Epic GTA2 Map Editor (0.6.6602) Beta

[Pyro]

Ah, yeah i guess it should be something like File -> edit -> zones ? I'll change it to that next release. But the "add zones" etc. buttons are in the main render window for now. Maybe i add some text "press ctrl to create zone" or something.

That would be nice to see

Been thinking about right click menu, but the problem is that right click is used to select zones, and im not going to change that because i see it easiest way since you cant mess up the other zones, because different keys select and edit the zones. (i always hated how i could mis-click some selection in other editors and then i have to do it again >_<). Maybe i add other keyboard configurations later

Yeah I can see where you are coming from with that. Well if the above is implemented (with the file menu) then that would solve that problem! Still familiar with the official GTA2 editor locations in the file menu for adding zones and lights etc...

Well, since most shortkeys are at left side of the keyboard, i find it more useful to use WASD than arrow keys, also would feel weird to use mouse and arrow keys at same time... hands can rest on keyboard easier at WASD placement

Perhaps an option to switch between them maybe? Didn't take long to get used to it, but then remembering to use arrow keys for normal map editor is fun!

What is your FPS in the editor? And no, it doesnt have fancy rendering stuff Its really basic renderer, probably thats why its causing lots of CPU usage when its sending stuff to GPU all the time, im not sure whats causing it, but my editor doesnt do much calculations at all. Hmm, 64-bit windows so it actually works on 64-bit computers, good to know. BTW when zone editor is on, the CPU usage goes even higher (or was that where you recorded that CPU usage percents?) and this is caused by the GPU, not CPU. Its on my TODO list to fix that zone editor CPU usage for good.

The FPS currently says it is 060/064 when I am just viewing the map and not doing anything (not zone editor). When I move just the mouse it goes up to 060/~141 at times for some reason. Of course, this is with VSync set to ON, without it it shows as ~264/~3200+ (the numbers go up and down slightly, hence the ~ sign and not your editor, so don't panic!).

When I enter the zone editor, the FPS is still the same (060/065 but does not spike when the mouse is moved) and the CPU is about 29%-33% in the zone editor but the CPU usage on CPU 1 (since I have quad core it goes CPU 0, CPU 1, CPU 2 and CPU 3, not 1 to 4 as one would expect) is pretty high (80%+ while other cores idle normally much lower). This does not happen when not in the zone editor.

Let me know if you want me to run some more tests!

Ah, yeah, didnt make it into editor yet because nobody has mentioned it, and mostly when you make maps, you have to make .mmp file anyways, so it easies things a lot, also you can just click mmp file and open it directly in editor later, so its even faster to edit then
"maplist.txt" should work though, maybe you entered the GMP and STY file in wrong places? or maybe you had some extra spaces there. Hard to guess, could you show your "maplist.txt" to me? Actually, i think the error can be fixed when you add a name for your map, maplist.txt supports map name too, i think its fourth "parameter". read the "readme maplist.txt" to see the format. I will investigate it

This is what I have in my maplist.txt...

Code: Select all

[DIR] C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data
C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data/ste.sty
C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data/ste.gmp

When first run it just had the first line. The 2nd and 3rd lines I added manually as per your instructions in the maplist readme.txt and still doesn't like it for testing. Even tried adding the bit "|Residential" etc and still doesn't like it. With that parameter in the map list shows it as "+(null)" and once clicked it fails to load (not valid map, can't find STY etc even though it's in the right place!).

Hmm, could you show the part of the script that places those generators? And perhaps send the map too? Sounds like there is a bug, but i cant fix it without map/script
Yeah cranes arent supported yet, i have to re-write the object renderer/script reader to be more flexible than what it is now.

Yeah i think this is the most reported bug I will fix them! just wait

This is the bit of code where the power generators are involved...

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OBJ_DATA generator01 = ( 103.5 , 112.5 , 4.0 ) 0 POWERGEN

And this is for the crane (in case you are interested)...

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CRANE_DATA dockcrane01 = ( 114.5 , 103.5 ) 315 NO_HOMECRANE

I've added the map, mis and scr file to the 7z file below for you to have a look at...

