Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of doc/editor Tweet

Timestamp:

04/19/2011 01:32:01 PM (15 years ago)

Author:

Sam Hocevar

Comment:

--

doc/editor

@@ +1 @@
+= Abuse level editing tutorial =
+
+Version 0.1, byy Craig Redinger (car188@psu.edu)
+
+NOTE: Please keep in mind that this is the first release, so it isn't very 
+in depth and there may be errors, but this should get you started.
+
+This tutorial is intended to get you farmiliar with the abuse editor, which 
+can be extremely confusing at first. This tutorial will not explain every 
+object in detail or tell you how to use them. I'll help you with the 
+basics, after that you'll have to experiment with the objects yourself. 
+This tutorial will not explain how to make new monsters, objects, or tiles. 
+It will help you to figure out the editor and save yourself a lot of time. 
+Enough of that, let's get down to business.
+
+NOTE: If I want you to press a key I'll put it in brackets. Like this <m>. 
+If I want you to press shift and a key, the letter will be capitalized, 
+like this <M>.
+
+First, print this out so you can read it while you use the editor. Next, if 
+you have the abuse.doc file, print it out, it has a list of keyboard 
+commands and explanations of how the objects work, among other things.
+
+Now, start abuse in edit mode, like this:
+
+{{{
+#!sh
+abuse -edit
+}}}
+
+Abuse will load and start in edit mode. By default it loads the trainer 
+level. At the bottom of the screen is a menu bar, go into the edit menu and 
+select "mouse scrolling" to turn the scrolling on. Next go in the same menu 
+and pick "add new palette." Palettes act as custom collections of tiles, 
+and put tiles where you can find them easily, without searching through the 
+foreground window. set the size as 5 high and 5 wide, enter a name for your 
+palette, and press OK. A new window should appear. Now put the tiles you 
+will be using for your level into this pallete window, you can do this 2 
+ways. The first way is to pick tiles you want to use off the screen with 
+the <`> key (it's in the upper left hand corner of the keyboard). Then move 
+the mouse cursor into the palette window you made and press the RIGHT mouse 
+button to place it in the pallete. The other way to do this: open the 
+foreground window by pressing <f>. Then place your mouse over the window 
+and press <F> 4 or 5 times to make the window wider. When you find a tile 
+you like select it with the LEFT mouse button, and place it in the pallete 
+window with the RIGHT mouse button. When you are done with a window you can 
+close it by clicking on the button in the upper left hand corner. Go into 
+the file menu and select "save palettes" you must do this whenever you make 
+a new palette. To open a palette press <p>. This will open then palette 
+picker window, you should see the name of the palette you made. Now that 
+you have made your own palette, you can use it like you would the 
+foreground window, left click on a tile to select it, and left click on the 
+game screen to place the selected tile.
+
+You are now ready to start your level. Go into the file menu and pick "New 
+level." When you created your palette you should have included the brown 
+blocking tile that is normally used where ever there are no walls or rooms. 
+Select this tile. Move your mouse pointer onto the game screen and press 
+<t> to flood fill the map with this tile.
+
+'''Hey, why's everything so dark?'''
+
+That's due to the lighting effects in abuse press <L> to open the layers 
+window. Press the "light" button to turn the lighting off. Now, using your 
+palette, place tiles to make a simple room, any size, but make sure it is 
+closed on all four sides. OK, this would be a good time to explain the 
+tiles. Some foreground tiles act as walls, and some act as background. The 
+ones that act as walls have bounding boxes. Open the layers window <L> and 
+press the bounds button to see the bounding boxes, your screen should be 
+filled with gray boxes. Find a tile that does not block the player, place 
+the cursor inside the room you made and press <t> this should fill that 
+room with the tile you selected. Place the cursor in the room and press <j> 
+this will move the player to the position of the mouse. Press <tab> to 
+enter play mode, you should be able to run around in the room you made. 
+Press <tab> to get out of play mode. Now make open one end of your room and 
+make a hallway, and make other rooms and passages in the same manner. It's 
+hard at first but you'll get the hang of it.
+
+Now, lets add some objects. Let's make a door that opens when the player 
+comes near it. Press <o> to open the objects window, to jump through the 
+list, place the pointer in the window and press shift and the letter you 
+want to jump to at the same time. Select the object SWITCH_DOOR, a door 
+will appear, you can move it around the screen with the mouse and place it 
+by left clicking. Hold down <Ctrl> while moving the object, this will align 
+the door with the tile grid, holding down <Alt> would align the object in 
+the middle of the grid. The door is 3 tiles high so it should be placed in 
+a 3 tile high opening. To make to door open and close you will need to make 
+a sensor, place it anywhere for now. Move the mouse over the word "off" the 
+sensor and press <A> to acess it's AI. You'll want the sensor to be wider 
+so set the on x distance to 100 and the off x distance to 150. Click the 
+check-mark box to close the window, the sensor should now be wider. You now 
