ToEE World Builder v1.7.5

ToEE World Builder version 1.7.5
A multi-purpose editor for Temple of Elemental Evil

ToEE World Builder is a unified editing environment for ToEE that allows modders to create bigger, better, and more complicated mods than before. It includes a lot of features, a lot of which were never seen before in publicly released ToEE tools.

Current version features are:
- Ability to create and edit MOB files (mobile objects). 95% of original MOBs should be loadable (about 10-15% of original ToEE NPC MOBs won't save back correctly - see note below. This is only true for original MOB files that were NOT created with ToEEWB. All MOBs created with ToEEWB will save and load 100% correctly).
- Ability to create and edit SEC files (sector data), thus modifying passability information for different map areas, creating and embedding static objects, etc.
- Ability to edit SVB (sector visibility blocking) and HSD (negative height system tile data) files.
- A visual sector viewer/painter with an ability to paint terrain elements (e.g. impassable areas, water, etc.)
- A path node generator to make walking in the new maps easier.
- A basic editor for sector lights.
- Ability to clean up existing SEC files (to remove existing lights and/or objects).
- An advanced 2D area graphics splitter/recombiner with support for partial recombining (for huge maps that like to eat memory)
- A DLL editor which allows to set up starting areas for every alignment, set the max PC count (thanks Dulcaoin!) and enable/disable the debug console output (thanks again Dulcaoin!)
- The prototype editor with ability to manage descriptions of objects.
- An area cleaner that allows to strip original game maps from various things (clipping, ground mesh, pathnodes, etc.) so that new maps can be easily derived from them.
- Support for external dialog and script editors (still basic).
- Extra tools such as ToEE Frontend v3.1 and the Editor's Assistant Script v5.1.
- More things that I forgot to list here.

NOTE: You'll need Microsoft .NET Framework v1.1 or newer for the program to work. Also, you'll need to copy protos.tab, description.mes and long_description.mes to the editor's folder.

IMPORTANT: Remember that the object editor and the sector editor act independently from each other! For example, if you edit a sector file, then switch to an object editor and embed an object into that sector file, you will have to reload the sector file in the sector editor for the changes to take effect!

I hope you enjoy the tool! Please post all questions, comments, and bug reports here!

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UPDATE 23 SEP 2005: ToEEWB v1.7 Patchlevel 3 is released Please redownload ToEEWB package. This version fixes a critical bug in 2D area splitter that caused splitting to be done incorrectly on certain large irregular maps (like Nulb).

UPDATE 29 SEP 2005: ToEEWB v1.7 Patchlevel 4 is released! This version adds the path node generator and a new tutorial for it ("The Art of Pathfinding"). Also, it incorporates the previously released standalone script to find out the sector location of a character into a new version of the Editor's Helper Script (now it's at v5.1). Also, it fixes certain minor bugs in text windows and message boxes, and adds a simple add-in system that will be useful later for plugging in various additional software into ToEEWB (like ToEE Script Generator, if it's ever going to be written). Please redownload the ToEEWB v1.7 package to get the latest version 1.7.4! Enjoy!

UPDATE 30 SEP 2005: TOEEWB v1.7 Patchlevel 5 is released! This version adds the "Tolerance" option to the path node generator which allows the modder to tweak the way links are generated (read more about it in whatsnew.txt and in the internal help: "Tolerance -> What is tolerance?" in the path node generator. If anyone is interested in this, please redownload ToEEWB.

UPDATE 2 OCT 2005: Editor's Helper Script updated to version 5.2! This version includes Cerulean's wonderful batch scripts for testing your modules. Version 5.2 is available for download as a separate attachment.
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Latest version and patches:

Download the latest version here (v1.7.656 Patchlevel 5)

THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO PATCHES AVAILABLE

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Supplementary files:

Download the Module Building Tutorial Supplement 1 (steps #1-23) here

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Thanks Agetian/dulcaoin looks like a great tool, but i'm not sure how to use it, I've made a copy of the NG vignette map (and numbered it 5120), I tried removing the .sec and .mob files (got rid of the murderous thief and cannoness y'day's body) but now I can run through the walls!

I have the original clipping files, I thought the clipping files tell the game where you can and can't go on the map, do I have to make new .sec files to tell the game where the walls are?

I'm sure that it works in the vignette, but when I remove the 4th .mob file and the 4th .sec file (the ones I found to be responsable for spawning the murderous thief and the body) most of the walls don't prevent travel through them, can I modify the original files to remove the offending items from the files?

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

@ Allyx: first of all, you can copy the original MOB and SEC files from the vignette map to the "Mobiles" and "Sectors" folders of your editor. That will allow the editor to detect what's inside these files (this way you can easily look up what each of the mobile objects does) - when you click "Open" in the object editor mode you'll see a list of mobile objects (it'll tell you the name and the coords). This way you don't have to delete anything blindly.

About sectors: you don't have to *remove* sector files, otherwise you WILL be able to walk through walls, since the sector passability information is stored in the SEC files, NOT the clipping files. Clipping files ONLY define where the actor's model should be clipped (not drawn) by walls and objects, they don't affect passability. So, if you want to delete all the objects from each of the sectors in order to clean it up (which is what you wanted to do , load each sector file into the sector editor ("Sectors" tab) and click "Delete all objects", then save. This will NOT affect walls/passability information. It will only clear all the trees, doors, etc. Unfortunately, you can't delete only one object from a sector file at this moment.
Basically, if you click "delete all objects" on that 4th sector file, you'll only delete static objects (including that body you were talking about, in case you are correct that it's spawned as a static object in that file), but you won't lose anything else (i.e. lights, passability information, etc.).

