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Author Topic:   Level editing
Forsaken
Honorary Warlord

Posts: 397
From: Dutch guy in France
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 20 November 2001 05:40     Click Here to See the Profile for Forsaken   Click Here to Email Forsaken        Reply w/Quote   
Has anyone ever tried changing the appearance of levels? For example, say I want to make the caves in act 1 look like the jail, or even better, like the crypts in act 2.....will this work, and if so, what are the do's and dont's?

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jbouley
Forum Admin.

Posts: 4907
From: Portland, Maine, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 20 November 2001 10:16     Click Here to See the Profile for jbouley   Click Here to Email jbouley        Reply w/Quote   Visit jbouley's Homepage!
There is a column in Levels.txt with a number that identifies what "appearance" to use.

Some changes won't work at all because some areas (the harem is one of them, I think) are hardcoded.

Some changes will work just fine.

Some changes will look terrible.

Some changes will cause crashes.

it's pretty much hit-or-miss experimentation unless you find one of the threads written months ago on this topic (maybe there's still one in archives or something)...and even if you find one of those threads, it's not likely to give you a comprehensive list of everything that works/doesn't work.

However, I will say that trying to change outdoor areas or trying to make underground areas look like outdoor areas will either cause a crash or it will seriously muck up gameplay by creating all sort of screen weirdness. I have not heard of anyone being able to counter this particular problem.

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- JEFF
"A hero is no braver than anyone else. He is only brave five minutes longer."
For my latest mod (for LoD/expansion), download at http://www.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?/planetdiablo/phrozenkeep/mods/sic_beta.zip - Or for old stuff (for classic D2), visit my orignal mod site at www.planetdiablo.com/sanctuary

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Dr Slue
Honorary Warlord

Posts: 418
From: Australia
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 20 November 2001 16:04     Click Here to See the Profile for Dr Slue   Click Here to Email Dr Slue        Reply w/Quote   Visit Dr Slue's Homepage!
Well changing the tileset is easy. You can do that in lvltypes.txt, my Catacombs level 4 looks rather snazzy.
But to completely change...hmm i dont really know. Since the map takes random peices of map and places them together to make a different map each time. FOr that reason, you would have to change each and every one of these, without changing the directions of the entrances/exits. Not too easy to do. But there are some maps that are always the same, such as towns, boss crypts(worldstone chamber etc) and a few other things. I cant remember how to do it, but MPHG said that in (i think) levels.txt, there is a column with 1's and 2's in it, if its an x(one or a two, cant remember which) (use the towns for a basis of this if you find the row) then its static. Sorry for this dodgy information, but i cant remember it. Best to ask MPHG for these sorts of things. He helped isilweo test the Editor from the start. He knows what he's doing.

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Don't yell at me so much!! Pobodys Nerfect!

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jbouley
Forum Admin.

Posts: 4907
From: Portland, Maine, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 20 November 2001 20:57     Click Here to See the Profile for jbouley   Click Here to Email jbouley        Reply w/Quote   Visit jbouley's Homepage!
lvltypes.txt, eh?

My bad, then...I get confused about which file controls tilesets (levels.txt, lvlprest.txt or lvltypes.txt)...I haven't actually done this yet in my own mod and haven't seen a thread on the topic in a while.

Sorry if I sent anyone off on the wrong track...

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- JEFF
"A hero is no braver than anyone else. He is only brave five minutes longer."
For my latest mod (for LoD/expansion), download at http://www.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?/planetdiablo/phrozenkeep/mods/sic_beta.zip - Or for old stuff (for classic D2), visit my orignal mod site at www.planetdiablo.com/sanctuary

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Dr Slue
Honorary Warlord

Posts: 418
From: Australia
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 21 November 2001 01:34     Click Here to See the Profile for Dr Slue   Click Here to Email Dr Slue        Reply w/Quote   Visit Dr Slue's Homepage!
I'm sure they'll all forgive you. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes hehe.

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Don't yell at me so much!! Pobodys Nerfect!

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jbouley
Forum Admin.

Posts: 4907
From: Portland, Maine, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 21 November 2001 13:20     Click Here to See the Profile for jbouley   Click Here to Email jbouley        Reply w/Quote   Visit jbouley's Homepage!
Dr Slue (or anyone else who cares to answer)...what did you do in lvltypes.txt? Swap out the various "File" columns with new tileset information from other areas?

