OBED FAQ

Welcome to the OBED FAQ. OBED (now at version 1.3) is a Marathon 2 map editor for Windows. The latest version can be found at PulseCode. This FAQ is by no way official - it's based on an email I sent to a friend trying to help him with OBED way back when Marathon 2 had just been ported to Windows 95. Unfortunately, I lost my registered copy of OBED, and I haven't made Marathon maps in years. But hopefully this document will help those who do!

First thing: You need to snoop around the editor. These are all pretty obvious. Try reading Obed_docs.txt. It's the help file! Also, see if you can get a Mac friend to lend you the Mara Infinity book, and Xerox all the Forge tips. It's pretty similar, at least dialogue-wise, to OBED.

  1. How do I light my levels?
  2. How do I make my terminals work, and what is all that stuff about flags?
  3. How do I choose more textures?
  4. How do I make recharges and switches work?
  5. How do I make stairs with the stair tool?
  6. How do I put 5D-space in my levels?
  7. How do I make teleporters?
  8. How do I make and control media (water, lava, sewage)?
  9. What are primary, secondary, and transparent textures?
  10. What do the texture options mean?
  11. How do I make a vacuum?
  12. How do I make platforms?
  13. How do I put pictures in my terminals?
  14. How do I make a terminal realize that the required items have been gotten?
  15. How do I make enemies and items teleport in?
  1. How do I light my levels?

    Go to "Scenario/Lightsources". The default lightsource is index 0, and will be applied to all surfaces. So, to just apply a default light, hit "Add Light" and exit. That will paint a pretty bright light on everything.

    OK, let's walk through all the fields. First the light type. This controls how the light behaves. A normal light is, well, a normal light that can be applied to a surface. A strobe light (what the hell is a strobe light?). A media light isn't actually a light at all. It controls the height of a liquid. I'll cover that under Media.

    The flags are pretty simple. "Initially Active" just means that it starts out running. Otherwise, you have to start it with a switch or something. To change a lightsource, just right click a selection and choose "Set Group Lightsources".

  2. How do I make my terminals work, and what is all that stuff about flags?

    First, write the terminal. There are many codes to be put in the "Type" field. Here they are:

    • 0 - Sign-on screen with beep - often moves to the next screen automatically.
    • 1 - Beginning screen when level is not completed.
    • 2 - Beginning screen when level is completed.
    • 5 - End screen when level is not completed.
    • 6 - Teleport to another level. Set level in "Level" field. Level 255 ends the game.
    • 7 - Intra-level teleport. Set polygon destination.
    • 8 - Terminal map - not used
    • 12 - Standard text with picture.
    • 13 - Sign-off screen

    Then, select the side you want to put the terminal on and get its properties. Set the texture to the terminal you want. Then set the flags - "is control panel" and "N Computer Terminal". Set the Control Panel Permutation to the index of the terminal. Presto! Terminal complete.

  3. How do I choose more textures?

    Mission Info. Set the texture set - water, lava, goo, or sewage.

  4. How do I make recharges and switches work?

    Make sure the "is control panel" flag is set, and that you've selected the right type of control panel. The other flags tell how the switch works. For example, Must Be Lighted means that the side's light must be active for it to work.

  5. How do I make stairs with the stair tool?

    Just pull a line and set the properties. Then click the Bend tool, click a dot at each end of the stairs, and bend away!

  6. How do I put 5D-space in my levels?

    Load a level with 5D space and study it. Not really an answer, but the best way. To make the engine produce "5D space", you need only to draw one polygon on top of another. THe game won't worry about the fact that they occupy the same space, and will display the one you enter from another passage.

  7. How do I make teleporters?

    Select the polygon, and set the Polygon type to teleporter. Pretty simple, eh?

  8. How do I make and control media (water, lava, sewage)?

    This is hard. First, make a new media with Scenario\Media. Then make a new light using Lightsources. Set it's type as Media. The light intensity now controls the height of the media. It's a percentage of the maximum height of the media (out of 65535, don't ask). Then set the media to be controlled by the new light. Then select each polygon you want a media on, and set the Media Controller Light Index to the Media Index, and remember to set the Media Light Index to whatever light you want for the surface illumination.

  9. What are primary, secondary, and transparent textures?

    Primary is the all-purpose texture, and secondary is used when Split Side texturing is used, that is, when the ceiling is lower than the surrounding ceiling and the floor is higher than it's surroundings. Primary goes on top and secondary goes on bottom. Transparent defines a transparent texture to go between them.

  10. What do the texture options mean?

    Alignment is the offset of the texture. This way, you can move around the switch and terminal composite tiles to get at different images. Texture mode defines the texture's movement behavior.

  11. How do I make a vacuum?

    Mission Info.

  12. How do I make platforms?

    Polygon Type under a polygon's properties.

  13. How do I put pictures in my terminals?

    2 ways: Use Import .bmp to import your own picture, or use Append levels to pull a picture out of Map.sce2. Here's some known indexes for Map pictures.

    • 1600 - Durandal Logon
    • 1601 - Spht Logon
    • 1602 - Pfor Squiggle logon
    • 1608 - Thoth Logon
    • 1609 - Thoth Symbol
    • 10913 - Spht text
    • 10701 - Marine fighting from "Nuke and Pave"
  14. How do I make a terminal realize that the required items have been gotten?

    Set the mission to Retrieval. The level will be completed when all uplink chips and spht key cards have been picked up and/or used.

  15. How do I make enemies and items teleport in?

    Set the Items/Monsters as invisible. Then set a polygon as an invisible monster trigger or Item Trigger. Make sure to use zone borders to wall off the trigger's signal, because the signal will propagate to the entire level otherwise.