All my tutorial videos are now unavailable as I have closed my YouTube account.
Other Useful Threads
Setting the difficulty of your track
Workshop of Secrets Elevator Tutorial (with images) Adv.
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All my tutorial videos are now unavailable as I have closed my YouTube account.
Other Useful Threads
Setting the difficulty of your track
Workshop of Secrets Elevator Tutorial (with images) Adv.
heres a good checklist JORMA wrote http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...on_e_smile.gif
Can you continue from each checkpoint? Also, is it more difficult to continue from a checkpoint instead of not faulting in that place in the first place?
Is there enough of checkpoints? Is there a place that feels like you just did something difficult and you still have to do another difficult spot? Add a checkpoint already!
Are there any misaligned objects causing the bike to bounce where it is not supposed to be? Nothing is more annoying than misaligned floor causing a bump that takes your speed away before a big jump.
Can you play every intended driving path smoothly?
Does the game lag at any point? Also check situations like explosions, bike being on fire and heavy bike collision. Physics, particles and rendering require partially distinct resoures so figure out what the bottle neck is. Lights are rendering heavy. Particles (explosions) also cause some extra rendering work on top of being a task of their own (setup and animation). Lights and lots of particles is usually a bad thing.
Is there any blockiness in the rendering? This is caused by too many lights in that area. Some of the effects like small fires are lights too.
Does the camera go through objects? Is the player view blocked at some point? Custom camera might be needed.
Is custom camera used in a bad way? Do not use special camera in hard places! This can make the obstacle much much harder.
Does the difficulty match the description? If you aim for medium there shouldn't be any hard parts. If you aim for hard, there shouldn't be any extreme parts. Generally try to keep the track difficulty equally hard for the whole track.
Do you have to wait anywhere for physics to do something? Players don't usually want to wait no matter how nice your physics thingy is. Try to trigger your physics earlier if this is the case.
Is the driving path clear? Is it not clear where to continue? Add some direction signs. This might actually be a problem in your level design if this is the case.
Is there any flow in the track? Are there places that are annoying or cause most of your faults? Do the jumps match the landing places? Can you continue the track smoothly even without doing the jumps or tricks perfectly? Is there enough of driving in the track or is it just physics trick after physics trick?
Is there only one way to clear a obstacle? This can be hard to tell as you usually know how the obstacle needs to be played, but it can be extreme annoying for other players to try to find the one way to clear a hard obstacle even if you think it is very easy. Especially, if you have trouble passing your obstacle with the way you intended, you probably should tune it down a bit so that it can be passed with more general skill set. Generally you should avoid hard obstacles that look easy and aim for easy obstacles that look hard.
Is the track fun? Not every track need to be a 'challenge'.
Is the track technical enough for your target audience? Even the easiest tracks can have places where skill brings some time savings.
Is the track too short / too long? Not every track need to be maximun length. 10 seconds one obstacle tracks aren't that much fun either.
Does the medal limits match the track? Platinum should be pretty hard and be the target for your friends, maybe even your own record from testing. Gold should be a reasonable good score. Silver limits should be something reasonable to aim for during the first few runs. (not like 5 faults, 2 mins in an extreme track that takes 200 faults for the first try).
Does the track look nice? Who cares. Well, you could add some explosions for the graphics junkies.
Nice one 420.... these pointers are exactly what I follow and I am pretty sure you do too seeing as we are quite similar in our methods. http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
how to use hard and soft points.. for example, making a draw bridge fall, instead of balancing it and using boxes to stop it sliding away and explosives to open the drawbrige on a trigger. it prob sounds stupid but i can get one side to work in a test but when i glue my object to where i want it, either it stops working or whole thing just falls out the sky . as it is for a lot of cool stuff ive made then deleted in all in one press pissed off because it was working just fine 'before'... also rotation hinges
If I was going to make a drawbridge I wouldn't use hard/soft point to point. I have never used the point to point tools in a track as they are not as useful as the hinges but the work in a similar manner.
