So I'm experimenting with the toolset to get used to it. I have some experience with TES and NWN1 & 2 toolsets, so I understand the basic concepts, and am focusing on the aspects of the DA toolset that are different from those. From using the wiki, I get the sense that to create an exterior area, you need to choose an existing area layout to have a base landscape to work with, and the available area layouts seem to be areas for the main campaign. There is also a level editor to make your own terrain with buildings, etc. What I can't figure out is how to convert a level (.lvl) to an area layout (.arl) that is then usable in a new area. So far, I just want to make a featureless plain with a house and a spawn point to play in, so I get a better sense of how all these pieces fit together. I've scoured the wiki, but not yet discovered my answer.
Level to Area Layout to Area??
Débuté par
Qutayba
, nov. 20 2009 01:04
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#2
Posté 20 novembre 2009 - 01:55
Lord Thing
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Press random buttons until it breaks or works, that's what I did 
More specifically you'll want to add an exportable area to the level (the plus button at the top), to resize the area, click the "define area" button then drag out a box so that the green square surrounds your playable area (yellow square is for high LOD, red is for low LOD)
You will also need to set a layer name, which must be 7 digits long. Bioware use a 3-letter descriptor (eg "ost" for Ostagar), a 3-digit counter in runs of a hundred (ie Ostagar area 1, part 1 would 001, part 2 002, Ostagar 2, part 1 would be 101 etc), then a single digit type identifier (ie "d" for day, or default if day is meaningless, ie in a cave, or "n" for night).
Once you've done this you can generate pathfinding (a grey "splat" with a dog's footprint in it), set a starting waypoint (same way you do in an area, except you reference it in the exportable are properties) and then "Post to Local".
Now you can simply go to your area and set its area layout to the level that you designed.
Feel free to correct me if I've missed anything, or been to vague on anything.
More specifically you'll want to add an exportable area to the level (the plus button at the top), to resize the area, click the "define area" button then drag out a box so that the green square surrounds your playable area (yellow square is for high LOD, red is for low LOD)
You will also need to set a layer name, which must be 7 digits long. Bioware use a 3-letter descriptor (eg "ost" for Ostagar), a 3-digit counter in runs of a hundred (ie Ostagar area 1, part 1 would 001, part 2 002, Ostagar 2, part 1 would be 101 etc), then a single digit type identifier (ie "d" for day, or default if day is meaningless, ie in a cave, or "n" for night).
Once you've done this you can generate pathfinding (a grey "splat" with a dog's footprint in it), set a starting waypoint (same way you do in an area, except you reference it in the exportable are properties) and then "Post to Local".
Now you can simply go to your area and set its area layout to the level that you designed.
Feel free to correct me if I've missed anything, or been to vague on anything.
#3
Posté 20 novembre 2009 - 02:06
Qutayba
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That was helpful. I was working through the wiki again and made sure I had a walk mesh and had set up path-finding. The problem it seems is that I was hitting Do All Local Posts, and it wasn't posting properly because of some missing data elsewhere in the module. But hitting simply Post to Local got it through to the right place. On to the next step! Thank you, Thing.
