Map Editor is a Go!

[Gobalopper]

Looks like all our input has had a positive effect and Westwood will be releasing the map editor afterall. Check out Chris' post from the thread we mentioned yesterday:

Thanks for the honest feedback everyone!

It looks like everyone would be happy with the *as-is* editor, and some sort of tutorial on how to build maps, etc. I think we can do this for you in a relatively short amount of time (no promises on dates yet :)

Le-swish, it takes one of our designers a day to create a map once he has the idea. But that is after 2 years of making maps with the editor. (i.e. initially, it will take everyone a lot longer to make a good map, but with practice it can become very quick.) The 2 weeks you keep refering too was for other tasks.. not building maps. :)

As for auto-download of maps, anyone of you could create a map with 'questionable content'. (i.e. something offensive). If you choose to download somebody's map with this content, then it is your choice & action. If our software were to automatically send it to you, well... you can see the issue.

We've been discussing this 'map editor' topic for a long while internally, and it really came down to the question I posted several posts earlier. The *as-is*, beta release of the map editor seems to be the best solution. You get a tool which is very capable, but not as polished as a retail product. You can create gorgeous maps. You can share your experiences & tips/tricks with others on the forums. Westwood cannot offer technical support on the editor though.

Perhaps I can also set up a few informal chat sessions with our top map designer (after you have a few weeks to play with it).

Thanks again for the feedback, and I'll post more info once I've looked into some particulars.

The only problem that might arise, unless the way maps are stored changes, is that each map has it's own mapid number found in the Baseinfo.ini file. If you have people using the same number for multiple maps things could get confusing. I suppose they could get around this by using some sort of activation program like we had with Dune 2000 or it may not even be a problem, I don't know enough about how that part of the game works, Stealth? :)

I guess I can finally close off the map edior petition now too, thanks for signing it I think at last count we had over 500 signatures.

Update: Check out an update from the "master of maps" otherwise known as Stealth in the comments below. :)