Settlement Scene Making Guide

Users who are viewing this thread

wickedshot

Sergeant Knight
Guide to making your own custom settlement scenes:

Setup to be able to edit scenes

Enable Edit Mode:
1. Load up Mount&Blade preloader, choose the Configure option
2. Click the Advanced tab
3. Click the checkbox next to Enable Edit Mode
This will ensure that you're able to use Edit mode ingame (by pressing Ctrl-E at appropriate places)

Use Windowed Mode, you can either do this similar to enabling edit mode:
1. Load up Mount&Blade preloader, choose the Configure option
2. Click the Video tab
3. Click the checkbox next to Start Windowed
And that will ensure your game always starts in window mode, or you can simply press Alt-Enter while ingame.  Windowed mode is necessary to see the Edit Mode menus.


Editing Settlements

Go to one of the empty settlements and choose "Ride towards settlement"
This will open the scene associated with the current upgrade level of the settlement.  You can then use the scene edit mode (must have edit mode enabled through the M&B launcher and then press Ctrl-E while in the scene in game).  Remember to press Alt-Enter if you aren't in window mode yet (its required to see the scene edit tab in edit mode).
You can change the current upgrade levels of the settlement (and by doing so the current scene that "Ride towards settlement" will go to) by using the "Edit Settlement" option and then picking "Upgrade Military", "Degrade Military", "Upgrade Economy", or "Degrade Economy".  The settlement map icon will change (tho ManorVillage and Town look the same) so you can see which you are on, and you can check the message when you are at the settlement menu, as it will say "You have come upon the Camp of" with Camp being changed to the appropriate name.
Editing the scenes will edit the corresponding scene objects in the /Modules/CustomSettlements 0.V/SceneObj/ folder, all of which have the name "scn_custom_settlement_eXmY_Z.sco" where the X's are whatever economy level is, Y is the military level, and Z is the settlement number of that scene.

If you make a set (all 9 scenes) of these and upload them I'll try to incorporate them into the mod.
A set of scenes said:
There are nine scenes per settlement, they are as follows:
Camp (e0m0)
Manor (e0m1)
Castle (e0m2)
Village (e1m0)
ManorVillage (e1m1)
CastleVillage (e1m2)
Town (e2m0)
ManorTown (e2m1)
CastleTown (e2m2)

e0 is for Economy Level 0, e1 is for Economy Level1, m0 is for Military Level 0, etc.

To enable settlement menu cheats, use the "Camp" button on the world map to enable/disable the settlement scene cheats.

A helpful hint, I've found that a good way to do this is to start with the e0m0 scene, once finished I delete the old e0m1 and e1m0 scenes and make new e0m1 and e1m0 scenes from copies of the e0m0 scene i just finished, and then so on the whole way up.
Another good way might be to make the entire settlement at full military and economy levels and then use that for all scenes, but strip away all the things that shouldnt be there in the lower ones.

The default scenes for each empty settlement are random ones i picked out, but you can change them if you like.
To change the basic terrain used, go to the module_scene.py (alternatively you can edit the "scenes.txt" file in the custom settlements folder) file and change the giant number in the:
("custom_settlement_e0m0_Z",sf_generate,"none", "none", (0,0),(240,240),-0.5,"0x0000000026ac8bc30005b168000029fa000069ca00006f69",[],["settle_chest_1"], "outer_terrain_steppe"),
If you want to change the base terrain used, change the "outer_terrain_steppe" to the desired terrain type and use a new terrain code to replace the big "0x0000000026ac8bc30005b168000029fa000069ca00006f69" number (you can generate new codes with the Terrain button in the bottom left corner of the screen while in world map mode.

For all the "custom_settlement_eXmY_Z" scene entries to your new scene number (you can get these scene numbers from the terrain generator on the overland map in the bottom left corner).  Z is the settlement number in the list at the top of the eXmY scenes, the following lists the number Z associated with each settlement:


Adding Entrypoints

You can also add the entrypoints if you know where you want people to go (I've added some default [and horribly placed] entrypoints to the scenes, but I recommend deleting them and placing them yourself in more appropriate places).
To add an entrypoint ,click the drop-down menu (usually defaulted to "Scene Props", to the left of the "Add Object" button) and choose the option "Entrypoints" and then make sure the "Add Object" button is selected.
Note:  When adding entrypoints it will add the lowest non-existent number for the entrypoints number, excepting 0.  To make the 0 entrypoint you must specifically change the "Entry No:" to a 0.
Heres a list of what each entrypoint is for:
Entrypoint:
    0 player (0-2 should be near one of the corners of the map)
    1-2 two of the players companions
    3 outside settlement entrance
    4 inside settlement entrance, peasant elder
    5 weaponsmith (or 1 of players companion if still military level 0)
    6 armorer (or 1 of players companion if still military level 0)
    7 general merchant
    8 horse merchant (or 1 possible hero companion for you to hire if economy is level 1)
    9 mercenaries if economy level 1
    10-19 peasants walking points and homes
    20-29 guard positions for troops
    30-39 prisoners, 30-31 are at the stockpile of resources that the prisoners are gathering
    40 mounted troops start place for battles
    41-43 player and companions at stables for when you leave a building
    44-46 bandit camp / player start when luring enemies near settlement
    47-49 3 corners of patrol (0 is 4th corner), they should be very near the corners of the map
Diagram of a Good General Entrypoints Placement for a settlement scene area:

Legend said:
Black dots are single entrypoints, usually for the player, bandits, or visitors.
Blue dots are single entrypoints for guards.
Orange dots are single entrypoints for prisoners.
The aqua circle is for important people.
The green circle is for peasants.
The large light green ring is the settlement bounds.

