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Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-07-2005, 00:38
I had a try at the -enable_editor command line and was wondering if we could expand a bit the number of maps available for MP.

-enable_editor is a command line to add to your RTW shortcut. It enables the battle editor.
Once the command line is added, go to options, then start "Battle editor". You are directed to a screen with a small map of Europe.
Click on a square, and then next, and voila, you are designing a map.
The only thing we need to do from there is to press F1, tick on "MP maps" and save the map. THen you got to move the newly created "folder maps" around, but we'll get back to that point.

Each map is 2/2.5 Mb each, half that if zipped. That would make a mappack quite space consuming.
Would anyone be kind enough to host 50Mb of maps?

An alternative would be to have a very clear way to name maps so that we could all use the battle editor, and create the maps as we need them.

As a way to name maps I'd propose:

1/gives the texture name: RTW got
- alpine: ALP
- highland: HLD
- mediterranean: MED
- rocky_desert: RDS
- sandy-desert: SDS
- semi-arid: ARI
- sub-arctic: ACT
- swamp: SWP
- Temperate_forest_deep: TFD
- Temperate_forest_open: TFO
- Temperate_grassland_fertile: TGF
- Temperate_grassland_infertile: TGI
- Volcanic: VOL

2/ some idea of what is in there: is it flat, hills or mountain
- flat: FLT
- hills: HIL
- mountain: MTN
- wood: WOD

3/ Rivers Y/N: if there is one add RIV

Then I'll add the XX-YY location of the map.

So a gallic open plain would be something like:

[TFO-FLT]_49-98

I know it's not really poetic :embarassed:

The real question is: if I creae that map in my folder using that name, and if someone else pick the same exact spot, and give it the same exact name, is there any reason we can't play online together WITHOUT EXCHANGING FILE AT ALL?

In that case, all we would need is a single list of names for maps... And everyone would be able to play them.


What do you think would be easier? make a 50 Mb mappack? or trying to use the battle editor to create all the maps each on our own but sharing the way we make maps and name them?
(or just creates the map we feel would be of some interest; in which case, we still need to post the good spot).

I do think that RTW lack of maps in MP is a problem. Now the solution is in our hands.

Louis,

Jochi Khan
02-07-2005, 01:16
I hope Orda Khan has seen this thread.

He made some very good maps for MTW/VI

Jochi

Orda Khan
02-07-2005, 18:03
Just read it ~;)
Louis, would that be space -enable_editor, like the space -ian command?
It may be worth installing the patch just to have a look at the editor, there certainly is not much else about RTW that appeals but it seems CA have even over complicated this feature.
I would prefer to see 'poetic' map titles though Louis ~:)

.....Orda

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-07-2005, 18:34
Yes Orda, that would be " -enable_editor".

My thought right now is we may not have to download maps AT ALL. After all, those maps are already on the campaign map!
All that it takes is we all name them the same way.

The alternative is to use the map editor creatively, alter maps from campaign, and then save them; in that case, download is compulsory, and for sure we can get poetic map Orda ~:)

(although some ways of knowing whether it's desert or hill or if it got a river would be appreciated: note, there is a comment box, maybe we can use it too?)

Louis,

Aelwyn
02-07-2005, 20:01
The real question is: if I creae that map in my folder using that name, and if someone else pick the same exact spot, and give it the same exact name, is there any reason we can't play online together WITHOUT EXCHANGING FILE AT ALL?


If I understand the way this is set up, it might not even be necessary at all. Just to see how it worked, I tried saving a new map, then seeing if I could load a battle onto it. After looking for the correct folder to move the map into, I realized the maps we use in MP aren't really saved in a custom folder, at least it doesn't seem like it. I might be confused. ~:confused: But the info for the maps seems to be in the "custom_locations" file in the Data folder. I added a location to the bottom, and it seemed to load fine in a custom battle. I also got online quickly to check if it was listed there, and it was. So, maybe all it would take is for someone to add as many locations as we want to have, just change the X and Y for each map. And if they want to take a screenshot of the map to add in the map selection screen, that info is there as well, along with the path for it. So that might be a simpler solution to what you're proposing. Just open the battle editor, find a map you like, take a screenshot, then add appropriate text to that file.

But where would custom maps go? I haven't figured that out yet.

Nigel
02-07-2005, 20:24
Louis, a very interesting concept !

I can see 2 things happening here (and they could both happen in parallell).
What you are suggesting is basically freeing up the pre-made maps of the SP campaign for MP battles. This is something everyone could do without downloading files using your nomenclature. All we would need is maybe a list of what are good terrains to use for this.