Also, I notice that when "Sound objects" is ticked under Options > Script ojects it shows them on the map (correctly) but the interesting thing to know is that I create the sounds when the level starts (so I "reserve" the sound names in main script and gets executed after the levelstart command - this is because I have plans for them later on!), so interesting to see it reads both pre-created items (e.g. PARKED_CAR_DATA) and future objects (CAR_DATA car01 in the main script and after level start using the car01 = CREATE_CAR command). Nothing really to mention but thought it might be interesting for you (and others) to know

Thanks for testing/commenting!

No problem! Let me know if you need more details or need further testing done as I'm happy to help!

[T.M.]

Perhaps an option to switch between them maybe? Didn't take long to get used to it, but then remembering to use arrow keys for normal map editor is fun!

Yeah, i'll add option in menu next release, just for those arrow keys

This does not happen when not in the zone editor.

Yeah, thats totally "normal" atm

This is what I have in my maplist.txt...

Code: Select all

[DIR] C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data
C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data/ste.sty
C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data/ste.gmp

That is wrong, try this way:

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[DIR] C:/Documents and Settings/Administrator/My Documents/GTA2 - Light/data
J:\gta2remake\Release\data\maps\wil2.gmp|J:\gta2remake\Release\data\maps\wil.sty|willy land|

As you see the | mark is separator, first gmp, then sty, then map name. Seems like i have to fix the "readme maplist.txt" to be easier to read

This is the bit of code where the power generators are involved...

Code: Select all

OBJ_DATA generator01 = ( 103.5 , 112.5 , 4.0 ) 0 POWERGEN

Weird, by your screenshot it looks like they are where they should be... I'll take a look at the map/script later. Thanks for the file!

Also, I notice that when "Sound objects" is ticked under Options > Script objects it shows them on the map (correctly) but the interesting thing to know is that I create the sounds when the level starts (so I "reserve" the sound names in main script and gets executed after the levelstart command - this is because I have plans for them later on!), so interesting to see it reads both pre-created items (e.g. PARKED_CAR_DATA) and future objects (CAR_DATA car01 in the main script and after level start using the car01 = CREATE_CAR command). Nothing really to mention but thought it might be interesting for you (and others) to know

Yep, at the moment it doesnt have "intellect" when it reads the script, it just goes through all lines until it finds "while" or "while_exec" in one line. Im not sure is this a bad thing? To achieve the "real" way of rendering, i would have to write complete script parser, which will be really hard, that is almost the last thing on my TODO list now. If you have suggestions that doesnt requre me to create complete script parser, would be good to hear them. (i can only detect LEVELSTART and WHILE/WHILE_EXEC or any other simple command like that which doesnt requre "intelligent" parser).

[Pyro]

Ok thanks for the update - I tried updating the maplist.txt and it did work but now it doesn't find any script! Going through the MMP method will pick it up (and thus read the MIS file and show objects etc) but doing it this way won't for some reason. Is there something I missed again or was it built around the MMP method initially?

Thanks!

[T.M.]

Oh, i forgot: look at "output_maplist.txt" it is fully compatible to the maplist.txt

so you can add script too:

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I:/GTA 2/data/DeCon.gmp|I:/GTA 2/data/bil.sty|DeCon Labs 2 Players|2|I:/GTA 2/data/DeCon.scr|I:/GTA 2/data/DeCon.mis|I:/GTA 2/data/decon2p.mmp|

You dont have to enter all data, only first 3 are mandatory. The number after map name is player count.

[B-$hep]

Hmm, what stuff does it have to do in order to compress a map? as far as i know, the compression method only saves the blocks between empty blocks from top/bottom, and creates unique block list that each top-down row uses. Did i miss something? Also i read the documents that slope type 63 has to be used in some cases, im not fully certain about that though (docs have lots of incorrect stuff).

Also would be nice if you could provide the source code, i might be able to optimize it, since i cant see real problems with speed at this moment.

