Thnx! I was able to make a large plot of land....hmmmm now how do I make my guy "walk" on the land and not fall through it! Ok Ill read Tutorials, but on Eclipse it would simple have an "attribute" of Block and i would add that by nature to all objects that a character cannot pass through.


Searched through all the Tutorials I could find....no way to make a "ground" or even choose an NPC to walk on that ground. I was able to put a "Terrain in it but it seems to be like water.

Attempted to put in a Palm Tree but apparently the Palm tree is invisable! No apparent way to make the palm tree trunk brown and the leaves green.

Sorry but this seems to be a very basic system that is not usable by people to make a working game. Why do I say that?


No way to put a "ground" down

No way to put objects omn the ground where they belong

No way to place any attributes ( blocks, sound, fog etc...) where you want them

ALL the buttons and controls on the Game designing screen are words that bear no resemblence to English and no logical reason for them even to be there.

Building when plaeced onto the map usually appear about 100 feet in the air! Errr not too many buildings are like that.....


Tutorial is basically useless....it assumes you know what all the Engfish means....



the "grids" apparently do NOT respond to the clicks of the mouse, so theres no way to accruately copntrol where objects go, how high mountains are, not to even begin to determine where an NPC would spawn, oh yea....No way to add NPC's add that to the list....


Conclusion....it is not user friendly....


I would be glad to spend lotsa money buying the Game Engine but here is an example of what a user friendly Game Maker is like.....



Map Editor is used while you are playing the game so you can view exactly whats happening....


All things that you can do in the game have functions that are represented by buttons that you can click on in the map editor....

Although it is a 2D game here is an example of something that the buttons actually make sense if all you speak is English ( not esoteric 3D terminology)






Eclipse Mapping Guide



Here are some basic instructions, and also some facts about mapping for the mappers of the game


Mapping

Log onto the Client


Hit the button on your keyboard F1 and hit the button on the Menu that says “Map Editor”


Now you can start making a map. To start mapping, make sure that you have selected “Layers” Then select the desired tileset , 0 – 10. Most of the tilesets are organized by types of tiles that they are. For example Tileset 1 is all Plants.



Layer Explanation
On the right of your Map Editor Menu where it says “Select Type” check off where it says “Layers” . Then you will have a choice to make it either ground, mask, fringe, or animation....etc...

GROUND: Tiles that are on the ground. (Grass, Dirt, Floor, etc…) These will be below any of the other layers. You can also select to “fill” the whole map by hitting the Maps, the clicking on Fill. (You can “fill” the map with anything this way, attributes, layers, even light) Note the choice “eye dropper” will when clicked on “copy” a map tile or property that you already have on the map, this is a handy time saver sometimes.

MASK: These tiles appear above the ground layer and will not show the color black. Mask is useful for tree trunks, bushes, gates, and doors. Also, this layer disappears when a key is used on it, if there is a key attribute here (you’ll see later). The ground will appear below mask so anything in the mask layer will appear to be on top of the ground.

ANIMATION: This is used for making tiles, such as lava and water, appear real. It flashes every second and replaces the mask tile, so when used with a tile that is related to a mask tile can give the appearance of an animation. There are some tiles in the Tile sets that are designed specifically for this. For example, water can be put down, then choose a water tile which has the slightly different ripples on it on the Animation layer, then it gives the appearance of rippling water.

MASK2 : This also will go ontop of the ground, and your guy will appear to walk on top of MASK2 also. But it appears on TOP os MASK. This is handy when you want 2 things to appear “behind” NPC’s and Players, like for example putting table legs under a table, then with MASK2 putting the other side of the legs on top of the MASK so as to make a narrow table. There are many other uses for this too.

FRINGE: These tiles will appear above all others. This is used when you’re walking under tree branches and bridges and things. It appears to be above both ground and mask, and all NPC’s will appear to walk under it.

FRINGE2 : This is useful when you need a “Fringe” to go on top of another fringe, especially useful for trees, and signs that go on a buildings roof.




Attributes Explanation

BLOCKED: Players will not be able to walk on this tile. Used for like bases of trees, mountains, buildings, etc.

WARP: Transfers the player to another map. If you, for example, set the warp to Map 2,
when a player steps on that tile, he will be warped to Map 2 and put on the coordinates
you specified for the attribute. (Used for doors, secret passages, ladders, roads, etc.)

