AN INTRODUCTION TO MAP BUILDING
By TAKER, aka James Tooman
Original version located here:
http://www.relicnews.com/articles/taker/intromap1.html
So you want to build a map, huh? This is a first in a series of articles
designed to orient the first time Homeworld Map builder. Contrary to
what you might have heard, Homeworld maps are actually quite easy to
build. They are not, however, intuitive. Without understanding some
basic concepts about them it is hard to know where to start. I will start
by discussing three things:
1. Map Concepts
2. Map Components
3. Editing Tools
MAP CONCEPTS
Before you make a map you should have some idea of what you want
to do. All user modified Homeworld maps are multiplayer maps that are
either played against CPU players using Skirmish mode, or they are
played versus human players either over the Internet on WON or via a
LAN. Although making a Homeworld map is not as time consuming or as
difficult as most First Person Shooter maps, it is not quick to learn like
other Real Time Strategy maps. As a result you should have a clear
idea of what you want to make. Some suggestions:
a. Modify an existing map's starting ships or number of players
b. Change an existing map's resources
c. Create a new map from scratch
Once you know what your goal is, draw it! Get a piece of paper and
sketch out where you want your resources, roughly, and indicate which
ones are above the mid-point of the map and which are below it. Put
numbers where the players will start. This will be a template as you
begin editing your map. It is wise to not start too ambitious as the
more changes you make the more opportunity for you to cause fatal
errors that you will not be able to easily debug.
Homeworld maps are created by assigning each element of the map
(ships, resources, dust clouds) a three-part Cartesian coordinate ( X,Y,Z
values). The X and Y values are the axis that run along the mid point
plane and the Z coordinate is how far above and below the mid point
something is located. The center of all Homeworld maps is at 0,0,0.
This means that elements placed below the midpoint have negative
values and those above it have positive values.
In addition to map elements, you can set the overall universe size, the
background picture, the music played and what ships will and won't be
allowed in the map. You cannot change ship attributes, other than color,
nor can you use your own music in a custom map. Also, you cannot
change the background to one of your own design as all of these
elements are only "keyed" from the map files and not stored in them.
MAP COMPONENTS
Homeworld maps are made up using a bunch of text files that contain
values separated by commas. In general, a single line in a Homeworld
text file pertains to a single element that has all of its attributes set by
these comma-separated values. Unlike other games, Homeworld needs
an entire set of map files for each number of start positions in the map.
This means that when you make a map for 2-4 players you will have to
make three versions of the map: one for two players, one for three and
one for four. Luckily the changes in the different maps are very minor
and involve only deleting the excess starting positions and renaming a
file. This means that you should ALWAYS start your map by editing the
version with the MOST number of players that you will make starting
positions for.
The multiplayer maps are stored in your Homeworld folder, in the
Multiplayer folder. Each version of the map has its own sub-folder named
after the map followed by the number corresponding to the number of
players that version of the map is made for. For illustration purposes I
will use two multiplayer maps, Genesis-240D (a HUGE map for up to 8
players) and Smallmap (an example map made for only four players)
Example:
[] Genesis-240D2
[] Genesis-240D3
[] Genesis-240D4
[] Genesis-240D5
[] Genesis-240D6
[] Genesis-240D7
[] Genesis-240D8
[] Smallmap2
[] Smallmap3
[] Smallmap4
In this example of several sub-folders in the Homeworld/multiplayer
directory, the map Genesis-240D is a map for 2-8 players and the map
Smallmap is for 2-4 players. In each of these sub-folders contains the
text files needed to run the map. A typical folder might have the
following files:
Smallmap4.level
Mothership_0.missphere
Mothership_1.missphere
Mothership_2.missphere
Mothership_3.missphere
ResourceSphere_1.missphere
Asteroid.dist
DustCloud.dist
Tiny.dist
Description.txt
You may have noticed that only one of these files says that it is a text
file. Don't worry, they all are. Every file here can be opened with MS
Notepad or any other text editor. You may also sometimes see a large
file called:
mission.mdr
This file is created by the Mission Man editing utility by Relic and is NOT
NEEDED by Homeworld to run your map. Generally most custom map
builders delete this file if they use Mission Man prior to zipping it for
public use as it is usually larger than all of the map files combined. A
quick note on the Mission Man editing utility: It is NOT supported by
Relic and may not run reliably on your machine. It is easier to use than
text editing for some tasks and harder for others. If you are planning a
complex map with lots of dust particles and resources it is also quite
slow. It will not let you edit every aspect of your map, but may prove to
be easier for you to use once you understand what it is doing. Essentially
it is a GUI for changing all of the little attributes on each line of the map
files, and it outputs the text files, pre-named for you. I do NOT use it for
my maps as it does not run reliably on my machine and I find that it is
difficult to make large, uniform changes to your map quickly using it.
