Surf Map Zoning / How to Zone Surf Maps

[phantomx]

This is intended to help new admins/zoners/server owners with the basics of surf map zoning.

Useful reference video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqMsInRLXyA

Useful bind for zoning:
bind sm_noclip / <-- that is my suggested key for zoning

Useful commands for zoning:
/zones
/hookzone (see Hookzone info for more on this one..)
/end
/rm (reload map)
/extendmap amount (IG servers only; this is a custom command we've added)

Steps:
- Load the map
- Always start with the main map 'start zone', draw the box, and test to make sure it works
- If staged map -> surf or no clip to the next stage, draw the zone. Rinse and repeat until all stages are complete.
- - if the map is a staged linear, the zones must be "unlocked" by changing the velocity to 10,000 in the /zones edit menu (yes technically 0 is truly unlock, but it is bugged and sometimes stops users to 0 speed)
- If linear map -> zone all appropriate checkpoints (watch a youtube video of the map if unsure of where the checkpoints are)
- End zone - once this is done, zone the bonuses IN ORDER.
- Once the map is totally zoned, reload the map and test all zones (by either surfing it, no clipping it, and/or using !stage commands
- Once you are sure all the zones work as intended, you will do the following commands:
/amt # (add map tier #), so if it's a tier 3 map, you type /amt 3
/anm (add new map - no other argument necessary)
/ms (map settings) and change the max velocity to 10,000 ***(this is specific to the IG network, we use 10k max velocity on all maps)

Once these steps are complete, congrats you have zoned a map. Use your network's appropriate mechanism for posting new maps and adding them to the servers; in our case, we do this:

Zoner: type /m in chat to get the map info (example: surf_utopia_njv_fix_v1_fix2 - Tier 1 - 12 Bonuses), copy and paste that into Zoner chat and label it as completed
If you have server FTP access, add the map to the mapcycle.txt file to add it to the server's map rotation. If not, contact the appropriate admin for this step.

**** Hookzones ****
/hookzone is a buggy feature but can work well if no mistakes are made:

If a map-maker is nice enough, they will create hookzones that allow you to quickly zone a map.
If you type /hookzone and a menu with useful stuff pops up, congrats, follow along; if the result is null, then you must manually zone the map.
Using hookzones:
1) type /hookzone and find the start zone
2) select create zone from that menu, and make it a Map Start Zone
3) do the same for checkpoints/stages
* if at any point you mess up, delete your most recent zone from /zones, and then RELOAD THE MAP
4) zone the entire main map first, then zone the bonuses IN ORDER
* again, at any point if you make a mistake, RELOAD THE MAP
5) once done with hookzones, follow through with /amt and /anm per above.
6) do not attempt to surf the map without reloading