Building entities

Guide to working with building entities

Location of Building Entities

Location in Map Editor

Building entities can be found on the Entity tab of the Map Editor in the list of game assets, in the general construction asset folder:

  • town_e

  • town_ger

  • town_ru

  • town_ua

Use structural building entities to place them on the map

When placing a building entity on the map, you need to select its name from the list of structural entities (the list is located below all folders with identical names).

Entities from the town_*/x folders are not standalone game entities. These are technical entities that are substituted by the engine during gameplay at the moment of building destruction.

Location in Game Resources

Building entity files are located in the resources in the folders:[packagename]\scene\entity\construction\town_*

Structure of Building Entities

Variability

Building entities are made with a structure. Building entities are composed of multiple elements linked to a common base. Each element can be enabled, making it visible in the structure, or disabled, making it invisible. This allows for creating partially destroyed structures or adding additional elements, thereby changing the appearance of the building.

The screenshot below shows the same building with different sets of visible elements in the structure.

Example of the appearance of the same building entity with a different set of included elements in its structure

It is not recommended to place separate parts of entities made with a structure on the map as standalone map entities, as this can lead to errors during the game.

Flora elements on Building Entities

Some building elements have an additional "ivy" element. It is enabled in the structure as a separate decorative element.

Ivy elements in building entities

Texmods

Building entities have various texmods for walls, roofs, and other elements. Texmods are assigned in the properties of the selected entities. You need to select all the necessary elements with Ctrl pressed (as shown in the screenshot below) and choose the desired texmod name from the dropdown list in the texmods field.

If you select a building entity without pressing Ctrl and switch the texmod in the structure properties for the entire structure, the texmod will not be applied to all elements of the structure, leading to visual errors.

Assigning a texmod to building entity elements

Entities of Single and Combined Buildings

Entities of single buildings

Entities of single buildings can be placed on maps only as standalone buildings.

Creating complexes from entities of single buildings in the editor will lead to errors during the game related to capturing and fortifying the buildings in the complex, as well as errors with unit movement around the buildings.

Entities of single buildings on the right.

Entities of combined buildings

Entities of combined buildings consist of models of single buildings, assembled in 3D Max, and exported as an independent structural model. This approach allows capturing the combined building as a single complex and avoids situations where one building is simultaneously captured by players from different sides. In addition, in entities of combined buildings, auxiliary entities such as obstacles, volumes, and fortification elements can be configured if necessary.

Fortification elements in building entities

Fortification elements on buildings

The screenshot above shows the difference in fortification between entities of combined and single buildings: most elements coincide, but the fortification models inside the building are missing. Also, in complex buildings, duplicates of obstacles for adjacent walls of single houses inside the building are disabled. This approach to creating and configuring complex buildings prevents spawning fortification elements and debris from destructions at the junctions of single houses in a complex building during the game.

Differences in the number of obstacles in entities of single and combined buildings

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