Sectors
Sectors in general: introduction
Sectors in general are easy to make and manipulate. In this brief section under the heading, "Sectors", we are going to discuss the basic features of sector manipulation such as copying, moving, and making circular sectors using the "C" key. Although silent teleports are not necessarily circular, silent teleports and circular sectors will be discussed as a group. Copying and moving sectors, in general, are at the top of this section and circular sectors and silent telporters follows. Sectors in general: things to keep in mind
1- When making any sectors, always start drawing the sector line from a white wall out. It's okay to draw a line out from a white and back but if you are joining sectors between a stand alone sector (red lines) to the wall (white line(s)), then start from the white wall to the red line. 2- When making a sector around an existing sector (stand alone or "child" sector) then draw the line(s) from that sector outward. links: I hope you understand what I mean by the above two statements. If not, then perhaps this will help: more text or this: example This next tip is important, especially if you want to add more sectors for lighting effects and interesting architecture: make every sector useful ! Don't have lazy sectors laying around doing nothing. Every sector should have a job to do, that is, it is necessary that it be in your map. I know that this isn't always possible to exclude all unnecessary sectors but you can do a pretty good job by examining your map closely and by joining sectors or eliminating sectors that really don't need to be in your map. Selecting sectors for moving
You can move a sector and all its contents by pressing and holding the right <Alt> key and moving the cursor to enclose the sector(s) or to move just the sector but not its contents, place the cursor inside the sector, press and hold down the right <Ctrl> key and press the right <Shift> key. Some times it is nearly impossible to enclose just the sector(s) you wish to copy and move. When that happens, copy and move the sector(s) in an area off the map, delete the sectors you do not want in the move and then enclose the edited selection and move to the new location. It is all in the planning. Build your map in a sequence that will allow for easy sector manipulation. Some times you become totally engrossed in one area of your map and suddenly you have a great idea but at that point the area is so far along that it would be a major pain to start changing things. On those occassions, here is what you can do: (this is especially useful when you have more than one level built in the same area) 1- In 2D, place the cursor inside the sector you wish to manipulate. Have the grid locking set to on and set the grid size that closely matches the positioning of either the points of that sector and/or the position of one of the sprites. Note where and how far apart a point of the sector and the location of one sprite is. (Do this because using <Ctrl><Shift> does not also move the sprites). Now, with the cursor inside that sector hold down the right Ctrl key and press the right Shift key. The points of that sector will start flashing which indicates the sector is selected. You should now be able to move that sector to the desired location. note: You should first save your map before doing such manipulations just in case something goes wrong! You can now move the sprites to where you want them in that sector. (if you need to, you can do this with the grid locking off and you can switch between grid locking, on or off, before, during, or after selecting the sector). 2- If the above prescription is not going to work and you have been saving your map under different file names as you have been adding to your map, open up an earlier version of the map when you had just created the sector you wish to move. (Hopefully you have been saving your map under different file names so that you can do this). It is a good practice to save the map under different file names as you Build because sometimes there will be no alternative besides starting over from scratch. see good habits Selecting sectors for copying & moving
(Whether you want to copy and move a sector within the same map or another map, the process is pretty much the same). To copy a sector into another map, open the map you want to copy the sector from. Find the sector and move the mouse cursor so that it is positioned just outside one corner of the area. Hold down the right <Alt> key and move the mouse to enclose that sector with the green square that appears. Once you have the sector enclosed, let go of the right <Alt> key. The sector(s) you want to copy into another map should now be highlighted with green, flashing stripes. If the sector(s) is/are not included in the desired copy, then try to enclose the area again using the above method. Once you have the area you want to copy highlighted, place the cursor some where within the highlighted sector, hold down the left mouse button and press the <Insert> key. Then, open the map you want to move the sector to (<Esc> key, "L" to load and select the map, press <Enter>) and the sector you selected in the first map should appear in the same spot in the second map. Place the cursor within the highlighted sector and move it to the desired location by pressing and holding down the left mouse button and dragging the sector. When it is in the place you want it, press the right <Alt> key to deselect it. Silent Teleports: copying / moving sectors
When setting out to make a silent teleporter, it is better to have the first half, usually the top half, of the hole completed. That is, have the top half complete with the number of points you wish to have, textures aligned and shaded and all the sprites needed before copying the hole to the next location. For example, have the sector effector positioned (in the center or as close as possible) and all other sprites you wish to include. The silent teleporter works best when the sector effector (x, 7) is in the same position in both halves of the silent teleport. Once you have copied and moved the sector(s), you can delete any sprites you do not need. It is just easier to delete the ones you do not need in the new location than to try to add them. The reason for having all of the first half of the silent teleport completed before copying and moving it is because if you try to recreate the second half in additions there will be a blip in the teleport. That is, depending on how drastically different the textures are chosen or aligned will make a difference to the teleporting from the top to the bottom half (assuming that you are making a sewer or some kind of a hole in the ground that the player can go through). The whole idea behind a silent teleport is to make the fall or rise through it unnoticeable; it's suppose to appear continuous, right? That is why it is best to have it completed before copying and moving the first half. ;) Silent Teleports: circular sectors
When making circles, the easiest way is to use the "C" key. If you plan on making or using more than one circular sector together to create some kind of effect or object, then make the outer most sector first. (This also applies to any shape of sector; the outer most sector should be created first.) It seems to work best that way. My guess is, if you try to make a circular sector outside the one you just made, then the engine assumes you are making a sector over or under the one you just made. I don't know why it works that way, it just does. Example: say you want to make a water well that the player can jump in. Then, you will want to have an upper portion of the well out of the ground. Start by making the outer sector first and then the inner sector, not the other way round. Once you have this top half done, copy and move the sectors to where you want the under water portion of map. Remember to have your effector in place before you copy and move the sectors. Once you have moved the copied sectors you can delete the outer most sector because you will not need it for the bottom half. Notes: copying / moving circular sectors in general
The number of points used will effect the appearance of the circular sector. Using more points makes a much better circle than using less points. However, after copying and moving the circular sector, it will be more work to make the sector a valid player space. But I suggest you make the extra effort; it's worth it. Try to set at least one point of the circle so that it locks directly on a grid vertex. That will be the first point you start with when you go to make the copied sector a valid player space. (Talking about circular sectors in general; not a silent teleporter). You can then start tracing from that point with the grid locking on and then turn the grid locking off so that you can pull the points of the shell sector you have just made to make the copied sector a valid player space without changing its shape. notice: You can toggle the grid locking on/off in the middle of making sectors or moving them.
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