Battlefront 1 conversion tutorial

[Teancum]

1-Create a new project

2-Browse to your data_mapname/worlds/mapname/world1 folder and delete everything. You won't need this stuff

3-Go to your old project, browse to dataMapname/Worlds/Mapname and select all then copy.

4-Go back to your new project, browse to data_mapname/worlds/mapname and paste.

5-Move mapname.req into your World1 folder (or World2 folder as the case may be - it won't matter)

6-Go into the World1 folder, select all then right click go to properties and uncheck 'read only'. This makes our files writable.

7-We don't want to screw up our terrain on accident, so right click on mapname.TER, hit properties and check 'read only;. Now if we mess with terrain in Zero, it will stay the same as it was when we save.

8-Open ZeroEdit, load your map from the new project folder.

9-Import all layers if there are any.

10-Under layers, hit Change.

11-Hit 'New', then right click on the new layer (usually layer000) and rename it to conquest.

12-Select the [Base] layer.

13-Hit Objects and select your first CP

14-In your layers window, hit 'Move Data Into Layer' and move it into the conquest layer.

15-Repeat steps 13-14 for all of your CPs and vehicle spawns.

16-Now hit regions and move all CP related regions (your control and capture regions) to the conquest layer in the same manner.

17-Hit Paths and do the same for all CP related paths (your spawn paths)

18-In the layers window, select [Base]

19-Close the layers window and save (to be safe). Don't exit ZeroEdit yet.

20-Under Game Modes, hit 'Configure'

21-In the left window, select conquest and hit Remove

22-In the middle window, hit Add, select the new entry and change the name to conquest

23-Select conquest (if it's not selected already)

24-In the right window, hit 'Add', then add conquest and hit OK.

25-Hit the 'Update World REQ and Mode MRQs' button at the bottom, which updates the world and layer reqs

26-Save in ZeroEdit, then exit

27-Edit the LUAs just like you did in BF1. This time though, they add a _con to the name, and the name is a bit different still. So instead of "mapnamegcw.lua" it is now "mapnameg_con.lua" and instead of "mapnamecw.lua" it is now "mapnamec_con.lua".

28-Open your [mapname][era]_con.lua file, scroll 2/3 down until you see a line like this:

Example - ReadDataFile("YV2/"YV2.lvl", "YV2_conquest")

this isn't it exactly it because it's from memory, but you'll see what I mean. Replace it with this:

Example - ReadDataFile("YV2/"yav2.lvl", "yav2_conquest")

I replace the second and third YV2 with yav2, which is the actual .wld file name. Now I'll explain what each part means.

ReadDataFile("YV2/"yav2.lvl", "yav2_conquest")

YV2 -- this is the folder that BF2 looks for
yav2.lvl -- this is the actual map it looks for. In this instance, we used yav2.wld, which became yav2.lvl when munged
yav2_conquest -- this calls the conquest gametype. everything before _conquest should be named the same as your .wld file

29-Munge and Rock'n'Roll!


Common errors:

Q: My map loads okay, but when I select a CP and hit spawn, it crashes, what's wrong?

A: I'm still developing theories on this, but I'm pretty sure it's due to faulty terrain. If you run your original project in BF1 SPtest.exe, play the game for 20 or so minutes and see if 'bla bla fell thru terrain at x, y'. If it does or doesn't, let me know so I can see if this is really the problem. I'm pretty sure this is due to bad terrain, though.

[Mikey_bizzle441]

i followed the directions exactly (im pretty sure) but when i try to spawn no CP's show up on the map so i cant spawn or go look around in free cam.

[Teancum]

Okay, I added the last direction that I forgot. It should work fine now.

For future reference, this topic will be reference in the "FAQ / Everything you need" sticky.

[EraOfDesann]

Does this only work for official Battlefront maps? I tried to convert Methlyn Ruins but everything came up black in ZeroEditor even after I put in all the old odf's and msh's.

