Using Feature Placer?

[The Yak]

I'm trying to use feature placer to put some features on my map in progress. The wiki says I need to host my own game of Evolution RTS in a multiplayer lobby and start it with the featureplacer mod option, I've tried ZKL, SpringLobby, NOTALobby, but none of them seem to have this functionality. Anyone have any experience getting this tool to work?

[Silentwings]

Here's what I had to do, using Springlobby.

Download the latest evo (Springlobby can do it automagically if you try and enter an Evo autohost, or use springfiles).

Go to the 'singleplayer' tab in Springlobby, select Evo and the map of your choice. Add a NullAI as your opponent.

Within the singleplayer tab, go to the 'options' tab and change the game mode to 'feature placer'.

You'll need to use the non-multithreaded exe for Evo to run properly (at least, I did).

Press start and let the game load. Once Evo is running you'll have to disable the 'integral menu' widget because the number of features you can place won't fit into Evo's standard menu. I used the 'old BA layout' widget as a menu - that can handle any number of items.

Select the brown/orange looking thing and its build menu will contain all the features that it can build on the map. If the feature is reclaimable then it can reclaim them too.

Once you'ce placed all your features, use the 'feature dumper widget' to write them into a text file (forgot the name, but it tells you in the widget tooltip iirc).

For Mapconv: Inside that text file, there is a bit of padding (brackets and stuff) at the top and bottom that I removed (not sure if this was necessary or not) and then the individual lines in the middle section each correspond to a feature. Mapconv can interpret these lines and place the features on your map. You don't need the files for the features defs around to run mapconv (but ofc you do need them correctly placed inside the map when you try and use the map with spring).

[smoth]

For Mapconv: Inside that text file, there is a bit of padding (brackets and stuff) at the top and bottom that I removed (not sure if this was necessary or not) and then the individual lines in the middle section each correspond to a feature. Mapconv can interpret these lines and place the features on your map. You don't need the files for the features defs around to run mapconv (but ofc you do need them correctly placed inside the map when you try and use the map with spring).

The reason why brackets is that it is a lua for a gadget which can load features. Allowing you to do a special file in your map to say have alternate feature for evo should you want to use evorts features, evo never did it's own feature set but if it had, the support was there.

[The Yak]

Here's what I had to do, using Springlobby.
Within the singleplayer tab, go to the 'options' tab and change the game mode to 'feature placer'.

Didn't see that option for whatever reason, thanks for the guide. Another question, I've tried activating options with the flying sparkly tree-thing like rotate, jitter, and spread, but the features always look the same and are at the same orientation whenever I build them. Do these options not work or am I not using them right?

[smoth]

The feature jitter and spread commands were broken by some version of spring. Forb, did you ever patch this with the fix I did?

[Funkencool]

O cool I guess I never even brought it up but was wondering about those, do you by any chance know what last version they worked on was?
Also as a side note to the different feature sets, I'm doing that with my ssb remake. I plan on having a total of 4. A low/high end set for both dry and wet option (its up in the air, could all just be overkill), but its also super easy to implement.

[Silentwings]

The reason why brackets

Thanks I wondered about that.

Didn't see that option for whatever reason, thanks for the guide. Another question, I've tried activating options with the flying sparkly tree-thing like rotate, jitter, and spread, but the features always look the same and are at the same orientation whenever I build them. Do these options not work or am I not using them right?

In the 'singleplayer' tab, click the 'options' subtab and (with evo 4.1, at least) it's about 3/4 of the way down with default settings as 'skirmish'.

The random rotation didn't work for me either (didn't try jitter or spread) but you can use mapconv to do random feature rotations instead. Do 'mapconv.exe --help' and it will tell you how.

[smoth]

O cool I guess I never even brought it up but was wondering about those, do you by any chance know what last version they worked on was?

Last version of spring? No idea.

Also as a side note to the different feature sets, I'm doing that with my ssb remake. I plan on having a total of 4. A low/high end set for both dry and wet option (its up in the air, could all just be overkill), but its also super easy to implement.

low/high end... featureplacer and its support gadgets spawn features to 1 specific set, that is, it is synced so if you setup a map option to use high end/low end, all players would see the chosen set yes.

wet and dry are easy. I used to have all kinds of alternate feature set stuff but I stopped doing it.

[Forboding Angel]

The feature jitter and spread commands were broken by some version of spring. Forb, did you ever patch this with the fix I did?

No, by that point your version had changed so much that mine was no longer viable for just a simple upgrade. I would like to fix it, but I simply don't know how.

Gtalk message me?

It was never my intention to force downloading of evo to do this, but as featureplacer isn't in it's own archive and the discontinuation of Gundam was something I never foresaw, currently it is the only way.

[Silentwings]

Don't feel bad about forcing us to use evo The feature placer is really useful.

[The Yak]

Okay, (hopefully) one last question. Geovents are apart of the feature map right? Is there a way to place those with feature placer as well?

[Silentwings]

Yes, for example with mapconv use: {name = 'geovent', x = ?, z = ?, rot = "?"}

[smoth]

It was never my intention to force downloading of evo to do this, but as featureplacer isn't in it's own archive and the discontinuation of Gundam was something I never foresaw, currently it is the only way.

no biggie be happy something has it so people can use it. not telling WHERE I put the standalone version

[Forboding Angel]

Yes, for example with mapconv use: {name = 'geovent', x = ?, z = ?, rot = "?"}

When doing this, I generally use features that are totally out of place, like buildings and stuff, that way it is easy to find the line in the dump file with the location stuff already set.