I would check unique blocks by calculating checksum from the block-data and adding that into Map object (c++ stuff) with the checksum as key. Therefore you only need to add the blocks in array, and when every block is there, you just loop it through and create ID's for each item in the array for pointers to the rows of map data.

Yes using checksum is easy in C++ using <map>.
But atm im using Delphi.

I will translate the code into C++ soon, C++ has alot more neat stuff for different stuff.


Here are the videos, i had to cut them down and change audio track for one.
Wait till it's processed, it will have better quality.

Sry for some crappy "clip jumps" as i said i had to cut it down (remove some clips).

This is v1.0.0,


This one v1.0.1




Alot better but it has one strange bug with AIR blocks, whenever it occurs in column (Z:1) it removes the top block.
As i said i will translate this to C++ and will try it.


Compression involves creating unique blocks and columns and pointing base to these columns.
Easy stuff once you figure it out.


It took me 6 months to get where i am atm. Hard work paid off. With bugs but im happy with results so far.
Editor doesn't crash, GTA2 doesn't crash.

I will let you know how it goes..

[T.M.]

6 months...? why didnt you ask jernejl for help in compressed map format reading, then just reverse the reader into writer... shouldnt take more than 1 day

[B-$hep]

Jernej said the same: reverse the process.


So what about 6 months? If i love the game so much, what the hell its the difference for you how long it took?
Atleast i figured out all by myself. In a hard way and im proud of it.

It works (with bugs but still) it doesn't crash the game or editor.

I think i have done good work.


1 day? Haha, good joke. Even Jernej didn't had almost any idea how to even start doing this.
So i stopped emailing him and worked on my own.

[T.M.]

So GTA2 has some bugs/hidden rules which makes it impossible to just reverse the reader into writer? Or wtf is the reason why it wont work?

I'll have to try to make it... you made me too curious now

[T.M.]

Added some of the suggestions made earlier to the newest release, and made some minor changes/bugfixes:

Edit: since almost nobody downloaded it yet, i decided to release fix for this one bug too (bolded below:)

------------------------------------
0.5.28 Beta (26.05.2010)
------------------------------------
- Added option to choose GMP, STY, SCR or MIS files separately. (File -> Open...).

- Added possibility to open MMP files even if all their files arent at the same folder where the MMP file was. Now it will take files from GTA2/data folder if they werent found at the current folder.

- Changed default image formats to BMP. Note that TGA is still the fastest format in saving.

- Added option to change camera movement keys from 'ASDW' to Arrow keys. (Options -> Editor settings -> Keys -> Movement keys).

- Added duplicate menu button for displaying zone editor. (File -> Edit -> Zones). Still exists in the 'Display' menu too. Also added button to toggle script objects on/off in the 'Display' menu. Also re-ordered a bunch of the buttons in 'File' menu, and moved image saving options into own category: 'File -> Save image'.

- Fixed some script objects being above block when they should have been under it. Not 100% sure is this fix causing other rendering errors, but seems like its fine.

- Added option to change minimap size (Options -> Editor settings -> Minimap size). If you are using small window, reducing the minimap size will give more space for tile/zone menu at left.

- Added option to cancel the program from launching into fullscreen mode if "fullscreen.txt" was createn. (if canceled, it will launch in windowed mode instead) This feature also allows you to define precisely the window size.

- Added shortcut keys info in all of the menu options.

- Changing "texture filter" (pixelized/smooth textures) or "mip mapping" to off doesnt require map reload anymore. (options -> rendering settings -> texture settings). Note that you still have to reload the map if you switch mipmapping on when you previously loaded the map while mip mapping was off.

- Added "render mode" settings into menu (3d / 2d / 2d minimap). (Options -> Rendering settings -> Render mode). Previously only accessible by numpad 0. (numpad 0 still works).

- Added option to set the camera default angle to the current camera angle (not limited on one axis anymore). Also tweaked some of the option names in the camera menu, and added more info in the statusbar for some of the settings.

- Added "output tilesize" number in the statusbar next to camera position. This will give you a clue how big map image will be saved. (its not always correct because the rendering is limited on the window size, thus statusbar/menu is removed while image rendering which causes the value to be a bit different).

