Posts : 40 Upvotes: : 0 Join date : 2010-11-29 Age : 27 Location : Not where you think I am
Subject: Advanced Guide To Adventures Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:51 am
Banner made by Delta137.
I have decided to make this thread becuase a lot of Spore players are not taking full advantage of the adventure editor. I hope that this thread will help players, even the ones that are "good" in the adventure editor, get a better understanding of it, and what it can do.
Press Crtl+F and type in the code to find the help you need.
This guide contains links to other Spororum threads that I have found useful for my adventure making. There might be a few links in this thread that lead you to unofficial EA sites, I try to keep links to EA official sites only.
Beginning T1
Basic controls:
Sizing an object: Hold Shift down while scrolling over the object. Moving an object up and down: Hold Crtl and drag the object. Moving an object at the same height: Hold Shift while dragging the object. Spinning an object: hold Tab to get more spinning options.
Maxis tutorials:
Basic Adventure Creation:
Intermediate Adventure Creation:
Advanced Adventure Creation:
Terraforming in Galactic Adventures:
Player tutorials and helpful threads:
It's a check list: Click
Tips T2 Player Tips:
AapBurger
Quote :
don't rush things! When you want to make a really good adventure you need more then a couple of hours!
Krakenmk
Quote :
1) Create a 'test' planet/adventure. Use this as a location where you can try out your ideas, experiment with different effects and settings, and to practice & improve your skills at working with & manipulating the editor. Also, try not to get too discouraged when constructing complex buildings in the adventure editor. The GA editor controls take some getting used to, but it does get easier the more you practice. Remember to use 'tab' for rotating building set pieces and 'ctrl' to raise or sink parts into the ground. Larger buildings and complexes may require a lot of adjusting and re-aligning in order to get all of the parts to fit together relatively well... esp when having to deal with the natural curvature of the planet. But if you stick with it, you can succeed at constructing good indoor/outdoor environs from modular sets. It all just takes time, patience and the willingness to go back and do any necessary tweaking until you get everything correctly positioned.
2) Just like in Spore, when it comes to creating in GA, 'test drive' is your friend!!! Can never say it enough. When you create an adventure, be sure to test drive it with one or more captains before you share. Matt (Kraken "M") was playing GA missions today, and ran into several that were terrible--not because the concepts were 'bad', but because someone threw them together and shared presumably without test driving. (In one, the stairs and other structures were so far out of scale with the captain, that even with jump and flight abilities, the captain got stuck/was unable to ascend them.) Just 'cause an adventure environ you created 'looks' the way you wanted, does not mean it is going to be 'playable'. So please, please use 'test drive' to make certain that your world can indeed be navigated & your adventure played out.
DVDmaster
Quote :
When you test your adventure, do it with multiple captains. Can you complete the adventure with a captain that doesn't have jump or flight? Can you complete the adventure with a captain that only has 1 weapon captain part?
SpacemanStrife
Quote :
Avoid trial-and-error gameplay if failure results in the captain's immediate death. This includes teleporters that lead you unexpectedly into a pool of lava or a pile of Epics, or taking a leap of faith off a giant cliff where you can't see anything below you.
Trial-and-error in itself can be really frustrating for some players, and if they die and have to restart a long mission simply because they made a wrong guess, there's a good chance they'll click the thumbs down button when they rate your adventure. So to make a long tip short: If you have trial-and-error in your adventure, don't punish the player too much for guessing incorrectly.
jrtroopa64
Quote :
Don't have the main part of the adventure near the north or south poles because it really distorts the mini-map.
Give a little bit of freedom to the person playing it. Give them the chance to ally some creatures if they are having trouble. Don't cruelly murder the people new to the game.
obBLACKHAND
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When creating buildings, make sure to scale them to the right size. Most people don't live in 40ft houses with 20ft doors.
LordTaalik
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Try to add an environment to the adventures. For instance, include houses, people strolling around, etc.; they have nothing to do with the goals, but they help set a scene. It can make the difference between an enjoyable adventure and an ugly one.
Pelicanthor
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Don't do what the adventure editor can do, do what it can't do
Firesoul135
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If you make an adventure that is really hard, and couldn't be completed by someone with lesser weapons. You may want to say in the description that the adventure requires a captain that has alot of "Fire power" or whatever word you fancy
Tyrron
Quote :
One trick to get your adventure played is to have a really cool snapshot as your cover. I have seen some god awful adventures that are popular solely because of the snapshot.
Tyrron
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If there's a way to improve your adventure, but you think it'll be too big of a hassle, trust me, you should do it, People will complain about it, and a version 2 or 3 or greater of a mission is often ignored.