Relative placement of entrypoints can be important too.  For instance:
-All 10-19 entrypoints should have line of sight with each other, so peasants walking from one point to another do not get stuck on walls and such
-All 30-39 entrypoints should have line of sight with each other, same as with peasants but for prisoners this time
-0-2 entrypoints should have line of sight with entrypoint 3, so that travellers (who appear at 0-2) can walk unhindered to 3.
-entrypoint 3 should have line of sight with entrypoint 4, so that when you ask a traveller to join your settlement they can walk unhindered to inside the settlement at entrypoint 4
-entrypoints 0-2, and 3,4, and 44-46 are locations where armies can start in battles, so those 3 groups of entrypoints should be somewhat distance from each group so that during battles the armies don't start right on top of each other.
-5-9 are for specific important people and generally should be near the town center or in appropriate places (like merchants in a market etc.)
-0-2 should be together near one corner of the area, and 47, 48, and 49 should be in the other 3 corners
-All entrypoints should be ground level (or if on a wall, the floor level on top of the wall)


Passages

Place a tavern in economic 2 scenes (and add a Passage at the door, with its "Menu Item No" set to 1)
Place a manor in military 1+ scenes (and add a Passage at the door, with its "Menu Item No" set to 2)
Place a castle in military 2 scenes (and add a Passage at the door, with its :Menu Item No" set to 3)
Place a prison in military 2+, economic 1+ scenes (and add a Passage at the door, with its "Menu Item No" set to 4)

The + after numbers means that level and all higher levels.
To make a passage, click the drop-down menu (usually defaulted to "Scene Props", to the left of the "Add Object" button) and choose the option "Passage" and then make sure the "Add Object" button is selected.  Then you can place a "Passage" item.  Note: these are invisible while not selected, so use the window above the "Add Object" button to select them if you've having trouble finding them.  When a passage is selected there's a 0 in the box for "Menu Item No:", this 0 is what you want to change for the manor doors and such listed above.


Special Props

About Banners, use banner_a for all your banner needs.  It will be changed to the appropriate banner.  Also, a convention for making it easier to find doors to buildings:  add 1 banner at the manor and prison door, and 2 banners at the castle door.  And put a "tavern_sign" near the tavern door.  And put some banner_a's at the gates to the settlement in Castle scenes.
Note: For banners, when you leave the scene and re-enter, the banner_a items you placed before will be replaced by empty items if your current player character doesn't have a banner yet or if they don't own the settlement you're working on.  To avoid placing a ton of extra banners, make sure your current character has their own banner when you go about editing scenes that require banners.  The easiest way to get a banner is to claim the settlement as your own, and then upgrade to a manor with the "Edit Settlement (Cheat)" menu option "Upgrade Military", then wait on the world map for a second or two and the banner selection should popup.
Also place 1 player_chest prop where you want the inventory spot to be, generally this should be in the center of town, somewhat visible, and in every outdoor settlement scene.  Note: the outdoor chest is independent of the manor and castle chests, so there should be an outdoor player_chest in m1 and m2 scenes as well.


Scene Additions said:
Village/Town
-Village/Town Square: Main area for peasants to walk around.
Manor
-Training dummies and archery targets.
ManorVillage
-Watchtower
ManorTown
-Wooden walls and defenses


AI Limiters are generally a bad idea for outside areas, as AI Limiters restrict the player when on a horse (it prevents the horse from moving through the limiter wall). 


AI meshes:

Use the "Edit AI mesh" button and then choose "Create AI Mesh"

This will place a grid of squares (Faces) all over the terrain.  These are where NPCs can walk.  You can select the Faces by right clicking them, then you can use the X,Y,Z,G,T keys and mouse to rotate and move them around.  You can also use the B (and B+X,Y,Z) key to change their size.  Press Delete to remove a selected face, and then the NPCs will know they can't walk there.

You can also use the Edges or Vertices (corners) edit the shapes of things.  Personally I find it easier to use Faces.

