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Newcomers DBPro Corner / Cartography shop

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Hilmi2k
21
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Joined: 29th Nov 2002
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Posted: 29th Nov 2002 22:58
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Hi,

I just recieved my upgrade to darkbasic pro from darkbasic. After going through the dissapointing new tutorials (compared to the wonderful ones in the first release of darkbasic), I discovered what BSP is (dont blame me, I didnt catch onto the quake craze due to bad internet connections).

Eventualy I got to the conclussion that I need cartography shop to get things done.. I download the demo and you cant save. So out with the credit card and I ordered the proper full version. Its useless because all the exporters are in blitz basic source code, since I dont have this.. cartography shop is totaly useless to me and I feel ripped off. How am I supposed to make game maps with a product that does not export to a supported format without me going to buy a compiler?

Next problem comes in the form of usesless documentation in Cartography shop, even the authors website has nothing on it... and the discussion forums are dead there. I realy feel ripped off compared to my first purchase of Darkbasic, although I got very good support when my shipment did not arrive.

will somebody help me get cartography shop designed levels into my dark basic games without spending any more money?

I've purchased 3D canvas, but thats useless for level design, although it is great for models creation.
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MaxPower
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Joined: 16th Nov 2002
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Posted: 30th Nov 2002 06:04
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Hi, as I know that Cartography shop exports directx .x file format which is totally supported by DBpro ... I think you need someone using this package to give you right guidance

Thanks
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Necrym
21
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Joined: 4th Sep 2002
Location: Australia
Posted: 30th Nov 2002 11:20
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yes i know i also bought it expecting better things from it, i think the DB team should divorce themselves from such a badly managed product and produce their own.

Watch the bouncing cursor - now in 3d
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JimB
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Location: UK
Posted: 30th Nov 2002 15:39
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Hilmi2k: Just make your level in Cshop and save as .x,then
in DBpro put your saved ,x file in the tools folder along
with the textures used.Run the executable "start" or " compiler" and load your .x file and start the convertor,then you will have .BSP file of your level which you can then load into DBpro.
BTW Josh has just released a .map tool.
RickV : will you be sending this tool to us current Cshop
users?

JimB

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David T
Retired Moderator
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: England
Posted: 30th Nov 2002 18:26
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To get the exporters go to here: http://www.darkbasic.co.uk/c.php?f=cartographyshop5.

Download the ZIP and place "ExportX.exe" into the Plugins folder. Then from CShop select "Plugins" and then "Export X" at the top.

ftp://ftp.darkbasic.com/cartographyshop/exportx.zip

A .x file is created in the .csm file's directory, then copy this and all its textures to the Tools folder and then just follow the steps in a previous post. Make sure you have the latest patch, as I found it didn't work properly until I had Patch 3.

I love Star Trek.
Especially the Episodes with Starships in.
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Hilmi2k
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Posted: 30th Nov 2002 18:30
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sadly, the exporter for .x format is not there, it is just source code for blitz basic to make an exporter. This meens that you have to write your own .x exporter using a compiler you have (such as darkbasic) if you dont have blitz basic. I dont have blitz basic and a few source code files written in blitz basic wont help me export to .x format.

If I pay $39 for a product, the least I expect is that it comes compiled and ready to run. Besides, if I knew enough about programing to write my own exporter, I wouldnt have bothered with cartography shop in the first place.

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Hilmi2k
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Posted: 30th Nov 2002 18:34
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Thanx david, you've been a whole lot of help, I'm kind of surprised I didnt notice those links before... better documentation might have helped.

Thanx again.

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Hilmi2k
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Posted: 30th Nov 2002 18:40
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Now that I have downloaded the files, I noticed two files, export X and export collision. Is it safe to assume that if I export to X and convert to BSP I do not need to export collision? I'm assuming that export collision is used for the older version of dark basic that did not support BSP files... am I right?

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David T
Retired Moderator
21
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: England
Posted: 30th Nov 2002 19:15
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Yes, exporting collision justs exports a list of collision boxes that can be loae from DB1 and processed there. Just .x will do

I love Star Trek.
Especially the Episodes with Starships in.
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CD On CD
21
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Joined: 23rd Sep 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 2nd Dec 2002 08:46
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yes!
i would have to ask the SAME as JimB did:
will the DB team be offering/sending out this news of the UPDATED MAP tool?????

i too am a REGISTERED user but HAVE NOT gotten ANY type of notice, etc!!! i guess it all goes back to the BAD support of CShop, huh?

i want my map

United We (Still) Stand
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JimB
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Posted: 2nd Dec 2002 22:38
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I agree with CD On CD and I'll make sure that I don't make that mistake again.


JimB


So do I

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dbtonywt
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Posted: 3rd Dec 2002 05:32
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I have several problems with the DB Pro BSP options.

First, on topic, CShop's grid is not displaying properly. The developer's response was, "I'm sure its your video card." However, I have no problems with any of my other 3D modellers displaying design grids. So, needless to say, I've not registered it.

Second, I used QUARK to build a simple BSP and was able to view it, but textures were weird. I read a post somewhere else that they used good lighting and used QRAD when compiling to solve this problem.

However, I don't want to risk paying fees, so I attempted creating a simple X model and tried to use the DB Pro utility to compile it to a BSP. I get:

"Debug Error! Program: ...start.exe. DAMAGE: after normal block (#39) at 0x011E00C0."

If I select "Retry" I get a GPF. If I "Ignore", the BSP is created, but no textures appear, though I've included them in the same directory as the X file, just in case. The "debug.txt" file shows there was a problem creating a device. However, I have DX8.1 loaded and diagnostics come out OK.

