Well, I'm set to release my map; but for some reason I've been having a hell of a lot of trouble just packing it up. I understand I can send it out without a bmz import file but I really want it to have that finished polish. I wouldn't ask if I have not spent the last three days a bunch hours a day just trying to pack my map -- I think I've accumulated a good 12 hours total on trying to pack in a damn level WTF?! and I thought creating the level was tough enough.

Now here are some of my errors, that I've managed to kinda fix... for one I noticed since I was am using WinVista and winrar; that my zips weren't compressed for my final bmz and that when I edited my text files for my bns they weren't saved in the correct "internal coding" (they might of still been .txt or just were .bns files but with ascii uni 8 or whatever code txt files are saved in) Okay, so I figured out how to get things somewhat right; I've read up and re read and re read each of the wiki pages and tutorials on packaging and I've downloaded winzip so I can zip my files uncompressed and also downloaded pakrat and bnsmaker which I thought would save me. BUT thus far the most I get when I import from within Portal is a folder within in my maps folder with my bsp and files but no matter how much tweaking and retweaking I do to my bns files; portal can't seem to locate my map (bsp)... I know this is a bit disorganized for a post; I will try and post some screenshots of what I'm talking about later this evening or to better explain my frustration-- when I go give it my fourth attempt--- but damn I just want this map to see the light of day already.

I tried packing my map in a folder of its own where I can put any future maps I may release like some of you have; and I've also tried just having it show up in the standard maps folder -- hoping this would solve my trouble but still nothing.

Has anyone else had a lot of trouble packaging up a map; -- mine has custom sounds and two custom textures. Other than that I can't figure why I'm having such trouble-- I usually follow and catch up on things rather quickly; I'd gladly take ANY suggestions or advise on how to resolve this please...

One question I have is after packing my bsp with my custom sounds and textures and ain and sound cache exactly as I believe it should why does my bmz create a folder in my maps folder when I import? I thought that would happen only if I created a folderinfo.bns and such-- errrr

Excuse my lack of clarity but my confusion is showing in my writing...

and I think at this point I'm half ranting...

Here is what I do when I am preparing my maps for release:

1. Do full HDR compile and place the .bsp in /portal/maps
2. Build LDR/HDR cubemaps and exit game completely.
3. Delete the saved game files for your map
4. Move the map into your correct folder (/portal/maps/mymaps/)
5. Create the .bns file for the map with settings as such:

"Map 1"
{
   "map"      "./map1"
   "image"      "./map1.tga"
   "comment"   "Map 1."
}

(OPTIONAL: Create a .bns file for the folder too)
6. Create a .txt file named "mymapbspzip.txt" in your portal/mymaps/ folder that contains the following info with the following format:

materials/mymap/texture.vmt
C:/Program Files/Valve/Steam/SteamApps/username/portal/portal/materials/mymap/texture.vmt
materials/mymap/texture.vtf
C:/Program Files/Valve/Steam/SteamApps/username/portal/portal/materials/mymap/texture.vtf
sounds/mymap/sound.wav
C:/Program Files/Valve/Steam/SteamApps/username/portal/portal/sounds/mymap/sound.wav

ect with one line as the mod directory to the file and the second as the full path
7. Open a command prompt (Start>Run>cmd) and type ```
cd C:/Program Files/Valve/Steam/SteamApps/username/portal/portal/sounds/mymap/

8. Then type ```
"%sourcesdk%\bin\orangebox\bin\bspzip" -addlist mymap.bsp mymapbspzip.txt mymap.bsp

1. Create a backup of all your materials/sounds and then delete them from inside your Portal directory.
2. Test your map to make sure it contains the textures/sounds correctly.
3. Then just make a mock folder structure somewhere of your portal/maps/mymaps, portal/maps/graphs/mymap.ain and copy your files into there.
4. Add a readme.txt to the highest directory in your mock folder structure and zip it up.
5. Backup your /portal/maps/ folder and delete anything related to your map (.bsp files, .ain, anything). Extract your zip like you would have just downloaded it without any previous files and make sure it works.

I don't prefer to create .BMZ files as people are more accustomed and used to just unzipping files into the Portal directory. But if you wish to do this, just make sure you select "Uncompressed" when zipping up the files in step 12 and rename it to be .bmz instead of .zip.

Thanks for the info Remmiz; I'm a see what I can do--if not I'll package it up in folder format without the bmz import thing till I can figure it out--

Quick question for anyone who reads this; how exactly do I use the point_bonusmaps_accessor; what do I enter in the fields; I understand the text bns file part of it; but I can't find much info regarding this entity and actually how to apply it to my map.

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki ... s_accessor

You don't really need one of those unless you want to unlock a map or mark one as complete.