How do you people DO it?!

[Enalya]

I've been having a lil play around with the editor, and can't get how the heck you manage to stick to something like that...I cant even figure out how to erect buildings in this thing...I've managed to get a walkway and a fountain and some lizards (terrain frills rock) but as to getting wandering people, guards, buildings, and shop keepers and stuff, I'm at a loss.

I comend all of you who can make scenarios *salutes*

[Blaspheme]

I agree with you, it's so ****ing difficult!

I know nothing about programmation, and english is REALLY NOT MY NATIVE LANGUAGE!

 

Poor frog-eater...

[Crunchy Frog]

To get walls, switch to terrain mode. Look at the top-right and you'll see a bunch of wall segments; some dark grey, some brown. Place these walls on the map so they line up like walls should, and you can build buildings. It takes a while though; one of the things that really annoys me about the editor is how much more difficult placing walls is than in Blades of Exile.

 

For people, guards, monsters, and so on, use the C1, C2, etc. menus. Select a type of creature and click on the map to place it.

 

Shopkeepers are a little more complicated, as they require scripting. It'd take a while to explain, so I'll let someone else do it. The manual explains it fairly well if you're already a programmer, but if you're not it can take some getting used to.

 

By the way - Blaspheme, what does your signature mean? I don't know a word of French.

[UA]

First, it's not programming. It's scripting, which is a - higher-level - form of programming.

 

Second, it's easy, especially if you've had experience with C-based languages, such as C, C++ and PHP.

[Abu Dhabi]

I don't understand people who don't seem to get going with the editor. It's easy. I have never worked with the BoE editor and it still is easy.

 

The following should be in BIG F-ING FONT:

 

RTFM

 

END OF BIG FONT

 

Is it too much to ask to read 10, ten!, pages of the manual??? It is clear if you are over the age of five and have at least two functioning brain cells.

 

EDIT: Typo.

[Fort]

Right...

 

The documentation is lengthy at best, and the editor itself was just made to be functional. After all, Jeff did make a huge game like Avernum 3 with something probably comparable. The thing I have most trouble with in the editor is the navigation around towns and THOSE TINY ICONS!

Scribbles = 'Change Editing Mode'

Sloppy Slope = 'Auto Hills'

Boxy Thingy = 'Crate'

[Abu Dhabi]

If you're using a resolution higher than 800x600 they may seem tiny. My eyes hurt at higher resolutions so I got used to the icons.

[Donald Hebb]

It's best practiced as a habit. Putting out a scenario is more than noding, it's an act of imagination and willpower. If you make and complete something of any decent length and creativity, then you have already exhibited vast amounts of both.

[Kelandon]

Says the man who has completed 20 scenarios or so.

 

Scripting is easier or harder depending on your level of experience with programming and the way your brain is wired. One of the downsides to the elaborate scripting engine for BoA is that those who are able to write a really good story but can't program worth a damn won't be able to do much with BoA. But then, those who can program AND can write good stories have the power to do amazing things.

 

It's easy for some and not for others, so don't freak out if someone thinks it's hard. The manual is not that great unless you already know some coding techniques.

[Yellow Sub]

This scripting is really new to me, but I still got it down packed(almost) in 1 month, making test scenerios for my friends to build my scripting ability. NOW im making my real scenerio.

EV Nova was the only other thing I used to use computer language on. Other then that and BoA(and the fact I had a computer since I was 3 ) really helps. But dont fret. No matter what, as long as you practice, youll get better. Make a few test scenerios for your friends, build your ability, then make your real scenerio. It just takes practice.

[Suneun]

"one of the things that really annoys me about the editor is how much more difficult placing walls is than in Blades of Exile."

 

Goodness yes. I made a medium sized scenario for BoE years ago, and I was Very excited to see that BoA came out. But I just spent half an hour Quite Unhappy because I couldn't figure out how to make outdoor mountains. Pure Hatred.

 

But I got that, and now I'm groaning over learning scripting. I _liked_ the set up in BoE. If Jeff says it's more powerful.... I'll believe him (sighs).

[Kelandon]

Don't just take his word for it. Take MY word for it, because I have no monetary interest in convincing you that BoA is more powerful than BoE. This thing can do stuf that you would not even be able to ATTEMPT in BoE.

 

In BoE, you could easily run out of nodes in a town. In BoA, your script is allowed to be up to about 164k or so -- not likely to be a problem in most cases. In BoE, you could easily run up against the nodes-in-a-row limit. (It was something like 60, I think.) In BoA, it's on the order of thirty thousand. Add in the ability to check any call labeled "short" (and there are a LOT) in a math expression, instead of relying on those darn If-Thens, some of which didn't even work, and the ability to work with variables, and creature and terrain scripts, and, oh, well, I could go on.

 

BoE was powerful, as designers discovered over the years. BoA is far more powerful, if a bit harder to learn.

 

Er, and placing walls gets much easier with practice. Experience with BoE will actually hurt you in this case, rather than helping you.

 

Oh, and if you like BoE better, keep using it. There will always be players, and the Lyceum will always keep up its community support.

[Archmagus Micael]

Just Call Me Kel's right,

 

Walls do get easier with practice. And it helps even more if you open up the originals and see how their walls were done. It helped me. My SECRET part of the scenario has it's walls a LOT LOT better now. Ofcourse, that means I don't relly ned to fiddle about so much trying to make it look decent.

 

Sorry about the idle chatter

[Suneun]

It's been six years since I made my BoE scenario, I don't think I'm going back to it.

 

I skimmed through the manual this morning, now I'm trudging through it with some care. Oh the pain! Heh. I joke around that I wish I learned more programming in college, you'd think I'd welcome a scripting language.

 

Yeah, walls were so different in BoE. Also, I can't find the answer to this simply. Is the (0,0) outdoor terrain the top left block? Also, I'd expect you could use all that extra grid space on the editor window to see your neighboring terrains but it doesn't seem to.

[Kelandon]

Quote:

Originally written by Archmage Micael:
Just Call Me Kel's right

This made me laugh a bit. I s'pose I should un-caps "Call" and "Me" so it doesn't look like a name.

Quote:

Originally written by Suneum:
Is the (0,0) outdoor terrain the top left block?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally written by Suneum:
Also, I'd expect you could use all that extra grid space on the editor window to see your neighboring terrains but it doesn't seem to.

If I understand you correctly, I agree that it should do this. Are you a Mac user? If so, get the 3-d editor (link around here somewhere). It's much better, and it does what I think you're talking about.