Alexzy
Quote :
Whenever you want to make good sountrack, try twisting the handle to change the tempo, this will make certain soundtrack something completely different. Also, sometimes, if you want to make an even interior, try using vehicle editors, but the drawback is that it has to be a gate.
For more tips check out Daunstopable1's forum thread: Click
Tricks T3 Tricks made by players:
How To Make Sliding Doors: by pelicanthor
Quote :
1: Make your door in the sea or land vehicle editor. 2: Place the vehicle on your planet. 3: Set the doors to "move to" on one task and "idle" on the next. 4: Go to test play and look at the doors! You can see this in action when you play Spice Flyer.
How To Get Creatures To Hold Things The Way You Want Them To: by pelicanthor
Quote :
1: Make a creature (DON'T OUTFIT THE CREATURE YET!). 2: Place the creature in your adventure and have it pick up and object thats infront of it. 3: Look at how the creature holds the object. 4: Go back in the editor and tweak the hands. 5: Repeat until the creature holds the object the way you want. 6: After the creature's hands are adjusted the way you want you can outfit it. You can see this trick in action when you play Zebelethan.
How To Bring A Creature From The Outfitter Back Into The Creature Editor: by pelicanthor
Quote :
1: Go into the adventure editor. 2: Go to the Sporepedia. 3: Set the filter to all creatures only. 4: Find the desired creation. 5: The creature should have the option to edit or outfit. 6: Select the edit and you will be brought into the creature editor with outfit parts on your creature. 7: Remove the outfiter parts so you can save (If you have the force save mod you do not need to do this step). 8: Dont forget to credit the creator of the creation you took (if you took one). This trick is handy for taking a creatures body and editing it, and placing parts better.
Glass Floor
Quote :
1: Take a jump pad 2: Turn it invisible 3: Flip it up side down 4: Test it out
How To Set A Style Fillter To Your Adventure: by Maxis
Quote :
1. Open your adventure in edit mode 2. Open the cheat console by pressing CTRL SHFT C 3. Type in adventureLook followed by a filtername (listed below). I.E. for sepia, type in "adventureLook -sepia" 4. Check it out in play mode, and if you like it, save and publish.
To reference the filter list in your game, type "help adventureLook" into the cheat console to list all filters.
More Complexity/Auto Sliding Doors/No fall through floor: by Groxkillerhelp
Quote :
A: If you want to make a very detailed adventure, but the complexity meter might kill your idea,try making static objects-things the player won't blow up/examine/give something to- into blue gates. Blue gates cost half the complexity as the building/object you disguise them as,saving a huge amount of complexity. Take my newest adventure,for example:
It is very well detailed,yet the complexity meter is nowhere near full,thanks to the blue-gate trick.
B:Sometimess your creatures/captain can fall into buildings. This is a glitch with the building's load time. To fix it simply place an upside down jump pad all on the surface of the walking area, and set them to invisible. Now you can walk on it without issues!
C: I found out a neat way to make moving doors,look:
How to make doors that open in 1 act
Click for video!
1- You can't get Advanced AI on vechiles,but you CAN make them follow a creature with Advanced settings. In short,the creatures are set to:
Wander radias is set to the lowest possible,it prevents them from animating(and going out of sync with each other) though sometimes it still happens. They MUST walk in a straight line in the exact opposite of the doors or the doors will not open like doors.
2- The doors themselves are actually vechiles,as mentioned above. They are flat,though they do,unfourtunetly,float. There are multiple ways to go around fixing that. one is to do #3,another is to make a pit in the ground so it seems it's not floating.
3- In this example I used blue gates disguised as buildings(as actual buildings would get nowhere near the doors) and made them float so that you don't see the doors float.
I also recently figured out that if you make two vehicles small in the EDITOR,then place them together in the adventure very close to each other,then edit them in the vehicle editor,you can make them as large as you want without them being too close to each other. As in,they can overlap each other but they aren't "conflicting" with each other and turning red.
More Plants: by MobsterMania
Quote :
If you want to make good bush or plants or just any vegetation without using so much complexity, take a tree (disguise it as a gate) that has very thick leaves. After that, place it in the adventure and make it the largest it can be.
Then, use the Crtl key to dig it in the ground. Keep putting it in the ground until on the huge bush of leaves appear. And there you have it!
Better Idle: by DVDMaster
Quote :
When an NPC does an idle animation it picks from about half dozen different animation sequences and does that animation sequence to completion. Only at the end of the sequence does it evaluate it's AI rules to determine what to do next. Each of the different idle stances (angry, neutral, dance, etc.) has at least one long animation sequence (over 10 seconds). This can introduce timing delays. Follow self has a very short animation sequence (it sways back and forth) and can be interrupted quickly.
