HoleZ – free cutter tool for FPS Creator
If you want to create some destruction in your FPS Creator levels a cutter tool is a great way to go. HoleZ is a cutter tool recently made free to download and use by its creator. You can download it from FPSfree.com. There is also a manual available from the same page.
After downloading and installing HoleZ you boot up FPS Creator and open or build a level. When you want to destroy some wall you open up Segments and find the tab names holez. Here you can select a range of cutters that can be placed on segments walls. It will look similar to inserting a door.
When you test and build your levels you will now see a hole through the wall where you inserted it in the level editor. Notice that some of the cutters included also insert prison bars or wooden planks into the walls.
With this selection of cutters you can now modify your levels in ways not possible with standard FPS Creator segments.
Creating sunlight in FPS Creator
For many new FPS Creator developers one very popular question is how to make natural sunlight for outdoor levels. FPS Creator does not include any feature called sunlight but it is actually quite simple to do with the built in light system.
This video tutorial will show how you can make sunlight in a few simple steps.
Remember that you also can set a blue-ish color for moonshine if you have a night backdrop in your level.
Adding sound and music in Game Maker 8
If you have gone through the many Game Maker tutorials on YourGameDesign you will probably have noticed that none of them contain guides on how to add sound or music. This video tutorial here will focus on exactly that problem and show you how to easily add audio to your games.
In the video a Breakout game from an earlier tutorial is used as an example game. As always it is recommended to watch the video in full screen mode.
The tutorial uses sound effects included with Game Maker 8. Remember that you can personalise your game better by creating your own sounds. Use a audio editor and recorder like Audacity to create your own sound effects.
Breakout in Game Maker 8 tutorial
If you completed the Pong tutorial then it might be time to move on to a new game. Breakout is an excellent game to create in Game Maker since it builds on what you have learned from the Pong game and introduces a basic use of Timelines, changing objects during play and animated sprites.
This Breakout tutorial is divided into two parts. It is recommended to view each part in full screen mode.
Remember that you can improve the game with your own ideas, graphics and sounds etc. once you complete the tutorial. You can also add more levels.
Cartography Shop – free modeling tool
While 3D modeling tool Blender is an all-purpose program to create any model you can dream of and use it in any form of media (games or animation movies etc.) a different modeling tool is Cartography Shop.
Cartography shop is specifically built for creating architecture and levels in 3D games and while the tool isn't exactly new it has now been released for free download and use.
Some of its listed features:
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Automatic UV mapping
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Extremely fast object manipulation and drawing
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Lightmap calculator and exporter
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Select and texture objects or object faces
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Export .X, Save native .CSM files, or export to your own file format
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Stretch, position, mirror, flip, and rotate meshes
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Configurable entity system
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Automatically load textures right out of your game directory by setting a prefix to be used with texture names
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Adjustable viewports
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Accurate grid snap - no cracks or gaps in your maps!
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Compatible with virtually any game engine
Notice that .x file exporting can be used for creating new entity models for FPS Creator through many importers.