So, I've had some rocky road today trying to figure out a future path for creating levels, apart from hard coding them.

Any suggestions?

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Hilmi2k
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Posted: 3rd Dec 2002 23:04
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Well, I am not an expert in this field, and I am very new to it all.

But I think your problem is that you are using textures that are just to plain big. Try using 512 X 512 or 256 X 256 size textures.

Also, Voodo cards have trouble with bigger texture sizes, dont know where I read that.

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Matto
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Posted: 10th Dec 2002 02:53
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Can anyone using this product tell me how good it is at open levels and collision to uneven surfaces?

I am wondering if it is worth buying for the easy addition of collision to some levels I am having difficuly in dealing with collision on, to uneven surfaces, these sufaces would resemble things like a randomized matrix or just a rolling landscape/matrix object and the buildings and items placed within/on the level?

I get the impression BSP works on box collision and am unsure how it would deal with a rougher terrain than a more box and planes approach, whether this is correct or not I am unsure, as BSP is new to me I am hoping a BSP veteran or well buffed BSP person could lend a hand, thanks for any help.

1ghz Cel,512 sdram 133,Gf2 MX 400 64,SBL 5.1,Win98
Best Upcoming MMOG - http://WWW.Atriarch.com
Project: Card Game with No Name
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Kensupen
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Joined: 19th Sep 2002
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Posted: 11th Dec 2002 10:10
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When they have BSPs working in DBPro, the collision is automatic sliding. You can also walk us steps if your collision sphere is big enough. I made a quick FPS demo using CShop and DBPro, but it's too slow after patch 1. All the collisions were done by one line in DBPro. Good in that fact, bad in the fact that you have very little control as of yet. I think it'll get a lot better with time.

Personally I love CShop. It's very easy to use and you can make other things with it. I made a jetpack demo, and all the buildings and collision boxes were made in CShop. The demo and screenshots are under the Program announcements section.

-Kensupen
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Shadow Robert
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Joined: 22nd Sep 2002
Location: Hertfordshire, England
Posted: 11th Dec 2002 12:51
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you could always develop your own format and loader within DarkBasic Enhanced or Pro (possible in Standard but would be quite a frustrating and arduous task)

Remember you have quite deep level file access and memblocks they are an invaluable combination!

Anata aru kowagaru no watashi!
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Lampton Worm
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Joined: 4th Sep 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 11th Dec 2002 17:10
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"BTW Josh has just released a .map tool." - any idea where we can get this from ? Also, my bsp compiler (with patch 3.1) still trashes all over the place, even with valid bps maps. I know they are valid because sometimes they compile and run.. other times.. nope! CShop useability is great, but I'd like it more tightly integrated into DBP ideally.

Cheers.
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sgalland
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Joined: 18th Nov 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 12th Dec 2002 03:26
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You guys might want to consider using Quark for your maps. It's free, you don't need CShop and it compiles the BSP and maps into a Quake compatible format.

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~quark/
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Lampton Worm
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Posted: 12th Dec 2002 11:02
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CShop does have great potential, but it needs a second release with a few more standard features, and a built in bsp converter. For newbies the interface is great for lego style quick building, I can knock up a good level in CShop pretty fast. Only problem is that the bsp converted in pro then falls over I did try Quark, but rejected it. Maybe I'll give it another whirl. I assume the compiled Quark BSP (the compiler is built in?) works good with DBP's BSP commands ?

Thanks
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actarus
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Location: 32 Light Years away
Posted: 12th Dec 2002 18:02
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From what I heard there will not be a v3 of Cshop,development has stopped.

http://www.leadwerks.com/cshop/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour!
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Hilmi2k
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Posted: 12th Dec 2002 20:14
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well, it isnt worth the money they charge. I would like to sell my license if the author allows it and there is someone willing to buy.

I didnt produce anything with it.

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actarus
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Posted: 12th Dec 2002 20:17
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Sure I'll give you a buck or two. j/k Don't need it since in my eyes it's nothing special than a modeler with lightmapping and BSP compilation...Whcihc can be achieved in many,many ways.

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour!
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CD On CD
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Posted: 12th Dec 2002 21:13
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yes.
looks like the END of CShop has come.
this new map tool everyone has been talking about looks to be the successor to it and NOT an add-on:

http://www.leadwerks.com/cshop/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

oh well. still waiting to see if we (registered users) get any 'real' notice of when it's ready & how-to get it.

now, let's hope that the main DB site makes modifications to their site concerning CShop, eh?

United We (Still) Stand
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Lampton Worm
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Posted: 13th Dec 2002 15:38
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As a CShop owner, I hope we do get inside info into what the future of the product is.. I'll check that linked thread above, first I've heard of it.

Cheers
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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 13th Dec 2002 20:39
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never been fond of CShop's style of development, i mean way kinda like a cutdown version of worldcraft and i'm not exactly that products biggest fan - hehee
not that its not good, i just prefer Qoole's style always have.

I'm pretty sure there are a few DarkBasic specific world developers on the way and you'll be seeing them shortly after the SDK is released, thats if the DarkBasic setup isn't as swiss as id's HAHAA

Anata aru kowagaru no watashi!
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JimB
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Posted: 13th Dec 2002 21:11
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Raven Vegeta: Talking of Qoole,I like Qooles way of working
too but it doe'nt seem to allow 16/32 bit colours.Is there
a way around this?

JimB

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JimB
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Posted: 14th Dec 2002 21:45
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I'll take that as a No then lol.

JimB

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