I would use a limited hinge at the base of the drawbridge instead. Have physics turned off on it and have it leaning slightly forward to where you need it to drop and just use a trigger to enable physics.
Alternatively you could use the powered rotation on the bridge instead of a limited hinge and use a trigger to enable the hinge and bridge piece to have physics and then it should just drop at a consistant speed.
I will have a look at this to see if it works first. In theory it should work fine but I will knock up a quick test and get back to you.
Personally I see very little difference between limited hinges and free rotation hinges other than the limited hinge cant rotate past the opposite side of the hinge. Free rotation hinges can spin around the axis indefinitely.
I'll put together some videos on these points to help explain some more so keep an eye on this thread over the next couple of days http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
Ok I have created both types of drawbridge and they both work fine.
The powered rotation version is a little more complex but both ways yield very similar results so I would recommend sticking with the limited hinge version as it uses less parts and triggers and as such is easier to set up.
The powered rotation hinge can be a little buggy to say the least and hinges dont particularly like having their physics turned on by a trigger but like I say they both work.
I'll capture both types tomorrow and put them on YouTube so you can see how they work.
When the videos are up I will add them to my first post and will do the same for any future videos so they will be easy to find.
First tutorial is complete. Video is up on YouTube and the first post has been updated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WM0ebKixxQ
nice..... good to see the community working together here.. thanks
Hey Raist, did the tutorial cover everything you needed to know about drawbridges?
hey euphoric, i use hard hinges instead of soft or limited rot. the hard hinges aren't as flimsy, and work better than the others for most things. but its all about what you're trying to make, everything has its use. the flimsy bouncy properties of the other ones work for some things. just throwing that out because you said you use limited for everything. basically the only physics objects i REALLY need are the hard hinge and the free rot. you can make anything you want just using those creatively.
Really? You use the hard point to point instead of limited rotation?
Well that just goes to show how methods differ between creators. http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
Do you use a single one or do you double up on them?
I find point to points have more spring than anything else so that's why I use the limited and rotation hinges.
Maybe I should make a video to show the different properties of point to points and hinges http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
Maybe I should make a video to show the different properties of point to points and hinges http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif[/quote] excellent idea.. and yeah for now thanx
yeah i was just talking about my methods, everyones are different but i like hearing others and learning some new stuff. with the hard hinge question, using 1 or doubling them.. it depends what you are moving, how big it is and the length/width of the rotation point if its flat. with that being said tho, i have never used more than 1 hinge to control a spot in any of my tracks
Right guys I have created the test level for all types of hinges and will capture the tutorial and upload it later today or tomorrow.
I think you will see some surprising results.... It definitely opened my eyes to a few things and how useful each type of hinge is!
pretty good and easy to follow keep em coming http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image..._e_biggrin.gif
Hinge Properties tutorial video is now up on YouTube.
Link added to first post (it's only just finished uploading so it is still processing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS6tkcMHULs
Video is now processed at last! I hope it's of some use.
And Heet going by the stuff in the video how on earth do you use the hard point to point? lol http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
So what will be the next thing that would like to know more about?
Sequential lights with on/off by trigger?
Changing a lights colour with a trigger?
More about physics?
You name it and I'll do what i can to explain it http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...on_e_ugeek.gif
probably more about physics in general. let people figure out their own tricks by experimenting themselves
I know what you are saying but this wouldn't be much of a tutorial thread if I told people to experiment themselves would it http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
At the end of each tutorial video so far I have left it wide open for experimentation anyway. You can only cover so much in one video.
good work
Hey EF - thanks for the hinge tutorial! I never really even knew what point to point were, and I never really played around with them, so this definitely helped me.
