TWWAKT Creating Zones
Contents |
Creating A Playable Area
The Playable Area defines the space within the map where the player and the AI are able to give movement orders. It also defines the location that units rout and reinforce from. It's also the bounds of the radar.
You can skip this step if you wish.
If no playable area is in the map the game will either set the Playable Area between 800-1300m (depending on number of units), or will fit the Deployment Zones within- Whichever is larger.
• To create a playable area, select the appropriate option from the Entity Creation (Logical) toolbar
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• When your mouse returns to the viewport, you should see a small square under the mouse cursor.
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• Your first Left-Click will place the first point.
• Your second Left-Click will place the second point and finish the Playable Area.
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Creating A No-Go
No-gos are a way of allowing map creators to mark areas of their maps which they want to make impassable to units. They are closed polygonal objects (many sided) which are placed within Terry (or within a prefab).
To place one:
• Go to the Entity Creation (logical) toolbar and select 'No-Go Region'
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• Place your first point with left-click
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• Then continue clicking to make the no-go zone
• When you get to the last point, simply place it on-top of your first point to close the polyline. (The white handles should disappear)
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Creating A Hill AI Hint
Hill AI Hints are a way of level designers telling the AI where the important defensive positions are on a map.
If a Defending AI army finds a hill hint within 80m of its deployment zone it will attempt to move to and hold that Defensive Hill. The position the AI will defend is the edges of the Hill Hint.
Placing one is simple:
• First go to Entity Creation (Logical) and select AI Hint
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• In the Tool Properties window you'll see that you can set the type. Leave it as defensive hill for now.
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• Now find a suitable hill to place your hint upon.
• Like a No-Go zone, the first left-click places the first point.
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• Then consequent left-clicks will place more points.
• Close the hill hint by placing a point on the first one.
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AI Hill hints (unlike other AI hints) must be 'closed' (i.e. connect back up to the first point). If they don't they will probably crash.
Creating Deployment Zones
Deployment Zones allow you to select where your armies will spawn when the map starts.
You can skip this step if you wish.
If no deployment zones are found in the map, the game will load a default set in the battle based on the Playable Area size.
This one's a little more complex than the previous examples.
• Go to Entity Creation (Logical) and select 'Deployment Zone'
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• You Tools Properties will come up with a number of options.
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o The shape type defines what shape the Deployment Zone Region will be.
o The facing direction can help define which way armies face if they don't have a 'Default Deployment' AI Hint in their Deployment Zone.
o Zone ID is unused unless authoring Quest Battles - Keep it at zero.
o Alliance ID defines which 'alliance' it belongs to.
0 = Attacker - Red
1 = Defender - Blue
• Lets start with the Attacker.
• Set your 'Shape' to be Polygon in the Tools Properties window
• Left Click in the viewport to place the first point.
o Attacker zone is shown in red
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• Continue placing points until you've made a shape to deploy in.
• 'Close' the deployment zone by clicking on the first point.
o It should snap to it.
• Now set your alliance ID to 1 in the Tool Properties panel.
• Repeat the previous step for the defender.
o Defender zones defaults to blue.
Now, while this is unnecessary, it's useful to be able to create new Regions within a deployment zone. Imagine a Deployment Zone as a collection of regions, and shapes which are used by the alliance. When you load battles, only two deployment zones are ever used.
• Firstly, select your attacker deployment zone in the hierarchy.
• If you click the small arrow next to it, you'll expand it
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• We'll see that there is one additive deployment zone within it.
• Let's add a Subtractive one to see what it'll do.
• Select the Deployment Zone and the Deployment Zone Region Button should become selectable
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• In the Tool Properties panel, change the Region Type to subtractive
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• Place the Region in the same was as you did the initial Deployment Zone. • In the below example, I've carved out the area with the mushroom field. As the Deployment Zone Region is subtractive, the attacker will not be able to deploy here.
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• If you've done it correctly, you'll see the Deployment Zone Region as a child of the Deployment Zone in the Scene Hierarchy.