interesting, although you should always turn off obscured units when taking screenshots, they distract from viewing pleasure

t

[This message has been edited by Eyecandy of Doom (edited 04-17-2008 @ 04:16 AM).]

i'm not sure whether you can because i'm always done it that way. I imagine if it is possible it'll be under options.

[This message has been edited by AnnoDominius (edited 01-11-2008 @ 01:06 PM).]

thanks man. btw, im a really great fan of yours sience ROME 78BC got its showcase.

im really wondering how you got that yellow atlantean wall

map ("alt-t", "world","obscuredUnitToggle")

Add that to the startup\gamex.con file and press alt+t to toggle the obscured unts on/off.

Edit: Maybe another key is better because now it tried to open a terrain menu too.

And while testing my heliopolis became transparant. :-/ Is that a bug?

[This message has been edited by Mythic_Freak (edited 01-11-2008 @ 01:13 PM).]

to actually add it to the game files? man,if thats the case, i really need a walkthrough directly step by step.

im off to edit my lovely scenario. be back later!

thanks! I made that wall myself, I edited the texture. I could upload it to AOMh if you like but I didn't think it was that special. Or you can wait until the release of the final thing.

i'll help... i need other people when i make scenarios so i know what it's like....

* In case you chose express install your AoM folder is located here:
C:\program files\microsoft games\age of mythology
Else it could be anywhere...

Now, go to that folder and next enter the "startup" folder.
There you should see a file called gamex.con
Open that file with notepad (right click -> open with... -> blablabla)
Scroll to the end of that file and copy-paste this line at the end - (spaces and blank lines in between don't matter):
map ("control-alt-t", "editor","obscuredUnitToggle")

Save the file and close notepad.
(re)Start AoM:TT and go to the editor
Open your map as usual etc etc...
Press control+alt+t at the same time (like you would press control-alt-del) and such, and you will see the obscured units being left out, and appear back if you press it again.

Work on the eyecandy there. I don't see why your name is eyecandy of doom

You need more of the cool stuff


And the angle is a little overdone.

Use Render Sky if your going to take screenshots at that angle.

-Mator

Great stuff !

Cannot wait to play this !

You have chosen your nickname very well if i look at your screens !

Please drop into my forum when you are in the mood for it and learn me some tricks or give me some more tips !

Good luck in finishing this and again looking forward to play it

Best regards,
The Vandhaal

Uhhhm.

Whats with Mr. Sarcastic Vandhall?

O... I wish someone had the heart to tell him. :/

-Mator

[This message has been edited by MatoR (edited 01-11-2008 @ 01:53 PM).]

anno,you are really special.i like you.

vandhall,i demand 250$ from you.you made my chin fall so strongly that it broke a hole in my desk.

the vandhaal...on my thread... i sure consider it a honour,i fell like i won the lottery and that i went to collect the prize in the cold,and that i forgot all my sweatshirts at home... im actually shaking now...

ill ssssure join your forums.its easy,your website is my homepage...illl join as soon as i upload my next picture.
which you inspired with your healing sfx's

the vandhaal...on my thread... i sure consider it a honour,i fell like i won the lottery and that i went to collect the prize in the cold,and that i forgot all my sweatshirts at home... im actually shaking now...

ill ssssure join your forums.its easy,your website is my homepage...illl join as soon as i upload my next picture.
which you inspired with your healing sfx's

How to bring "sucking up" to the next level... Be sure to read the guide stated in the quote above.

baske, "sucking up to the next level"

is that humor? if it is you are sure mean,and annoying to a degree.
don't worry, i like it.

but,im only 18 days active, i never saw the vandhall in a sarcastic mood,so i can't identify his moods yet.

but it really isn't nice to be mean.some people are offended by it.luckily,not me :}

im again off to the sacred havens of egyptopolis. i think ill work on my farming expansions town center and add a dock. scenarios yet to come!
----------------------------------

edit:
two new photos in! including the promised lovely harbours,which i didn't manage to get into one piece and another one with a really cool kick.

go and open them!

[This message has been edited by eyecandy of doom (edited 01-11-2008 @ 03:33 PM).]