On to the explanations of the files:
The ".level" File
This file contains all the basic information about your map. It contains
the name and race of all the starting ship files, the name of the
resource file, the universe size, the lighting type, the background type,
the sensor manager zoom sizes, the default song to be played and any
ship restrictions. Each of these elements have their own line and their
own series of comma separated attributes. An example of a ship line is:
MissionSphere
0,R1,Mothership,0,0,0,30000,0,Mothership_0.missphere,1000
The part that makes editing Homeworld files tricky is that these lines
must contain ALL of the required values, in the proper order, even if the
value is zero. Incorrect punctuation or tiny typos will torpedo an entire
map and cause it to crash the game on a load. I am not saying this to
scare you away, but to make you aware that care must be taken as you
edit to insure that you leave the lines of values intact.
NOTE: If a line begins with a semi-colon (;) then it is a remark line and
contains no values used by Homeworld for you map, BUT certain remark
lines ARE NEEDED in order for Homeworld to correctly identify the file so
do not delete them unless you know that they are not needed.
Here is our sample level file for Smallmap4.level:
-----
; MissionMan script
; Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; Multiplayer Level: Smallmap4
; Info: Smallmap (2-4)
[Smallmap (2-4)]
MissionSphere -1, ?, ResourceSphere, 0,0,0, 30000, 0,
ResourceSphere_1.missphere, 1000
MissionSphere 0, R1, Mothership, 0,0,0, 30000, 0,
Mothership_0.missphere, 1000
MissionSphere 1, R2, Mothership, 0,0,0, 30000, 0,
Mothership_1.missphere, 1000
MissionSphere 2, R1, Mothership, 0,0,0, 30000, 0,
Mothership_2.missphere, 1000
MissionSphere 3, R2, Mothership, 0,0,0, 30000, 0,
Mothership_3.missphere, 1000
Lighting ez01
Background ez01, 0, 0
smDepthCueRadius 50000
smDepthCueStartRadius 20000
smCircleBorder 70000
smZoomMax 90000
smZoomMin 20000
smInitialDistance 50000
smUniverseSizeX 100000
smUniverseSizeZ 100000
smUniverseSizeY 100000
ExcludeShips P1,All
ExcludeShips P2,All
ExcludeShips P3,All
ExcludeShips Traders,All
ExcludeShips R1,LightDefender
ExcludeShips R2,LightDefender
ExcludeShips R2,TargetDrone
ExcludeShips R1,TargetDrone
ExcludeShips R1,HeadShotAsteroid
ExcludeShips R2,HeadShotAsteroid
ExcludeDerelict All
IncludeDerelict Crate
SongNumber 11
-----
Relic has published this information concerning the actual effects of all
the values in the level file or at least most of them.
-----
For .level files:
*******************************************
(Written by Gary Shaw)
MissionSphere
playerNumber, raceName, posx, posy, posz, radius ,sphererotz ,contents
,starting
Editor's Note: Spaces were added between the variable as to not screw up the
page format.
ResourceUnits
Defaults:
MissionSphere -1,?,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,1000.0,sphere.missphere
; where playerNumber is player #, -1 for no player
; raceName is name of the race or ? for no race
; posx, posy, posz are positions
; radius is radius of mission sphere
; sphererotz is angle of rotation of the mission sphere, 1000.0 points
towards centre of universe
; contents refers to .missphere file
; startingResourceUnits is # of RUs the player starts with (integer,
optional)
Lighting lightingfilename
; where lightingfilename is the filename of a lighting file
Background backgroundfilename,angle1,angle2
; where backgroundfilename is the filename of a background file
; where angle1 and angle2 are angles of rotation
smDepthCueRadius realnum
smDepthCueStartRadius realnum
smCircleBorder realnum
smZoomMax realnum
smZoomMin realnum
smInitialDistance realnum
smUniverseSizeX realnum
smUniverseSizeY realnum
smUniverseSizeZ realnum
Defaults:
; where realnum is a floating point number for tuning
-----
When we get into the actual choosing of values for the map I will explain
this in more detail and walk you through some of the variables and what
they do.
