Requirements:
A computer
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Projects
The PrismEd editor (Prism3D)
Experience with the basics of PrismEd (I suggest reading the official scssoft tutorial)
All the soft- and hardware necessary to run it all
I guess you wonder what a trouble tutorial is. Well, it just means that I put the answers to my troubles, and troubles I've heard about, concerning mapping in PrismEd. In time, I want this tutorial to grow, so that people can just go here when they encounter problems theirselves. Also, if you have questions, or trouble that isn't in this tutorial, please leave a message in the guestbook, or mail it to dukemptutorials@yahoo.com. Also, make sure your settings and preferences are set right, that can solve a lot of problems...
Only one brush visible
This is something I have encountered too much, while it is very easy. You just have to select the topmost node in the group manager representing the whole level and its properties, and pick the "void space" option (quote to the scssoft tutorial). This actually something you have to do standard when you start building a map. Don't forget it, like I did. It seems unimportant, but you really can't work if you don't do this.
Area entity doesn't work
This can be a lot of things, but I still put this part here because I have to say: If you want an area brush to work properly, make sure you make the area big enough, so that Duke is ALWAYS in the area, when you want it to work. No matter if he walks, jumps, falls etc, Duke must be in it. An area brush can never be too big, but it can be too small. Especially when we're talking about a game track.
PrismEd gives an error when working with tripatches or bezier patches
This is simple. When you create a tripatch or bezier patch, they haven't got any textures yet. So when you create one, make sure you don't work in textured mode, but just in wireframe mode. Then attach a shader to it, and only then it is safe to work in texture mode.
Tripatches
This is not really a problem, but it's a kinda fuzzy part of the editor, while the effects can be quite nice. A tripatch is a flat patch, use to create thing like water and big landscapes. The thing that makes it so special, is the landscaping tool. With the landscaping tool you can make beautiful round hills and bulbs in the water. You can make a tripatch by clicking the tripatch button and placing it in the map. Make sure you are working in wireframe mode like said above and make sure you set the most important options before you click create (that's always a good idea). You can control the size of the patch and the size of the triangles. Play with this and then click the tripatch landscaping buttonright under the tripatch button. Set the options, click on the tripatch, drag the mouse and enjoy the effect...
Stairs
Stairs are really hard to make. The problem with stairs is, that when you build one, you have to jump to walk onto it. My only idea is to avoid making stairs, and making elevators and ladders instead. To be continued...
Tracks visible in DNMP
This is something I encoutered when testing my maps with the use of the cheats.cfg. It may look something like this:
The problem can easily be solved, by making sure cheats.cfg is enabled and hitting F4. It can be very handy though when you are testing your maps.
Problems getting off with PrismEd
To work with PrismEd, you need experience and enthousiasm (or patience). The things you must now to create a proper map is so much, that it takes a lot of time before you can start with the real thing. I started out with the scssoft tutorial, and began to try out the entities using the help file and the demo maps. That took a lot of time, but that's why I'm making these tutorials, to help out with entities and effects. Once you know how to work with the most important entities, you can go on with mapping. The way to make a nice map is to design it all first (on paper or something), building the brushes, making the game tracks, adding effects and at last giving detail. If you want to know more about the entities, check the DNMP Forum and the tutorials. Especially the Prismed v1.0 and Prismed v1.1 topics may be of help!
PrismEd crashes
There's no solution to that, all I can say is: install the patches and check the DNMP site.