Ok I will say this truthfully and without emotion.

The Vandhall wasn't offended by what you said in his thread. He sarcastically said he wanted to learn from you. He sarcastically said that he thought your scenario looked good. He sarcastically said all of these things.

The fact is, your scenario isn't that good.

Lacking areas: Organizaiton, Eyecandy, Maturity.

Try to work on that. And you need to work on the map too.

-Mator

baske, "sucking up to the next level"

is that humor? if it is you are sure mean,and annoying to a degree.
don't worry, i like it.

Yes, it was humor, combined with a real-life example. I'm sorry if it's mean, but I just happen to love sarcastic humor. And you can't deny this was perhaps one of the ultimate forms of sucking up

As for your actual scenario, toggling Obscured Units off would make your screenies 100 times better.

well,mator,as i claimed before, i am only 18 days here on aomh forums.i don't really know the vandhall,his moods or his sarcasm.i only know hes an admired and well respected person. so if i got a post from him, i really thought its an honour.

baske,i was not offended,as im qutie sure i stated (did i?). im starting to like you guy. i really am.

about the sucking up part,i was probably shined by the moment and the extreme cold here. looking at it now, it really does look stupid lol

and if the vandhaal visists here again,i wish to tell him i am still serious about the xerxes throne part, and most of his single-monument screenies: while the structure itself is awsome, it really relies on drawing attention to it. if the viewer takes a look beside,he will see the area surrounding it really lacking in some simple eyecandy,which is a must for every scenario and screenshot.

but i still take his invitation seriously,as soon as i manage to pass that anti-macro lettergram,in which half the digits look like the other half, i will promote myself thare as well.

thank you very much for the replies guys.and if you think my eyecandy lacks(like mator), please state HOW it lacks. sience it is the only way i can improve it.

like,when i was told about the obscurred units, i tuned it off first thing after that. so the same for you: if you wish to say i lack something,or that something if not as it should be, just tell me. ill consider it and implement the good parts of it.

eyecandy

Ok, your eyecandy is pretty ok, but you need to work on is how you take screenshots. I recommend when you take them you hide the interface (the toolbar at the top) and ofcourse toggle obscured units. If you are going to set an angle that you did, I recommend using the render sky trigger. You get an option of: skyblue, skywinter, skystormy and another one that I forgot. But its best to use angles that focus on what you're trying to show. Also when you release this, its very important to have good grammer and spelling, Otherwise no one is going to take you seriously. Don't forget to use CAPITAL letters at the start of your sentences. Other than that all I can say is: Good Luck!

[This message has been edited by Banoffee (edited 01-11-2008 @ 07:07 PM).]

One more thing I'd add to Banoffee's comment, about the camera angle. I'll take the "Palace Pool" shot as the example.

There's a rock right in front of the shot, taking up like 40% of the screen. It's not even the main object in the shot (the object we're ment to look at). Furthermore, it even obscures the view of the thing we're MEANT to see, the pool behind the rock.

If you place units very near to the front of your shot, make sure they contain an important addition to the "story behind the shot".

You need to be like picasso. Don't take screenshots with boring black background and a rock taking up half the screen!

Also, use common sense! I know your new, but you shouldn't post these screenshots in my opinion, most forumers will think its a waste of their time... sadly.

Here is how I would explain things to you:
There are a few stages in scenario designing.
--The first stage is the know-nothing stage. In this stage you, quite literally, know nothing about scenario designing. People in this stage just look at things in awe normally.
--The second stage is the experimentation stage. You are in this stage. This is the stage where you have just started learning some tricks in the editor, you know the interface a little. But you still don't know very much.
--The third stage is the understanding stage. This is the stage where you actually start making maps that use a small amount of tricks. But most of the tricks are unperfected, maps of this level won't make it past one download most likely.
--The fourth stage is the expierence stage. This is the stage where you actually begin to make good eyecandy for the first time. You know the interface by heart. You can do some crazy things, and have released about 1 scenario. This is the stage alot of AOMH forumers are at.
--The fifth stage is the getting better stage. You know are becoming unique and can do things other people can't do so easily. You begin to look downwards a bit more on scenarios. You can make advanced eyecandy, and have released many maps. You are very good with triggers.
--The sixth stage is the uber stage. You now know how to do everything with the editor. The_Vandhall is at this stage. You laugh at bad reviews and shrug at good ones. You know your good, because your scenarios have wracked up thousands of downloads. You... are... uber... You can do eyecandy that boggles peoples minds.

