T2 Create a Free For All Map (FFA)

1 Requirements¶

• Unreal Engine 4.25.4
• recursively cloned version of our ArgonSDK#Repository
  Optional:
• Re-generated mesh and texture assets (AssetGenerator)
  (so you can reuse TB’s visual assets)

2 Introduction¶

In this tutorial, we will create a simple FFA Map Using Sublevels (More info: UE Docs: Sublevels)

We will create 2 Sub-Levels:

• Atmospherics (reusable)
  • Lights, Sky
• FFA
  • Spawner

3 Atmospherics Level¶

3.1 Create a new Level¶

1. Navigate to Content/Mods directory in `Content Browser
   
2. Create a new folder within and open it

   (Right Click→New Folder or using the CTRL+N shortcut)

3. Create a new Level and give it a name (e.g. Example_Atmospherics)

   Right Click → Level (Open the level after naming)

   

   Upon opening, your editor will look like this:
   

   3.2 Add lights and fog to your Scene¶

   1. In the Place Actors frame, search for and drag following actors into your scene
   2. Directional Light
   3. Sky Light
   4. Exponential Height Fog
   5. Sky Atmosphere
   6. Sphere Reflection Capture

   

4. Activate Atmosphere/Fog Sun Light for the Directional Light in Details window

   

3.3 Reduce fog scattering (Optional)¶

• Set Directional/Fog Inscattering Color to (almost) black for the ExponentialHeightFog actor

  

• Increase Fog Height Falloff to 0.6 or more

3.4 Use a folder to organize actors (Optional)¶

Within the World Outliner, select all actors and move them to a separate folder.

Right Click → Move To →Create New Folder

4 FFA Level¶

4.1 Create a new Level in the same directory (e.g. FFA_Example)¶

Follow the steps described in 2. Don't forget to open your new level

4.2 Add Atmospherics Sublevel¶

1. Open the Levels window if not visible

   Window → Levels

2. Drag-And-Drop your Atmospherics level into the list.

3. Right-Click on the Level and change the Streaming Method to Always Loaded

   

4. Double-Click the Persistent Level entry to make it the active level

   

4.3 Create a floor¶

1. Drag-and-Drop a Cube from Place Actors window into your scene

   

2. Set Actor Scale values to (\(X=50, Y=50, Z=0.1\)) in the Details window

   (Optional) Apply a Material Instance of your liking (e.g. LS_StoneFloor02)

   

4.4 World Settings¶

Open World Settings window if not visible (Window→World Settings)

Adjust following Settings:

Make sure current Gamemode is set to Mode_FFA_C:

4.5 Initial Spawners¶

1. Open your Content Browser and add a BaseSpawner actor to your level

   

2. Adjust it’s Row/Column count and spacing in the Details window
   In this example, we’ll use a 4x4 grid with a spacing of 500

   

   The spawner visualization will reflect changes immediately

   

3. In World Settings, assign the Spawner to Attacker Initial Spawn

   

4. Save your progress (CRTL+SHIFT+A to save everything)

4.6 Navigation Mesh (Bots)¶

A Navigation mesh will allow bots to plan their movements in the environment according to their current task.

1. Drag a Nav Mesh Bounds Volume from the Place Actors window into your scene.

2. Scale and adjust it’s position to cover an area within your floor mesh
   Press P to enable mesh visualization. Orange is your friend

   

5 Testing your Map¶

5.1 Add to the list of packaged maps¶

1. Right-Click the _Atmospherics map in Contentbrowser
   • Select Copy Reference (this will copy an internal path to clipboard)

2. Open Project Settings

   1. Type “cook” in the search bar
   2. Add a new entry to List of maps to include in a packaged build
   3. Paste the copied reference and adjust the path. For example:
      • Copied: World'/Game/Mods/FieldGuide/Examples/Maps/Example_Atmospherics.Example_Atmospherics'
      • Target: /Game/Mods/FieldGuide/Examples/Maps/Example_Atmospherics

   

5.2 Build, Cook, Copy¶

1. Build the scene lighting by clicking on Build
   
2. Save the map

   CTRL+SHIFt+S

3. Cook the map

   File → Cook Content for Windows

   This step will create cooked assets under ArgonSDK/Saved/Cooked/WindowsNoEditor/TBL/Content/<YourFolder>

   

4. (Optional) copy the cooked assets to game directory

   1. Navigate to ArgonSDK\Saved\Cooked\WindowsNoEditor\TBL\Content\
   2. Copy the Mods folder to your Game’s Content dir (Chivalry2\TBL\Content)

5.3 Testing your map¶

1. Launch the moddable version of the game using Unchained Launcher
2. Limit the number of bots to 15 (we only have 16 spawn slots)

3. Select Custom in the gamemode field. Your map should now be visible in the combo box to the left

   

   After loading into map you should be able to spawn alongside bots.
   

6 P.S.¶