Re: Mapping...

[Jens Granseuer <jensgr@gmx.net>]

On 09.03.2004 20:04, Patrick Forhan wrote:
> Are there any tips for making maps?  A how-to guide?  Each time I try to start
> I frankly get overwhelmed.

There isn't. Sorry.

> What is the bare minimum needed for a map?

The minimum setup is this:

* map, whatever you like best
* place a few units for each side (technically, you don't even need this,
  but a map without units is pretty boring)
* create one event per side, defining the victory conditions 

(Select "Events...", "New", "Score". A score event, you have guessed it,
awards points to a player. The player who first reaches 100 points wins
the map. Using "Triggered by" we can say when the event should be
executed. For our minimum scenario we select "Unit Destruction" because
we want the map to be over when a player has lost all his units. Hit
"OK".

Now you can configure the event. This window always looks the same,
no matter what type of event you're editing. The ID is a technical thing
and needed in a few special cases. "Player" is the player for whom the
event will be executed, in this case the player who gets the points.
Obviously we need to create (at least) one such event for P1 and one for
P2. Select Player One for the first message. When executed, an event can
optionally display a message to the receiving player which you can
configure with "Msg Title", and "Set Event Message". If you have started
a new map, you won't have any messages to choose from, yet. We'll come
back to this part later. With "Depends on" you can chain several events
together, but we don't need this for our scenario, so leave it alone for
now. The last two buttons, "Edit Trigger" and "Edit Event", are the
really interesting ones. Both will open a new window which varies
according to the event and trigger type you selected when creating the
event.

Select "Edit Trigger". For the "Unit Destruction" trigger type we can
only select a unit and a player. This is a score event for P1, so we
want to execute it when P2 lost all of his units. When clicking on
"Unit" you can also select a specific unit, but we don't want that.
"All" is fine. For "Player" you need to select P2, of course. Hit
"OK" and the trigger is done.

Now click "Edit Event". We want the map to be over when the event
triggers, so enter 100 points in the "Score" field. With "Lose Title"
and "Lose Message" you can configure a message to display to the
loser of the map (or, if you had entered less than 100 points, simply
to the player who does not get them). Again, you don't have anything
to choose from right now.

If you have created an event for each player, you are mostly done.
If you select "Project"->"Validate" however, you'll get a few errors
and warnings, though. It complains about missing map name, player
names, player briefings, and level info. (There may be a few more,
due to minor bugs in CoMET, ignore them for now.) To fix these we need
messages. You cannot create messages with CoMET, yet. Therefore,
select "Project"->"Export" to save the map to the text format used
by cfed.

Fire up your favourite text editor and load the exported file.
Move to the end and create a messages section:

<---- snip ----->

[messages(en)]
MyMapName
%
Player 1
%
Player 2
%
We'll make this the briefing for Player 1.

Hello P1, you must defeat your opponent!
Good luck.
%
And this is the one for Player 2.

Hello P2, have fun!
%
And the level info:

The is my first map.
Don't sue me!
[/messages]

<---- snip ----->

Save the file and run it through cfed:

cfed <mymap>.src --units /path/to/default.units --tiles /path/to/default.tiles -o <mymap>.lev

Here cfed will possibly complain because of the above-mentioned
bugs in CoMET. The error messages should hopefully give you
enough pointers to fix the src file up yourself. If the
conversion was successful, copy the <mymap>.lev file back into
the .crimson/levels/ directory and load it into CoMET.
Then select "Project"->"Settings" where you set up everything
CoMET complained about. You can now select messages from the
section you created.

If you run "Project"->"Validate" afterwards it should report
success.

I understand that this looks like a lot of things you need to take
care of but it's not as bad as it looks. After you've done it a
few times, it's really quick. I often design the map and place the
units with CoMET, then export and add the missing pieces manually
without returning to CoMET.

For more information on event types, triggers, and the format of
the exported maps in general, please have a look at the cfed
manpage.

> How can I make a map smaller than
> 20x20 (Uprising, BTW, is 12x22)?

Create a 20x20 map in CoMET, export, adjust the "mapwidth" and
"mapheight" parameters, trim the "[raw-map]" section accordingly,
run through cfed and load into CoMET again.

> I'm just looking for a Beginner's Guide to Making Maps for Crimson Fields.

I hope this is enough to get you started. If you have further
questions, just ask.

Jens