DARK EGYPT Hints, Tips & Tricks Introduction I have created this PDF in order for you to get the maximum benefits and use from your copy of the Dark Egypt. During the creation of the pack I came across some great methods either by accident or by idea which can make even the most basic room segments come to life. With a little bit of thought and time you should be able to create some stunning environments with shape and density and above all great for simple or advanced game play. Dark Egypt was created with the thought in mind to be able to construct room segments for your environments that give you elements of real depth and fullness in order not to place so many entity s in a room which could give you some slow down if over-crowded. My main goal was to create a package that would give its user more elements of adventurous game play as used in games similar to Doom and Tomb Raider but with a different environment. Anyhow, please find time to have a look at this document whether you are stuck with a problem or if you are just after some ideas for your game. Have Fun Ross Hunt Aka.Rosstradamus Author of Dark Egypt *NOTE*- Images in this document do not represent the true colour and refinement of textures in the finished product.
Contents Entrance Doorways False Walls-(Inside-Outside-Inner Walls) False Corners-(Inside-Outside) Inner Walls Floor Based Units-(Extra Floors-Hatch s-grids-traps) Inner Doorways Corners-(Inside-Outside) Arches-(Entrance-Inside) Ceilings-(Extra-Floor Grids-Ceiling/Roof) Shaft Exits Credits Stairwells Pit Shaft Pit units
Entrance Doorways (Entity) Firstly, use the B key on your keyboard to align the doorway with the room segment then depending on which room segment you are using. Just nudge the doorway either inwards or outwards (concave or convex) depending on the effect you desire. (see below)
Note: You may not need to do this with all of the doorways as some of them have been positioned already for a predefined effect. Entrance doorways were designed to be placed either at the entrance to rooms within a building or at the entrance to the building itself. They can also look good when doubled (one after another) or placed into corridors created by room segments. They are an alternative to arches which are also present in this package. See results below- (Concave effect) Screenshot taken from- Temple of Gold Back Room Return to Contents False Walls (Inside-Outside-Inner Walls) (Entity s) Firstly, false walls are walls which you can walk through just as if they weren t there. You can see the wall which looks solid but when you walk towards it and onwards you will see that you can pass straight through it.
They were created to give your games an extra element of adventure such as creating hidden rooms or corridors for your character to explore for or as entrances to trap rooms. Each false wall is slightly different from the others in the room you create with some kind of emblem or carving on them somewhere. All false wall icon s which appear in the entity editor of FPScreator are marked with the relevant emblem or carving to look for and you will find Map entity items in this package as well showing the signs to look for. (see below) False wall icon Screenshot taken from- Basic Room-01 False-Inside and Outside Walls Both inside and outside walls follow the same instructions for placement as the Entrance Doorways - (see above-page 3). *TIP*- I believe that these false walls must be placed with a room either side of them in order for them to fit perfectly, however they do work perfectly fine with a layout as shown in the image below.
This kind of layout works perfectly fine for false-inside & outside walls The result of this method can be viewed in the screenshot below. Screenshot taken from-temple of Gold-Back Room
False-Inner Walls The false inner walls work alongside the inner wall segments only within rooms constructed. There should be no need to nudge them backwards or forwards. You should, as with other entity segments, use the B key on your keyboard to align them with other segments. These walls can be coupled with any inside segment including inner rounded (corner) segments to create interesting inner rooms. *Tip*- If you change any of these false walls into Static Mode with the Y Key in the editor, they will become solid. Return to Contents False-Corners (Inside-Outside) Use the B key to align & the R key to rotate each corner unit in the editor. You can use false corners as you would do as normal corners, either as inwards or outwards (concave-convex). They can be placed anywhere within a room (if inside) or anywhere attached to a building (if outside). Just as all the false segments you can walk straight through them to lead you to hidden areas or possibly for your character to hide behind. (see below) Return to Contents Screenshot-taken from Hut 2-Pit level
Inner Walls (Segments) Inner walls are walls to be used within a room in a building and are a single unit (with no floor or ceiling segments attached). You must use the R key on your keyboard to rotate them & the B key to align, for the desired effect you would like. (see below) Some of the rooms are supplied with false inner wall units which are entity s so don t forget to have a look in the Entity Library to see if they are available for the section you are constructing. (see above) *TIP*- If you experiment a little with the inner walls you will find that they can be used in conjunction with corner units which can produce some great features to the interior of a room. (see below) The results of this editor can be seen in the screenshots below
Screenshots- Taken from Temple of Idol Worship-Style 1 Return to Contents Screenshots- Taken from Temple of Gold Floor Based Units (Extra Floors-Hatch s-grids-traps) (Segments & Entity s) Make sure you check out the various floor units in this package, whether segment or entity, as you will find that they will add much character to your room designs. Below, you will find a brief description of each unit type and a few tips for their usage.