At the same time we could have creatively designed maps which would have to be downloaded, but which could have poetic names, like Orda suggests. There may be only a few of them, and perhaps made for special occasions (like tournaments, re-enactments etc.).


I'd love to give your way a try.
What do I have to do after saving [TFO-FLT]_49-98 ?
And can be meet up and try it out ?

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-07-2005, 21:31
Ok, I feel like trying Aelwyn idea.... and my initial idea too ~D

In the file:

C:\Programmes\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\custom_locations

I just added the following entry:

custom_location Test_49-98
{
location 49 98
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


I have also created the following folder using the battle editor:

C:\Programmes\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\world\maps\battle\custom\[TFO-FLT]_49-98

which I have copied in

C:\Programmes\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\world\maps\custom\[TFO-FLT]_49-98

If anyone feel like giving it a go tonight, I'll be in the lobby.... you know my user ~D

Louis,

Nigel
02-07-2005, 22:58
Yes, Louis, :charge:

as you said in the lobby today, Aelwyn's idea works really well.
And indeed, it is enough for the Host to have the modification made. This opens a tremendeous amount of MP maps. And you can even give them poetic names if you like. So the example above could also be Gallic_Plains_49-98 (or something even more poetic). All you need is the coordinates. I guess the game then calculates the map from there.

Now all we need is a stable Gamespy connection (sigh).

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-08-2005, 00:18
~D

A sweet day indeed :balloon2:

Thanks Aelwyn, I think you are right, it's very easy to make all maps available.

in the C:\Programmes\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data folder, open the custom_locations.txt file

in that file, you can just add:
custom_location Test_49-98
{
location 49 98
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

and voila, you got the SP map 49-98 available!

What is really beautiful is ONLY THE HOST NEEDS IT! NO DOWNLOAD AT ALL!

Now, the question is; who is going to add all the custom locations with nice name in that file before making it available to all?

~:grouphug:

Louis,

Aelwyn
02-09-2005, 04:27
excellent. ~D

Only the host needs the map? wow...thats a definite improvement. So basically this opens up hundreds of maps with a very small download.

~:cheers:

Is there a way to run RTW in a smaller window, so I can type in the file while still being able to see what is going on in the game at the same time? If so documenting each new map would be much easier, and I'd probably give it a go myself. Its a pain to continuously alt-tab back and forth. And my video card just died. :embarassed: So I might be able to make the file, but won't be able to test it myself, as the vid card I'm using is way below the min spec.

Sid_Quibley
02-09-2005, 13:04
Great find Louis and Aelwyn.

You can run rtw in a window by adding " -ne" to your rome shortcut properties in the same way as the battle editor function.Also " -show_err" is a good one for catching any errors that may occur when editing files.

L'Impresario
02-09-2005, 14:27
Not sure if I have understood correctly all of this, but I do wonder how the replays will able to reproduce the host's custom map:-S

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-09-2005, 14:41
Not a problem at all...

Since those maps are the one from the SP campaign, the system is able to retrieve them from the campaign map, and they replay just fine ~:)

Those are not "real" custom maps, not in the sense of Orda making new maps with the battle editor. Those additional maps are the SP campaign maps everyone got on his own hard drive with the map, this trick just make them available, ALL OF THEM for MP.

Louis,

Orda Khan
02-09-2005, 17:14
This being the case, I fear map making is a thing of the past. Nobody will install a map pack when they already have hundreds to choose from.

No need for me to install the patch after all

.....Orda

Aelwyn
02-09-2005, 20:30
This being the case, I fear map making is a thing of the past. Nobody will install a map pack when they already have hundreds to choose from.

No need for me to install the patch after all

.....Orda


You're giving too much credit to the maps that came with the game. I'm sure you and I both can think of many maps made by community members that are better than original ones in any of the TW games. ~;)

Aelwyn
02-09-2005, 20:47
I can work on some of this, but the problem is, there's literally thousands of maps, and I'm thinking it might be overkill to have a bunch of maps that are very similar. I think of it in the same way as what Orda is saying, maps would lose their uniqueness. I know having more choices is a good thing, but do we want to set a limit on this? I see the appeal of having so many maps it'd be hard to remember what each one looked like, and therefore harder to prepare for it...its the whole skill will overcome thing.

