Map Ambience Questions.

[Epifire]

Hey guys! I'd been going over the environment in my new map and I'm still not content with what I've got in it. Well basically I really hate how stale my map is and while I wanna setup the official layout yet, I also wanted to set some goals after I accomplish that. Since most my knowledge is tied up in the modeling specifics, there are a rather large amount of things that evade my understanding. To make it more clear I have ideas but not much to go on for executing them. Ideas in question are...

Neutral Droid Faction: Fairly simple in concept, as I wanted to make some droids that patrol go around the map and check things out (repairing stuff probably). Since it would be a repulsorlift powered droid I could probably just model it out and give it recon droid specifics for how they'd move around (maybe some idle/movement animations too).

Now the big issue is that I know nothing about adding or editing in an additional faction. I thought I recall basic (non-hostile) NPCs roaming maps before, and basically all I'd be doing is insert a a droid mesh with hovervehicle properties. Since it wouldn't walk it wouldn't need bones or complex weights/rigging. Either way I have no clear idea on how that'd work but I think it's possible. If so, does anyone have any good suggestions on that note?

- - - But wait, there's more!

Additional Animated Props: Fairly static in nature besides a basic active animation, buuuut I've never put an animation into BF1. I've read over some dated and rather sketchy details on how it all works but I think it's simpler than I'm making it out to be. I mainly wanted to just have some reciprocating equipment, such as mining/ore processing machinery. It would be one animation that would loop, but would also have a sound accompanying it. I think this is actually the easier map improvement as when I could figure out scope of it. Once figured out I'd just make about three props that would kinda add some ambient motion to the environment. So I pretty much just need a guide on how to make an animation. Most my stuff I need to know is XSI specific things but ones that can comply with Ande's tools which I'm using.

If I could figure at least one of these out, or both! It would be the last big thing I'd have to get out of the way. Most my work at this point is just working on extra detail models and setting the final layout. So mostly art specific.

[Led]

There is a LUA command for neutral units.  You can look at the LUA for tatooine (map with cantina) to see how jawa are set up.  You can also look in the big list of lua commands in the tutorial section and look for the section on how to add multiple allied and non-allied teams.

For animated props with sound, I suggest you look at Jabba's palace at the tied up droid that screams.  It has the sound effect region in the map.

[Unit 33]

For animated props with sound, I suggest you look at Jabba's palace at the tied up droid that screams.  It has the sound effect region in the map.

I think sound has a huge factor in giving an atmosphere to a map. Even a looped wind effect would be nice compared to the deathly stillness that pretty much all SWBF maps have.

[Epifire]

There is a LUA command for neutral units.  You can look at the LUA for tatooine (map with cantina) to see how jawa are set up.  You can also look in the big list of lua commands in the tutorial section and look for the section on how to add multiple allied and non-allied teams.

For animated props with sound, I suggest you look at Jabba's palace at the tied up droid that screams.  It has the sound effect region in the map.

I'll have to de-compile that and check it out. Last time I de-compiled the carbon freezing chamber animation. It didn't tell me a lot about how it was setup in XSI sadly. Does Gametoast or someplace have any tutorials or guides on setup/compile procedures? I crashed my game last time I tried an animation since I really don't know what are all the needed files for it to run correctly either. Like I said the stuff in XSI is mostly what I'm worried about. The ODF controlling the stuff I've looked over looked fairly self explanatory.

I'll try and do some searching myself for some more info, but if you or anyone else know of any resources I'd be very happy to know of them. 

[Sereja]

Perhaps, you need to start with my door animation tutorial:
http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?topic=5433.0
and continue with hover animation tutorial:
http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?topic=7145.0
I never try to make animated props yet, but I guess, it is the first step for exploration.

Hover locals, should have ClassLabel = "droid", and odf, mostly like recon droid. Still, I am not sure, if hover droids, may ever agree to be a pilots, and repair something...

The animated props, using Sound Effects, not Sound Regions, so they just need to have edited odf, and activated sound folder. Making sound regions, is still a one of the most biggest mystery, in SWBF1.