The Mission Sphere Files
As you may have noticed, the .level file has 5 lines that are prefaced
with "MissionSphere". These lines give information about our staring
ships and the map's resources. The first MissionSphere line in our
example level file contains information about our resources, including,
most importantly, the name of the resource file:
"ResourceSphere_1.missphere" This file contains every single resource
element that we want to use in the map including asteroids, dust clouds
and particles. Here's our sample ResourceSphere_1.missphere file:
-----
; SMALLMAP by *TAKER* aka James Tooman (taker@lords.com)
;CENTER RESOURCES
Resources Asteroid,0,0,0,Sphere,Asteroid.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
;OUTER RESOURCES
Resources DustCloud,20000,0,0,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
Resources DustCloud,-20000,0,0,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
Resources DustCloud,0,20000,0,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
Resources DustCloud,0,-20000,0,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
Resources DustCloud,0,0,20000,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
Resources DustCloud,0,0,-20000,Sphere,DustCloud.dist,15,2500,5000,0,0,?,?
;VERTICAL PARTICLE WALL
Resources Asteroid,0,0,-20000,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,100,30000,1000,0,0,90,?
-----
Resources can be of the following resource types:
Resources Asteroid
Resources DustCloud
Resources Nebula
It is VERY important that if you are placing resources that you insure that
the ".dist" file contains the right kind of resources for the "Resource"
type listed.
Here are Relic's notes on resource lines:
-----
For .missphere files:
******************************
(Written by Gary Shaw)
Resources
resourcetype,posx,posy,posz,layout,distribution,numResources,
radius,length,roty,rotz,properties
Defaults:
Resources
Asteroid,0.0,0.0,0.0,Sphere,distrib.dist,10,5000.0,10000.0,0.0,0.0,?
; where resourcetype is Asteroid, Nebula, GasCloud, or DustCloud
; posx, posy, posz are positions
; layout is Sphere, Cylinder, Nebula (Nebula is a sphere, see section
below)
; distribution refers to distribution file
; numResources is # of resources
; radius is radius of cylinder or sphere
; length is length of cylinder or the *diameter* of the sphere (not
relevant for spheres)
; roty, rotz are angles of rotation (not relevant for spheres)
-----
NOTE: All resource lines in the resource file must begin with "Resources"
unless you are placing a Derelict. Derelict lines look a little different:
Derelict PlanetOfOrigin,-291925,291925,-60000,0,-45,?,0,?
Here are Relic's notes and listing of all Derelicts:
-----
Derelict derelicttype,posx,posy,posz,roty,rotz,properties
Defaults:
Derelict Shipwreck,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,?
; where derelicttype is Shipwreck, Ghostship, Fragment, etc (see list
below)
; posx, posy, posz are positions
; roty, rotz are angles of rotation (not relevant for spheres)
; properties is
Derelicts:
*********************************
AngelMoon
AngelMoon_clean
Crate
FragmentPanel0a
FragmentPanel0b
FragmentPanel0c
FragmentPanel1
FragmentPanel2
FragmentPanel3
FragmentStrut
HomeWorld
Junk0_antenna
Junk0_fin1
Junk0_fin2
Junk0_GunAmmo
Junk0_LGun
Junk0_panel
Junk0_sensors
Junk0_SGun
Junk1_partA
Junk1_partB
Junk1_shell
Junk1_strut
Junk2_panelA
Junk2_panelB
Junk2_panelC
Junk2_panelD
Junk2_shipwreck
Junk2_Boiler - Note: Causes mission to crash if used
Junk2_BoilerCasing - Note: Causes mission to crash if used
LifeBoat
PlanetOfOrigin
PlanetOfOrigin_scarred
PrisonShipNew
PrisonShipOld
Scaffold
Scaffold_scarred
ScaffoldFingerA_scarred
ScaffoldFingerB_scarred
Shipwreck
-----
Our example map has a maximum of four players, and as this is the
version that we wish to work on first, the last four MissionSpheres (in the
level file) are setting, among other things, the names of those files as
well as race flags for CPU players and color schemes. In the example
the second MissionSphere line contains the first of the ship file names:
"Mothership_0.missphere" This file contains every ship that player 0
starts with and where it is located. Here is a sample file:
-----
; MissionMan script
; Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; MissionSphere Object: R1,Mothership
Ships ,25000,25000,25000,135,R1,Mothership,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,?,?