IMO maybe we should decide the criteria for different types of maps, then choose how many of each we want. That would leave room for anyone who wants to make a unique map to do so without feeling that their efforts don't matter. Because as it is right now, the maps that we can basically classify as being the same type of map are the same map...only with a few variations to them. Like having a map at point 31 150, and then 32 150, 33 150....it might not be necessary because they'll be very similar maps. So should there be guidelines to this, so we're not overwhelmed with a bunch of unimportant maps?

Nigel
02-09-2005, 21:37
Definitely, Alewyn.

There is no point in having 20 maps that are all flat desert.

Then with those maps which have features on them perhaps 5 or 10 different ones of each type would be enough. But I dont really have enough experience to judge on the numbers here.

But what I am looking forward, if this is possible, are a few maps with "special" locations: Fight in the shadow of the Pyramids. Battle as the Colossus of Rhodes watches from the background. Hide your troops in the Hanging Gardens.

And, of course as a joke, it is up to everyone himself to identify the coordinates of the place where he lives and defend his home town.
:clown:

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-10-2005, 10:13
It's very true we are going to be overwhelmed by the number of maps ~:)

I am not sure we all need to have the same maps available, after all, since it's only a local file to mod, we can put different maps in our list. It's pretty much up to everyone.

What I would do though, is to try to be more descriptive in the map title, so that people knows where they are going, and to give the XX YY coords in the map's name.

Looking at the battle editor, I did not get the feeling that 30 150, 31 150, 32 150 were identical. They share identical features, such as model used, type of vegetations, etc, but positions of hills, etc are different, making them different maps.
But not all of them are suitable for MPs. A topic dedicated to MP map "good spots" would be very interesting indeed!

Regarding special locations; I had a look at special locations, I am not sure it works. At least in the battle editor, if you look at pyramid location, you won't find the pyramid there. I'll check that in MP...
It is possible with the battle editor to add in a map all the specials... but that might be a different kind of mod...

Louis,

Iluvatar
02-12-2005, 00:45
Here is a question that someone may be able to answer for me.

In editing maps I have not found a way to allow choice of units in MP. Perhaps someone can help me. The only thing I have been able to do is to create aklliances and pre-choose the units.

How do you go about allowing uncensored unit selection? And is there a way yto eliminate the need for alliances, so that any faction can play with another in MP?

Did I miss something obvious somewhere?

Sry if this is a stupid question.

Iluvatar
02-12-2005, 00:48
I am trying to create unique maps, not the ones available in SP.

Iluvatar
02-12-2005, 00:58
If you can help, please see my 2 previous posts. :)

Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
02-12-2005, 09:50
To allow "real custom maps" for MP, you need to press F1, and tick allow maps for MP.

Unrelated note, although it would be a good topic for custom map: if in the custom location I pick a square located on a wonder, the wonder is not present on the battle map.

So, for a battles next to the Pyramid, custom maps seem to be the way to go.

Louis,

Iluvatar
02-13-2005, 00:46
Thx Louis I will give that a try.

Hail FF!!!

Cheetah
02-13-2005, 14:13
Brilliant! Bloody brilliant!!!! ~D ~D ~D Nice found Ael! ~:cool:

I suggest a system where we use the existing maps as seeds for new maps.

For example we take Gaellic countryside and add or substract one from its coordinates. This way you have a set of new maps (8) that are very similar but not identical to the original one.

Advantages of the system:

• Easy to use, no need to struggle with new names, just call them „Gaellic countryside+1+0”, „Gaellic countryside+0+1”, „Gaellic countryside+1+1”, „Gaellic countryside-1+0”etc according to the coordinates you have changed.

• Intuitve: everyone familiar with Gaellic countryside, so everyone will know what to expect if you host one of these maps.

• Easy to expand: if you need more maps, just add the next circle „Gaellic countryside+0+2”, „Gaellic countryside+1+2”, etc.

The interesting task IMO would be to find new seeds. For example one finds that the maps of Pannonia are perfect for MP, then he picks a central tile and names it „Pannonian countryside” (or whatever) and can create a new set of maps using the above method. What he needs to do is to post the coordinates and the name here, in order to avoid confusion. So, lets say „I named tile with coordinates x,y as Pannonian countryside”.

This can be awesome for tourneis as well, tourney organisers need not specify the exact map, just say that the battle has to be fought on one of the Gaellic countryside maps, etc.

~D

Cheetah
02-13-2005, 15:48
I just did what I described above, created a set of Gallic countryside maps. It works fine! ~D You can see the "old" Gallic countryside to the north, south, ect depending on your location.

