Helpful tricks for new modders.

[Pompidom]

I'm creating a topic with all the tricks and tips I picked up over the past few months that I wish I would have known before I started making my mod. Specifically for new mods in the making. people are welcome to post neat little tricks that are specifically helpful info before you start creating your content. Try to avoid asking questions in this topic. Just helpful tricks from experienced people sharing their personal tricks.
The main goal is to keep this topic clutter free with a high density of helpful info packed on only a few pages which is fast and light to read.
If you want to give a reply or comments with extra info, just do it with pm's so that the poster can edit the info topic to keep it clutter free.

Map size

Legend of Grimrock 2 maps have 32 x 32 real estate by default.
Good looking maps typically contain lots of impassable scenery objects like trees, plants or background objects that take lots of space on the edges of the map.
Trying to cram good looking impassable scenery makes your real estate for actually moving around smaller in the middle of the map.

By increasing the numbers in your dungeon file, you can create a bigger map with more usable squares.
However, only the first 32 squares horizontal and vertical will be shown on the ingame map making the extra rows and columns on the right and the bottom useless. This is not what we want.

However, you can use these extra rows and columns to place all your extra impassable scenery to make your map look pretty and detailed and gain some extra space making your map effectively "bigger"

This way you gain some extra real estate, slightly escaping the small amount of square feet you have to work in while still maintaining full ingame map compatibility.

https://imgur.com/a/0nWsRlP ----> typical 32x32 map, palm trees are not shown on the ingame map
https://imgur.com/a/eimGhun ----> the palmtrees that are placed offgrid in row 33, 34 and 35 with a background hill on row 36
https://imgur.com/a/x7J88jg ----> In this screenshot the palm trees are placed in the outside grid of the ingame map.
https://imgur.com/a/1ai3r4t ----> This is an example where you lose 6 rows to impassable scenery!!! 6 x 32 = 192 squares lost on scenery
By making the map 38x38 you will recover that lost surface by being able to move all that scenery in the offgrid section.

[KhrougH]

Exactly... That's what i meant ... Usefull tips for new editor users

[minmay]

By increasing the numbers in your dungeon file, you can create a bigger map with more usable squares.
However, only the first 32 squares horizontal and vertical will be shown on the ingame map making the extra rows and columns on the right and the bottom useless. This is not what we want.

However, you can use these extra rows and columns to place all your extra impassable scenery to make your map look pretty and detailed and gain some extra space making your map effectively "bigger"

This way you gain some extra real estate, slightly escaping the small amount of square feet you have to work in while still maintaining full ingame map compatibility.

https://imgur.com/a/0nWsRlP ----> typical 32x32 map, palm trees are not shown on the ingame map
https://imgur.com/a/eimGhun ----> the palmtrees that are placed offgrid in row 33, 34 and 35 with a background hill on row 36
https://imgur.com/a/x7J88jg ----> In this screenshot the palm trees are placed in the outside grid of the ingame map.
https://imgur.com/a/1ai3r4t ----> This is an example where you lose 6 rows to impassable scenery!!! 6 x 32 = 192 squares lost on scenery
By making the map 38x38 you will recover that lost surface by being able to move all that scenery in the offgrid section.

Do not do this. It breaks map markers and heightmaps. Use component offsets instead.

[Pompidom]

Do not do this. It breaks map markers and heightmaps. Use component offsets instead.

Damn, you're right.

It does indeed slightly break map markers. I have yet to figure out what you mean with broken heightmaps though.

And by searching the forum about bigger maps, I stumbled on this gem:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13948&p=105580&hil ... ps#p105580

minmay's Modding Infodump.

looks like I have some reading to do and this basically rendered my topic useless as minmay already did all the work

[Isaac]

It does indeed slightly break map markers. I have yet to figure out what you mean with broken heightmaps though.

Outdoor levels use heightmaps in rendering the terrain.