+need to link the two objects together. Links are sensitive to direction, 
+you must link from the object that is affected by a change to an object 
+that changes ( I know this is very confusing). For example link from the 
+door to the sensor because the sensor is changed from off to on when the 
+player enters it, and as a result, the door opens. To make a link place the 
+mouse pointer over the door , now hold down <Ctrl> and move the mouse over 
+the word off on the sensor and release <Ctrl>. There should now be a gray 
+line between the two, and it should turn yellow when the mouse is over the 
+door.
+
+Now, Put the mouse over the word off on the sensor and press <space bar>. 
+You should now be able to move the sensor around, place it with the door in 
+the middle of it so half of it is on each side of the door. It is important 
+to note that the players feet must be in the sensor to activate it. Enter 
+play mode and try your door, you should be able to walk back and forth 
+through it, and it should close when you are far enough away from it.
+
+Make some ants, pick ANT_ROOF from the object window. You can change the 
+type of weapon the ant has by holding the mouse over it and pressing a 
+number from 0 to 7. If you want to modify the health of the ant press <A> 
+to bring up it's AI screen, when you are done press the check mark box. You 
+can either link an ant to some kind of sensor or switch and it will 
+activate when the switch is activated, or you can just place it on the roof 
+and it will activate when the player walks below it. 
+
+You'll want some weapons in your level so make some ammo. Scroll through 
+the object list and find what you want. If you aren't sure what's what just 
+try some out until you find what you want. Ammo always has the word "icon" 
+in the object name, I think. 
+
+'''I made some objects I don't want, how do I delete them?'''
+
+Hold the cursor over the object and press <d>.
+
+'''How can I make objects faster?'''
+
+Use the <.> key to make the last object you selected from the object list. 
+To copy an object and it's AI settings, place the mouse over it and press 
+<C>.
+
+'''I want this object to face the other way.'''
+
+Hold the mouse over it and press <x>.
+
+'''This object is drawn above/below other objects.'''
+
+Hold the mouse over the object and use the < key and the > key. 
+
+'''How do I use background tiles?'''
+
+You make them in the same manner as foreground, but remember the the 
+foreground must be transparent to see background. You'll want to turn off 
+the foreground in the layers menu when you draw the background. 
+
+Once you've finished your level, you can add some lighting effects and view 
+changes. press <m> to toggle into map mode, you can press it again to go 
+back. To go to a certain part of the map put the mouse cursor there then 
+press <j> then <m>. While in map mode press <a> to bring up the tool bar. 
+You'll need to define areas, whenever a player enters an area, the lighting 
+can change and the view offset can change. The player doesn't have to stay 
+in an area for these to remain in effect, the will not change until the 
+player enters another area. To make an area select the box on the tool bar 
+by moving the mouse over it, you don't have to click, so make sure the tool 
+you want stays selected. Click the mouse wherever you want the upper left 
+corner of an area to be. Now pick the arrow tool. Click the upper left 
+corner of an area to move it, the lower right to resize it. Double click a 
+corner to acess th AI screen, from here you can change the offset and 
+ambient lighting. Once you're finished pick the paint brush on the tool bar 
+to go back into draw mode and close the window. Press <m> to leave the map.
+
+Now make some lights, press <l> then pick the light you want, resize it 
+with the arrow keys while moving it.
+
+Make sure you have a START_POSITION item where you want the level to begin, 
+and the two NEXT_LEVEL items where you want it to end. The top must link to 
+the bottom and the bottom must link to the top, two seperate links are 
+required. Also, you can change the AI of both to designate what level to go 
+to next. 
+
+Before you upload your level you'll need to make a cache profile, this is 
+explained in abuse.doc.
+
+'''Hey wait a minute, how do I use _____ object?'''
+
+To use other objects experiment with them, if you are stuck, check 
+abuse.doc it describes them all.
+
+'''I read abuse.doc and I still can't figure out the turrets.'''
+
+Heres a hint, 0 degrees is pointing to the right, the degrees go around 
+counter clockwise, as in a cartesian coordinate system. The gun interprets 
+the ending angle as being counterclocwise of the start angle.
+
+A few hints and tips:
+
+ 1. Save <S> often, VERY often. The editor is subject to frequent lock-ups, and I have lost countless hours of work because of this.
+ 2. Save before you enter play mode and reload <R> when you are done.
+ 3. Don't crowd the passageways together. Space them out so the player can't see a place he can't get into from where he is.
+ 4. Level editing takes practice. Your first levels will probably suck. Upload them and let others help you improve them.
+ 5. If you need to know how to do something check abuse.doc , I know it's technical and dry but it's a very good source of info.
+
+You use this tutorial at your own risk, I take no responsibility for any 
+damages, blah blah blah. This tutorial is property of Craig Redinger. Abuse 
+is the property of Crack Dot Com.