Extra Floors (Segments & Entity s) Extra floor units are really just units to add little changes to the floors within rooms and give a little more variety without spoiling the rooms overall looks. Some examples would be the base floor unit plus objects on them such as snakes, scorpions, prayer mats, damaged areas & hatch covers (explained later). To place a floor-extra as well as all other floor based units, you will have to use the F key on your keyboard, once you have chosen the desired unit, in order to place it without the FPSC editor created walls appearing around the unit. Then you can use the B key to align the unit in its desired placement. (Screenshots below) *TIP*- Remove any previous flooring in place already before you place your new floor units (especially when using entity floors). To do this, click the right mouse button on the unit you wish to remove when you are in floor mode (F key).
Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Idol Worship -Style 01 Floor Hatch s (Entity s) I designed the floor hatch units in order to cover up the ugly edges left on view, when a floor segment is removed for the purpose of creating a gateway for stairs or steps between two levels. The hatch s, I have found also give the floor in a room much more character. Most of the hatch units can be found in the entity library with the exception of those which do not carry any transparency elements. They come as either open-dynamic or closed-static. (screenshots-below) *TIP*- In the segment library, you will find some extra floor units which are designed to be placed alongside the floor hatch units. They contain the base floor for the room and the floor hatch cover in order to give the effect that the floor hatch can be closed. (screenshots-below) *TIP*- If you switch the floor hatch units from Dynamic mode to Static mode, you will no longer be able to pass through them. *TIP*- When using the B key to align the floor hatch with the main floor its best to push the B key twice for a snap into place fit.
Floor Hatch s Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Gold -Back Room Screenshots-Taken from Temple of Gold -Back Room
Floor Hatch plus Floor Extra Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Gold -Temple Floor Grids (Entity s) Floor grids were designed to give your character the chance to look down into the floor (level) below to view its contents. When placed well, they can add a real sense of depth to the environment you are creating as well as great game-play value. They can all be found in the Entity Library and most of them could be used within different rooms other than the rooms they are categorized in (just play around with them). (screenshots-below) *TIP*- As with all extra floor based segments, they can only be placed in the rooms within the FPScreator environment, one floor unit away from the walls of the room. *TIP*- All of the floor grids are in Static mode in the package but if you switch them to Dynamic mode you will be able to create Floor traps from them which you will be able to fall through to the floor (level) below. *TIP*- These grid floors could also become ceiling segments placed on single story buildings/rooms which I have found work well if used correctly.
The resulting screenshots from the layout of this editor can be viewed below. Top Level screenshots-taken from Temple of Detention -style-01
Bottom Level screenshots-taken from Temple of Gold -Back Room Floor Traps (Entity s) Floor traps do just what they are labelled as. They are simply floor segments that you can fall through to pits, tunnels, other traps or anything else you can think of. They are marked in the same way as the false walls as described on page 4 of this PDF. Some of the floor traps look just the same as other floor segments (making it harder to travel through rooms) and some of the traps are reasonably obvious which leave you with a feeling of caution. Overall, coupled with false walls, they can be great for making adventure games with an element of exploration involved. (screenshots-below) *TIP*- As mentioned before in this floor section the trap floor units can be placed by first switching to floor mode F key then aligned with the aid of the B key (pushed twice for best quick fit). *TIP*- Check out the pit levels in this package which were designed, with their shafts to fall through, to match up with trap floors. *TIP*- Again, if the trap floors are changed into Static mode (Y key) whilst in the editor, they will become solid so you can walk over them.
Typical Icon Return to Contents Screenshots-Taken from Temple of Idol Worship -Style-02 Inner Doorways (Entity s) Inner doorways are designed to fit in with the inner walls segments to give your room constructions a deeper sense of depth and realism. They can be used with corner segments as well to create great non-linear inner sections.
You can place them within any room and in any direction if used correctly by using the R key to rotate and the B key to align with other sections to achieve great results. (screenshots-below) *TIP*- Just try nudging these sections back and forth for different positions to see which you prefer and which work best. Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Gold Screenshots-Taken from Temple of Idol Worship -Style-02
Return to Contents Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Idol Worship -Style-02 Corners-(Inside-Outside) (Segments) The corner segments in this package can be used in a variety of ways such as inwards or outwards (concave or convex) or at nearly any angle within a room. I have designed the corner segments to be of use in more ways other than just as corners so feel free to place them anywhere you think they might work well and take a look. The false corners (entity s) mentioned on page 7 can be used exactly in the way that these segment corners can be used. I feel that they can bring shape and depth to any interior or exterior segment configuration if experimented with. (screenshots-below) *TIP*- With certain barred corners try using a convex configuration against a flat room wall to create the effect of an outset cage.