[Teancum]

Well, I didn't cover lighting -- that's another story altogether.

[EraOfDesann]

Well when I tried it on my own I was able to get all the objects working and the only problems I had were no foilage, black sky, and extra CP's. Is the black sky related to lighting? And I can just delete the CP file that's in the world file to get rid of the extra command posts right?

PS- Anyone want to convert it for me?

[Ace_Azzameen_5]

Were the black textures in game or in zero edit. Cuase with every bf1 map, the textures will be black untill you save, then reload the wld file.

I still have nowhere to spawn. ..

[EraOfDesann]

Were the black textures in game or in zero edit. Cuase with every bf1 map, the textures will be black untill you save, then reload the wld file.

I still have nowhere to spawn. ..

Ok. Thanks Ace you were right! What problems are you having with spawning?

i followed the directions exactly (im pretty sure) but when i try to spawn no CP's show up on the map so i cant spawn or go look around in free cam.

The same thing is happening to me now, except I did the last step that Tean' added in. I guess I did it wrong. Could I perhaps give this to you to look at Tean'?

[Schizo]

Yeah, I tried converting Kashyyyk: Docks, but when I launch the map in-game, it's just the unit selection screen. There's no CPs, everything else is black, etc. I followed all the steps too...

[Teancum]

When you get a black screen with no CPs, it means it can't find them. Check a few things:

1-Check in ZeroEdit that your gamemodes are configured properly.
2-Check each LUA to make sure it calls the game mode properly, as I have fixed the first post.
3-Check [mapname].req in your World1 folder to make sure it's loading the gamemodes

REQN
{
"lvl"
"[mapname]_conquest"
"[mapname]_ctf"
"[mapname]_1flag"
"[mapname]_eli"
"[mapname]_xl" --not in there by default
"[mapname]_hunt" --not in there by default
}

[EraOfDesann]

REQ...

}

REQN
{
"lvl"
"_conquest"
}
}

LUA's...

Clone Wars LUA...

--ReadDataFile("dc:MET\\meth1.lvl", "meth1_conquest")
ReadDataFile("dc:MET\\meth1.lvl", "meth1_conquest")

Galactic Civil War LUA...

ReadDataFile("dc:MET\\meth1.lvl", "meth1_conquest")

All my CP's, regions, and spawn paths are in the conquest layer.

[Teancum]

in your req, it should say meth1_conquest ---that's what the lua is looking for.

[Ace_Azzameen_5]

3-Check [mapname].req in your World1 folder to make sure it's loading the gamemodes

REQN
{
"lvl"
"[mapname]_conquest"
"[mapname]_ctf"
"[mapname]_1flag"
"[mapname]_eli"
"[mapname]_xl" --not in there by default
"[mapname]_hunt" --not in there by default
}

Put that in the Tutorial! The tutorial leaves me with an un edited bf1 req file. Trying now, and thanks!

EDIT-Still not working-should the name of the req be that 3 letter name of the new map or the old prefix? Trying with the new prefix. If that doesn't work. . .

EDIT again:AHHHHHHHHHHHHSALJSHFJSAHFJLASFJ

[EraOfDesann]

in your req, it should say meth1_conquest ---that's what the lua is looking for.

Hm...that didn't work. Hopefully my munging works.

[Epena]

Okay, weird....

So I get up to step 8 and then I open Zeroedit (BTW you forgot to mention that you need to add in the odfs and mshs. ) and then it tells me 'Can not load terrain data from bes1.ter and I've renamed it to BS1.

What?!?

[Teancum]

You're not supposed to rename bes1.ter.

[Epena]

I guess not.

Am I supposed to rename anything at all?

[Teancum]

Nothing in the World1 folder. All the renaming is in the luas

[Epena]

Okay I officially feel like a -noob-.

[Schizo]

Ugh, I need to bump this, because I still can't figure out why this is not working. Same old thing everytime. Unit selection screen, black backround, no CPs. I've tried everything. I need help.