Ships ,26000,25000,25000,135,R1,ResourceCollector,1,PARADE_FORMATION|?|?,?,?
Ships ,27000,25000,25000,135,R1,ResearchShip,1,PARADE_FORMATION|?|?,?,?
Ships ,28000,25000,25000,135,R1,ResourceController,1,PARADE_FORMATION|?|?,?,?
-----
Here are Relic's notes on the file:
-----
For .missphere files:
********************************
(Written by Gary Shaw)
Ships
Label,posx,posy,posz,rot,race,shiptype,numShips,formation|flag|color
,properties[,numShips2]
Defaults:
Ships 0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,R1,LightInterceptor,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,?
; where Label is AI label (no spaces) or ?
; posx, posy, posz are positions
; rot is rotation angle of ship
; race is R1, R2, P1, P2, P3, or Traders
; shiptype is ship (e.g. LightInterceptor)
; numShips is # of ships to place
; formation is:
; NULL_FORMATION
: PARADE_FORMATION
; DELTA_FORMATION
; BROAD_FORMATION
; DELTA3D_FORMATION
; CLAW_FORMATION
; WALL_FORMATION
; SPHERE_FORMATION
; PICKET_FORMATION
; color (see Colors: below)
; flag is UseAsMothership or ?
-----
As you may have noticed, ship files require the names of ships. Here is
a list of all the valid ship names in Homeworld:
-----
Ships:
****************************************
R1/R2 (Kushan/Taiidan):
AdvanceSupportFrigate
AttackBomber
Carrier
CloakedFighter (R1 Only)
CloakGenerator
CryoTray
DDDFrigate (R1 Only)
DefenseFighter (R2 Only)
DFGFrigate (R2 Only)
Drone (R1 Only)
GravWellGenerator
HeadShotAsteroid
HeavyCorvette
HeavyCruiser
HeavyDefender
HeavyInterceptor
IonCannonFrigate
LightCorvette
LightDefender
LightInterceptor
MinelayerCorvette
MissileDestroyer
Mothership
MultiGunCorvette
Probe
ProximitySensor
RepairCorvette
ResearchShip
ResourceCollector
ResourceController
SalCapCorvette
SensorArray
StandardDestroyer
StandardFrigate
TargetDrone
P1 (Turanic Raiders):
P1Fighter
P1IonArrayFrigate
P1MissileCorvette
P1Mothership
P1StandardCorvette
P2 (Kadeshi Garden Protectors):
P2AdvanceSwarmer
P2FuelPod
P2Mothership
P2MultiBeamFrigate
P2Swarmer
P3 (T-Mat):
P3Frigate
P3MegaShip
Traders (Bentusi & assorted):
CargoBarge
FloatingCity
GhostShip
Junk_LGun
Junk_SGun
JunkyardDawg
JunkyardHQ
MiningBase
ResearchStation
ResearchStationBridge
ResearchStationTower
-----
The Distribution Files
The ".dist" files set the type and distribution of the resources that
reference the file. The type of resources IN the file MUST match the
resource type on the resource line in the resource file. Here is an
example of a .dist file:
; Relative frequencies of asteroid types
Asteroid0 0 0
Asteroid1 3 3
Asteroid2 2 2
Asteroid3 1 1
Asteroid4 0 0
This file has each asteroid type and lists the relative frequency of the
different sized asteroids to each other. Size 0 is just unharvestable
motes, while size 4 asteroids are the size of a Destroyer or larger.
-----
.dist file post by Gary Shaw
In MissionMan, to create a resource pocket that regrows:
when you create a resource pocket, make sure you...
Set properties to 2048
Set propertiesParam to indicate regrowing rate from min 0 to max 7, e.g. 7
... on that line in the resource missionsphere
Make a .dist file, with two columns. The second column contains the
distribution of resources as they regrow. E.g:
Asteroid0 1 0
Asteroid1 1 0
Asteroid2 1 1
Asteroid3 3 3
Asteroid4 5 5
From this distribution file, the intial resource distribution will have some
Asteroid0's. As you harvest it and asteroids regrow, they will regrow
with the distribution of 0 0 1 3 5.
In general you do not want asteroid0's to regrow. (You cannot harvest
Asteroid0's, if they regrow then eventually the entire resource pocket
will become Asteroid0's.)
-----
The Description File
The last file in the folder is a Description file where all of the default
flags plus the level description are stored. Here is our sample
Description.txt file:
-----
Description Smallmap (2-4)
Description The emergence of a new mapbuilder has him testing his craft on this small practice map.
