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How to make an arena/map for Lambda Arena <http://www.planethalflife.com/la>
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* PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS BEFORE YOU START MAKING AN ARENA/MAP *

This is a file that's designed to teach you how to make an arena/map for the mod Lambda
Arena. Included in the zip is a Worldcraft *.rmf file called "la_example.rmf" that
constitutes a good example of what the *very* basics of a map looks like. I've put brushes
showing what number the arena is in each of the arenas - this should of course not be
included in a real map.

BEFORE YOU START you've got to import the included "la.fgd" in Worldcraft by selecting
Tools/Options/Game Configurations/Game Data Files/Add, and then select the file.
*IMPORTANT*: Be sure to remove the "halflife.fgd" or any other *.fgd you might have, and
add ONLY the "la.fgd".

I've broken the design procedure down into easy-to-follow steps, first of all describing
how to make a single arena:

(1) First, find out whether you want to make a small (1v1/2v2), medium (2v2-4v4) or a large 
(4v4+) arena. What you can create depends on your skills, but large arenas are always most 
welcome, as they are mostly more original and different from eachother than when talking 
about small 1v1 arenas.

(2) Design your arena with the fact that it should offer *good gameplay* in mind. Here are a
few tips:

* Realism. Don't use Xen textures, create toggleable pistons that come down from the air or
anything else weird, arenas are meant to look realistic.

* Don't make arenas extremely small, always start large when you design the arena, it's
easier to scale down than up.

* Don't use "extremely colored" lightning as the primary lightning source, it might look
smart, but overall it disturbs gameplay and is generally not too welcome for an entire
arena. It can be fine for smaller areas, though, and as long as it's not that far from
white, it's OK to use it as the primary lightning color.

* Use lots of debris like crates in all shapes and sizes (use the prefabs that come with
Worldcraft), sandbags and make your own obstacles using simple brushes and some large 
textures. Huge, open battleareas aren't a good idea for smaller maps. Also visit
<http://www.planethalflife.com/prefablab/> for lots of prefabs. Remember to tell me which 
ones you used and they'll get credited.

* Outdoor areas, meaning with a sky above and environment lightning usually look and feel
more realistic, and put people in a better mood. Try with some outdoor areas and some
indoor also.

* It is very good if you can make a nice specator area (see instructions below), to be
honest, we're not too fond of just a window in the top of the arena where people can look
down. An area in the side of the arena always looks good, and players won't get confused
when they see you. Remember to make enough room for people to walk around.

Arenas also need a seperate place where spectators can watch the ongoing game without being
bored to death. This is only the case if the arena is small/medium, otherwise, players will
be put into noclip mode and can freely fly around the arena/map. As said, try to be
creative in where you place the spector area, and avoid just using a glass texture in the
top of the room (as seem in the example map :). I've just put it there so you could see the
principle in it. Use a glass texture for the brush, then click "toEntity" and select
"func_wall". Set the "Render Mode" to "Texture" and "FX Amount" to "0". This will make the
brush invisible, offering spectators an uncluttered view of the active players.

(3) When the arena is done, there are some practical things that has to be added.

info_player_start - this is where active players in the arena will start their battle
against eachother, each arena should have an amount equal to the "Maxplayers" value, set in
the info_arena (see 4b). There are (Maxplayers divided by 2) for each team, place them
team-vise close to eachother, and preferably in each end of the arena. Remember to adjust
the angle to the direction you want people to face when they start. When you've placed *one*
of them, select its properties, click the "Class Info" fan, and then choose a value for the
"Arena startpoint". Values are of the format "Arena X Team Y", and if it's your first arena,
and you're setting the starting point for team 1, you'll want to choose "Arena 1 Team 1".
Now simply copy and paste it X-1 times so that you end up with X of them in the correct
places - the starting points/area for team 1. Do the same for the other team, and simply
choose "Arena 1 Team 2" instead.

info_player_deathmatch - this is the starting point for the spectators, and should be placed
in the spectator area. You must place (Maxplayers) of them, but in the field
"Arena watchpoint-start", simply choose the arena number. The "Startview" is the place
where people joining the arena will be at the beginning, and where they can make their menu
choices, place one in the middle of each arena somewhere.

(4) Now, whether you should do more about your arena depends on whether you want to make an
entire map or just a few arenas. A map consists of maximum 5 arenas, but 4 will be OK if you
feel that they all belong together.

(4a) If you don't want to make more than 1-3 arenas (3 arenas will be a bit small for a
map), you probably thought that you could send it off to me, and that I would take four
other arenas and make a map. Sorry, but I'm not gonna spend 25+ hours compiling a map, so if
you've made an arena, ask people at our messageboard if there are others who have an arena
they want to add to the mod. You can then make a deal of who adds the correct entities,
and the guy with the fastest computer can then compile the map.

(4b) If you can make 4-5 arenas, you must create a new entity (included in the fgd),
called "info_arena", which you must place somewhere inside an arena. It contains data
regarding the arenas, which you'll have to fill out. In the "Arena X Name" you should write
the name of each of the arenas. What number it has is determined by the values you have
given the info_starts. You'll see that "Arena 4 Name" is called "Arena 4" - the start
entities in arena number 4 have arena values of 4. In the "Type of arena X" you can select
what kind of arena the different arenas are. "Maxplayers in arena X" determines the maximum
amount of active players an arena can hold. If it's a small map, it should be no more than
4-6.

Don't forget to place the arenas approx. 1000 units from eachother (both in the top-down
view and in one of the side views), or players will hear sounds from the other arenas.

When you've filled in the proper stuff, you're ready for the next step(s).

(5) Before you start compiling, please send the *.rmf file to me first, so that I can check
that everything is in order. I'll get back to you with my comments on the stuff you've made,
plus I'll tell you if there are any problems.

Please compile the map in the right way. You must do both qrad and vis, and with the highest
setting, or people will suffer from high r_speeds, which is not good. There are two ways of
doing this; Either by using the Normal compile option, and then selecting qrad - extra, and
vis - full, or you can do it "the more right way". First of all, you must setup Worldcraft
to do an "expert compile". If you haven't done that already, go to
<http://halflife.gamedesign.net/resources/worldcraft2_setup.shtml> and follow the
instructions. Now compile the map with vis and qrad. This will take insane amounts of time
though, which is why we accept maps compiled using the first method. Be sure to keep the
compile log, save it as a txt-file, so it can be put in the readme.txt for your map.
Readme.txt's are of the same format for all arenas, but you're welcome to include personal
credits and stuff like that. The template is provided in this zip file.

(6) Now you should be able to send it off to me (zip it first unless you want me to get very
angry) at <mmconsult@get2net.dk>. You'll be given credit in the Readme of the map (duh!),
and on our website. We'll mention your name(s), the map/arena(s) you've created, plus e-mail
address(es) of the creators.

Good luck

- Prodigy

PS: You're not allowed to spread the included *.rmf file around, it's strictly for watching
and learning. Copyright () by Team Lambda Arena, 1999