- Fixed rendering bug when saving big map image (while having free camera mode on).

- Fixed rendering bug on load screen when switching map (showed previous map loading text).

- Fixed camera from rotating (or moving up when right clicked) when big minimap was on (TAB).

- Fixed crash on load when GMP file was not found. (happened when opening mmp file and the folder didnt have the correct files).

- Fixed zone editor to display the currently focused block correctly. (didnt always show it in the correct position depending on camera angle).

- Added zone editor key help directly in the zone editor window. (under the zone types list).

- Added option to reload the maplist on run time. (File -> Reload -> Maplist).

- Added option to disable screen clearing on every frame (Options -> Rendering settings -> Clear screen). This may increase the FPS on slow GFX cards. If disabled, you will notice image "bleeding" on the areas where map isnt drawn at all. Note that this is meant to be used only with top-down view mode, just like in GTA2.

- Next/Previous map shortkeys (M/N) changed to CTRL+M/CTRL+N.

- Fixed file find dialogs to not return empty file name when canceled. (it made GTA2 path to empty if file finding was canceled). Also if you try to test the map but GTA2 path is not set, you will automatically get file find dialog open, and after selecting file it will launch GTA2.exe.

[Sektor]

Nice improvements.

I know this version doesn't have it but any coding progress on placing/moving/removing objects from .mis files?

[T.M.]

any coding progress on placing/moving/removing objects from .mis files?

Havent worked on that yet, it should be easy job once i have re-made the mis file parser and made the objects stored in proper way. For example it should be possible to edit the objects and it would write the codes exactly the same place in the .mis file.

I dont know when i can finish it, now im only fixing small stuff for the lack of time.

[Pyro]

Hey thanks for the update, and thanks for your message. I completely forgot about actually posting it here as I was so absorbed into my map last night

Anyway, here's some comments for you...

As you now know your map viewer doesn't seem to render some objects. So far I have only seen that the object "tyre" does not appear (although the main objects I have used are oil drums, bollards, road blocks, cones, tyres and those power generators). I've added the MIS file for you to have a look at. If you want, I can create a unique MIS file with practically every object in the game for your map viewer to test. Let me know if you want me to.

Also, you'll be pleased to know that you have indeed fixed the height issue with the power generators, nice one!

Now then, there is a slight issue with certain tiles not rendering properly when set to "flat", see the image below for what I mean...



This water tower should show the tile on the inside face as well as the outside (which displays correctly) but for some reason does not. This also applies to some other tiles too (check the ventilation tunnels by the bases). I double checked in the official map editor to see if I forgot to tick the "flat" box but it shows up correctly there. I included the map in the 7z archive as well for you to look at.

Minor/negligible issue - vehicles only show their default colour (the ugly brown/bronze) rather than the colour chosen (probably this might be a little tricky to do as you'd need the palettes from the STY file).

On the plus side, your Zone Editor is far easier to use now than before, more so because of the commands/help being shown. However, I am not sure why there are multiple x's in different zone types while a "o" is the currently selected one. Maybe if none of those x's were there and only the one being selected got an X (capitalised) rather than a non-capitalised "o". Also, perhaps make the selected zone text (in the menu) turn a different colour? Green perhaps? All the other non-selected ones can stay grey/white.

Well that's about it for now, keep up the good work and let me know if I can help some more. Oh, don't forget to view the attached map and script!

[T.M.]

If you want, I can create a unique MIS file with practically every object in the game for your map viewer to test. Let me know if you want me to.

Odd, i did it myself once, maybe i missed some objects, there isnt really any official list of all objects, is there? ive wasted so much time to find out all the objects because some places gives wrong codes and they crash the compiler etc. Would be good to see your list of the objects too, to see how many i have missed.

Now then, there is a slight issue with certain tiles not rendering properly when set to "flat", see the image below for what I mean...

Ah, yeah, this is really old bug i havent bothered to fix yet, i am waiting to re-make the whole rendering, so i am not fixing it until new map render method is made (it will allow tile animations and map editing, and should be faster i hope.)