I also did some test how this coordinate system works:

1_1 desert
212_1 some funny rocky desert near a seashore
1_126 sea!
212_126 some steppe like tearrain with few trees and small valleys

so, I thought it is a simpe

x: east to west
y: south to north

system. I started to map the existing maps according this system. Got some interesting result, some maps does not seem to fit at all. Most notably:

prippet marshes
italian lowland
gallic countryside
cappadocian forest
river jordan
british grassland

Could the devs for example just pick a map outside britain and call it british grassland ? ~:confused: ~:confused:

Anyway, I started to look for new interesting seeds

Germanic Forest +15-25: looks promising, rolling hills practically without forest, some kind of subalpine climate (you can see the alps!)

Germanic forest +20-30: looks even more promising, rolling hills with few forest, it should be somewhere around Pannonia, you can still see the Alps on the horizon.

Cheetah
02-13-2005, 15:52
only the coordinates of the existing maps from the custom_location.txt file:

custom_location British Grassland
{
location 123 96

custom_location Gallic Countryside
{
location 161 112

custom_location Gallic Countryside +1+0
{
location 162 112

custom_location Italian Lowland
{
location 48 126

custom_location Sahara Desert
{
location 20 7

custom_location Libyan Plains
{
location 175 8

custom_location Arabian Dunes
{
location 224 47

custom_location Germanic Forest
{
location 90 127

custom_location Germanic Forest+15-25 -subalpine
{
location 105 102

custom_location Germanic Forest+20-30
{
location 110 97


custom_location Nordic Woodland
{
location 74 117

custom_location Cappadocian Forest
{
location 93 116

custom_location Prippet Marshes
{
location 5 62

custom_location Sierra Nevada
{
location 83 37

custom_location Scottish Highland
{
location 118 122

custom_location Armenian Mountains
{
location 189 59

custom_location Pontic Peaks
{
location 204 59

custom_location Alpine Valley
{
location 96 96

custom_location Tuscan Bay
{
location 87 78

custom_location Greek Shore
{
location 103 43

custom_location African Coast
{
location 86 27

custom_location Moon River
{
location 21 71

custom_location River Jordan
{
location 172 118

custom_location Nile Bridge
{
location 212 53

Cheetah
02-13-2005, 18:08
two more ideas:

1, Lets not go further than the 3rd circle of the old map when naming new maps (i.e. Gallic countryside +3+3). This way the maps in that given map set will be still similar in terrain and texture; there will be 49 maps in a map set (including the original); and -given that there are more than 20.000 maps!!- there can be roughly 400 map sets!!!!!

2, Lets not create overlapping map sets. So given the above idea there should be 6 maps between the old seed and the new seed. So for example, old seed: 10_10, then the nearest new seed: 10_17, or 10_3, 17_10, or 3_10, or any combination of these. In other words the new seed should be on the 7th circle counting from the old map.

Iluvatar
02-13-2005, 18:44
I guess at this point all we can really do is mess with maps in these ways. I have tried to create Custom maps and it doesnt seem to allow yuo to allow for full selection of factions in MP.

Perhaps we can extract these single player maps and somehow modify them........

Cheetah
02-13-2005, 19:56
Etna: 105_47 you will find yourself south of the volcano
Channel of Messina: 109_51 you will yourself on the mainland
British channel: 45_125 you will find yourself on the British island, channel to the south

I have tried to find cliffs of Dover but I gave up on it, though I have found some weird maps:
70_123 barren land, like a big rock, or the surface of the moon ~:confused: Is this England? Home of CA? ~:confused:
67_123 same type of barren land a river flowing north to south

Also it seems that if one of the deployment zones is ok but the other is in sea it will froze on the deployment screen. At least it got frozen for me on 58_124 and on 59_124.

Aelwyn
02-13-2005, 20:38
interesting finds cheetah. ~;) i can't actually load maps because of the vid card but the best thing is not everyone needs to have the same maps enabled. everyone can have different ones, so depending upon the host, you could be playing any number of maps, and the system will find the map off your hard drive, so no need for you to do anything.

Wishazu
02-13-2005, 21:39
is there no way to just start with a flat plane like in shogun and mtw and work from the ground up?

Wishazu
02-14-2005, 01:13
ok ive created a custom battle, basically did a battle of marathon with parthians in the role of the persians. i finally managed to locate this file after about 20 minutes of looking. how am i supposed to pass this battle onto other players? i tried transfering over msn but it said it could not send a whole folder i had to send the files all seperately, if so what does the recipient have to do with them once they are received?

the location was blah,blah,blah Data\World\Maps\Battle\Custom

Wishazu
02-14-2005, 19:30
sorry, i dont need to spam but im desperate for help.

