Midnight
10-12-2004, 20:58
I suggested to a friend of mine, MonocerosDragon, that the strategic map might be edited, but I didn't know how. Within fifteen minutes he'd cracked it, and I took it from there.
RTW uses the file map.rwm for all of the map data (geography, climate, regions, etc.). However, should this file not exist Rome will attempt to build it from several other files detailed below. Rome looks for map.rwm or the files needed to build it in the campaign directory first (i.e. data\world\maps\campaign) and then in data\world\maps\base.
If you delete map.rwm, you can then get to work modifying the campaign map. Note: map.rwm will be generated at the point you start the campaign and you have to remember to delete map.rwm each time you make a change - Unfortunatly RTW doesn't realise the other files have been modified more recently and rebuild it. If some of the files required to build map.rwm cannot be found, or one or more of them is incorrect, the game usually crashes at this point. Some changes require corresponding changes to be added to multiple files - i.e. adding a new island requires changes to map_regions.tga, map_heights.tga and map_ground_types.tga as a minimum.
I haven't tried everything, and I'm not certain what everything does, but I'll do my best here:
map_FE.tga
I haven't edited this, but I suspect it's nothing more than the image shown on the faction selection screen
map_heights.tga
This is a basic heightmap, and it determines the core geometry of the strat map. Blue is the ocean, and the land ranges from very dark (low land) to quite light (mountaintops)
map_ground_types.tga
A map which determines the type of terrain. The reds are the ocean (the darker, the deeper). Greens are fertile land, black is desert, browns are rocks and mountains.
map_roughness
Self-explanatory, really. Determines how rough the ground is. The whiter, the rougher.
map_features.tga
The red dots are volcanoes, the yellow lines are stretches of coast you can't land on, the blue lines are rivers, the white dots are the beginnings of rivers, and the cyan dots are river crossings.
map_climates.tga
This map controls the climate (bet you didn't see that one coming!). Roughly: blues and purples are arid, pinks and reds are temperate, greens and yellows snow in winter.
map_regions.tga
Each colour is a different region The ocean is that big blue thing where the ocean should be ~:) . The white dots are ports, the black dots are towns.
map_trade_routes.tga
Presumably has something to do with trade. I have tried editing this yet, because I'm not exactly sure what it indicates.
water_surface.tga
Some sort of water surface map. Not part of map.rwm.
map_heights.hgt
Not sure. map_heights.tga contains the height data, so I'm not sure what this does. I can't open it, anyway ~D
I haven't tried playing with the following, but it's pretty easy to work out what they do (it's actually explained in the files themselves).
descr_disasters.txt
All the lovely disasters you face through the course of a game.
descr_terrain.txt
Map parameters.
descr_regions.txt
Region parameters. No idea what a 'triumph point value' is, though.
So far I've managed to put a mountain in Britannia Superior; added a river with two crossing points just north of that; stopped snow from falling over the Alps; moved the positions of Deva, Eboracum and Londinium; and added a small island just east of Corsica.
Hope this is of some use.
RTW uses the file map.rwm for all of the map data (geography, climate, regions, etc.). However, should this file not exist Rome will attempt to build it from several other files detailed below. Rome looks for map.rwm or the files needed to build it in the campaign directory first (i.e. data\world\maps\campaign) and then in data\world\maps\base.
If you delete map.rwm, you can then get to work modifying the campaign map. Note: map.rwm will be generated at the point you start the campaign and you have to remember to delete map.rwm each time you make a change - Unfortunatly RTW doesn't realise the other files have been modified more recently and rebuild it. If some of the files required to build map.rwm cannot be found, or one or more of them is incorrect, the game usually crashes at this point. Some changes require corresponding changes to be added to multiple files - i.e. adding a new island requires changes to map_regions.tga, map_heights.tga and map_ground_types.tga as a minimum.
I haven't tried everything, and I'm not certain what everything does, but I'll do my best here:
map_FE.tga
I haven't edited this, but I suspect it's nothing more than the image shown on the faction selection screen
map_heights.tga
This is a basic heightmap, and it determines the core geometry of the strat map. Blue is the ocean, and the land ranges from very dark (low land) to quite light (mountaintops)
map_ground_types.tga
A map which determines the type of terrain. The reds are the ocean (the darker, the deeper). Greens are fertile land, black is desert, browns are rocks and mountains.
map_roughness
Self-explanatory, really. Determines how rough the ground is. The whiter, the rougher.
map_features.tga
The red dots are volcanoes, the yellow lines are stretches of coast you can't land on, the blue lines are rivers, the white dots are the beginnings of rivers, and the cyan dots are river crossings.
map_climates.tga
This map controls the climate (bet you didn't see that one coming!). Roughly: blues and purples are arid, pinks and reds are temperate, greens and yellows snow in winter.
map_regions.tga
Each colour is a different region The ocean is that big blue thing where the ocean should be ~:) . The white dots are ports, the black dots are towns.
map_trade_routes.tga
Presumably has something to do with trade. I have tried editing this yet, because I'm not exactly sure what it indicates.
water_surface.tga
Some sort of water surface map. Not part of map.rwm.
map_heights.hgt
Not sure. map_heights.tga contains the height data, so I'm not sure what this does. I can't open it, anyway ~D
I haven't tried playing with the following, but it's pretty easy to work out what they do (it's actually explained in the files themselves).
descr_disasters.txt
All the lovely disasters you face through the course of a game.
descr_terrain.txt
Map parameters.
descr_regions.txt
Region parameters. No idea what a 'triumph point value' is, though.
So far I've managed to put a mountain in Britannia Superior; added a river with two crossing points just north of that; stopped snow from falling over the Alps; moved the positions of Deva, Eboracum and Londinium; and added a small island just east of Corsica.
Hope this is of some use.