When timing is more important than animation (like when I use messengers), I pick follow self instead of a idle.
Better Indoors: by Viticide
Quote :
Buildings block a player's camera and an NPC's line of sight whereas disguised gates do not. To minimize complexity for doing indoor structures but still prevent cameras passing through the walls, etc., or enemies seeing the player when they shouldn't, use actual buildings for walls and ceilings. Used disguised gates for other objects and floors. A player's camera is typically aligned behind or above them, not below them, meanwhile other objects cause camera positioning problems if the camera cannot pass through them.
Creature Gates: by ghostofillusion
Quote :
1.) Select your Blue Gate. 2.) Select "Disguised". A list of buildings and vehicles should appear from the Sporepedia. 3.) Click "Edit" on any building (it doesn't have to be yours, this is just to go into the building editor). 4.) Once you're in the building editor or vehicle editor (doesn't matter), click the Sporepedia button on the bottom. 5.) Select the button on the top that looks like a lined paper to show all creations. You can now select creatures. 6.) Select the creature you would like to use and click "Edit" to enter the Creature Editor or the Outfitter. 7.) Click the check-mark. 8.) Success!
Costume Music/Sounds: by ghostofillusion
Quote :
1.) In the Editor, go to Audio (next to Gameplay Objects). 2.) Select which Music track you want (doesn't really matter here). 3.) Place it in. 4.) You should see 2 arrows and a ring around where you placed it. The top arrow makes it louder. The other arrow increases its radius. 5.) Turn the ring (mentioned earlier) around. Counter-clockwise to slow the track down and clockwise to speed it up. 6.) Repeat.
Grounded Trucks: by RubbishyUsername
Quote :
1. Create your vehicle prop. 2. Add tiny wheels to the bottom of the vehicle. These can be hidden inside its body. 3. Use and play!
Getting vehicles on buildings: by Embroth
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Ever wanted to build a railroad track or a bridge with moving vehicles on them? It's impossible as long as you use buildings, because vehicles avoid them.
The solution is simple: Disguise a gate as e.g. the railroad track.
For more detailed information, play this.
Here you can see how to build the track/street correctly (at the beginnig):
It's important that the first piece of the track is higher than the rest, otherwise the vehicle will fall to the ground.
Randomizing a player landing point: by pelicanthor
Quote :
1: place a teleporter 2: press alt to copy the teleporter in the EXACT same location 3: spread the orange teleporters to the locations you desire
More then one planet in a single GA: by Jimonkey21
Quote :
First, make the first enviroment however and where ever you'd like
Second, Go to a different spot and raise or lower the Terrain so that it is different than the first
Third, Now that it is a different level you can make the ground a different color so you can make a completely different enviroment
Fourth, Make sure that you put borders around each enviroment (Ex. Mountains, Hills, fences, rocks) so when people are playing they can't see the other enviroments
Fifth, Repeat until you have all the enviroments you want
This adventure displays how I made a Space Ship, Icy Planet, Desert Planet, and Tropical Island all in one adventure.
Xhodo Civil War-Part 2
If you don't want to play an adventure you don't know the story too, Just take a look in the editor or play Part-1 also
Better Night Time Adventures by: TheBuzzard
Quote :
You've probably noticed that if you set the time of day to night there is no noticeable difference to lighting - you can still see as far ahead and as clearly as you could during a daytime adventure. But there is a way of changing this.
1 - Set the time to midday. Sounds strange, but trust me, this is how you do it.
2 - I haven't confirmed it, but I think it works better if the temperature is on the cold side of the scale.
3 - Set the atmosphere to the densest setting posible and colour it black.
4 - If you look up at the sun, it should appaer to be a large, bright moon-like object instead of a star. If it doesn't, lower the temperature (hotter planets tend to have slightly redder skies and may ruin the effect)
5 - It is important to make sure the time is set to midday. If it's set to midnight or whatever the atmosphere looks a though its on the thinest setting and then the original problem this tries to solve comes running back.
6 - The skies should now be dark and your visiblility greatly reduced. If you still want background stars to visible, use the glitter sphere effect.
Dog Fights by: tarantuloc
Quote :
I've noticed that when I set up a dogfight, the fighters stop and descend before attacking. To fix this:
1) Take your fighter and add a small, round plat form to the dorsal side of it. 2) Make a creature turret. It really doesn't matter what it looks like. It could even work as a guy standing there. :P 3) Place the turret on the round platform and set its AI to shoot (It's important not to set it to attack, or else it will jump of the fighter) the desired target. Also make sure it's stationary. 4) Put the plane in a looping patrol, and set its AI to mindless. If its AI is aggressive, then it will induce the problem that this is supposed to fix.
