So what tools
do you have at your arsenal? And are you ready to create a room?
Note, this page has LOTS of images, might take a while to
load...
UnrealED has many tools for many different purposes. We won't be using nearly all of them
any time soon, but if you want to know about all of the tools on the left side of your
screen which come with no documentation from Epic, visit the UnrealED Tools page. It has the info
about every button, what it does, and its usage.
There are many other tools besides what you see on the left side of your screen though.
Most of these tools reside in the Options and Window dropdowns from the toolbar.
Options
Actor Properties - This can also be reached by right clicking on what you
have selected and going to its properties. Properties are very important in UnrealED, and
everything has lots of them. I will cover all of the important properties of things when
it is needed.
Surface Properties - This is an important option that can also be
accessed by right clicking on the surfaces you have selected (3D View). Important aspects
of the texture like effects and properties like scrolling, the texture's scale, and more.
Level Properties - Lots of important things about your level can be set
here. The Audio and LevelInfo sections are important. Set what music plays during your
level, and set the level's name and author, so proper credit will be given at the start of
your level.
Rebuild - Ahh the rebuilder. This is what you compile your level with.
Compiling is done in three different sections. If you leave everything how it is, they
should all run every time you compile (by pressing rebuild geometry). You can do them one
at a time if you wish though, by unchecking the "Auto BSP" and "Auto
Lighting" options. Whenever you make a huge geometry change to your level or add
things like movers or transparencies, you want to rebuild geometry and all. If all you
changed was some lighting, you can just apply lights and be done with it... This option
can be accessed by pressing F8 as well, which I usually do.
Window
Mesh Viewer - This is a cool tool where you can view all of the 3D models
that are loaded into classes. Pretty nifty.
Log - This logs all of the technical mumbo jumbo about what you are
doing. The Log opens by default with UnrealED this version. If it annoys you, type
"hidelog" in the log console. If you want it back, just select Log from the menu
here.
2D Shape Editor - This is a great tool in UnrealED. You will probably
want to use this tool a lot when you get into advanced editing. A Tutorial on how to use
this great tool is available in the advanced editing section once you complete the
beginners stuff :)
Floor Lofter - This is another great tool in UnrealED. Another advanced
tool, it has a lot of power and great uses. You can do lots of cool stuff with it, and
look for a tutorial in the advanced section.
Creating your First Room
Are you ready to create your first room in
UnrealED? Its quite simple. Using the knowledge you have learned with these tutorials, you
might know how already. To create the room, let us make the red brush a CUBE. The default
cube is 256 x 256 x 256. If you want a different sized room though, you can edit the
cube's properties by right clicking the Cube tool. In the menu that pops up, enter the
height, width, and breadth. Lets try 192 x 512 x 512. Enter those values and hit
"Build". Your red brush will take the size of the cube you specified. Since you
have nothing else in your level now, positioning it is not a problem, so leave the red
brush where it is.
Rightclick the Cube Tool - Enter the Values -
Press the Build button - The Cube is created
Now, simply press the Subtract button. The area
where the brush is has been subtracted and space has been created.
Textureing
The texture that was used was pretty ugly, they always seem to
choose an ugly texture for the default :) Now to texture the room! I suggest a nice stone
brick texture. Go over to the browser on the right side of the screen and choose Texture
from the top Dropdown if you aren't already in texture browse mode. No good texture sets
are loaded now, so press the Load button. Select the SkyCity texture set, that is a good
one. When it is loaded, all of the textures should be in the browser now.
Go to the texture browser,
click the Load button, Open the SkyCity texture package.
Back to your 3D View, select all of the walls.
When they are selected, click on a texture in the browser. The texture you click on will
be applied to the selected surfaces.
Select all walls in 3D View -
Click a texture in the browser and it is applied to these walls (Note- To select more than
one thing, hold down control while selecting, like in Windows)
A cool thing about UnrealED is that textures in
each package can be specified into particular groups. The bottom dropdown of the three in
the texture browser is the menu for these groups. Epic grouped all of their textures into
groups like wall, floor, cieling, etc... This makes it easy to find a good texture from a
huge set of textures. Try choosing a good wall texture for the walls, then select the
floor, give it a good floor texture, and do the same for the cieling...
Textures can be grouped so you
can find them easier within a huge package like SkyCity
Texturing is pretty easy in UnrealED, I like it
a lot better than having to switch screens in BUILD. Once you have your room textured
similar to the picture above, try something..
Click the MODE option on the 3D View toolbar,
and make sure Dynamic Lighting is selected. After you do that, rebuild your level.
Hit F8 and rebuild geometry (and you should automatically rebuild BSP and lighting)...
Once your level is compiled, your 3D view should be pitch black. Thats because you don't
have any lights :). Click the Mode button on the 3D View again and switch back to the
"Texture" mode so you can see your room. Ahhh...
Make sure dynamic lighting is selected.
Bring up the Rebuilder (F8) - Press Rebuild Geometry and the rest will be done.
Without lights, you will be left in darkness!
See how the rebuilder works in the UnrealED Tools section - Its under
"Other Tools"...
Now your room needs lights. Give your room some
lighting! |
