Your First Left 4 Dead Map: Difference between revisions

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(Rearanged into chronological order and correced titles)
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Creating areas for the infected to spawn.
Creating areas for the infected to spawn.
* <code>info_director</code>
* <code>info_director</code>
The director will spawn zombies that are out of the LOS. Sometimes this is outside the normal player boundary. To let the zombies into the playable area, there must be a <code>func_simpleladder</code> (with team set to 2) on the back side of the barrier, for them to climb over.


== Building the navigation mesh ==
== Building the navigation mesh ==

Revision as of 22:17, 29 November 2008

This tutorial will cover the basics of Left 4 Dead map creation. It will explain the required entities, such as the director, weapons, and spawns. It will also answer some of the questions that Left 4 Dead mappers will have. This tutorial is not intended for new mappers: Basic level construction is already covered in other topics.


Tut title.png


Introduction

  • logic_choreographed_scene
  • point_viewcontrol_survivor
  • point_viewcontrol_multiplayer
  • env_fade


Spawn area

  • info_survivor_position
  • weapon_first_aid_kit_spawn
  • weapon_ammo_spawn
  • weapon_smg_spawn
  • weapon_pumpshotgun_spawn


The Director

Creating areas for the infected to spawn.

  • info_director

The director will spawn zombies that are out of the LOS. Sometimes this is outside the normal player boundary. To let the zombies into the playable area, there must be a func_simpleladder (with team set to 2) on the back side of the barrier, for them to climb over.

Building the navigation mesh

Basic

This should only be used for testing. A nav mesh should be thoroughly examined and edited.

nav_edit 1
nav_generate
nav_analyze
nav_edit 0

Advanced

This tutorial does not cover advanced mesh creation. Please refer to Navigation Meshes

Item and weapon caches

Set spawn flags to randomize

  • weapon_molotov_spawn
  • weapon_pipe_bomb_spawn
  • weapon_pistol_spawn
  • weapon_pain_pills_spawn
  • weapon_ammo_spawn
  • weapon_smg_spawn
  • weapon_first_aid_kit_spawn
  • weapon_hunting_rifle_spawn
  • weapon_rifle_spawn
  • weapon_autoshotgun_spawn
  • weapon_pumpshotgun_spawn


Rescue closets

Bringing dead players back into the game.

  • info_survivor_rescue
    • rescueEyePos


Panic events

Triggering the info_director and summoning the horde.

  • info_game_event_proxy
  • ambient_generic
  • logic_timer


  • Examples
    • Car alarms
    • Metal detectors

Crescendo events

Intermediate objectives

  • func_button
  • filter_activator_team
  • info_game_event_proxy


Safe houses

  • prop_door_rotating_checkpoint


Changing levels

  • info_landmark
  • info_changelevel


Finale

Work in progress

Notes

Doors

Type: prop_door_rotating
Frame Dimensions: width: 56, height: 104
World Model: models/props_doors/doormainmetal01.mdl


FAQ

Common issues

  • How do I make the infected spawn?


  • Why won't the survivor bots move?


  • Why is the molotov fire / Smoker's smoke not visible in-game?
    • (not answered)


  • Why won't my rescue closets work?
    • (not answered)


Error messages

  • NAV ERRORS - Map is unplayable!
    • Missing nav file.
    • The nav file was built for an older compile.


  • Missing Battlefield check found N areas
  • WARN: CL4DBasePanel::UpdateProgressBar called outside of level loading, discarded!
  • GetGoalArea: Cannot find SPAWN_RESCUE_CLOSET area in FINALE, thus cannot guarantee reachability of goal area.
  • GetGoalArea: Cannot find end area - no checkpoint or finale located.
  • ComputeFlowDistances: ERROR - Cannot compute flow.

See also