ITEM: This spawns an item here, and it will re-appear every 1 minute if it is picked up.

NPC AVOID: If you don’t want npcs to go in a certain spot, like on stairs, or in front of a door, use this tile. Players will still be able to walk on these tiles.


KEY: Set's a key for a door and such. You will have to have made a “key” item first. 1) Go to your Admin CP and Edit Items and make a key, choose a pic that resembles a key and set that item as a "key" ( for example "Brass Key") 2) Then go to your Map Editor and make a building with a door on it. Make the door as "mask" ( because then the key will appear to open the door when you use it) 3) Go to Attributes and click on "Key", then designate the particular key for that attribute as the "Brass Key" you made earlier 4) Put that attribute on the door on your map and a "K" will be there 5) Hit the SEND button and save your map.
6) Then obtain a Brass Key ( the same one you made, just do it as an item respawn ort soemthing temporarily)
7) Walk up in front of the door and open your inventory and hightlight the "Brass Key" and Use it. 8) The door will open and you can walk past 9) Usually this is also used in conjunction with a "Warp Door" just behind the key so that you are warped to the "inside" of the building which is on another map.



KEY OPEN: Automatically opens the key attribute specified in the x and y of the settings. The mask layer on that coordinate actually disappears so it can be used to make doors that appear to open when you walk up near them.

HEAL : This will make that tile completely heal any Player who walks on it.

KILL : This will make any Player who walks on that tile get killed

PLAY SOUND : This will have a menu of sounds pop up that you can select, then place the “PS” (Play Sound attribute on a map and when a player walks on it they will hear the sound, and everyone else on that map will hear it too)

NOTICE : This will have a message pop up in the text box whenever a player walks on that tile

SIGN : This will be good for “signs” that appear on your map, or wall signs, posters, etc....The player will have to hit “Enter” for a text message to appear in his text box.

SHOP: This allows you to put a Shop (you must choose from the shops the Admin has already made) on a tile

BANK : This allows you to put a Bank ( it will be the same all over the game, it will be that individuals bank inventory) on a tile

SPRITE CHANGE : This will put a “sprite” on a tiel and when a player walks through it their sprite will be that sprite


PLAYER HOUSE : This will make it available to “Buy” the map that it is placed on. It will make you set a price of the house. The only thing that really happens when a player “buys” that house is that the name of the map will says “ Steveos House” or whatever that players name is, Smokeys House, Timus House, etc.... Place the tile on a map and when a player walks on it a window will pop up that says “Do you want to buy this house?” If a player has already bought the house it will say “This house is not for sale”

SCRIPTED : Not used in the Post Nuke game

CLASS CHANGE : Not used in the Post Nuke game

CLASS BLOCK : Not used in the Post Nuke game


ARENA : Not used in the Post Nuke game



Map Properties Explanation

On the Map Editor Menu go under Map and choose “Properties”

NAME: Set's a maps name to appear overhead a map. (Such as 'Town of Baron' or 'Death Dungeon')

NORTH/SOUTH/WEST/EAST: It connects maps. It sets the map that the player will appear on, if he or she walks off the current map, in that direction. Let’s say the player is on Map 1, you set WEST to "2". When the player walks off of Map 1 to the WEST, he will enter Map 2.

Map Morality

*NONE: Player-Killing grounds, players lose experience when they die.
*SAFE ZONE: Used for Towns and such, No attacking players in these areas.
*NO DEATH PENALTY: A Player does NOT lose experience and items if they die.
*HOUSE _- I’m not sure what function this serves I tried it and nothing happened so I don’t use it




Music

Highlight a song to select the song you wish to play when users are on this map. Music loops.




NPC’s

You can set the NPCs you want on this map. You will have to have made an NPC first of course.




Indoors/Outdoors

This sets whether a map will have night/day/weather ( Outside) or whether you wont (Inside) All maps are on Inside for the Post Nuke game until further notice.


Display

This is just for information only, I never find it useful.





To Save a Map
When you are done mapping, go to “File” on the toolbar, and make sure you hit “Save” if you like what you’ve done. If you hit “exit”, all the mapping you just done will be lost, and it’ll be the same as before you edited it. Make sure 2 people aren’t mapping on the same map. Two people cannot map on the same map at the same time.