Minor/negligible issue - vehicles only show their default colour (the ugly brown/bronze) rather than the colour chosen (probably this might be a little tricky to do as you'd need the palettes from the STY file).

Yeah, this is going to be changed when i am ready to make the script object editing (read my above post to Sektor).

I am not sure why there are multiple x's in different zone types while a "o" is the currently selected one. Maybe if none of those x's were there and only the one being selected got an X (capitalised) rather than a non-capitalised "o". Also, perhaps make the selected zone text (in the menu) turn a different colour? Green perhaps? All the other non-selected ones can stay grey/white.

The x's tells you which zone types are visible in the map editor. Hmm, the selected zone type should turn into yellow, what color its on your computer? OR did you mean you want to change yellow to green? I think i added the "o" there because the mouseover effect gives yellow color too, so you can always see which one is current selected zone type

[Pyro]

For a complete list of objects (as far as I know) and their descriptions, I have a guide on it hosted on Ben's (Cerbera) website found here that I did as part of my large scripting tutorials.

And yes when I select a zone it does highlight the zone type in the list in yellow but still wonder why it has the x's and the "o" there making it a little confusing. Hopefully my suggestion might clear that up? Also, I don't think you need to show the "Unused" zone types (e.g. Unused3, Unused4 etc) as no one will even use them!

[T.M.]

For a complete list of objects (as far as I know) and their descriptions, I have a guide on it hosted on Ben's (Cerbera) website found here that I did as part of my large scripting tutorials.

Hmm, how on earth i could have missed that list, oh well, thanks! i found few more sprites i can add

And yes when I select a zone it does highlight the zone type in the list in yellow but still wonder why it has the x's and the "o" there making it a little confusing. Hopefully my suggestion might clear that up? Also, I don't think you need to show the "Unused" zone types (e.g. Unused3, Unused4 etc) as no one will even use them!

I am not sure are they used or not, at least DAFE's death valley uses Unused3 and 4. DAFE said that those two are used somewhere... so i let them all be there because i didnt really know anything about GTA2 mapping when i made the zone editor. If you can confirm that none of those are used, then i may remove them from the list.

[Pyro]

Hmm, how on earth i could have missed that list, oh well, thanks! i found few more sprites i can add

No problem! Glad it still has a use for people!

I am not sure are they used or not, at least DAFE's death valley uses Unused3 and 4. DAFE said that those two are used somewhere... so i let them all be there because i didnt really know anything about GTA2 mapping when i made the zone editor. If you can confirm that none of those are used, then i may remove them from the list.

Really? I'll have to look at his map then. According to the (laughable) help file for the official map editor there is no mention of those unused ones (for obvious reasons) so I can't imagine anything linked to them compared to the main, usable ones (gang zones, restart, bus stops etc). Will have a look and see what I find (or ask Dafe to comment here )

A few extra things I noticed for your map viewer...
1) That you can zoom out a veeeeeery long way (what's higher? the international space station or your map zoom? ), any need for that? Even a full size map is super tiny at that extreme zoom!
2) You can scroll of the edges of the map for a good while and "lose" the map, maybe cap it so you can only go so far (maybe to the edges of the map on the screen?). I know you can use the mini-map to get "back", but see next point...
3) The mini-map view (useful) should be left-click rather than right-click seeing as no menu's or anything is linked to the mini map.

[T.M.]

1) That you can zoom out a veeeeeery long way (what's higher? the international space station or your map zoom? ), any need for that? Even a full size map is super tiny at that extreme zoom!

Lol yea, theres no real need for it really, i use it sometimes for debugging (testing what happens if i drop player down to ground from that far). And since the infinite water exists, you should be able to move in every axis "infinitely". Plus, i was going to test to render more than 1 map at once and see how it performs, but i never really got my hands on actually doing it since i would have to re-write many parts of the program... Its on the bottom on my TODO list though

2) You can scroll of the edges of the map for a good while and "lose" the map, maybe cap it so you can only go so far (maybe to the edges of the map on the screen?). I know you can use the mini-map to get "back", but see next point...

