Mapping 101 - Tutorial 1
Ok, by now you should have SofRadiant up and running. You should also have been able to successfully compile the test map. Throughout these tutorials I am going to assume that you have a 3 button mouse and that you are running SoFRadiant in Split Window mode. You can download the complete set of tutorial maps here, before we start if you like. only use them for reference purposes or you will not get to know the editor properly. Ok lets get cracking...
The First Room 1. Set your grid size to 16 units by pressing the '5' key on the keyboard (not the keypad). You can set the grid from the Grid menu as well, but it is much quicker if you learn to use the keyboard shortcuts. Grid size can be changed by selecting keyboard keys 1-7 2. Select Textures>armory from the texture list. All the textures from the armory directory will be loaded, and appear in the texture window. 3. Scroll down by using the scrollbar or by Right-Clicking and dragging the texture window. Pick the first texture "1_2_subfloor1" by clicking once on it in the texture preview window. It should now have a red outline, to show that it is selected. 4. In the main editing window, click and hold the Left mouse button and drag out a square. I made mine 256 units long, 256 wide, and 128 high. To change views, hold down the Left Ctrl key and tap the Tab key. Do this a few times and watch the view dialogue in the upper left corner of the main editing window change from TOP VIEW, to FRONT VIEW to SIDE VIEW. THIS onLY APPLIES IF YOU ARE IN A SPLIT WINDOW VIEW. 5. Don't try and get an exact cube. once you drag out a box, let go of the mouse. The box should be red, indicating it's selected. To delete a brush, hit the Backspace key while it's still selected.  6. Now, we're going to re-size the brush. Place the mouse on the OUTSIDE edge of one of the brush sides, and click and drag (See Fig 1). That side of the brush should pull in the direction you drag the mouse. Do this for each brush side until you have a cube 256 x 256 x 128.
 7. Since we are going to "hollow out" this box, we need to adjust the box by expanding it by one grid unit on each side (See Fig 2). The "hollowing out" process always cuts one grid unit from the outside in. Since texture alignment in SoF maps is important, we want the resultant operation to give us a room that is hollowed out where the INSIDE walls measure 256x256x128.
8. Once you have the cube stretched and positioned, press the Hollow button  (Fig 3).
One problem with this method is the fact that it produces overlapping brushes, these are not desirable in any map. Textures coming together at the overlap will cause visual artifacts as the player shifts his/her angle of sight. If you're relying on the overlap method because of problems with leaks, this is a crutch to avoid improving your technique. You are doing something fundamentally wrong, such as not using the snap-to-grid, or creating brushes that are too thin, or attempting a design that may be challenging the limits of the editor and game engine. There are several schools of thought on the best way to construct a map and the placement of brushes. The most common approach is butt joints. The best method for joining brushes together is "mitering." A tangible benefit of the miter method is seen in large maps, where the mapper can find himself staring through many layers of rooms and hallways. The distinctive joints are easy to pick out in a busy crowd of lines. Although using miter joints offers no more of a guarantee against leaks than other methods, it does indicate that the mapper is careful about his or her project. I use this method for walls. Mitering floor and ceiling brushes just add tedium to the construction process and adds no real benefit. The other benefit of mitering is the fact that it reduces the poly count, (r_speeds). This is the method we will adopt in this tutorial. 9. Select one of the wall brushes. This is best achieved by using the camera and 3D view. Press Ctrl and Middle-Click in the center of the room. This will place the camera at that point, do a Ctrl-Tab to switch views and repeat. Now in the 3D view Shift-Left-Click on a wall. Another useful tip here is that if you Middle-Click in the main window, and drag the mouse it will rotate the camera. 
10. Make sure you are in the top view and then press E on the keyboard, to enter edge editing mode. Now drag the 2 blue handles as shown in Figure 4.
11. Repeat this for the other 3 walls, so you end up with a room that looks like Figure 5. Use Esc to deselect a brush when you have changed it, and then press E again to return to normal editing mode.
The last thing we need to do is sort out the overlapping ceiling and floor. There are several ways to accomplish this, you could just select the top and bottom brushes and click the CSG Subtract button.  This is a useful tip, because of the limited undo facilities of SofRadiant, always save before doing anything major, just in case you can't undo it.  13. The method we are going to use here is simply to resize all the walls at once. So once again using the camera and 3D view, select all 4 walls. Now Ctrl-Tab to either the side or front view. Since we want the top of our walls level with the bottom of the ceiling, just Left-Click on the top edge of the brush selection and drag it down 1 grid unit. Now click on the bottom line of the selection and drag it up 1 grid unit, so you end up with something like Figure 6. Note if you have 'ALT + multi-drag' on in the preferences you ill need to press the Alt key while dragging the bottom edge up.
The 'Alt + multi-drag' is a useful feature, as it can stop you resizing multiple brushes, which were accidentally selected out of sight. Ok, so now you have built you first room, save your work as tutorial1 and move on to tutorial 2. |
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