Problems when moving rotated brushes w/snap to grid enabled.

(Apple) #1

Hi everyone, I’m fairly new to mapping and am working on my first map now. I’m having a problem where I create a building, then rotate it, then move it to just the right spot only to find in the process all my brushwork for the building gets screwed up.

In this first shot, I’ve just loaded a pre-fab building:

Now I rotate it to the angle I want…

And finaly I move it to the exact spot I want it…

But wait! What’s happened here? Upon moving it all the brushes which make up my prefab now have gone mad, each shooting off into their own different angles. The problem I found, was having snap to grid enabled.

So just turn it off when you’re going to move rotated buildings you say?

Well, I’ve tried that. Doing so makes everything in the editor look fine and dandy, but when I acctualy compile a map in which I’ve done that in, the buildings in game all appear jumpbled just like the third screenshot posted above, I’m not sure if during the compile process everything is snapped to grid or what.

So does anyone have a fix for this or perhaps some tips on acheiving the same goal I’m going for but with a different process?

Thanks in advance.

(chavo_one) #2

You can’t rotate complex geometry like that, especially if it’s not a 30, 45, or 60 degree rotation for all of the reasons that you are experiencing here.

For my venice map, I wanted some of the buildings to lie on an angle, much like yourself. The easiest solution I found, was to build the building without rotation, export it as an ase model, and then reinsert it into my map, rotating it to my heart’s desire.

If you don’t know how to export your brushwork as an ase model, search the forum. The info’s there.

(Apple) #3

Would converting things to ASE format be something you should only use sparingly, or is it okay to create large portions of your map using this technique? The reason I ask is my map takes place in a mediterranean town (loosley modled after Dubrovnik, Croatia), and I want a large portion of my buildings to be at odd angles with each other, giving them a thrown together look.

Here’s an example of a small street section I was working on to give you an idea…

(SCDS_reyalP) #4

The tools really like to have verticies on the grid. Using free or arbitrary rotation on brushwork is not usually a good idea, unless it is something simple and completely freestanding.

If you want angled buildings, either build them angled, or use models as chavo suggested, or be prepared to do a LOT of fixing up after you rotate.

Using models will have it’s own set of problems.

  • Getting them to line up with the surrounding brushwork
  • They are not structural, so you still may have to do a bunch of angled brushwork.
  • They are not solid by default, so you will have to clip them manually or use automatic clipping. Automatic clipping can have bad results in some cases.

The simplest solution is to to have your majour buildings axial.

(weasel) #5

As long as you’re willing to clip them it’s fine. If you don’t want people to be going into the buildings, it will be very easy to clip them. If you are going to have people going inside, it will be a little more difficult. But as far as I know, there’d be no problem with making the whole thing out of ASEs, if you had to.

Edit: Two problems I just thought of.
1: Models won’t block vis, you’ll need to caulk them.
2: Bullets won’t leave marks. There’s nothing you can do about this.

If #2 isn’t a problem for you, go ahead with the ASEs. If it is a problem, your best option is probably to vertex edit the brushes to get them at the angle you want.

Edit again: Nothing related to your problem here, just a gameplay note. I would suggest you make some of those doors go a little deeper into the buildings so that players have a place to hide. An area like that is way to easy to spam with artillery and set up a mobile MG on. There’s no cover.

(Apple) #6

You can’t rotate complex geometry like that, especially if it’s not a 30, 45, or 60 degree rotation

So if I made sure to keep my buildings rotated to only the above figures, would I no longer experience these problems?