Screenshots above-taken from exterior of Basic Room -01 Interior-corner variations
Return to Contents Screenshots-Taken from Village Hut -02 Arches-(Entrance-Inside) (Entity s) The arches supplied with this package have been put into two different categories (entrance arches & arches). They are separated for a good reason which is that they both carry textures related to their own purpose. The entrance arches have got textures relating to both the exterior and interior of the room segments they are placed under and the normal arches carry textures related to the interior only. Please feel free to try them all in different places as you might like the results that you come up with. The arches are best placed in the editor by using the B key for alignment but you may feel the need to nudge them inwards or outwards for better effect such as doubling up for the entrances which I have found looks very good. Use the R key to rotate the arches and try to fit them with corner units and inner walls at unusual angles. (screenshots-below)
Screenshots-Taken from Village Hut -Occupied Return to Contents Screenshots-Taken from Basic Room -03
Ceilings-(Extra-Floor Grids- Ceiling/Roof) (Segments & Entity s) Even ceilings can be used to create some great effects for your environments. I have designed some extra ceilings which can be used just to add variation or stark difference. They can only be used on either single story buildings or as the ceiling leading to the roof of a building (highest point). Some of the ceilings have double textures (ceiling-roof) and some contain transparencies for your character to look out from (the sky) which are single textured. They should be used to suit the purpose of the room you are constructing. Even floor grids can be used for ceiling segments which give you great results to create an atmospheric room. (screenshots-below) Screenshot=Taken from Village Hut -02
Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Detention Screenshot-Taken from Temple of Gold -Temple Ceiling/Roof (Segments) I have put together some single newly textured ceiling-roof segments so that your character can access the roof of a flat structure and use the tops of these structures for their game play, without having to see the floor texture from the room beneath them. They are also very useful when your character is at a high advantage point in a game and looking down at smaller buildings which will now look like they have a proper roof (even if flat). *TIP*- You could remove one of these segments from the ceiling/roof and replace it with one of the many floor hatch s provided in this pack to create an
entrance to the roof. You might also wish to, instead of a floor hatch, place a ceiling-sky view unit (from Entity s) and change it from static mode to dynamic mode using the Y key on your keyboard which will also give you access to the roof. *TIP*- These segments are best used by placing them last on the setup of your room structures. (screenshots-below) Return to Contents (Screenshots- hut-1-empty)
Shaft Exits (Entity s) Well, shaft exits just add a textured faceplate to the end of a shaft when placed at the end of a straight segment piece. *TIP*- They can become shaft entrances placed at the front of a straight segment piece, simply by rotating (R Key) the exit segment by 360 degrees. (screenshots-below) (Screenshots- Shaft-01) Return to Contents (Rotate 360 degrees to become a shaft entrance) Stairwells (Segments) Stairwell segments should save you time in creating a double set of steps leading either downwards or upwards. They are constructed as a single all in one unit with walls which can be placed between levels with no fuss. I realised that in doing this before in the conventional way (fitting walls to steps) was time consuming, fiddly and frustrating at times, so I decided to construct these units in a way which would save time and look quite good. These units come in many variations such as wooden steps with stone walls or wooden steps with organic walls and so on but they were designed to fit into the Dark Egypt pack with its textures. Obviously, feel free to try them with any other resources as
some of them might work well. They also work well with inner wall and corner segments attached to them if placed inside of a large room and with the addition of floor hatch s from the Entity library. I have drawn a diagram to show one of their uses which can be seen below. Return to Contents
Pit Shaft - Pit units (Segments) If you look into the Pit level folder in the segment library you will find two segments with the names Pit shaft & Pit shaft-long which are both all in one units that work in a vertical fashion. The Pit shaft unit is comprised of just one level height segment and the Pit shaft-long unit spans the height of two levels starting from the bottom and working upwards by two levels in the FPSCreator editor. These units can also save time in the same way as the Stairwell units work. They can be used to create a shaft to fall down through after stepping on a floor trap whether into another room (level) or into a Pit. Inside the same Pit level folder you will also find some more small Pit all in one unit s which can be added to the bottom of the Pit shaft units mentioned above or as separate smaller traps to fall into. As with the Pit shafts they can be used anywhere in your environment if used correctly. (Diagrams below) (Pit shaft demonstration)
(Pit shaft and Pit demonstrations) *TIP*- The Pit units are great for placing Hurt Zones in. Room objects such as crates could be placed in them in order for your character to climb out of the pit. *TIP*- Floor grids can be placed over them, within rooms or not, to give the impression of possible traps in the area surrounding your character and also for depth effects. Return to Contents
Credits Firstly, I wish to thank all at The Game Creators for creating an affordable product such as FPSCreator and for giving many the chance to build their own First Person Style games with ease. I would also like to thank Terry Schwarz of Data Tek for the program Signs which has been of great help in creating many of the segments seen in this pack and for any help and advise given on other issues. Big thanks to all in the FPSCreator Forums for their inspiration and I would like to wish them luck on their projects. All the best for the future Ross