one thing that helps me alot while creating, is the "physics" button
i think it is "back" on the controller...really handy when making details, for no overlapping http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...on_e_smile.gif
great stuff.. very clear. thanx for that EF
I use it for rough placement and for placing physics objects.Quote:
Originally Posted by 420
When using the back button for placing static objects they all float a tiny bit which I am guessing the physics model needs for some reason. So if I want a box on the floor I'll press back and put the object on the ground and then disable physics and just nudge the object down slightly so it looks right.
yup, each object has an invisible wall around it in regards to "physics" you have to fly in and fine-tune until they are actually sitting on top of each other. i see this in tracks all the time, people drop it down with physics on and just leave it. it's not even touching anything, but the builder doesn't notice that it's hovering slightly.
for explosives its really annoying because you got the physics on a bomb and it just floats above the floor. if it's not bad looking no problem, but some objects have bigger invisible walls around them than others. if it looks bad, you gotta glue it to the piece it's sitting on and then you can make it flush, just a tip.
I am posting this in replay to asking you to make a proper working Trebuchet. I have gotten the physical properties to work, I just can't figure out the proper equipment to launch the rider properly. I have been trying to find things that work decent and the thing that works best is the Large Steel Cage. Please help with suggestions.
bit new to the editor, ok with basics, triggers and lights etc. can u demonstrate a swinging arm such as the first one in inferno II, im not sure about hinge placement and also a briefly explained simple 'vehicle' thing would be great thnx
Ok guys I will get to work and hopefully have a video or two up by the weekend http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
Watch this space.
just throwing in another GREAT WORK ive been learning loads. every credit EF
one thing i'd really like to know is how to turn the jet engine on and off while keeping its physics on - when i hit the trigger that says animation off, the jet stays on. its really annoying because i had a bunch of ideas that needed this
I've just been having a play to see if I can get it to work but it seems like it is not possible to disable the turbine once you have activated it. You can disable physics completely and obviously that will stop it from moving entirely but the engine will continue to burn regardless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reaper392
Sorry I couldn't be mode help with this matter.
On the bright side I have got simple techniques down for the car and trebuchet tutorials so I will do my best to capture as I build so you can see exactly what is done through the whole process. Should have the videos edited and uploaded by end of Sunday and I'll post here when they are finished.
that explains why i couldnt do it then, although oneidea that might work has popped into my head, so i'll report back on thatQuote:
Originally Posted by EuphoricFusion
The car tutorial is now uploaded (still processing).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP8dnBD4eAo
The trebuchet tutorial will be up some time tomorrow evening. It's not done yet because it's a pretty long tutorial and I haven't edited it yet but it should prove pretty helpful.
Both these videos show the objects built from scratch so you can see every step used to create them. http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
It's funny that right after I asked for your help with making a Trebuchet, I kept screwing around and figured out the physics for it and it worked out great, I just can't make it, let's say, pretty. lol I would love any ideas. I figured out the best design for the Boom Arm in my opinion, which was just as simple as it seems, but for something to work as a sling and a counter-weight. I just need some good ideas...Quote:
Originally Posted by EuphoricFusion
The tutorial trebuchet is not pretty. It is just the bare bones of what is needed to get it to work consistently and so you can easily see the method behind it and the placement of the hinges.
If you like I can make a prettier version and add it at the end of the tutorial so you can see how I would decorate it if it helps.
The trebuchet tutorial is uploading as we speak. It's quite lenghty and weighs in at around 10 mins but it is very in depth and takes you through every step needed to create it.
I included a working trebuchet at the end in a test level environment so you can get some ideas for design structure aswell.
I'll post again when it's finished uploading.
The trebuchet tutorial is now uploaded (still processing at the moment).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOaGPZK8ecQ
I hope it explains everything clearly http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...con_e_wink.gif
Dude,
AWESOME tutorial. I can't wait to get my Xbox back and try that trebuchet out.
This is what the community needs, knowledge sharing!
Thanks mate. I know it's fairly complicated but I hope I explained everything clearly enough for people to follow. http://forum.redlynx.com/forum/image...on_e_smile.gif