FAQ: Terrain has ugly squares (Solution)

[darklandz]

Hello,

I've painted my terrain following the tutorial and i was quite shocked when i saw the result (see screenschot).

Could someone explain me a little what i've done wrong or so ... (feel free to contact me true msm if needed)

[Erdcaged]

from experience you low detail texture on in terrain editor make sure the layer you use for the grass or whatever on the bottom there will be a 0 atop of envmap set it to 1. now on the right side go down to the bottom and selct set low detail texture, choose whatever is there. now press generate low detail texture. if this doesnt wok repaint the sruface and when ur done painting a part always click the generate button. hope this helps a bit

[darklandz]

hmm was about to try that out but i have another problem now, when i reload my map, go into terrain editor my layers seem to be empty, the textures seem to be gone (in the right side) also the tweaker bar says it's read only and texture setting there are also gone

[Erdcaged]

ya thats a problem u have to save before you switch out modes but for now recreate the texture

[darklandz]

from experience you low detail texture on in terrain editor make sure the layer you use for the grass or whatever on the bottom there will be a 0 atop of envmap set it to 1. now on the right side go down to the bottom and selct set low detail texture, choose whatever is there. now press generate low detail texture. if this doesnt wok repaint the sruface and when ur done painting a part always click the generate button. hope this helps a bit

As a bf2 mapping noob i have to say i don't understand what you're trying to explain me here, if someone could explain it a little more step by step ...

[Erdcaged]

well im noob at it to it shouldnt be so hard search the topics as there are more tuts on this

[tweekbee]

Here is what I gathered from his post...

1. Select the Texture Tool from the terrain Editor

2. Select your layer, and in the tweak section, scroll down to LowDetailType, located above Envmap

3. Change it from 0 to 1

4. In the Editor toolbar, scroll all the way down, choose the Set Low detail Texture, set it to the default one, then press generate.

5. Do this for each layer.

I dont know if this is right or not.

[Erdcaged]

yes you are correct but after you paint each time you must press the generate low detail map button.

[Shazam]

I've done that, but now it doesn't seem to generate the low level details..

[[EA]LBrown]

From your screenshots, it looks like you are painting your detail texture, but not your color texture. The detail texture only gets seen up close, which is why you have that checkerboard in the distance.

Do not confuse these things with the lowdetail texture. That is something else entirely and will not fix your problem!

when you set the options for the layer brush you are going to paint with, make sure that you have selected a texture for both the detailTexture and colorTexture sections. Then on the right side under "Paint mode", make sure you have clicked the "both" button. Otherwise you will only paint the detail texture and not the color texture. This is explained in the first tutorial, but it's easy to miss a section because there's so much info;)

Also, you have to click the "both" button every time you switch editor sections because it doesn't remember what you had it set to. When you are done painting, make sure you do a "Save all" so that it writes the updated textures to the proper directories.

[darklandz]

works like a charm Lbrown, tnx ... oh another quick question ...

Let say i painted my terrain but i'm not satified with it, how do i undo the painting (removing) so i can try with some other texture combinations ?

[BoogeyMan]

Well this is my first attempt at mapping for BF I have mapped for SOF2 CS:S And going way back to Quake 1/2/and 3.

I had the same checkerboard texture issue and this fixed it!

Thanks LBrown and Erdcaged

[BoogeyMan]

works like a charm Lbrown, tnx ... oh another quick question ...

Let say i painted my terrain but i'm not satified with it, how do i undo the painting (removing) so i can try with some other texture combinations ?

Just repaint over it, thats what i did :shock:

[C4 Explosives]

works like a charm Lbrown, tnx ... oh another quick question ...

Let say i painted my terrain but i'm not satified with it, how do i undo the painting (removing) so i can try with some other texture combinations ?

You can right click or paint over it, similar to how you can right click to lower terrain and left click to raise it.

I have a question on this topic as well, are you all saying that you have to generate low detail maps and save everytime you paint? So if you paint something, switch tools and work on something else, then come back, you'll have to repaint and make sure to re-generate and save, hope that's not fact...

[Erdcaged]

after u paint u must do the generate button but not the save button. but if you are going to switch mdoes you are better offf saving it

[Tdogg]

I'll let the picture do the talking. All grass is from the same undergowth. map is 256 x 256. Any ideas?

[Bizzarro]

Well this is my first attempt at mapping for BF I have mapped for SOF2 CS:S And going way back to Quake 1/2/and 3.

I had the same checkerboard texture issue and this fixed it!