There are a couple bugs in this, and I can't find a way to make the plane and the turret respawn at the same time and place. But other than that, it works fine. :P
You can see a demonstration of this here.
De-buging T4 This is the hardest part of a complex adventure that is full of creatures with advanced behaviors and/or is putting the physics engine to the limits.
Here is a thread that explains how a creature's sight is affected by buildings and objects: Click
Advanced behavior help: [url=Guide http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/41487.page]FAQ/Master GA Editor Help Thread and Advanced AI[/url]
Here is a thread that explains the complexity of an adventure: Click (remember, that if an adventure gets too complex, creatures will start to fall through floors when the adventure is loading. See below for more infomation.)
The order of loading:
Through adventure creating, I have found (somewhat), the order that elements of an adventure load. Here's the order I have found so far:
1: Physics and planet (approx same load time) 2: Creatures 3: Gameplay objects and fixed objects 4: Buildings
I am not sure where the vehicles place yet.
Remember this chart! This chart can help you if your adventure gets complex. For example, if you place a creature on a building in a complex adventure, the adventure will load in the order of the chart; therefore, after the physics and planet load the creature will load and fall to the ground before the building loads. This is not confirmed, it is just what I have found.
Getting Your Adventure Played T5
After you make your adventure you will probably want it to get plays and comments. This section will help you do just that!
Make a video: Making a youtube video of your adventure can be very helpful, there are also threads that support youtube advertising and let you post your ads there.
Here is a thread that helps you post adventure videos and pictures: Click.
Here are some videos that advertise user made adventures:
Post Videos of Your Galactic Adventure Missions: ClickHere is a thread that will make video trailers of your adventures: Click
Making a strategy guide: If you post an adventure that is hard, you may want to post a Thread of your adventure strategy guides, make sure you have only one thread that includes all your adventure guides and adventures (I would hate to see you flooding the forums with adventure guides). The guide could either be a video, text file, or both.
[Made a guide? Post it here!]
Links on your sig: Putting links on your forum sig is a good way for other players to see your adventures. You could put a link to one adventure or you could put a link to a thread that contains your adventures and guides.
There are a few forum threads that will review adventures made by other players, these reviews can be helpful to understand any glitches that might be hiding in your game. I will do reviews on this thread by request.
Open captain adventures get more plays!
Q&A T6
Quote :
Q: Is there anyway to "destroy" a fixed object? A:Fixed objects can "go away" if the they are gathered as part of a collect goal (collect XX coins).
Fixed objects can also "go away" if you program an NPC to "give object to static object (building or other fixed object)". Try the following AI: pickup stick always give stick to nest wander always and then put a re-spawn time on the sticks.
Feel free to ask any questions.
MaxisCactus's FAQ
End T8 Copy this to your sig to support the thread:
I would love to continue expanding this guide so more players will find it useful. Please help me continue this guide by:
Asking questions
Sharing your own tips and tricks
Point out any missing parts of the guide
Making an adventure and guide thread of your adventures
Making youtube video ads for your adventures
Making a sig for this thread
visiting the guide
And making adventures
byball9 Purple spice
Posts : 601 Upvotes: : 1 Join date : 2010-06-30 Age : 1928 Location : It's on a need-to-know basis, and you probably don't want to know
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:54 am
wOW.. quite an amazing collection. Will reference it if I ever need help!
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:35 am
Woah. This guide is amazing Peli! I will definitely use this guide to my advantage..
Pintoz Moderator
Posts : 2485 Upvotes: : 4 Join date : 2010-06-19 Age : 27 Location : Everywhere, nowhere.
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:46 pm
I checked this out at the sporum first...
So i know this thread will help.
Mitchz95 Purple spice
Posts : 748 Upvotes: : 10 Join date : 2010-06-23 Age : 29 Location : Depends on where I am at the moment.
Subject: Better Nighttime Adventures? Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:34 pm
The "Better Nighttime Adventures" tip doesn't work! Sure it makes the sun look like a moon (or at least a blue star), but the sky just looks purple.
Last edited by Mitchz95 on Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:44 am; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : Adding "or at least a blue star".)
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:56 pm
I would like to ask everyone that if you're going to add one of the banners to your sig, please use the smaller one... we don't want people's sigs taking up too much room.
