== Handling followers more robustly ==

Just a few things
* I don't think the described behaviour is a bug in [[UT_HireFollower]](). It's documented that ''This function will do nothing for plot followers'. It was never intended for use with normal followers, and the code even checks the object tag against the single player campaign's companions. It'll fail to check against your own module's custom followers, though, so it'll do something, but that something isn't what you want either.

* Plot script gen00pt_party.nss and party_h have some plot-companion handling functions. I wouldn't really give it a short treatment at the bottom under "Advanced Follower Creation" if it's a solid approach. See things like Party_GetFollowerByTag in party_h with an interesting function and comment:
<dascript>
object Party_GetFollowerByTag(string sTag)
{
// We have to retrieve the follower like this. Trying to do it with
// GetObjectByTag proved to mess up lots of stuff. -- yaron.
object [] arParty = GetPartyPoolList();
int i;
int nSize = GetArraySize(arParty);
object oCurrent;
for(i = 0; i < nSize; i++)
{
oCurrent = arParty[i];
if(GetTag(oCurrent) == sTag)
return oCurrent;
}

return UT_GetNearestObjectByTag(GetMainControlled(), sTag, TRUE);
</dascript>

* It's probably worth going through those scripts and adapting them for general tutorial use. That way we can benefit from whatever gotchas have already been solved.

--[[User:FollowTheGourd|FollowTheGourd]] 17:52, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

== ==

great tutorial. my only problem is: my companion, Erik has different skills and doesn't seem to follow his autolevel template. --[[User:Mono0x32440|Mono0x32440]] 17:46, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

== Follower's Portrait ==

I cannot figure out how to change the default grey backgrounded portrait for the new followers. It would be nice to have pose and background options.

== Dog equipment slots ==

Mention should be made of the fact that a dog follower needs to have the appropriate equipment slot mask. I will make the addition to the text if no-one has any objections/suggestions in a couple of days. --[[User:Gaxkang55|Gaxkang55]] 09:38, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Talk:2DA ranges in use

2010-12-03T03:04:46Z

FollowTheGourd:

placeable_types is apparently restricted to 65535 entries, but even if that's enough, it might make some sense to reserve a range for all standalone modules, which don't need to worry about conflicting with each other. I can verify myself that they work in the addin's module directory. --[[User:FollowTheGourd|FollowTheGourd]] 07:52, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
:As a temporary expedient, the reserved range for all standalone campaigns is sensible, but maybe campaigns should claim unique ranges, too, in case the bug is fixed one day. Conflict between standalone campaigns can and will occur unless compatibility guidelines are followed by everyone (and that's not going to happen IMO). [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 07:00, 30 November 2010 (UTC)
::But if they don't care about compatibility, couldn't conflicts still happen either way? I guess the one advantage of still having a unique range for a standalone module is if others unnecessarily put their GDAs into core. --[[User:FollowTheGourd|FollowTheGourd]] 02:41, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
:::You're right, we can't be certain of achieving compatibility. However, using a unique range for the module tends to reduce the probability of conflict (especially if it's a very large number c.f. string id). Assigning the same range to all standalone modules strikes me as especially risky, because it only takes one to put its M2DA in packages override to corrupt them all. What do you think? [[User:Proleric1|Proleric1]] 10:01, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
::::Yeah, I see your point there - not just an issue of conflicting with one mod but with all that tried to be compatible by using the smaller, less random, reserved range. --[[User:FollowTheGourd|FollowTheGourd]] 03:04, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Are we not bothering with reserving variant ranges until the >255 bug is fixed? Or should we start a land grab for this valuable space? I've been using variant IDs of 137-140 in my current stuff. [[User:Nezroy|Nezroy]] 10:28, 25 February 2010 (UTC)
:I don't think it would hurt to still mention what you're using... I guess we'll run out of space at which point it'll probably be a good way to pick and choose who you want to be incompatible with. [[User:FollowTheGourd|FollowTheGourd]] 02:38, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Talk:2DA ranges in use

2010-12-02T02:41:43Z

FollowTheGourd:

2010-09-19T16:01:53Z

FollowTheGourd: Link to custom minimaps

=Building your room (Interior Level)=
How to create/lightmap a [[Level]] for use in an Interior [[Area]]:
Objective: Following along with this tutorial, you should be able to create a simple room from scratch in 10 minutes or less

This was lifted from a posting by St4rdog http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/8/index/150840
It needs some additional formatting love, but is as good starting place for people to create usable
interior levels

