Andor's Trail

Moerit wrote:Hello Guys!
Because this is my first post i have to say: im really addicted to AT .

Hello and welcome to the forums !

Moerit wrote: But lets get back to topic.
I started playing around with Trail, then i hung a little bit more in it and now im on the way to do a new Quest and about 4-6 maps for it.

none of then is actually ready because the are some obstacles to get the Quest/map working. thats all i have to tell right now cause i dont want to spoil the quest

I guess you mean "Tiled", not "Trail", but I'm glad to hear we may have found a new content maker ! Actually, I started actively contributing by having an idea about a quest requiring 4-6 maps too... that was in end of August, and now, I almost don't play AT, I just play with the code and content editors !

If you want to share with the team without spoiling (I did the same), ask Scott (user sdevaney) by PM for membership to the developers group, so you have access to a team-private section.

Moerit wrote:
But ive got two Questions which might be answered in this thread:
1: How do you test your maps? Which Andorid Emulator do you use? i downloaded ADT Bundle but still dont understand why it isnt working...

This, in itself, is worth a thread or even a tutorial. I'll try to cover the basics of what I found out by experience these last weeks.

The ADT Bundle can be three things (wording changes here and there) :
- The full eclipse bundle, made of Eclipse, the ADT eclipse plugin, and the android SDK
- The eclipse plugin alone (in eclipse wording, they sometime call that bundles). In that case, go download the full eclipse ADT bundle.
- Android Studio, the new dev environment based on IntelliJ Idea instead of eclipse, also containing the android SDK. I think it's not mature enough, and I'm more familiar with Eclipse, so I can't help mush on this one.

In the Android SDK directory, you have a program called "SDK Manager". Using it, you should be able to install the "Intel x86 Atom System Image" for the latest SDK version. If you have an intel processor with virtualization extensions (Intel VT-X), you should also download the HAXM driver, in the "extras" section. Then, using the virtual device manager (there's a button in eclipse and android studio to launch it), you can create a new AVD using this x86 image. It is WAY FASTER than the ARM emulation on standard PCs. Expect around 5 to 10 times faster.

However, the cool way to do it even faster, is to hook any android device to debug. If you have an old phone, or can spend a few bucks to buy the cheapest android device you could find, even used, it is worth it (I'm using my old Galaxy Spica, one of the oldest and slowest devices out there).

Then, find the AndorsTrailApplication class, and set the variable DEVELOPMENT_DEBUGRESOURCES to true. Then dig a little in the resources files to edit the debug map to do a mapchange to one of yours, and to include yours in the resources loaded in debug mode (more on that would require a full tutorial, which I may write someday, but definitely not today).

Then, you should be good to go. If you have issues with the basic setup of your dev environment, I suggest you read Google's tutorials, and should you be blocked somewhere, you can PM me.

Moerit wrote: 2:Who would be kind enough to answer some questions about mapmaking? And yes, i already have read all tutorials.

I can certainly answer some, at least for the technical side. For someone experienced (to say the least) with AT mapmaking, PM Ian, he's the one who wrote the tutorials. He is THE reference, and can help you on the artistic side of it too. If it's about where you can get a spot in the AT world for your maps, consider talking to Tomcat, he is our world map master. Take this into account when map making (what trees to use, what ground, snowy, desert, forest, fields...).

I may give more useful indications if I knew a bit about your background (experience, in Development, Java, Android, Object-Oriented programming, System administration... all in all, what geek are you ? )

Guess I've said all I had to so far. Huge post. I'm exhausted....

If you read this far with no TL;DR, you just won a virtual thumb up already : =b

Zukero: You are AWESOME!

Moerit: Welcome to the team! I'll get in contact with SDevaney about getting you onto the Dev Group so you can have a good place to post ideas, thoughts, questions, etc.

I agree that Zukero is AWESOME!!

Actually he helps me getting my maps tested on my device...but thats another long story which i'll post later to share what problems i encounter and which solutions worked finally.

Thanks for your welcoming me Pyrizzle. Getting another place to discuss mapping things without spoiling the quest would be great - even that i only made the layout,a bit about questlog and concrete storyline right now. I'll surely have some Questions later on about the content editor (yesyes - i read the tutorial first...about 50 times enough?)

I dont have any great experience with programming (a bit HTML long time ago). I had liked to made maps in Starcraft:Broodwar but never done something in java.

Lol, I thought that I've already answered to the new posts but anyway here it is:

Well done Zukero! I really like your post!

@Moerit: It's awesome you want to create some maps and a quest! As Zukero suggested, feel free to PM me about any mapping related issues (and content editor).
But please don't ask me about java, I'm still learning it at school and wouldn't be much of a help. Luckily we've got Zukero who's very good at that.

Thanks guys for the praise.
Moerit's post count is only at 3, but we exchanged almost 10 PMs each, and finally got his environment working. I think he's gonna flood us with good stuff and pesky interesting questions.
Last issue was caused by me, and my bad habit of commiting too quick...

It gave me a good grasp at explaining how to setup a testing/dev environment, and I feel like writing a tutorial for it.. but I have code to do too...
I'll stick to code for now... just long enough to have all the features I wanted to write my quest as I wanted (even though it is likely to imply creating a whole scripting language and associated engine for AT).
So, you can expect a burst of documentation from me..... around Q2 2014....

If you go end up getting bit by the writing bug and decide to write up a guide send me a link when you are done. I'd love to read it

Have a great day Zukero, happy hunting.

Hey guys

Because my first project is getting a little bit more complex than i suggested at first i made some other maps.
Just to fill some empty space in the world map, this maps could be alligned south of wild6, wild9 and wild10, east of wild7 with only a few modifications on existing maps (The borders are marked with the golden flair).
What do you think of them?
I left some way to the south open - there could be another cave.
Actually i think about a little "collect some mushroom" Quest in the house.
I'm interested in hearing your feedback.

Do you have a map for inside the house?

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Also, you might already know but talk to Tomcat about possibly getting it put in, someone might already have that spot reserved. Although the maps do look similar to that general area and it seems that there would be more than a few spots it will fit into. Keep up the good work.

I abandoned my mapmaking for a while to learn/work with the content editor.

PK17 wrote:Do you have a map for inside the house?

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Also, you might already know but talk to Tomcat about possibly getting it put in, someone might already have that spot reserved. Although the maps do look similar to that general area and it seems that there would be more than a few spots it will fit into. Keep up the good work.

I abandoned my mapmaking for a while to learn/work with the content editor.

It does take a little time to get used to, that is for sure. =)

Maps inside the house - is it too large?:(didnt made the cellar yet)