You just so happened to be in the second stage, and you tried to tell someone in the sixth stage something. That doesn't work so well. He comes to your thread and the second he sees so much as one screenshot, he either gets very angry, or begins to crack up. No one of the expierence of yourself can tell The Vandhall his eyecandy needs to be better. You can't get within a mile of his eyecandy. And by the time you can do what he has done, he would have marked AOM history and left the game for good. Let me tell you, The Vandhall is known by almost everyone on this forum, and he is one of the best designers here. Bottom line, you are wrong. His eyecandy is perfect. If no one else before you, whatever stage they were at, have said his eyecandy was flawed. Then it wasn't flawed. So, I would be quiet on your first year. If you want to get any reconing, you should definately watch what you say.

My recomendation for you, is to expirement with the editor until you are at least at the 4th stage. Then you can go ahead and make a showcase here and talk about it.

Once again...

Places of Improvement:
Grammar and Spelling
Eyecandy
Showcases
Respect
Triggers
Maturity
Common Editor Knowledge

If you don't understand where to expand, try starting in the question thread and look at the many guides. Also, look at other maps. You need to understand what how gameply works. A cramped village isn't good. A spacious but good looking village is good.

Also, have a general idea what your scenario is. This "egyptopolis" is nothing. What is it supposed to be? An eyecandy showcase? Well, it lacks there too. A campaign? The storyline is short, and not well written.

You need to know what people are going to want. No one wants a campaign scenario with a cramped village, in egypt, with bad eyecandy, with bad storyline, and underdeveloped triggers.

Here is a link to a good place to begin researching and reading. Its the best place to start:

Scenario Design

Best Regards,

Mator

Its funny, I'm reading those stages and their practically identicle to my deigning career lol.
But I do think you were a bit harsh. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to his eyes, Vandhaal's eyecandy wasn't perfect. He never said that he could have done better, He was just giving Vandhaal his opinion. Hold on a sec, a quote is coming on...

You don't have to be great at something to be able to criticize it. What coach is better than than the players on the team? Look at movie critics. Do you think they can make a movie like the ones they criticize? It helps, of course, to know how to do what you critcize, but being 'good' at it is not necessary. Judging/criticizing is only part of the skill to create.

banofee,thank you very much for the reply

mator.a thousand thanks for the reply,although i think i am in the third stage, not the second.

for my grammer, you can't really blame me. im isralian. so wheni really don't know how to grammarize something, i use the hebrew or arabic grammer laws.

and for the vanda's screenies, while they are truely awsome,they still lack.even he admitted it. for any further post, please do not iscuss my replies to the vandhaal.

now, i took your advice,and im updating the screenies with render sky and stuff

thank you very much

eyecandy of doom
----------------------------------

update:

thanks to the recent quality updates,and the help of mator ans baske,which recives my thanks for the ideas and cons, half of the screenshts were updated!

[This message has been edited by eyecandy of doom (edited 01-12-2008 @ 03:22 AM).]

Yes! Your starting to get it, thats a nice use of lighting, but as far as I can see, you havn't actually rendered the sky. When you do it should look something like this:
http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh214/AoM_Banoffee/?action=view¤t=screen7.jpg

[This message has been edited by Banoffee (edited 01-12-2008 @ 04:19 AM).]

thanks for the reply banofee,but ive changed the screenie a little: it will occur in total darkness.(far less los and almost no light source[70-78% dark screen])

so thare is no point of editing the sky. no one will see it, and the current black suits the night.

thanks for the reply,if you wish to add anything, please post. this community is far more helpful then others i know

p.s.

i improved the harbour screenie. i found a nice trick with relics and osiris birth sfx's

[This message has been edited by eyecandy of doom (edited 01-12-2008 @ 04:33 AM).]