File > New > Level > Room Level

* Click on "New Area" in top-left list > Object Inspector in bottom-right > Layout Name > anything under 8 characters no spaces or special characters (*,&,%, etc).
* Click the Setup Start Point icon, then click anywhere to make a start point.
* Select the Area, then add the Start Point Name in the Object Inspector.
*Right-click in 3D view and select Insert > New Room.
*Click Models (blue box) in the Palette in the top-right. These folders contain everything such as floor tiles, walls, etc.
*Enable Grid Snap with the magnet icon to make sure they line up.
*The "prp" folder contains things like beds/barrels to clutter your Level.
Hint: Use [[DATool]] (3rd party tool downloadable at http://social.bioware.com/project/41/ )to browse
through these quickly to find the floors/walls you want.
*Any gaps you can see between models (such as wall sections) will be visible in game. When you have time to refine the layout, you can remove most hairline gaps by setting exact X Y Z coordinates in the toolset (though sometimes 0.99 or 1.01 looks better than 1.00). Larger gaps may require the use of tileset assets such as pillars. The black box tileset (blk) can be placed outside a room to cover up any defects.
Hint: If you need lots of wall sections quickly, place one at a convenient location e.g. (0,0). Copy (Ctrl-C) then Paste (Ctrl-V)
as many as you need. In the Object Inspector, change the coordinates of successive sections to (0,8), (0,16) etc or drag manually
if you can do that quicker.

Note: If you get "Cannot spawn models into the selected parent object" when trying to place a model
then you don't have "New Room" selected.

==Working with multiple rooms==

In general it is best to define each building room as a new room in the level. This becomes important when you work on lighting. To physically connect rooms you need to slide them together to get the doors to line up, they do not line up automatically. It takes some trial and error but becomes easier with practice.

Use the Room Properties icon to specify which rooms are connected etc.

==Pathfinding==

Click the Generate Pathfinding icon. Green dots indicate where the player will be allowed to walk.

For this to work, the area properties must name a valid start point, and it needs to be bounded by walls or other obstacles.

Hint: you may need to place another startpoint in any room that can't be reached from the main startpoint. That would apply, for example, to
rooms reached by transition doors within the area.

==Adding lights==

Two very simple alternatives are given here.

The first is minimal, with shadows.

The second makes no shadows, but ensures that faces are never in darkness.

=== Method 1 ===

* Right-click on "New Room" in top-left list > Insert > New Light

* Move it up off the floor a little (e.g. Z = 2). In Object Inspector > Affects Characters TRUE > "Color Intensity" 2 or more > "Light Type" Point - Static (lc) > Choose any bright color (this light illuminates both the level and the characters).

*Copy and paste. In Object Inspector >"Light Type" Ambient - Baked (you must have an ambient light, and this approach stops your shadows being pitch black) > Choose a dark blue colour and keep the Color Intensity under 2/3.

Note: I'm not sure what the mix of Baked/Static light is supposed to be.
If you just put a Baked + Ambient it complains about not having Static, but if
you put a Static + Ambient it seems to work fine, but the wiki says Static is
the most expensive.

=== Method 2 ===

* Right-click on "New Room" in top-left list > Insert > New Light anywhere in the room.

* Raise it up off the floor a little (e.g. Z = 2).

* In Object Inspector > "Light Type" Ambient - Baked > Colour 1,1,0.86 > leave the colour intensity at 1 (this ambient light will light the level but not the characters).

* Copy and paste. In Object Inspector > "Light Type" Point - Static > Affects Characters TRUE > Affects Level FALSE > Colour 0.70,0.70,0.65 > Colour Intensity 1.7 Point Radius 10000 (this will light your characters).

* Copy and paste until you have 3-4 static character lights.

* Arrange the character lights in a circle outside all of the rooms.

=== Light Probe ===

Whether you use method 1 or 2,

* Right-click on "New Room" in top-left list > Insert > New Light Probe

Note : you need a light probe to make character and water lighting work properly. The exact position doesn't seem to matter much.

==Rendering Lightmaps==

*Press the Render Lightmaps icon (you need ActivePython 2.5 installed to default location). When it's done click the Display Lightmaps On/Off icon in the top-left to refresh the results.
*Uncheck the "View Models Fully Lit" icon in the lop-left. You should see shadows from any objects you've dropped in.

Note: Lightmap-atlas messages might appear the first time you render. That seems normal.
Sometimes re-rendering the lightmaps messes them up badly when Display Lightmaps On/Off is on. It
doesn't seem to use the latest lightmaps. Try pressing Display Lightmaps On/Off a few times to
update it. If they're still messed up sometimes one of these fixes it (don't know which)
unloading/reloading your Area or Level/changing your Area's layout property/posting your Level to
Local.

