Need some folder clarity

[Victim_913 26]

I've done some of the tutorials on making a map. They are good and tell you where to put everything but some things weren't very clear.

Most tuts came with content, they tell you where to put it and we're off to the races. But they don't say WHY we put those things there nor do they seem to tell us what the folders are for.

Maybe I haven't found the best tut, but I think a quick response to this might help other too.

 

What goes in the Data and the source folders?

It seems textures go in data.

 

- In the tutorial, they came with ground textures like sand and dirt, etc. Do I have to find the textures I like and put them in the data folder BEFORE terrain builder?

 

-What is the A3 folder for? The A3 folder has all A3 content, including those textures. Do I move what I like into one of my folders or do I leave them there?

Cause If I can point to that folder while in bulldozer, why do I need the data folder?

 

 

I appreciate any help. A lot of good tutorials, but I can't learn if I am only told what to do rather why I do it. Thanks

[six_ten 208]

"What goes in the Data and the source folders?  It seems textures go in data."

 

The way I think about it is "source" is just that:  source materials that are going to be processed by TB, while "data" is the result.  For example when you process your giant satmap, TB chops it up into smaller tiles so they can load in game more efficiently.  The source stuff isn't packaged with your_terrain.pbo.  Nor is your original source terrain model (the .asc or .tif or .xyz)   TB makes a copy and keeps it internally. 

 

"- In the tutorial, they came with ground textures like sand and dirt, etc. Do I have to find the textures I like and put them in the data folder BEFORE terrain builder?"

Only if you want to use custom ground textures (in which case you'll also have to write custom classes to use them).  If you stick to stock ARMA textures you don't have to do anything to them, just use ARMA's classes and textures by referencing them in your config.

 

Which partly answers your next question:

 

"What is the A3 folder for? The A3 folder has all A3 content, including those textures. Do I move what I like into one of my folders or do I leave them there?"

 

The A3 folder is a stand-in for the real game files; TB calls upon the files in there (for example you use their trees and rocks and a gas station model, or whatever).  Leave that A3 folder alone.  You only need to reference them, for example when you create an object template, you're telling TB "here's the path to the gas station model I want to place in my map."  TB internally makes a list of all those things you use, then when you package your terrain for others, since that list is included anyone with your map, their copy of it calls out to their A3 folder.  You do not move any of the files from that A3 copy, you just link to them via your templates.

 

"Cause If I can point to that folder while in bulldozer, why do I need the data folder?"  I don't know what you mean about pointing to it in buldozer, but the data folder is processed satmap and mask tiles, shaders, etc -- it is the final stuff that gets packaged.  The next time you process a map or mask, open the data layers folder and watch as it fills with files after you start processing.  It will create all those png tiles, and all the shaders for each tile.  That's what your players will see in game.

[Victim_913 26]

Wow, thanks. Great response.

 

That last one about pointing to the data folder, I was thinking that I had to put textures from the A3 folder into my data folder.  I was thinking that I had to have EVERYTHING I use in my island. But you cleared that up.

 

 But it brings up another question(s).

The layer.cfg - If I use stock textures How would I go about creating the layer.cfg?

Also - the map legend and assigning colors to the textures.

    I used L3DT and it created it's own colors. I can use it in gimp to narrow it down or change colors, but how can I generate the legend.

    Some tuts are from arma2 so some differences might confuse, like the cell/textures..etc. Let me see if I have figured this out with my searching.

    I can use 6 textures maximum per cell, or 5 depending on if I want a normal map (what is the normal map for?)

    I have a 512 x 512 size map, In the mapframes properties in the processing tab, it says each cell is 4 meters. That seems small. The terrain size is 2048 m. Does that mean I have 512 cells from one end to another?

Basically how do I find out how big each square is that I can put 5 or 6 textures in? Cause I think I will need more than only 5 or 6 textures to choose from. Maybe more maybe not, but I need to know so I can figure it out.

 

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[RoF 240]

The layer.cfg - If I use stock textures How would I go about creating the layer.cfg?

 

You copy them to your data folder and rename like "rof_kintyre_beach_co.paa"

 

I used L3DT and it created it's own colors. I can use it in gimp to narrow it down or change colors, but how can I generate the legend.

You just use the default one https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/File:SurfaceMapLegend.png

 

For the cells question this link should help you

http://tactical.nekromantix.com/wiki/doku.php?id=arma:terrain:grid_cell_size

 

As for the texture mask limit, I just make a maker overlay in photoshop. But remember they also overlap by I think 32 pixels depending on your settings. So it's easy to have 6 colours, then the cell next to it overlaps and makes it 7.

[Victim_913 26]

Thanks, you've been a real help.

 

I noticed that the stock textures don't have rvmats with them. Only the concrete one has one. Do I make them? I know I need to edit the ones that go in my data folder,

[RoF 240]

Thanks, you've been a real help.

 

I noticed that the stock textures don't have rvmats with them. Only the concrete one has one. Do I make them? I know I need to edit the ones that go in my data folder,

 

You just take the concrete one, an change it for each one of your textures.

[anthariel 165]

The layer.cfg - If I use stock textures How would I go about creating the layer.cfg?

 

You copy them to your data folder and rename like "rof_kintyre_beach_co.paa"

 

Unless you want custom clutters, why would you do that if the textures are already located in A3? Save yourself ~75Mb by creating your own RVMAT who refer to the textures that you want and who are in the orginal folder so you don't have to create a copy of those textures.

 

For example: (gdt_forest_pine.rvmat)

ambient[] = {1,1,1,1};
diffuse[] = {0.25,0.25,0.25,1};
forcedDiffuse[] = {0,0,0,0};
specular[] = {0.0,0.0,0.0,0};
specularPower = 1;
emmisive[] = {0,0,0,0};
PixelShaderID = "NormalMapDiffuse";
VertexShaderID = "NormalMapDiffuseAlpha";

class Stage1
{
	texture = "a3\map_data\gdt_forest_pine_nopx.paa";
	uvSource = "tex";
	class uvTransform
	{
		aside[] = {6,0,0};
		up[] = {0,6,0};
		dir[] = {0,0,0};
		pos[] = {0,0,0};
	};
};
class Stage2
{
	texture = "a3\map_data\gdt_forest_pine_co.paa";
	uvSource = "tex";
	class uvTransform
	{
		aside[] = {6,0,0};
		up[] = {0,6,0};
		dir[] = {0,0,0};
		pos[] = {0,0,0};
	};
};