Tutorial 2 Creating a Basic Level

**Battlefield 2 Modding Tutorial 2**

Creating a Basic Level

The Level Editor is where you
place control points, objects, vehicles, and so on, set level options like
teams and tickets, and also where you will render out lightmaps.

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## Set-up

In order to follow along with
this tutorial, you will need some sort of basic terrain. You may either create
your own following the steps in

* Tutorial 1 - Creating a Basic Terrain

or using “My\_Level” included with this document.

If you want to use the level
“My\_Level”, place it in Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\levels. (TBP)

Once you have installed the file
or created your own terrain, we are ready to begin working on the level.

**== The**
**Level Editor ==**

* Launch the editor.

* A window will pop up labeled “Select Startup Mod”. Choose bf2 and click “Okay” to continue. It may take a while to load, and there will be a lot of text flowing through the output

window. You can ignore all this.

* In the drop-down editor at the top left, select LevelEditor.

* Locate the load icon to the right of the drop-down menu and click on it:

* In the window that pops up, load “My\_Level”.

**Note:** If you have completed
“Battlefield 2 Modding Tutorial 1 – Creating a Basic Terrain”, you may continue
where you left off. If you have not, then you will have to download “My\_Level”
and place the folder in “mods\bf2\Levels”.

**== Mod Content ==**

Before we go any further we have
to check one thing.

* Select “Mod>Mod Manager…” from the main menu.

* A window labeled “Mod Manager – Active Mod : bf2” will pop up with two tabs. Click on the tab labeled

“Editor Content”.

* Notice the list of folders in the left window. Make sure that all the boxes next to them are checked. This determines what you will have access to in your map:

* Once you have checked all the boxes, click “okay” to close the window. It may take a few moments for the editor to load all the content.

## Placing Control Points

* Move the camera around in the map and locate where you want to put your first control point.

* Right-Click on the spot where you want to place the control point and choose “Create ControlPoint” from the menu that pops up:

* A window will pop up prompting you for a name. The default text that’s in the box shows a suggested naming convention, but you can name it anything you like.

* Since this is a simple map, name the control point “Base\_A” and click “OK”.

You should now see this:

* Move the camera to where you want to place the control point for the opposite team and do the same thing, this time naming the control point “Base\_B”:

* If you’ve somehow deselected Base\_B, drag a bounding box around it with the left mouse button to reselect it.

* Locate the window labeled “TweakerBar” and make sure the “Tweak” tab is active. If you have Base\_selected, you should see several variables in the tweak list.

**Note:** you may have to expand the
window to the right to see all the text. Do so by holding the cursor over the
right vertical edge of the window until a pair of horizontal arrows appear and
then drag to the right. Doing so may cause the editor to deselect the control
point. If so, you’ll have to select it again.

* Now find the parameter labeled “Team” and change it to “2”.

Use the following screenshot for a guide:

Any time you create a new control point, it defaults to Team 1. Since we
changed this one, we now have a team 1 and a team 2. Take a look at the
different parameters you can change here. Don’t change any of the values, just
note the options you have for later use. Those of you that modded
Battlefield:1942 should see a lot of familiar terms.

## Placing Soldier Spawn Points

The next thing we need to do is
place a soldier spawn for each side.

* Right-Click near Base\_B and choose “Create SpawnPoint [Base\_B]”:

* In the window that pops up, you may use the default name or change it to something that makes more sense if you like.
* To get a sense of how big your map really is, move the camera in until your control point and spawn point fill the screen.

**Note** the size of the flag pole. The flag may be at the bottom
of the pole instead of the top. The editor sometimes does this, but it will
still work correctly.

You should now have something similar to this. Note that I still have the spawn point selected:

* Do the same for Base\_A. When you get done, each control point should have a spawn point connected to it.

**Note:** You can place as many spawn
points as you want around a control point. When playing the game, players will
randomly spawn between all the spawn points of a particular control point. You
can see which control point each spawn point is connected to by the yellow line
that runs between them. This is visible in the previous screenshot.

Also note that when placing a
spawn point, the editor will try to connect it to the nearest control point.
When you right-click to place a spawn point, make sure that the name that shows
up in the menu is the name of the control point you want it to connect to. If
you are having trouble placing a spawn, you may have to place it closer to a
control point, then manually move it to the position you want.

