all about maps

[tutuco21]

some years ago i downloaded the emperor map editor and tink it sux... im used to the simple and efective starcraft map editor and after that the beautiful sacrifice scapex (the best 3d map editor in the world). now im more persistent and im lerning to use the emperor editor. but i need tips. wen i make my maps i need the map paker? why? i have to paint all the map as sand??? how the ramp systen works? how to use the shadow toll? i know some of u guys are very good in editing maps. please help me.. any tip will ber usefull to me. talk about all the proces to make maps and use then... i cant wayt tho make new arakis maps in play in my personal lan whyt my emperor adicted brother :)

[IxianMace]

I had slight difficulty reading your post, and I know that English may not be your first/best language, but I have to ask you:

Did you read and go through the map editor tutorial and help documents?

I don't know where you downloaded your copy of the map editor from, but these two documents should come with the .zip file that contains the map editor.

I learnt how to make maps just by going through the tutorial, and by experimenting with the various tools in the editor. If you haven't read the tutorial and help file, I suggest you start off there, and see how you go.

There are various old threads lying around the boards that describe different aspects of the Emperor map editor, but they might not make much sense to you if you're not familiar with the interface of the editor and its features. :)

[tutuco21]

i made my first map !!!!!! its cool but i dont know how to make small ramps near the rock... my ramps always are big squares.... i run the map using only the map editor. I need ramp tips . and i like to know the use of the map paker in the dowload section of this site :) yes english is not my first language ... i learn it alone fron RPG books ,internet, and hollywod movies ... i hope u guys can understand my posts

[Inoculator9]

Your all right, but try and keep things as simple as possible for us less then inventive linguists ;)

And it's good to see more interest in mapping, since the most active Emperor map maker seems to have retired recently. If you did start making maps actively, I'm sure the community at large here would love to try em out.

[IxianMace]

In order to create nice looking and working ramps, you have to use certain 'dot points' depending on which kind of 'cliff' you've zoned out.

Let's say you used the zone type 'rockclifftall1'.

You should look carefully at the name of the zone type. There are 3 important things to take note of in this name:

rock cliff tall.

This means that the cliff is of the type rock, it is intended to be used as a cliff, and it has a tall 'model.

To get your ramps looking nice on this type of cliff, you'll need a compatible ramp to go along with it. Look at the previews when you select zones to lay out, and their names. Ice ramps will not go well with rock cliffs, and short ramps will not go well with tall cliffs. :)

The dot point that you should use to make your ramp on the cliff should be of the type ramp, and should have a tall model.

Some examples of compatible ramps for 'rockclifftall1' are:

ramptall

ramptall1

ramptall2

To put it simply, if you use a ramp that is not 'compatible' with the type of cliff that you are joining it on to, the cliff will look distorted where the ramp meets it.

I have included 2 pictures in the attached .zip file. One of the pictures shows a simple rock platform with a ramp. The other picture shows the same rock platform from the map editor 'Zone' view. You might find them easier to understand.

As for MapPacker, it's a program that you can use to create, and open .cmf files. .cmf files are compressed map files that contain your map. A specific set of files are required to be created before you can compress your map into a .cmf file. If you haven't finished your map, you shouldn't worry about MapPacker for now, unless you need to install a fan made map. :)

I think that's all we can stomach for now eh? ;)[attachment archived by Gobalopper]