==Adding the Minimap==

Select the area. Right click, then select Minimap > Minimap Selection Tool. The default green box appears. Right click on the area again, Minimap > Post Minimap to Local. It's possible to handcraft or refine the minimap, as detailed under [[Custom minimaps]]

==Exporting==

*Press the Do All Local Posts icon to the right of the lightmapping icons. It will export the name you typed into the "New Area" "Layout Name".
*If that doesn't work, select the area then Edit > Post Selection To Local.
*If there's a complaint about walkable/player start then delete your old start then place a new one on a flat area.
*Save your .lvl file. It's not used by the game and the name/location doesn't matter. Only the exported/posted files are used.

==Using this in an Area==

File > New > Area > Any Name

*In the Object Inspector > Area Layout you should get a "..." box (make sure it's Checked Out) > click then select your "Layout Name" which should now be there.

* Now you have a pretty lightmapped level inside an area.

=Building your terrain (Exterior Level)=
How to create/lightmap a [[Level]] for use in an Exterior [[Area]]:
Objective: Following along with this tutorial, you should be able to create a simple terrain from scratch.

File>New>Level

* Choose Terrain (Landscape) Level and then click Next.

* Accept the default values for the purpose of this tutorial and click Next and then click Finish. You can learn more about what the different terrain options do at the [[Level editor]] page.

You should now see a flat, dark piece of terrain. To move around you hold down the mouse wheel. If you want to rotate the view press the Alt key while holding down the mouse wheel. You will want some light so you can see what you are doing, so we will generate a light source next.

Tip: When choosing the size of your terrain level think about where you are going to put horizon and vista objects, like distant mountains and tree lines. You may need to allow for extra space around your adventure area to place those items.

==Grid Size==

If you want to work with a larger grid than the one provided by default you can change the grid size by going to:

Tools/Options/Level Editor/Grid Square Size.

This will not change the actual dimensions of the terrain level that you created, it only changes the size of the squares in the grid.

==Define an area==

Must be done before rendering the lightmap.

* Click on the purple [[File:Purpleplus.png]]-sign and click Define Area. Start in one corner and draw the green square to define the area that you will export.
* Fill in the box Layout Name, max seven characters.
* Fill in the box Name.

==Lighting==

* Right click on Terrain World to the upper left and choose Insert>New Light. This will spawn a light source in your area. Make sure you change the Light Type to Ambient - Baked (L). Be sure to click on the Render Lightmaps button if you want to see how your ambient light is working.

Now that the terrain is lit we can modify it.

==Modifying Terrain==

The [[Terrain mesh]] tools allow you to modify the terrain by changing elevations, smoothing edges, flatting terrain, or painting textures.

==Water==

First use the [[Terrain mesh]] tools to make a hole. It doesn't have to be deep. Then right-click on Terrain world and select Insert -> New Water Mesh. Double Click on the Water Mesh to zoom to it. By default it gets placed in a corner. Using the 3 Axis Movement tool [[File:moveTool.png]] grab the water and drag it to your hole. Depending on the size of the hole, you might have to adjust the water mesh size by changing the Size X and Size Y property values. Once you have the mesh placed, it's time to create the light probe. Right-click near the water mesh and select Insert -> New Light Probe. Using the move tool again, drag the light probe so that is roughly centered over the water mesh and slightly above it. Click on Render Lightmaps, then Render Light Probs. You might have to toggle Display Lightmaps, but you should now see your water looking like water and reflecting things around it.

See also [[Bug: Water plane missing in-game]] for an important workaround.

==Placing Models==

* Click the blue box in the Palette Window to access the models that come with the game. The [[Model list]] shows pictures of many of the models available.

* The [[Model]] page has more details on how to work with models.

Tip 1: I had to change the Snap Options to make the models go where I wanted them. The settings I use were 0.10 for Snap to Grid and Snap Z Size. I also had to turn off Enable Snap to Surface whenever I wanted to change the vertical position of something (like creating the second floor of a building). Enable Snap to Surface is not applied globally, so once you turn it off and position an object vertically, turning it back on will not move that object unless you select it (or have it selected when you turn it back on).

Tip 2: When placing premade cottages be aware that the door frames you can see attached to those buildings DO NOT have built in door hooks (see [[Area tutorial]] for information on placing doors). You can place a door frame model (for example, fhe_doorfrs_0) over the built in door frame to generate a door hook. The door frame model has to be placed from the Level Editor.

==Adding Vegetation and Wind==

The [[Vegetation]] page includes a list with pictures of the various plants available for placement. If you do not see the plants once you place them with the Scatter Object Tool then you may need to adjust your SpeedTree Rendering Distance Selector. This is a drop-down that you will see in the Tool Bar. It lists the distances at which plants will be visible. I set it to Very Far and left it there.