AI meshes work wonders.  Check the following for a more indepth tutorial:

AI Mesh Tutorial (by Mortus)

1 - Custow (wickedshot)
2 - Ettlesen (wickedshot)
3 - Charfield (wickedshot)
4 - Icengard (wickedshot)
5 - Novagradsk (Chammadai)
6 - Empto (CtrlAltDe1337)
7 - Dantsic (Chammadai)
8 - Emptio (Louis Dumonte)
9 - Kargala (Achilles_)
10 - Stoneport (wickedshot)
11 - Fulrestin (Koror)
12 - Braemar (Liquidninja)
13 - Ravenspire (Liquidninja)
14 - Emptin (Latas)
15 - Dartmoor (Liquidninja)
16 - Vallauk (Louis Dumonte)
17 - Griffinhill (mukk)
18 - Wodengard (Folthrik)
19 - Emptai (Fei Dao) (Manifold1)
20 - Falconpass (Berpol)
21 - Sturnhill (Deritus)
22 - Volgoransk (CtrlAltDe1337)
23 - Esgaroth (jacob25)
24 - Grenlandsby (Folthrik)
25 - Diavolonia (Diavolo)
26 - Cuijk (Pvt88)
27 - Drunadd (Datver)
28 - Emptsic (Koror)
29 - Emptauk (Emperor C)
30 - Emptoor (Jabrowny) (jacob25)
31 - Emptil (Warcat92)
32 - Emptsk (Liquidninja) (GlenSkunk) (Louis Dumonte)
33 - Emptra (Mortus)
34 - Empten (Zima)
35 - Emptle (Slots)
36 - Hawkrize (Rize)
37 - Tallglade (Rize)
38 - Squarodin (Rize)
39 - Notburg (Warcat92)
40 - Morlia (Warcat92)
41 - Ashfurt (Berpol)

Z - Custom Terrain (Achilles_) (Berpol) (Folthrik)

(Z means new terrain and will be an added settlement) (Italics for works in progress) (Bold for completed)
Note: Multiple people can work on the same settlement, they will all likely end up very different so its not a problem.


Currently, Berpol and Liquidninja are managing the settlements, so feel free to ask them questions too, or anyone else making scenes.
 
i have no clue what the hell you just said but there are alot of towns that have NOTHING in them. i upgraded them fully and all there is, is a bunch of people standing in a circle no buildings no nothing!
 
Read that beatifull thread whose name is "Frequently Asked Questions". Basically, do not take for yourself a settlement with a name like "EMPTXXX", those are for the scene makers to build on, for the next versions. So, until then, those settlements are there to be taken by the AI.
 
I'm going to start making some test scenes to get the hang of the edit mode interface and then I'll start cranking out scenes for you.
 
for crap sakes i got the  emptio what ever it was called all the way to the oppsite of the snow were the rhodoks would be in charge off and everything got built very nicely..it has a moat castle a village towers but it was called empty sumthin so is that wierd or what???
 
inter17 said:
for crap sakes i got the  emptio what ever it was called all the way to the oppsite of the snow were the rhodoks would be in charge off and everything got built very nicely..it has a moat castle a village towers but it was called empty sumthin so is that wierd or what???
Thats Ettlesen you're talking about, and its not empty like the EmptXXX settlements.
 
also cant you make the walls actually usefull when the final versian comes out because the gates are wide open sooo... no really realistic there but maybe you can add destructable gates along with 2 siege towers or a few ladders.. like SOME1 NEEDS to fix the M+B crappy siege battles..
 
Ya, for version 0.7 I'll be working on dynamic objects, so hopefully closeable doors and putting up ladders and maybe door rams.  We'll see.
 
I need full sets of scenes.  But if you make a castle town its not too hard to make a full set from it just by deleting objects.  That's how Liquidninja makes scenes so quickly.
 
Hey guys, I never tried the edit mode, but does Mount&Blade have resources to create a oriental-style village?

I was thinking about it, and if it's possible, I may be trying, if not for the mod (as not everybody enjoys oriental-style houses/towns) at least for me.

The idea for me would be creating my custom culture to be kind of oriental, with samurais as top tier infantry, and Mounted Samurais as top-tier cavalry.

Yeah, I watched "The Last Samurai" again yesterday, lol.
 
Unfortunately the default Mount and Blade does not come with the oriental-style architecture models. The only ones available are the selections you see in Native; anything else, and you'll have to go quite beyond edit mode: either making your own building models or borrowing them.
 
wickedshot said:
AI meshes are generally a bad idea for outside areas, as AI meshes restrict the player when on a horse (it prevents the horse from moving through the mesh).
I'm wondering how you came to this conclusion? If you select "Walk about town" from a town in native, it'll let you ride through the streets on a horse, moving easily through the mesh (which you'll find present and editable in that scene) without any trouble. Have you experienced problems elsewhere?

In any case, I suspect they really come into their own when storming settlement walls, which will prove vital in later stages of the mod. Native has them everywhere, presumably for this reason.
 
Yes, but in sieges you never have horses, where as I want you to be able to roam around on horseback, and to use the same scenes for sieges as for walking around.  I don't like places I mysteriously can't go while on a horse heh.

I'm planning to use scripting to get troops to go where they need to go, rather than limit where they go.
 
Back
Top Bottom