General Assistance

It has been 3 weeks since I begun seriously learning the WE. The sources I use are this website (Hiveworkshops when wc3c is down). Guides, threads, and Tutorials have all helped me in some way—but—I have not found two things to solve my problem, which is Terrain'ing. Every time I try create the maps I plan, I have to first terrain. Now, I don't want to go using the Blizzard Cliff System, or the Blizzard Trees (and evidently a number of other unrealistic-looking objects). I have decided that I would try what my organization's primary mapmaker does—"height mapping".

Currently, I am using NewGen WE (Suggested to me).

The problems:
1. Materials; I would need skins to add realism to the map (small files = solution? , but then there goes good looking terrain), but do have a huge problem with lag in the map (there will be larger files such as Hero skins, and Spells).

2. I need a system for mapping that which would allow me to stretch the limits of doodads & cliff height (NOT cliffs) unlimited. So far, I've heard that Grimoire is best for removing the cap... and another one... not sure which. Links, and description to what WE is being used.

3. General links for getting started on learning "Height Mapping". Basically, I'm only knowing now "Height Mapping" uses Sight & Pathing blockers to substitute for Blizzard cliffs (true?). As such, I'd like a sub-discussion on Pathing and Sight blockers (how they're used to make up for the lack of cliffs).


P.S. - If I had cash, I would donate so the site stops going belly up every few days.... xD

1) just go to this section and browse it then use MDX Squisher on the models
2) use WEU (World edit unlimited) but make sure that you use it WITH Newgen.
3) dunno

With!?

See, this is where I got stuck, too. Ahahaha... I'm being dead serious.

???

I mean that I didn't understand how to implement vJASS into WEU. If I could, life would be easier on me. Sadly however, I don't. So yeah, I got stuck.

did you think to make a thread asking how to do it?

Combining Newgen with WEU is in the damn readme! Yeesh.

Was it? I swear, I looked throughout that... Ahahaha! Oh well, now I somewhere to look. And look! You guys kind of answered the original poster's question, too.

Hi Sera, glad to see you're being civil. Keep it that way and all will be well.

You seem to have a lot of questions regarding terrain stuff, so let me point you to this thread in the hopes it helps give you some of the pointers you asked for. I think there's mention of the pathing blocker usage in that thread -- If not, consider doing a search of the terrain forum; I'm sure it's been asked about before.

Textures and stuff really won't sap your filesize if you have any idea how to compress them. (Beware quality deterioration! Handle with care!) Also, for models if they pop up, this tool is the shit.

Cheers.

How were people supposed to know something as crucial as this? I know now, though, so.... :X

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Link helps tons. Most of the terrain guides here are misleading.. seems a lot of the best terrainers don't publish Tutorials.

Quality deterioration of models or Doodads? Both or one (or another)?? About compression... when is it best used? If there is a great skin, and it's file size is big, when would be time to compress and the outcome being worthy of use in a map?
(For ex: a 400kb skin [Efreet, High-Res Brewmaster]<—400kb?)

Hi Dusk! Cheers all!!

Textures, actually. You won't lose quality on practically anything else through compression. (Noticeable quality, anyways) Also, model imports with the MDX Squisher tool I linked to will be a lot smaller filesize but look just as good. That's part of the beauty of the tool.

It's a relatively simple process, really. The most painless way to do it is to use this tool to compress. Just convert your BLP to TGA (Or grab the TGA if the skinner uploaded it) and then go 'Convert to BLP' and wave that little 'quality' bar around in the process. Experiment with different values to get a feel for how quality changes the skin. The lower the quality, obviously the lower the filesize... But the skin can get pretty blurry as a result.

EDIT:
Also, you'll want to make sure all textures for standard units (Rare exceptions exist) are 256x256 in dimensions. That is what people call 'low res' and is the best quality-wise. 256x256 compresses much cleaner in the tool I linked above, and yields smaller filesizes and less drastic quality losses. Don't expect super details though, remember this is a texture for a WC3 unit -- It won't be super detailed anyways.

Breaching from the current topic, I have some new questions about the World Editor Unlimited, and NewGen WE.

So far, I've installed the WEU and it seems to not work out. When I make a map, it saves to a place, then when I open it, I get "This map is protected" messages. I have heard problems similar to this, something to do with triggers not allowing the opening of the map. Where I stand now, I don't want to do anything whatsoever and chance making the map I create un-operable.

Help.

Dusk, is that how you got all your skins to under 40kb? As far as I know, the tool used to get the B&B skins that small was the blpaletter, but I can't get that to work without horribly bloating the image. Though I was using the wc3 image extractor for converting to a TGA, maybe the viewer would work better.

One thing you have to watch out for is that you are trying to open your maps with the right editors. If you just double click a map file, it won't work. You need to manually open newgen WE, then open your map in that window.

To configure the options of the WEU, open up its folder and look for an .exe named "WEU enhancer". That is what allows you to set options for map protecting, using advanced triggers, and advanced tilesets.

Downloaded this skin pack by Dionesiist (adept in the art of skinning). 6 skins, sought to use the "Jester" one...

Didn't work out so well... as a whole lot of other skins are.

...I've read many model guides, including Archians'...

...Still, some skins work; some don't. More recently, the Keeper of Secrets skin [M C !] and Atlantean Seer [The End] have worked fine with only minor difficulties. Paths are right, I assume (checked over that many times). Green boxes = gg Celes. Q_Q

Hidden information:

Helpssss~