapping the intersection. If it doesn't when you build the final road, the road will appear discontinued.

[Outlawz7]

Necro for usefulness

Right-clicking on the undergrowth texture selection list displays alpha channel.


This doesn't work for sky, detail or color texture selection, only undergrowth.