In the previous screenshot you
can also see a small green line projecting from one side of the spawn point
box. This is the direction the player will be facing when they spawn at that
point. Use the rotate tool to change this. By default, all spawn points are
placed with the player facing the flag.

## Placing Vehicle Spawns

The next thing to do is place an
object spawn point. Normally this is used for vehicles.

* Right-Click close to one of your control points and choose “Create ObjectSpawner …” from the menu that pops up. The “…” will be the name of the control point you are close to as always:

* An additional screen will come up allowing you to choose which vehicle you want to spawn. Choose the first one, CH\_US\_LightJeep – [JEP\_PARATROOPER/JEEP\_FAAV]

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* Another window will pop up allowing you to name your spawn, accept the default name and click “OK”.

**Note:** Notice that the names are
generally listing of a pair of vehicles, one for each side. This tells you
which vehicle will spawn depending on who controls the control point. In this
case “CH\_US” stands for
and ,“LightJeep” is the class of vehicle and is the same for both sides, and “[JEP\_PARATROOPER/JEEP\_FAAV]” is the name of the particular vehicle of each
side.

These are just default settings.
You can change them later if you want different vehicles to spawn for each side
or if you have one vehicle that’s common to both.

You should now see something like this:

* Do the same thing for the other control point, choosing the same vehicle.

You have now created the basics
of a Base for both teams.

Placing Static Objects: The map
would be pretty boring without some buildings to run around. Let’s place them
now. This operation is handled a bit differently than placing spawns.

* On the left in the Resources bar, expand the following folder path:

“bf2>objects>staticobjects>military>buildings”:

**Note:** I’ve expanded the length of my Resources bar by dragging the divider bar underneath it down so you can see the whole path. You can resize all the windows this way.

* Scroll the Resource window down a bit if you need to and expand the “basebarracks” folder. You should now see the same name with a file icon next

to it.

* Drag this into your scene where you want to place the building:

**Note:** Notice that there is a
folder named “basebarracks” and inside it is a file named the same thing. This
is the same for all assets. You must drag the file to the scene in order to
place it. If you try to drag the folder or anything other than the file to the
scene, you will get a “NO” icon to let you know you can’t place what you have
selected.

Continue placing objects wherever you would like them. Feel free to try
different buildings to see what they are. Note that there are some unused
objects in some of the folders. If you bring something into the scene that has
problems with textures and so on, just selected it and delete it.

This would also be a good time to
try out the move and rotate tools. You can see the icons for these tools near
the center of the top edge of the main window. Hold your cursor over the
various icons to bring up a tooltip telling what each one is. Don’t try to use
anything other than the Select, Move, and Rotate buttons for now. These require
more explanation and will be covered in a future tutorial.

Another good tool to know about
is the “Snap object(s)” tool located about half-way down the “General” bar on
the right side of the screen. When you click on this button, any objects you
have selected will be snapped to the ground

**== Level Settings ==**

Ater you’ve played around with
placing a few objects, we need to set one more thing in order to make the level
work.

* In the bar labeled “General”, locate the button labeled “Level Settings” a little over half-way down andclick it.

A window will pop up with two
columns, one labeled “Team 1” and one labeled “Team 2”. This is where you
define which army is which team. There may be a few entries when you first open
the window. Ignore these.

* In the very first drop-down box under “Team 1” click on it and select “MEC”.

* In the first drop-down box under “Team 2”, select “US”.

* Click “OK” to close the window.

When you do this, you should see
all the slots automatically fill up. Later you can customize your teams, but for now leave everything at their defaults.

Your window should now look like this:

* Choose “File>Save All” from the menu bar to save your level.

For more details on the windows that pop up, see the section titled “Saving Your Work” in “Tutorial 1 – Creating a Basic Terrain”.

Congratulations, You have now
created your first playable map. Here’s how to play it:

* Quit the editor.
* Launch BF2.
* In the main menu, click on “Multiplayer”, then “Create Local”.

* Find “My\_Level – 16” in the map list. (it will have listings for 16, 32, and 64 players. Just choose 16)

* Add it to the “Chosen Maps” list.

* Click “Start Server”.

You are now ready to continue
with the next tutorial, “Battlefield 2 Modding Tutorial 3 - Custom Mod Set-Up”.