Thanks LBrown and Erdcaged

How did you get your water that transparant (at the "coast" part, you see water and also the land under it), did you modify it this way yourself or did you copy water settings from an existing BF2 level?

[Tdogg]

when rendering the light map dont check the nearest box. all is well

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

Stickified this thread and edited the header a bit

[Ironchef]

Can I just say how annoyed I am at this POS editor? lol

Ok, I too have followed some very detailed tutorials (not the video one, the word document ones from some important bf2 person..not official EA ones that suck), created a simple 256 terrain of grass, put two control points and two spawn points. I selected and generated low detail texture as suggested above, I've changed the value for low detail texture from 0 to 1, I've tried making the folder for the map i made read/write (but it never sticks)...I'm at the end of my rope. I've tried many different combos of things like changing graphics to medium, just textures to medium, all to low...everything. It's just maddening and it shows that nobody has a clue about how this POS editor works.

So anyway, go ahead and reply with any other suggestions you may have to get my new map to load. I've tried things from about 6 different people on this topic. Fools who figure out how to get their maps work NEVER post HOW they did it, they just say "got it, nm.."

[Catbox]

I have a clue... lol... this is your first post and there is a ton of help and tutorials on this website... every issue has been covered... the editor will make more sense eventually... if you stick with it...

your post is a little vague though... but i imagine your map is crashing when loading in BF2?

try running in windowed mode and see what the error is if any?

missing texture?

You might have activated a surrounding tile by accident... etc

CB

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

POS = Point of Sale ? Hmm ? Idk what your problem is (try loading the map in windowed mode and post the error message) but when you follow the tutorial, take the small bugs of the editor into account and make your map step by step (without adding too much things in a rush) it works every time (at least for me). Keep in mind that BF2 is a complex game and mapmaking for it is complex, too with all the stuff to keep track of. Don't loose faith , we try to help

[Ironchef]

Sorry, a bit frustrated as you can see. POS = piece of shit. But moving on.

Yes, I've done most of the tips I've found on this site through lots of searching. I didn't exactly just register to post my complaint without searching. I've spent few nights pouring over this message board trying out many of the suggestions to get my map to work.

As described above, I've created a simple map having painted a surface and put two opposing control points with two spawn points each. I followed these tutorials (http://www.ea.com/official/battlefield/battlefield2/us/downloads.jsp#) and the map crashes upon verification of client data (right before join button should appear). Like the plethora of others who crash right at that point, I also maintain that i've not added anything but what the tutorial says "..is now a playable map." More, I've made about 6 maps now, equally simple, some with variations in color and texture, etc...all crash. I've tried windows mode, no error message. I've done the low texture settings and generated low texture settings..i've set graphics to low and medium for everything while doing the low texture settings maps. I've tried removing read-only (as windows admin) from my map files but it doesn't stick. I've tried some file swapping as recommended in other posts...i've reinstalled the game twice and the editor twice...had the client patched and unpatched for other troubleshooting...it's just fruitless...and then i posted my flame.

If the advice on these boards weren't so contradictory or inconsistent, I'd have never made a post. But as it is..i'm sitting here pissed because this editor is not easy to troubleshoot (same with maps and the game in general). So yes, I do beg your help. Feel free to give me all the various pieces of advice you can..telling me to search is useless as ii've probably scoured 20 threads just today trying to find something different.

Thanks in advance.

[Catbox]

heres a tool that will paint your map...

http://bfeditor.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1716

follow the tutorial...

also have you run in windowed mode to see what the error is...

http://bfeditor.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=519

if you want.... you can upload your map to filefront i will d/l and let you know whats wrong... CB

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

There are other non-obvious reason why a map would crash at pressing 'Join'. E.g. if the SpawnPoints are located in a position where its impossible to spawn (too deep in the ground, too close to structures and so on). Mostly its something simpler , like forgetting to assign _different_ teams to your ControlPoints. The moment 'Join' is pressed, any vehicles are spawned and the game tries to show the spawn menu. So everything associated with this can be the reason , like missing kit setup, wrong armies and so forth.

When i make a new map, i try to get as much for the setup from an existing map as i can. Mostly i steal the 'init.con' , the whole water setup, 'sky.con' and anything which might come in handy from a map similar to what i have in mind for my new map. This saves a lot of time and headbanging about what i might have forgotten and gives me a skeleton where i can work from.

My advice would be to go with CB's offer and send him your map. As he's a great map wizard he will find the cause in no time