Description
Description SETTINGS : Default, V1.0 (jan2000)
Description AUTHOR : James Tooman (taker@lords.com)
Font Arial_b12.hff
Color 250, 25, 25
DropShadow Yes
; DEFAULT SETTINGS:
type.flag BIT1 ; destroy mothership
type.flagNeeded BIT1 ; FLAG: destroy mothership
;type.flag BIT2 ; capture capital ship
type.flagNeeded BIT2 ; FLAG: capture capital ship
type.flag BIT3 ; research
type.flagNeeded BIT3 ; FLAG: research
;BIT4 = bounties - Obselete!
type.flag BIT5 ; enable harvesting
type.flagNeeded BIT5 ; FLAG: enable harvesting
;type.flag BIT6 ; resouce injections
type.flagNeeded BIT6 ; FLAG: resource injections
;type.flag BIT7 ; resouce lump sum
type.flagNeeded BIT7 ; FLAG: resource lump sum
;BIT8 = password protected - only let the user change this
;type.flag BIT9 ; unit caps
;type.flagNeeded BIT9 ; FLAG: unit caps
type.flag BIT10 ; fuel burn
type.flagNeeded BIT10 ; FLAG: fuel burn
;type.flag BIT11 ; allied victory
type.flagNeeded BIT11 ; FLAG: allied victory
;type.flag BIT12 ; crates
type.flagNeeded BIT12 ; FLAG: crates
;type.flag BIT13 ; carrier only
type.flagNeeded BIT13 ; FLAG: carrier only
type.flag BIT14 ; hyperspace
type.flagNeeded BIT14 ; FLAG: hyperspace
type.numComputers 0
type.startingFleet 1
type.bountySize 3 ; turn off bounties (3 = off)
type.startingResources 1
;type.resourceInjectionInterval 14400
;type.resourceInjectionsAmount 2000
;type.resourceLumpSumTime 19200
;type.resourceLumpSumAmount 2000
-----
If you want a flag on, remove the (;) remark from in front of it. If you
want it off, place one in front of the "type.flag" line, not the
"type.flgNeeded" line.
EDITING TOOLS
There are several ways to edit Homeworld maps. If you want to use
Mission Man, there is a help file with it that should get you started.
Remember that it is not supported and it may not work on your machine.
Also, all it does is provide a windows based GUI for entering in these
values. You still need to understand the way the files work.
You can use any text editor such as MS Notepad. I personally,
however, find that when editing the Resource or Ship files that I prefer
MSExcel (although any spreadsheet with .csv files will work) and I edit
using the Comma Seperated Values file format. It can be opened by any
text editor and it enables very quick copy/paste of entire blocks of
information or file names. If you use a .csv compatible spreadsheet
program, remember to "save as" the appropriate file name or your map
will not work.
In addition there are several excellent sources of editing information
such as the following links:
Relic Editing Message Board
http://www.relic.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=7&forum=Editing
TAKER's Exception Errors Demystified
http://www.relicnews.com/articles/eedemystify.html
Hellhawk's Map Checklist
http://www.strategyplanet.com/hwmaps/edit/HW_Checklist.txt
Obithrawn's Map making FAQ
http://www.strategyplanet.com/hwmaps/edit/HW_Edit_FAQ.txt
TAKER's MSExcel Ring Maker utility
http://dl.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?StrategyPlanet/hwmaps/RingMaker.zip
Roon's Mission Man editing steps
http://www.strategyplanet.com/hwmaps/edit/HW_Forum.txt
The entire text of the Relic editing doc
http://www.relicnews.com/general/editing.txt
Relic's Properties doc
http://www.strategyplanet.com/hwmaps/edit/HW_Properties.txt
In closing, this article is meant as an INTRODUCTION to map making and so it
does not cover all the details. If you are pretty computer and map making
savvy, this article plus the sources mentioned above will get you WELL on
your way. My thanks go out to BPLama, Obithrawn and Hellhawk666 for their
contributions to my knowledge and their dedicated help to budding map makers
on the Relic Editing boards.
If you have a specific problem with your map and the above resources do not
seem to help at all, post it to the Relic Editing boards and I am sure that
one of us will do our best to help you. Above all, HAVE FUN and don't give up!
There are a lot of little details in Homeworld Map building, but once you
understand how the files are put together, it's a snap compared to most 3D
map making.
TAKER
aka James Tooman