I know there are alot of posts that contain info on all that Im about to say, but there is also alot of confusion created by having alot of posts saying "do it this way", the next post says " do it that way"
"the wiki is wrong " etc.....

k, There are great tutorials to be found on this site, Ive learnt a hell of a lot by reading them. But I get so confused by reading 10 different ways of how to do somethings that I turn the editor off and just go play cause I still cannot get my map on the server working properly.

My request is for a tut for people,
who have made their map, made their custom load screen, and have a custom "textxure" or decal" in thier map. And want to wrap the whole thing up and give it to someone who is going to host it.
written in a way that a noob ( like me) can understand it.
In point form please. Taking nothing for granted.
With links to other tuts within.. ( like ..."link to how to make your load_screen") when tut gets to the point of load_screen. etc.

Perhaps a big ask, but it would be wonderful if it could happen and save, I think alot of posts by people like me who just get confused by all the discussion on which way to do something.
I also susspect that one of the problems is that people ( me) ,
have is that you follow a tut for doing this, a tut for doing that, another tut for getting this to work, and 1 mistake along the way wreaks the whole "package".

Im sure there is someone out there who can simplify the whole prosess for the confused masses out here.
And I for one would be forever in your debt.

+1

I just suggested this very thing in another topic, I think that,
1. removing all not-working and/or incorrect tutorials and
2. writing one fool-proof tutorial for,

- load-screen, minimap, helicopter paths and packing
- fx

would seriously get rid of 50% of the question on the board (and a lot of the ones that dó get asked would be answered with a simple copypaste linkage)

This is a good idea. Im currently working on one (video) that will take the people from start to finish for a basic, functional map. I wont give any more details on it at this point but Im not going to release it until it is finished and previewed (tested) by those mappers over at our site.

One of the biggest problems that plague this whole process is when someone makes a tutorial that really does work you have so many people that will look at it and say "Thats Crazy" you dont have to do this and you dont have to do that or do it This Way or Do It that Way. This usually blows a good tut out the door because everyone gets confused.

When I do a tut (and I have done many) I try to keep it simple, informative and only on one site. I dont like to scatter it all around as this opens the door to too many people that will look at the thread or the tutorial and say any of the above mentioned things and then disappear. These people create doubt in good tuts and people will read that and see that someone says something negative so the tut must be wrong.

Since the developers are not really providing much support and really why would they since they give the tools for free, as is, then it is up to us to develop the knowledge and share it.

The problems come when sites get a tutorial and say WOW we can add it and look like a great site because we offer 100 tutorials. Nevermind if they have been tested or reviewed. Many sites do this to increase traffic. Yet when the tuts are proved time and time again to be garbage or flawed nothing is done about it. This adds to the confusion and frustration levels. Then you get 100 threads trying to figure out these GOLD tutorials and no one is getting anywhere.

Im hoping that my tutorial series will create, if nothing else, at least a firm basis from which mappers can have the building blocks required to produce a map from start to release and know that it will work. From there they can experiment and grow from a solid foundation.

Im not the best mapper to come along but I do take the time to provide the best support or assistance when I can. The site that I work at will host the series when it is available so you will only hear about it, upon completion, by word of mouth.

The series will be video with written tutorials when required along with copies of all the relevant files provided for reference. I along with those assisting me are getting it set up now so hopefully we can release it as soon as we are happy with it.

I agree with that..I posted the minimap tut ( http://www.modsonline.com/Forums-top-78539.html ) & it got picked apart a little (this file should be here & this there) but, I have gotten my minimap to work in 3 maps doing it the way I posted in my tut..So it has been tried & tested 3 times & worked every time..Now granted, if you have already converted the files from a different place (as posted in that thread), U may have some trouble redoing it, but, if u are doing a mini from scratch, it should work..



edited on Apr. 20, 2008 12:58 pm by kmabigtime

This thread is pretty good for getting stuff done from start to finish:

http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=19245.0

Also, Zeroy is a helpful guy on this forum and the IW forum and he has a page of his own tutorials, useful for more "advanced stuff:"

http://www.zeroy.com/tacticalnight/index.php?PHPSESSID=ef6ip1tl9m8radatpkj73peta2&board=12.0

I've found that getting one map from start to finish required perusal from a variety of sources: tutorials, threads, and old fashioned trial and error. IOW, when asking yourself "how do I do this?" read the tutorial on it, and ALSO read the other tutorial on it (there is bound to be more than one), AND search forums BEFORE doing it for the same thing to find out where people ran into problems so you don't run into the same problems. If it sounds time consuming, well, it's probably a better investment of your time than cursing at your computer and spending hours trying to fix something using the wrong information! Of course, having one correct tutorial for everything would be the better solution, but such is the way of free developer software and community based, non-reviewed support.

@Kma: your minimap tut was good, and for me, "picking it apart" was only to help you and others by trying to make it a perfect tut. Actually that is a good example of what I am describing about how to use a variety of sources: KMAs tut and Col Bilko's tut on this site, and his thread where he corrects a few errors in his tut, together pretty much get you all the info you need on making a minimap, and in KMAs thread differences between the three are explained. Threads + tutorials = working minimap!

Not to mention..Sometimes doing things the hard way, makes for a better learning experience..It helps you to learn more of how some of this stuff works, not just follow directions for everything, copy & paste scripts, & vualla(<~spelling?) your map is done & you have no clue how anything in the map is working...I does help to have WORKABLE! tuts to follow for certain things, but to have 1 single tut explaining everything in detail, come on, every mapper should be putting their own effort. I see alot of threads started that apear like the writer has never tried to search the threads or read a tut, it seems like they dont want to make that effort..

^^ Agreed. Using the search function, on this site and IW, (and heck, even google) is probably the number 1 "tip" anyone can give, along with just playing around with stuff on your own.

Since this is radiant, and it has been around for a while, basic stuff from tutorials on Quake, COD1, COD2, etc. etc. also apply for the most part. With all these combined resources, there is plenty of info out there for those interested in reading it. E.g., I found Wyatt's beginner video tuts in the cod1 section invaluable in learning radiant. Those videos answer 90% of the basic geometry editing questions out there.

Some of the tutorials I've read have too many shortcuts or are missing key information...

For example:

Add a destructible car, enable developer and developer script, run the map, update your zone file

I have tried the mod tools on 2 different PC's and Update zone file doesn't work on either so I have no way of knowing what scripts are missing, and have been unable to find any postings on what scripts actually need to be there.

Or the tut on how to create jump pads. It basically shows off pretty screen shots of a jump pad, but contains no info on how to script the jump portion.

I've read some good tuts here, and have learned a lot by taking what I learned from them and playing around. It just seems a little too difficult to find answers for some of the "gotchas" that come up.