Each level can have one active wind object in it. The location of the wind object doesn't matter. The wind object defines how wind behaves on this level, which is used for such things as flapping banners and swaying trees.

Image:Level editor wind object.png

The Wind Object may be found by right clicking on Terrain World and selecting:

Insert>New Wind Object

==Visual Effects (VFX)==

Placeable visual effects like flames or smoke are considered to be art assets in the Dragon Age toolset, so you need to place them from within the Level Editor.

The [[VFX Tutorial]] provides guidance on creating and placing visual effects.

==Path finding and Obstructions==

The path finding process lays down a grid of points that are marked "accessible" if they can be reached from a path finding start spot via passable terrain. This is essentially a flood-fill algorithm.

You must create an [[Exportable area]] before you can generate any path finding data.

* Click on the purple + in the tool bar ([[File:IconAddExportableArea.png]]). This will open an Area Properties window. The [[Level editor]] page has more details on this process, so I will just keep these steps very basic.
* Name your Exportable Area in the Layout Name field of the Area Properties window. The name of an exportable area layout is limited to seven characters. BioWare uses the following naming system:
** Three-letter prefix that describes the region or plot the layout is for. For example, "ost" for Ostagar and environs.
** Three-digit number that uniquely identifies the layout within that region. Increments of one hundred are commonly used for major areas to allow sub-regions to be grouped together.
** A single character identifying variants of the layout. For example, a "d" suffix for the "daytime" version of an exterior layout. "d" is also often used to mean "default", for areas where day and night are irrelevant (deep in a cave, for example).
* Define your walkable area. Do this by clicking the Define Area button in the Area Properties window. The green box must include any areas that you want players to be able to walk. If you click in a corner of the level the green box will appear there. You can then expand it by dragging the corner.
* Close the Area Properties window.

In most cases you will want to block off certain areas of your terrain.
* Turn on the Build Terrain Blocking tool. It is the middle mountain icon.
* Using left-click to place and right-click to end chains/delete, place down blocks or 'walls' around areas you don't want the player to enter
* Be sure to provide visual clues if it isn't obvious why the player can't walk there.

Now that you have your exportable area you can generate path finding data.

* Place a Starting Point in your level. I found that path finding does not work if you place the Starting Point before you have an Exportable Area. To place a Starting Point click on Setup Start Point in the tool bar.
* Record the name of your Starting Point by clicking on it and looking at the name in the Object Inspector. Do not change the name - changing the name can prevent path finding from working.
* Click Exportable Area Properties in the tool bar to open the Area Properties window. Put the Start Point name in the appropriate field and close the window.

You should now be ready to generate pathfinding data by clicking on the Generate Pathfinding for Active Area button in the tool bar.

==Converting Levels into Areas==

Click on Do All Local Posts (you can avoid problems by generating a lightmap and pathfinding before doing local posts). This can be found in the menu at Tools>Export>Do All Local Posts

Your level has now been converted and can be used to make an area. The [[Area tutorial]] will walk you through what to do next.

[[Category: Tutorials]]

Custom minimaps

2010-09-19T16:00:51Z

FollowTheGourd:

It's possible to use a handcrafted minimap texture instead of the one posted by the level editor, which can be quite large and non-stylized. Sometimes you may not even have the LVL file to export a minimap with, necessitating this procedure. Take for instance the ''arena2'' level available in the toolset. There is no accompanying LVL file released by BioWare and this level has no associated minimap.

Let's presume you wanted to use this ''arena2'' level for one of your areas (although there are some culling issues by the doors). The files you'll need to create can go under ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap'' or elsewhere as appropriate, but will do for working with the toolset. These files would be ''arena2_mmap_ph.dds'' and ''arena2_mmi.gff'', or <level name>_mmap_ph.dds and <level name>_mmi.gff. Perhaps the easiest way to start creating your own minimap image is create a test area with the desired area layout, turn on real lighting or whatever other settings, and then use print screen to capture and save the image as a BMP. After you save your first screen shot, add two waypoints: one to the bottom left of your area and one to the top right. These two waypoint coordinates will be used constrain your minimap area. Record the waypoints' position coordinates as we'll need them for the arena2_mmi.gff file later. Take another screen shot with these two waypoints visible, as we'll use them as a reference when cropping the image. Also, keep the area at its default orientation when you open it so the screen shot will match up in game. TODO: determine whether Area Map North affects this at all.

