Help

[Dan Nuttall]

Help!!

I'm havin' a problem with my Tomb Raider level editor. Well, the actual editing bit seems to be going fine and I'm starting to get the hang of things.

BUT!

I decided that I wanted to test the level so far, you know check to see if everything I've set up to happen will happen. I placed Lara at the earliest stage of my level and saved, outputted the wad and saved again. I then went to the level convertor to convert my level to a playable one but it now comes the problem. It seems that the level convertor doesn't like converting my levels, it'll do the ones that came with the program but not mine. It gets as far as Room Tex Infos and then I get an error message saying Tom2PC has caused an error in KERNEL32.dll and that it's going to close down. What's going on???

My WAD file, WAS file and texture file are all saved with my PRJ file and all have the same name. What is it that I've not done? As the program will convert the Core example levels it would suggest that the convertor isn't "broken". So why is it stumbling at my level? What is the full and correct proceedure for preparing a level for playable transformation?

[DaleR]

Unlike most Windows software that's sold, the Level Editor is a "bonus" piece of software and, as mentioned in their literature, it's not supported by them. It's pretty much a programmers tool that wasn't originally meant to be sold. Notice that unlike almost all Windows programs, there isn't even a "Help" on the menu bar. I've found that the same thing holds true when the program encounters a problem. It simply blows up and it's up to you to figure out what when wrong. I've seen a couple of posts on the Internet by the author but he's pretty much out of the picture. This is my best conclusion.

Dealing with your problem, my guess is that you've made a simple mistake in something when you designed your level. It can be something as simple as a ceiling too low or a floor too high. You're most likely asking the editor to do something that it chokes on. What I suggest you do is keep what you have, but start a parallel level (a new level) and recreate the one you built one step at a time. Only do a few things and then test it. If it works, add a few more things and test it. Eventually you'll find what it doesn't like and you'll say, "I should have known better!"

I'd be willing to take a look at what you've done if you want to send things my way. It can be real frustrating to use a program that has no support or even help files.

[Dan Nuttall]

I tried your suggestion and made one room. 10 clicks high and 8x8. I put Lara in one corner and a finish trigger in the other. I tried to convert it and the same thing happened. I'm just getting confused as to why it's my levels that are being kicked out, I've tried the level converter with all the other levels that Core gives you and it does them fine. You don't think that it's got to do with Windows Millenium do you?

Do you have any more suggestions as I'm busting to see my level in action.

[DaleR]

Don't get upset... http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/forums/mad.gif ... I'm still working on it as well as a ton of other stuff.

Here's what I need to know next...
(1) Did you try to create a new level with a new name and new wad name, etc.???
(2) I need to know the exact steps that you've done from start to finish. Be explicit. Don't leave anything out. If you don't want to tie up the forum with all of this, you can email it to me. We'll post the solution later for anyone following this.

p.s. If it's not in what you've done, then we'll look into something being wrong with the other stuff.

[Dan Nuttall]

No No, you misunderstand me. I'm not getting upset and I appreciate that your busy. I was just saying that it didn't work, Sorry, no offence intended. I've emailed you the details of my level and a couple of diagrams to demonstrate some of the information. If I haven't provided you with enough info let me know.

Cheers

[David Wortley]

When you try and create a level from a completly blank base and export it as a WAD, you don't get all ten files needed for the convertor to work. You need to start off with a level already made, delete all the rooms, and then work from there. Then export the WAD and you will be able to install your level.

I have also conquered the problem of adding levels easily. I'll put that in another post.

Hope this explains a few things

David Wortley AKA Joel Kay

[This message has been edited by tlr online (edited 12 January 2001).]

[DaleR]

This Topic is continued above in another Topic by Nuttall.

Just mentioning the reply by Dave, there are two different ways to create a new level. One is quite simple because you use an existing leve. The second way, if done properly, gets a lot more involved. I'll be posting detailed instructions for doing it both ways. There are advantages to to both ways. I've been working with Dan through email a bit, and most of his problems are caused because he hasn't yet created a new level properly. As soon as we get a good foundation under his new level, it'll probably not crumble so quickly.
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