Dark_Plague Bronze Spice
Posts : 1630 Upvotes: : 4 Join date : 2010-08-27 Age : 24 Location : Canada, Somewhere freezing my ass
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:42 pm
These are great tips Thor! I plan on using the one with the vehicle and buildings.
Lazernugget Bronze Spice
Posts : 1969 Upvotes: : 6 Join date : 2010-09-18 Age : 23 Location : At the hadron colider poking antimatter with a rod.
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:52 pm
I love these tips! Thanks!
Drew Admin
Posts : 1494 Upvotes: : 20 Join date : 2010-12-11 Age : 28 Location : Probably inside you
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:09 am
Good move posting this here.
Pintoz Moderator
Posts : 2485 Upvotes: : 4 Join date : 2010-06-19 Age : 27 Location : Everywhere, nowhere.
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:04 am
Drew980 wrote:
Good move posting this here.
Yes indeed...
Drew Admin
Posts : 1494 Upvotes: : 20 Join date : 2010-12-11 Age : 28 Location : Probably inside you
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:40 am
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:51 pm
oddcreator97 wrote:
Sorry guys... I know I am a complete noob for this, but how do you share adventures to the GAC?
Well, find the adventure in the Sporepedia and copy the web address at the top. Is that what you where wondering? What do you mean by sharing?
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:15 pm
oddcreator97 wrote:
Sorry guys... I know I am a complete noob for this, but how do you share adventures to the GAC?
Well, first, you'll have to find your adventure on the online sporepedia. Easy, just go to "My Creations". Once you've clicked on it and you can see the big PNG for your adventure, then copy the URL from the top. Finally, paste it somewhere in GAC. You have to make sure it's in an appropriate section, so maybe try going to the Feedback section and making a new thread to advertise your adventure. Or maybe you can find a thread where you can share your adventure. Browse the forum and find the best place to put it.
Drew Admin
Posts : 1494 Upvotes: : 20 Join date : 2010-12-11 Age : 28 Location : Probably inside you
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:13 pm
SugarRush99 wrote:
But at 0:38, that scenery is beautiful!
Indeed.
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:28 am
I'm not sure if this trick is up there or not, but here's something very useful that saves time and keeps people from stealing props: If you want to make a stone tunnel that looks realistic, all you gotta do is this: Take the "Obelisk" part from the static objects and place it so that the captain can walk through the hole. Place a couple of these together and you have an instant tunnel.
Demagol
Posts : 1 Upvotes: : 0 Join date : 2010-10-13
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:23 pm
Great thread, lots of useful stuff.
Mitchz95 Purple spice
Posts : 748 Upvotes: : 10 Join date : 2010-06-23 Age : 29 Location : Depends on where I am at the moment.
Subject: Marking a General Area Sun Jan 30, 2011 12:36 am
Here's one. If you want the player to move to a general area, such as a park, take a Tech Pad, name it "the park", put it on the ground right at the entrance to the park, and lower it just enough that it disappears into the ground. I use this in my Adventures all the time.
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Jan 30, 2011 2:21 am
So true, Mitch. I use that all the time too, except I use a rock instead of a tech pad. One time I made a target in the building editor and used that, until I found out that I can use anything.
However, if you're going into an area where the door will close behind you, then you'll need to put the target object a little further inside the area, so your captains doesn't get stuck in the door.
Dymblade Blue Spice
Posts : 71 Upvotes: : 0 Join date : 2010-10-17 Location : Good question.....
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Feb 06, 2011 3:13 pm
I have a great idea for an adventure but I need to know how to stop a creature respawning once you have killed it but yet make it return once you have left the area (using a teleporter) but by using no acts in the process. Plz tell me someone here has an answer.
Gelatino95 Silver Spice
Posts : 3501 Upvotes: : 9 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 28 Location : Dinosaur Planet
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Feb 06, 2011 5:47 pm
Dymblade wrote:
I have a great idea for an adventure but I need to know how to stop a creature respawning once you have killed it but yet make it return once you have left the area (using a teleporter) but by using no acts in the process. Plz tell me someone here has an answer.
I assume this "area" is going to be a room. In that case, make your room, and put some teleporters outside the room so that the captain can't see them. Put some creatures outside the room next to the teleporters. Set their behavior to "Move to when not aware of Captain" or something along those lines. Set the "move to" onto the teleporter. Finally, adjust the awareness so that it covers the whole room, but not outside the room.
That's just theoretical, since I've never used a technique like that. But you can always try.
Dymblade Blue Spice
Posts : 71 Upvotes: : 0 Join date : 2010-10-17 Location : Good question.....
Subject: Re: Advanced Guide To Adventures Sun Feb 06, 2011 6:22 pm