I always thought the way to change tilesets was to change the LevelType number in Levels.txt.

Is the use of lvltypes.txt more accurate and less likely to cause crashes because you swap out specific files? Or have I misunderstood the changing of tilesets going all the way back to version 1.03 of D2?

Just looking for clarification on this for my own modding purposes.

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- JEFF
"A hero is no braver than anyone else. He is only brave five minutes longer."
For my latest mod (for LoD/expansion), download at http://www.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?/planetdiablo/phrozenkeep/mods/sic_beta.zip - Or for old stuff (for classic D2), visit my orignal mod site at www.planetdiablo.com/sanctuary

[This message has been edited by jbouley (edited 21 November 2001).]

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Dr Slue
Honorary Warlord

Posts: 418
From: Australia
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 21 November 2001 15:38     Click Here to See the Profile for Dr Slue   Click Here to Email Dr Slue        Reply w/Quote   Visit Dr Slue's Homepage!
Lvltypes.txt is very easy to mess with. Pick a tileset you like, put it where you want it. Easy. I cant remember where exactly they are in the mpq file, but if you could find out, then you could make your own such as alien places and metalic areas. If you havent found it in the mpq by tomorrow. I'll post back, but at the moment i'm bored. Starcraft time....

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Don't yell at me so much!! Pobodys Nerfect!

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Syntaks
WarLord

Posts: 231
From:
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 26 November 2001 09:19     Click Here to See the Profile for Syntaks   Click Here to Email Syntaks        Reply w/Quote   
Well, I'm messing with levels right now and figured this out: Change the Leveltype column, and it'll change the look of the level.

BUT

For instance, I've moved a catacomb to the crypt area, and changed it's level type to match the crypt. It works great! Looks just like the crypt. Problem is, I can't go anywhere. Theres a big black line a few feet from the entrance that I can't cross.

So there must be something in the leveltype that detemines WHERE to draw what..

So, SLue .. how did you change JUST catacombs 4?

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"Brain wants to rule the heart/ Heart wants to bind the hand"

Front 242

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jbouley
Forum Admin.

Posts: 4907
From: Portland, Maine, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 26 November 2001 11:40     Click Here to See the Profile for jbouley   Click Here to Email jbouley        Reply w/Quote   Visit jbouley's Homepage!
You might want to set the "number of rooms" to emulate what was used for a level that originally had that tileset. Possibly your dungeon is too small to accurately use the tileset.

I'm not sure that this is your problem...but I seem to recall that something along those lines could fix such problems (or maybe it was the X/Y values or the Size columns...though I think those are prone to causing crashes when modded injudiciously )

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- JEFF
"A hero is no braver than anyone else. He is only brave five minutes longer."
For my latest mod (for LoD/expansion), download at http://www.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?/planetdiablo/phrozenkeep/mods/sic_beta.zip - Or for old stuff (for classic D2), visit my orignal mod site at www.planetdiablo.com/sanctuary

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Dr Slue
Honorary Warlord

Posts: 418
From: Australia
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 27 November 2001 03:25     Click Here to See the Profile for Dr Slue   Click Here to Email Dr Slue        Reply w/Quote   Visit Dr Slue's Homepage!
Well if anyone ever wants to see my rather silly, very unfinshed,bitzy (bits of everything with nothing really linking them) mod entitled CoolČ, just email me or post here. Its easier if you just play it, then steal my ideas from my files to see how i did the various things.
*Note* My mod was never really designed to have a point, i was just trying out a bit of everything and now that i know how to do a fair bit, i cant be bothered. I'll probably stop modding soon, depending on what games come out when, but this is it for D2.

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    Getting through the River of Flame and breaking all the seals in hell: 10-30 mins or $5 to get some nerd to do it for you.

    Killing all the Seal Bosses without dying in Hardore Hell: A lot of lost body fluids(sweat, #1's etc.) and the subsequent hospital bills: $168

    Gettin to Diablo and sending that very gratifying Guided arrow flying right up his Ass:
    Priceless.


For everything else...i steal.

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