A lot of mappers are sending me maps without screenshot included.
The screenshot may not look important when your map is great but when it is on a server amongst 300 other maps, it's ceratinly easier to remember a map which has a screenie in the mapvote feature rather than the filename.
Here is how to do :
1/ Taking the screenshot
- Launch your map in UT
- Goto the menu "Options" => "Preferences"
- Click on the "HUD" tab and uncheck "Show HUD"
- Click on the "Crosshair Color" dropdown and select "custom"
- Click on the "Game" Tab and select "Hidden" in the "Weapon hand" dropdown.
Now your HUD is showing nothing but the image of the game.
- Fly through your level typing "fly" or "ghost" in the console
- Take a screenshot using the F9 key
2/ Editing the screenshot
- Open your screenshot in a paint program like Paint Shop Pro
It is stored in your "UnrealTournament\System" folder as a bitmap (Shotxxxxx.bmp)
- Resize your screenshot to 256x256 pixels. Alternatively, if you want to avoid distortion, just take a quare part of the original screen.
-Reduce the number of colors to 256 <== this is very important.
- Save your screenshot as a ".pcx" file
3/ Inserting the screenshot in your map
- Open UnrealEd and load your map.
- Open the texture browser and import the .pcx file by doing "File" ==> "Import".
Package : MyLevel
Group :
Name : screenshot
- Choose "View" => "Level Properties" from the menu
- Choose "Level Info" => "Screenshot" and use the screenshot texture you have just loaded.
- Save your map