Wishazu
02-14-2005, 22:25
ok ive figured out how to transfer em to my mates, however when he plays the battle(which works fine :) ) the replay he sends me back does not work. i get a message saying that the version used to save the replay is different and that it might differ from actual recording. however the replay doesnt load up at all and both our versions of rome are identical. any ideas?

Aelwyn
02-15-2005, 03:00
have you tried doing a custom battle on your own, and viewing your on replay? does that work?

Wishazu
02-15-2005, 03:10
i`ll give that a try thanks matey. btw has anyone else managed to create some decent battles yet? im still playtesting my marathon game with a friend of mine but its practically complete if anyone else is interested, i`d like to hear peoples opinions.

Swoosh So
02-17-2005, 00:56
Any chance of a copy paste of your files so i can just copy in and have the maps?

The_Mark
02-17-2005, 22:55
Well.. I had a good rummage about and here's what I found: The battle folders in the world/maps/custom folder (not the world/maps/battle/custom) are actually custom maps. So all you have to do is to create the basic map in the editor, save it and cut and paste it from world/maps/battle/custom to world/maps/custom. It's that simple. I tried it out and got a custom map with the pyramids in it, and it works, at least in custom battles. I'll upload it somewhere for you if I can.

The_Mark
02-17-2005, 23:00
Here you go: http://koti.mbnet.fi/makealho/Pyramids.zip

Just unzip the folder to world/maps/custom and it should work.

Orda Khan
02-19-2005, 20:19
Question.......

Is this an improvement?

.......Orda

The_Mark
02-19-2005, 20:25
I know it's *a bit* crude :embarassed: , but it's just to show it can be done.. And so that someone could test that it works in MP too, as I'm currently having massive problems with my comp and Rome. Don't look at the map, just try it if it works ~D

Cheetah
02-20-2005, 01:56
I named the following maps:

Noricum location 105 102
Pannonia Superior location 110 97
Syracusae location 105 46
Gibraltar location 12 52

copy+paste the following text into your custom_locations.txt file (Activision/Rome - Total War/Data) and you can use these maps in MP:


custom_location Gallic Countryside +1+0
{
location 162 112
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside +0+1
{
location 161 113
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside +1+1
{
location 162 113
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside -1+0
{
location 160 112
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside +0-1
{
location 161 111
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside -1-1
{
location 160 111
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside -1+1
{
location 160 113
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Gallic Countryside +1-1
{
location 162 111
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum
{
location 105 102
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum +0+1
{
location 105 103
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum +1+0
{
location 106 102
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum +1+1
{
location 106 103
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum +0-1
{
location 105 101
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum -1+0
{
location 104 102
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum -1-1
{
location 104 101
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum -1+1
{
location 104 103
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Noricum +1-1
{
location 106 101
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior
{
location 110 97
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Pannonia Superior +0+1
{
location 110 98
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior +1+0
{
location 111 97
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior +1+1
{
location 111 98
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior +0-1
{
location 110 96
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior -1+0
{
location 109 97
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior -1-1
{
location 109 96
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior -1+1
{
location 109 98
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Pannonia Superior +1-1
{
location 111 96
image data/menu/grass3.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Syracusae
{
location 105 46
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae +0+1
{
location 105 47
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae +1+0
{
location 106 46
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae +1+1
{
location 106 47
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae +0-1
{
location 105 45
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae -1+0
{
location 104 46
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae -1-1
{
location 104 45
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae -1+1
{
location 104 47
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Syracusae +1-1
{
location 106 45
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Gibraltar
{
location 12 52
image data/menu/grass2.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

Cheetah
02-21-2005, 04:03
a few more, named:

Aelwyn's Highland location 32 150 ~;)


custom_location Aelwyn's Highland
{
location 32 150
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}


custom_location Aelwyn's Highland +0+1
{
location 32 151
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Aelwyn's Highland +1+0
{
location 33 150
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Aelwyn's Highland +1+1
{
location 33 151
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Aelwyn's Highland +0-1
{
location 32 149
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Aelwyn's Highland -1-1
{
location 31 149
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

custom_location Aelwyn's Highland +1-1
{
location 33 149
image data/menu/grass1.tga
sett_locked no
summer no
}

The_Mark
02-22-2005, 17:28
Has anyone tried the pyramid-map-thingy in MP?