Using the waypoints as a measuring guide, crop the first screen shot from the bottom left waypoint to the top right waypoint and then save the file. Now open it up in a proper image editing program such as Photoshop and rescale the image so it can fit in a power-of-two sized texture. E.g., if your cropped image is 1280x1024, then you may want to use a 1024x1024 texture and shrink the image to 1024x819, as the next power-of-two sized texture is 2048x2048 which would be somewhat wasteful. Now within the power-of-two texture, align your actual minimap texture to the top left corner. Now would be a good time to record another value you'll need for ''arena2_mmi.gff'': basically how much of the texture is used. If your actual minimap is 1024x819 in a 1024x1024 texture, then you'll want 1024/1024=1 and 819/1024=0.799805 for ''ENV_MINIMAP_TEXTURE_MAP_COORDS'', which we'll get to below. Now you can export the file as a DDS texture, which may require a plugin.

So now we have ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap\arena2_mmap_ph.dds'' finished, and now we need to edit the GFF for it. We'll use a preexisting file to edit in the toolset. Open the following file in the toolset ''C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\packages\core\env\brc505d\brc505d.rim'' and extract brc505d_mmi.gff. Now rename this file ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap\arena2_mmi.gff'' and open it up in the toolset for editing.

Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_TEXTURE_MAP_COORDS'' to 1,0.799805,1 as calculated for the example minimap above, with the third coordinate always 1.
Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_LOWER_LEFT_POINT'' to the coordinates of your lower left waypoint, but with the z-value being -500.
Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_UPPER_RIGHT_POINT'' to the coordinates of your upper right waypoint, but with the z-value being 500.

You can seemingly round off the decimal for the lower left and upper right coordinates, as the map and minimap don't seem to require that much precision, and the toolset isn't that precise either when creating the GFF file in the first place.

Custom minimaps

2010-09-19T15:56:29Z

FollowTheGourd:

It's possible to use a handcrafted minimap texture instead of the one posted by the level editor, which can be quite large and non-stylized. Sometimes you may not even have the LVL file to export a minimap with, necessitating this procedure. Take for instance the ''arena2'' level available in the toolset. There is no accompanying LVL file released by BioWare and this level has no associated minimap.

Let's presume you wanted to use this ''arena2'' level for one of your areas (although there are some culling issues by the doors). The files you'll need to create can go under ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap'' or elsewhere as appropriate, but will do for working with the toolset. These files would be ''arena2_mmap_ph.dds'' and ''arena2_mmi.gff'', or <level name>_mmap_ph.dds and <level name>_mmi.gff. Perhaps the easiest way to start creating your own minimap image is create a test area with the desired area layout, turn on real lighting or whatever other settings, and then use print screen to capture and save the image as a BMP. After you save your first screen shot, add two waypoints: one to the bottom left of your area and one to the top right. These two waypoint coordinates will be used constrain your minimap area. Record the waypoints' position coordinates as we'll need them for the arena2_mmi.gff file later. Take another screen shot with these two waypoints visible, as we'll use them as a reference when cropping the image.

Using the waypoints as a measuring guide, crop the first screen shot from the bottom left waypoint to the top right waypoint and then save the file. Now open it up in a proper image editing program such as Photoshop and rescale the image so it can fit in a power-of-two sized texture. E.g., if your cropped image is 1280x1024, then you may want to use a 1024x1024 texture and shrink the image to 1024x819, as the next power-of-two sized texture is 2048x2048 which would be somewhat wasteful. Now within the power-of-two texture, align your actual minimap texture to the top left corner. Now would be a good time to record another value you'll need for ''arena2_mmi.gff'': basically how much of the texture is used. If your actual minimap is 1024x819 in a 1024x1024 texture, then you'll want 1024/1024=1 and 819/1024=0.799805 for ''ENV_MINIMAP_TEXTURE_MAP_COORDS'', which we'll get to below. Now you can export the file as a DDS texture, which may require a plugin.

So now we have ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap\arena2_mmap_ph.dds'' finished, and now we need to edit the GFF for it. We'll use a preexisting file to edit in the toolset. Open the following file in the toolset ''C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\packages\core\env\brc505d\brc505d.rim'' and extract brc505d_mmi.gff. Now rename this file ''addins\[UID]\core\override\arena2\minimap\arena2_mmi.gff'' and open it up in the toolset for editing.

Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_TEXTURE_MAP_COORDS'' to 1,0.799805,1 as calculated for the example minimap above, with the third coordinate always 1.
Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_LOWER_LEFT_POINT'' to the coordinates of your lower left waypoint, but with the z-value being -500.
Edit ''ENV_MINIMAP_UPPER_RIGHT_POINT'' to the coordinates of your upper right waypoint, but with the z-value being 500.