Also, right now the editor only works with its own folders "Mobiles" and "Sectors" (to prevent data corruption). Therefore, you'll need to copy all the SEC files from your map to the "Sectors" folder before the editor will "see" them. After you make all the modifications you want you'll have to copy the SEC file(s) back to the game.

By the way, everything I said above is true in case you want to add a new static object (tree, door, passage icon, etc.) to a sector file. However, the technique is going to be a little different: you have to copy the sector file you want to modify to the "Sectors" folder again (unless you want to create a new sector file, which *is* possible), and then create a new static object in the object editor (you can tell if it's a static object by its type: obj_t_scenery and obj_t_portal types represent static objects). Then, when you click "embed" the editor will try to detect the target sector file automatically. Click OK to save your object to the sector file. Then, copy the sector file back to the game.

Enjoy!
By the way, tell me if everything above is understandable. If you don't understand something, tell me what that is and I'll try to clarify it for you.

- Agetian

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Great work Agetian! Thanks!!! :dance:

Sorry Allyx, think I gave you some bad advice re that.

Ok I am gonna d/l this and play with it... then I will have about a million questions :gotmyatte

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Thanks Agetian, worked a charm, now I need some doors, and some citizens.

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

@ Everyone: there is a known issue with the containers and NPCs at this moment. It's not a bug technically, but it can lead to the data corruption in a mob file, so PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION CAREFULLY:

While adding and removing items to/from NPC or container inventories, don't forget to SAVE THE CONTAINER OR THE NPC ITSELF (press the "Save" button). Otherwise your container object may get corrupt and you will no longer be able to load it into the editor. For example, if you remove an item from a NPC inventory, but forget to save the NPC itself, your NPC object will become corrupt.

This error occurs because of the overcomplicated scheme of saving/loading multiple mobile objects that deal with the container and the individual inventory items themselves. I'm going to rework this scheme somehow later whenever I have time to go on developing ToEEWB.

Thanks for reading.
- Agetian

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

This must be a realy stupid question, but i'm having difficulty find ing the location co-ordinates for my lead character.

I open the console and type...

from utilities import *
location_to_axis (game.party[0].location)

and nothing happens? No location, no nothing. What did I do wrong?

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

@ Allyx: strange, you seem to be doing things right. This happened to me only once when I enabled the debug console output (the game didn't show the coords anymore for some reason). Disabling the debug console output or reverting to the original temple.dll may help if that's the case... If you didn't enable the debug output, I seriously don't know (I just tested it and it worked ok for me, just as always)

- Agetian

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Thanks Agetian I got the co-ordinates on my map for the doors. Let me know if I got this right, to make a door I click on the objects tab to make a .mob file with the X/Yco-ordinates for the door on my map, click the scenery tab click the check box for teleporting and assign a number for jumppoint.mes. Add a new point in the file under the jump points tab with the map number and co-ordinates for the place I want to teleport to?

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

I don't really think that doors should be saved as a standalone .MOB file though. From what I remember, they are saved as static objects in sector files (using the "Embed" button).

You are right about teleporting. In the original game they usually place special "passage icons" (you can find a bunch of them - for ladders, doors, etc.) and associate the teleport destination with a passage icon. However, I think you can associate the teleport destination with a door itself (then you'll teleport as soon as you click on the door).

- Agetian

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Could you post a short tutorial on making door icons then 'cause I think i'm a bit lost. I want to make a door icon on my new map (a copy of the Neutral good vignette [Verbobonc]) to another new map (a copy of the lawful vignette[the mayor of Vebobonc's office?]). So I want a door to take me from map 5120,491,545 to map 5121,509,484 (and another to go back to map 5120).

I should embed an object into the .sec file? would that be a door or would I have to do something else with it?

I'm so confused.

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

:imwithstu I came online to ask for exactly the same thing. My game only runs on 98 and of course my Net 1.1 thing is on XP so i have to change OSes to fiddle with things... :roll: So i have not had as good a fiddle with it as I would like, but I am already pretty lost.

May I say though that what I have seen so far is simply spectacular.

[Edit: might mention, when I went to embed a door inside a little house that i am using for my new map, the program anticipated me and picked what .sec file to put it in, very impressive :clap: ]

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

@ Allyx and everyone: I made a small tutorial on how to make a door passage icon that would allow you to move from one area to another. It was added to the topmost post (where the download is) so it's easier to locate.

@ Shiningted: I'm really glad that you enjoy the tool so far! I'm really sorry that you have to switch OSes to playtest/edit... that's weird that you play on 98 though (the game runs flawlessly on XP for me and for everyone I know...). By the way, I've also seen one of my friends install .NET on Win98 (he had to install a lot of updates before it would allow to install .NET - all service packs, IE 6.0, and whatnot). I'm not sure if it was .NET v1.0 or v1.1 though.

- Agetian

 

Re: ToEE World Builder Public Beta 1

Agetian, the tutorial appears to be empty, could you upload it again please?

[EDIT] Oh you did! Thanks.