I can add option for that. As the reply above explains, i dont like to have limits

3) The mini-map view (useful) should be left-click rather than right-click seeing as no menu's or anything is linked to the mini map.

Hmm, perhaps. I was going to make it two functional, left click was supposed to do something... i think the main purpose was to select stuff from the map through minimap. I havent decided yet... i guess i could add option to make it work by left click. I think i made it right click also because the tiles are selected by left click, so if you misclick to minimap, it wont move the camera

[BenMillard]

The editor tells me my GTA2 path is not set. But I have GTA2 installed from a CD and Game Hunter knows the path. So is the editor forgetting to look for all the registry keys which might store it? GTA2 v11.3 put settings in a different branch is that accounted for?

I'm getting a stable 21 FPS while the window is maximised and active. But every time I switch to Firefox and update this message, typing is like a slideshow and it varies wildly from 8FPS to 12FPS. The second number is usually around 290. It sometimes falls to about 050 for a split second.

Menu structure feels too deep in places. Arranging it under standard names like File, Edit, View, Format, Tools, Help might work nicely. Probably not worth fannying about with it too much at this stage. Making the ticks match the setting does seem useful, though.

Ideas for the First Message

1. Put the download link near the top. Unclear this project can even be downloaded! (There's a tag for this, think you're already using it, just select and Cut/Paste it higher.)
2. Put an representative screenshot just after that. Such as Army Base with objects.
3. Then have the most recent changes.
4. Use proper list codes and don't put a blank line between entries. (Easier to read and less scrolling, respectively.)
5. Then have other images.
6. After the images, any other background info.

[T.M.]

The editor tells me my GTA2 path is not set. But I have GTA2 installed from a CD and Game Hunter knows the path. So is the editor forgetting to look for all the registry keys which might store it? GTA2 v11.3 put settings in a different branch is that accounted for?

Hmm, you are right, it checks only the gta2path.txt for some reason... didnt it do this before? Going to fix it to read also the registry key in next version.

I'm getting a stable 21 FPS while the window is maximised and active. But every time I switch to Firefox and update this message, typing is like a slideshow and it varies wildly from 8FPS to 12FPS. The second number is usually around 290. It sometimes falls to about 050 for a split second.

Try to minimize the editor, i dont have another fix for that lag problem.

Menu structure feels too deep in places. Arranging it under standard names like File, Edit, View, Format, Tools, Help might work nicely. Probably not worth fannying about with it too much at this stage. Making the ticks match the setting does seem useful, though.

Hmm, good idea, i will think about that.

Ideas for the First Message

1. Put the download link near the top. Unclear this project can even be downloaded! (There's a tag for this, think you're already using it, just select and Cut/Paste it higher.)
2. Put an representative screenshot just after that. Such as Army Base with objects.
3. Then have the most recent changes.
4. Use proper list codes and don't put a blank line between entries. (Easier to read and less scrolling, respectively.)
5. Then have other images.
6. After the images, any other background info.

You read my mind again, been thinking about it a while Now its fixed!

[Pyro]

Heya, just thought of a few little things for you to consider

• Any idea when we'll be able to modify a MIS file, save it and then it's updated in your map viewer without having to close and restart it? Right now (as you know) that if you save a MIS file (say in Vikes MIS compiler) it'll throw an error saying it can't save.
• Would it be possible that when you mouse over certain objects (objects, generators, cars, players, characters etc) it shows the name of it given in the MIS file? Example would be mousing over a health pickup and it says "health01" or something? Maybe say what type it is as well such as GENERATOR or OBJ etc depending on what it is. I'd love to see this especially!
• On a similar note, would it be possible to click and "drag" objects around to a new location? Or an option to modify the X, Y and Z axis (which writes to the MIS file)? For co-ordinates of a cube the top left would be X: 0.0 Y: 0.0 and bottom right is X: 0.9 Y: 0.9 and dead centre is X: 0.5 Y: 0.5. Of course rotation would be part of it too.

That's about it for now, let me know what you think