Map Editors
 

Is is possible to convert maps made with other editors such as Hammer (valve's editor for halflife mods) or the Unreal II editor into maps usable by EQEmu?

Or are there any other stand alone editors with similar functionality as those that anyone could recommend?

I have played around with OpenZone and Dungeon Editor a little bit and just find myself frustrated.

Hah, in an attempt to search for a way to convert maps from EQemu to work in hammer, i come across this - i'd say it's not exactly what i wanted to find but its very close to what i'm looking for.

Without wanting to hijack this thread, i'm giving this a bump and ask for any way this is possible!

If you're persistent about converting source engine models to EQ, then I can try to guide you in the right direction. But before you attempt, I'll assure you that this is going to be a VERY painful task. :)


First things first!

The source engine works like this. The models location and heading (x,y,z,h) are all loaded externally using libraries. Imagine it like this...

You have a terrain file with walls, floors, etc. Then, when you're loading the map... it reads an external file that tells it what models to load, what events to trigger and where to place these events and models. You can think of it like this:
EverQuest loads zones as a whole piece. One big static mesh as if it were. This is excluding character and dynamic models such as doors, etc. So essentially what you must do is export all of the models that you need for a specific map from hammer, then figure out a way to export the brushes in hammer editor to a recognizable format by a standard modeling program such as blender.


So, let's try to categorize into sections what all needs to be done in order to convert an entire map into eq.

The Conversion Process

The hard part I think may be exporting terrain and maps for it. If your hammer zone has any sort of terrain/hills/mountains, you must find a way to export that into another format.

A good place to start is at Cannonfodder's Half-Life 2 Tools. He has some good utilities that I'm sure will be helpful to you. Check this one out.

http://www.chaosincarnate.net/cannonfodder/cftools.htm
(You may need this when you're exporting the individual models.)

So, the first step is exporting the terrain/brushes(walls, floors, etc.). After that, you must then export each model that fits into that zone (coke machines, boulders, sounds, barrels, etc.). Then, you must import these models into your scene and place them into their spot. I agree that this is a very time consuming 'shawdy' way to do it but it should work. I love projects like this and generally I am very eager to work on them but I unfortunately don't have the time. :(


Good luck, hope I could help.

There are a number of ways to export EQ zone files to a 'openly used' format. Start with OpenZone and look at the ".s3d inspection" utilities that have floated around these forums.

SoleX:

There are programs floating around the forums. I am not sure where to find them but there are "s3d" exploring programs that allow you to unpack the .s3d files in your EQ folder. These s3d files contain the zones files, textures and everything else. Once you get the raw zone data, I believe WC wrote a plugin for OpenZone that would allow you to import that zone. Then, export it to a recognizable format that is possible to work with... such as Ogre3D format. You can go on the ogre3d website also and I believe they'll have 3ds max plugins and possibly plugins for Hammer itself to import their formats. x3d or w/e it is.


George has these tools I think in a link in his signature.