Just to confirm that it works so we could proceed to do real MP maps.

Orda Khan
02-22-2005, 19:15
Re: Historical battles

I really don't understand this editor tool at all. I can edit a map ok [ still preferred the previous editor tools though ] but when it comes to picking armies and units, it will not work. Why are some of my editor toggles greyed out? All I seem able to do is edit a battle description and choose a home faction.
Anyone got this working?

.....Orda

The_Mark
02-22-2005, 20:00
You can create an army, can't you? First make the army, select it from the factions tree and you can make the army's deployment zone (The depl. zone button get colored). Once you have placed it you can place the units (units bttn get coloured), assuming you have still the army selected.

Still dunno so much about the unit placement bit, I have accidentally wiped out entire armies. The editor is sometimes a bit awkward.

And if you find a way to add a working fort...

Orda Khan
02-22-2005, 21:06
That is just my point. I do not appear to be able to create an army, I cannot select units etc. Neither am I able to set deployment zones, this editor toggle is greyed out.
I still can't understand why CA could not at least add a Read Me to explain their overly complicated 'improved' editor.

Maybe someone from CA could explain it??

......Orda

The_Mark
02-23-2005, 21:26
That's strange. Umm.. You CAN get to the "edit army details" screen? If you can't, well, then I don't know anything, but if you can, you have to select a name for the army's general, otherwise you can't click on the ok sign.

That one kept me thinking for a while (or at least, so long that I tried the name bax). I completely forgot that while struggling with the fort problem. Hope this helps.

Wishazu
02-23-2005, 23:44
i got the editor worked out fine, if you want help mate contact me on msn Ryanone90@hotmail.com

Orda Khan
02-24-2005, 17:20
Very kind of you Wishazu, thanks.

The_Mark,
Naming my general does not highlight the army units or deployment

......Orda

Orda Khan
02-27-2005, 23:04
A BIG thank you to Wishazu, seems I need to open my eyes a bit ~;)

I completed an Historical battle and it appears to play out fine. It is available in the Historical battles list and can be hosted in MP. However, the map is not available to be hosted in MP if I try to host a Custom map game. By copying the map over as The_Mark suggests to the Data/world/maps/custom folder, it becomes available for Custom battles and is available in the hosted maps list.

A problem that I have found when editing a map is that unlike the previous editors, orientation is complicated. The F5 mini map was handy, bottom was defence, top was attack.

.......Orda

Wishazu
03-07-2005, 09:17
just glad i could help mate ~:cheers: i have a quick question. to get my battle into custom games i just copy the files but dont actually move the originals????

Orda Khan
03-08-2005, 20:42
just glad i could help mate ~:cheers: i have a quick question. to get my battle into custom games i just copy the files but dont actually move the originals????

I copied the complete folder over.
I play tested the map on MP in a custom battle and also play tested the Historical battle. Some fine tuning is required to my units in order to balance the armies a bit more equally, real players tend to do things the AI does not and therefore reveal problems that do not exist when playing the AI alone.

As I mentioned above, there does not appear to be a way of working out which way you are facing [ unless I have overlooked something ] which makes the placement of terrain features difficult. My first creation was scrapped because the hill which I wanted to appear on attackers' right became a 'campers' hill for defenders. Obviously, in Historical setting the map has deployment zones set but hosting for a custom battle or in SP custom, deployment is always top and bottom. I got it right in the next attempt but more by luck than judgement.
Good luck

........Orda

Wishazu
03-08-2005, 22:24
cheers mate. btw if you want any of your battles/maps playtested i`d be happy to do it for you :)

Iluvatar
03-17-2005, 13:23
Tried in MP.............did not work. Anyone else experience this?

Orda Khan
03-17-2005, 16:45
Tried in MP.............did not work. Anyone else experience this?

Hi Iluvatar,
What did not work in MP? The maps that Cheetah posted? If this is the case, I have not tried so can not comment but I do know for sure that maps created with the Editor can be played on MP, obviously with all parties having the map

......Orda

Iluvatar
03-21-2005, 05:18
Just got a working one ;) :duel:

Iluvatar
03-21-2005, 05:19
Was trying the MP thing. Cheetahs maps look like they would work.

If you guys are interested.....see this Mappack.


http://totalwars.net/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=119&sid=4fc1f1d50ad23dc53bb845e0bcaab3e2