Emperor map editor

[Mr_Hangman]

I'm thinking about making a map and supmitting it, and I want it to be really nice. I was examining all the objects, buildings, etc, and I want to clear a few things up. Four of the buildings are special effects: GPSFXlavasmoke, GPSFXlavasmokeNL, GPSFXgreensmoke, and GPSFXgreensmokeNL. What's the difference between the normal one and the NL? They don't really look any different...

They are technically buildings, but is there a way to put them on places other than buildable rock? And the AI has a stupid tendency to attack them. Is there a way to stop that? Does it need to be player, enemy, or neutral?

One more thing. How do I get the entire menu on the right of the screen to show? It's cut off at the bottom, there does not seem to be a way to scroll, and the window is already maximized.

[Mr_Hangman]

Arrg, I just realized one more problem with the special effects. The radar shows them as buildings too, and now that i think about it, I doubt its possible to build on it. Not building on it isnt really a problem though.

[Mr_Hangman]

After experimenting more with the editor, I fear that there's no way to remove spice mounds. Not the zones, only the mound. That might cause me a lot of problems.

I know I've asked a lot of questions, but whatever you can answer is appreciated.

[IxianMace]

Four of the buildings are special effects: GPSFXlavasmoke, GPSFXlavasmokeNL, GPSFXgreensmoke, and GPSFXgreensmokeNL. What's the difference between the normal one and the NL? They don't really look any different...

I often wondered why they were named differently, when they had apparently the same effect. I thought that the 'NL' at the end of the name might have meant something like 'no light' or something, but after numerous experiments, view angles, tests in lighting and on different maps, I couldn't distinguish the difference, if there is one.

They are technically buildings, but is there a way to put them on places other than buildable rock? And the AI has a stupid tendency to attack them. Is there a way to stop that? Does it need to be player, enemy, or neutral?

I've never tried placing them on terrain other than buildable rock/terrain, since I never saw the need to, when I designed my maps. I haven't tested this out, but perhaps you'd like to tile the one square (or however large amount of tiles the object requires) that you're going to be putting the object on, as buildable rock? This way, you could tile a square as buildable rock, and have it surrounded by other tile types (e.g cliff). You might be able to put one of these lighting objects in the middle of a sea using this. I'm interested to see if it works. :)

Whether you designate an object as 'Player, Neutral, or Enemy', depends on what its purpose is in in the map. If you're just using it for display purposes to enhance the appearance of the map, you should set the object as neutral. If you want the player to be able to see the area around the building, set it as belonging to the 'Player'. You can use this method to place 'beacons' on the map, showing the player strategic locations around the map, while the rest of the map is covered in shroud.

If you want the first AI player to have control of the building, set it as 'Enemy'. The only problem here is that although the first AI player will have control of the object, it tends to ignore it, unless its a production facility, like a factory, or House of Ix.

One more thing. How do I get the entire menu on the right of the screen to show? It's cut off at the bottom, there does not seem to be a way to scroll, and the window is already maximized.

Cut off at the bottom? Can you see all the tabs properly? Or is the 5x5 grid not visible (or only partially visible) when you've selected the 'Zones' tab? I've never come across this problem before, so I'm not sure what could be wrong here.

[Mr_Hangman]

The 5 by 5 grid is whats cut off. Thanks for you imput by the way (finally something after five days...). Making one square buildable rock should work, but that was mostly just an observation, I don't care much if it has to go on rock tiles. Still so many things to find out.

[rigel6669]

You will have to experiment to get the hang of it.

Or you can ask the mapcreator of a fanmade map that you like by email how he did it

I asked 'Eric Van Gasteren' for some explination and he has send me his 'desert tunes' map dme file so i could review it

You can put lavasmoke anywhere ( also on sand and water ) by using a trick. Simply change the tile of the water or sand in a buildable rock tile ;)