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ATTN: If you wad on paper first, look here! :O

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Shuffle

Shuffle

Developer
Sonic Team Junior
RoboAshura was talking about putting a picture as a background in DoomBuilder in #srb2fun earlier, so we looked around for a bit to see if it was possible. Sadly, it isn't. But then I had this idea "WTF! Maybe I should make the window transparent!", so I did. It is sooooooooooooooooo leet, it will speed up wadding insanely. o.o

papertowad7ct.jpg


Now, needless to say, you either need a camera or a scanner to get the picture on your computer, but it's well worth it.

The program I used to make DoomBuilder transparent is hither: http://www.actualtools.com/transparentwindow/

Questions? Comments? GTFO?

Edit: By the way, it's best to turn off that option that makes the screen scroll while doing actions (such as drawing linedefs or sectors). If it scrolls, then it won't be lined up with your picture.
 
Perfect idea though.

I usually have no ideas to make levels from though.

edit: I actually need a map to copy.
 
Also, if you have a map of the level online somewhere, you can use that as well.
 
Roboashura said:
Also, if you have a map of the level online somewhere, you can use that as well.
Click to expand...
woahrly

Also, it's a nifty idea, sure. I just still don't see the point of drawing levels out first, though. I mean, for me, the hard part is actually coming up with the level layout, rather than wadding it. So yeah, drawing it wouldn't get me anywhere far.
 
I always think of ideas during school, i have nothing else to do, i put them on paper, and this will help a lot.

...Finally, i have a use for my camera!
 
Re: IDEA!!!!

Super mystic sonic said:
ree-c said:
...Finally, i have a use for my camera!
Click to expand...

That gave me a idea! How about having a cam work in netplay? You know, that you can see each other with a webcam during a netgame! :o
Click to expand...

...what?
 
I'll be damned. That is a neat idea, Shuffle. Finally something to justify making a window translucent.

A shame my scanner hasn't worked for months. I blame HP's craptastic scanner software.
 
I'd totally do that if my drawings were to scale and I had a scanner, but my level drawings are totally out of scale. I really should find a scanner and show you people some of my level drawings, or at least the ones I still have.
 
Most of my stages are at least planned out beforehand, although not to that level of detail, generally.

Some of the earlier stages I made were made in that way, though. Flame Rift, Midnight Freeze, Tempest Valley, and Sunken Plant were made with that style of drawing, with a graph paper grid. You can even see the grid I used, as it's 128x128, and most every vertex in the maps are on those lines.

Most of my more recent maps, like Aerial Garden 2 and Starlight Palace, however, were done with a more "basic structure" drawing, outlining the path and where all the rooms are, but leaving the exact details for when I make the level. A few of my stages are made without them, though, like most of the emerald stages in Mystic Realm.

Give sketching it out beforehand a shot. If nothing else, it really helps for recursive design, because you can plan the level doubling back in advance.
 
I like how Flame Rift has all straight lines. I dunno who's seen it in DB/WA/XWE/Deepsea, but it's almost all, if not just all, straight lines.
 
Nothing major there; I find that whenever I make a level, SRB2 or otherwise, I have a tendency to be rather... cubic about it. That is, most of the walls are vertical, horizontal, or at a 45-degree angle between the two. Seriously, I rarely do diagonals, ever, just because. Incomplete Xmas, which still needs to be completed, was a break from that, truthfully.
 
I also usually make very square levels because I don't like the little stairsteppy effect you get in WA or DB when you have non-straight lines..

Though I realized most of my maps kinda suck, and I think a little bit of odd lines may make things a little bit interesting, at least.
 
Heh, I'm like that alot too. Just look at Gloom Metropolis, Storm Ruins, and Shrouded terminal. I only use weirdly sloped lines when I'm trying to make something look like a natural environment.
 
I only use straight lines when trying to make something unnatural like a THZ clone. Otherwise, I'll NEVER use straight lines when I can help it...

Good idea to draw it out on paper first, but I find it's better to remake the map from scratch when actually wadding it, as you can then take the grid into consideration and make the straight lines actually straight and whatnot...

Then again, I've never made a drawing to begin with outside of a vertically-based level I once made because a441 said there weren't enough of those. Even then, I used grid paper...
 
I know this is a MASSIVE bump, and I'm sorry for that, but I thought I'd show off the wad I started a long time ago using this technique. Just something fun to mess around with.

http://home.comcast.net/~mlmars/PTZ.zip
Pifeam Tourds Zone (completely nonsensical name, I know).
Lemme know what you think. ;P
 
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