******************************************************************************************** Homeworld Mapmaking Help and FAQ v2.0a ******************************************************************************************** By Obithrawn (with help) This is the second version of my help file, and it is more of a FAQ than the previous version. Anyway, first, go to Jason's site (http://www.strategyplanet.com/HWMaps/) and go to the editing section, then print out all the editing files there. I mention them a lot, and they helped me (I should explain a lot of things in those, but its nice to have them anyway). Also, I would like to thank Jason (BPLlama), TAKER, Hellhawk666, Skywalker, Jacelor, Skywalker, and anyone on the Relic board I didn't mention (especially the makers of all those kick-ass Homeworld web sites out there). And I would like to thank my parents, and my cats, Zoe and Stanly, and KoRn, and RatM, and pr0n, and potatoes...oh, and the guy who first decided to sqeeze cow utters, and drink what came out of them. Especially him. All these questions fit into the catagory "How do I make a map?" which is the most FAQ of all! To the questions, batman! And this time don't forget my pants! ******************************************************************************************** 1 - What do I need to make my own maps? To make/edit maps, you need either MissionMan, or Notepad (which, I think, comes with Windows). Actually any text editor will do, just remember save it your files in plain text format, not one of those "fancy-pantsie" formats. Another alternative to MissionMan and Notepad is Excel. Homeworld map files can be loaded and saved with Excel if you use the "Comma Seperated" or "CSV" spreadsheet format, and it really lines those columns of numbers up nicely. Once again Excel isn't a must, any spreadsheet or database program that supports CSV should work fine. ******************************************************************************************** 2 - Where can I get MissionMan? It comes with Homeworld, in the instellation menu (when you put the cd in, the installation menu should pop up). But, personally, I think using Notepad is much easier (will be covered later). ******************************************************************************************** 3 - Are there any other mapmaking programs? Not as of Christmas '99. There are several tools, including the Random Derelict Placer, the Ringmaker, and the JUICY .dist file creator, that might help you out. They're available on the editing section of Jason's site. ******************************************************************************************** 4 - What does MissionMan do? MissionMan creates a bunch of text files when you generate missions, and they all can be opened using notepad. How to open using notepad: 1. Open a map, like Iron Curtin. 2. When the window that say 'what do you want to use to open this' pops up, select notepad. It should then open in notepad, and you should be able to see all the text. This is how most people edit maps, straight form notepad. (I know it looks confusing at first, but we'll cover it all) ******************************************************************************************** 5 - How do I make distribution files, and what do they do? You have to have at least one .dist file for every type of resource you have on your map. (EX-one for all the asteroids, one for the dustcoulds) What they do is tell Homeworld how many of each size of asteroid/dustcloud/nebulea to put in. For example, say this was testmap2. When you opened it up, it looked like this: Asteroid0 0 Asteroid1 1 Asteroid2 2 Asteroid3 4 Asteroid4 0 What that means is that there will be twice as many asteroid2's as asteroid1's. And there will be twice as many Asteroid3's as Asteroid2's. Asteroid0's are the tiny, unharvestable dust particles, while Asteroid4's are missile destroyer size. Also, it is all relative, so Asteroid0 0 Asteroid1 10 Asteroid2 20 Asteroid3 40 Asteroid4 0 would have the exact same distribution. ******************************************************************************************** 6 - Why are there more than one directory for every map? Homeworld won't just let you create a single file for a 2-4 player map, you have to create on directory for 2 players, 3 players, and 4 players. Each one will have the according number of Mothership_X.missphere files (same number as the folder) ******************************************************************************************** 7 - Why do the directories end in a number? The number at the end is the version for that many players (IronCurtin2 is the 2 player version) ******************************************************************************************** 8 - What does the Desiption.txt do? The description file just has the informaiton that goes in the menu, font, color of writing, the description. For all the details, look at the stuff I reffered you to ealier ******************************************************************************************** 9 - What does the ResourceSphere_X.missphere do? The ResourceSphere just has all the resources, and any derilects or ships. When ships are placed in the ResourceSphere they go under AI hold, even when playing with no computer players. This is also where the .dist files are linked to. To see all the details, look at the stuff I asked you to print out ealier ******************************************************************************************** 10 - What Does The Mothership_X.missphere do? The Mothership files are the ships each player starts out with, and where they are. Guess what? Look at the stuff to find out all the details. ******************************************************************************************** 11 - Do I need one Resource Sphere file? Yes, you need one, even if your map doesn't have resources. Well, actually you can have more than one, but usually there is no point in having more than one, unless your ResourceSphere_X.missphere file is bigger than 64K (See the final question in this FAQ) ******************************************************************************************** 12 - Do I have to have the Mothership Missionsphere files in every directory? Yep, you have to have one for each player on that map. "No more, no less" ******************************************************************************************** 13 - Why should I exclude things from my map? 1. To go along with the story line, or just to create an interesting map (my map, The Strike, for example, only lets you build strike craft) 2. To reduce loading time, if you exclude all the races beside R1 and R2, the loading time will be sugnifigantly less. 3. If you don't load something, the RAM will go to using something else, and this will reduce lag. 4. If you include too much stuff some of Homeworld's graphics start getting screwy... ******************************************************************************************** 14 - Do I have to exclude things individually? No, you can exclude an entire race by putting: ExcludeShips Race (P1, P2, P3, Traders), ALL ******************************************************************************************** 15 - How can I exclude most things, but not all? Yes, you can put: ExcludeShips P1, ALL Then below it put: IncludeShips P1, P1MissileCorvette This will exclude all P1 ships, except for the Missile Corvette ******************************************************************************************** 16 - Do I have to include the comment lines on my map? No, but they help so things are grouped, and easier to edit. ******************************************************************************************** 17 - I've made all my files, where do I put them? You put them in a set of subdirectories inside the Multiplayer directory in The Homeworld Folder. See question 6. ******************************************************************************************** 18 - Why doesen't my map show up in the game menu? Probably because you don't have the folder name, and the name in the .level file the same (remember to put the number at the end) ******************************************************************************************** 19 - How/where do I put in the description for my map? The description goes in the description.txt file. Where it says Description about 5 times vertically (it has to be whithin those decription lines) ******************************************************************************************** 20 - I can select my map, but when I try to load it, it goes back to Windows, whats wrong? There are many reasons. Remember the stuff you printed? Read over the HW_Errors.txt written by Taker. ******************************************************************************************** 21 - When a map crashes, will it screw up Homeworld? Luckily, no (my computer wouldn't work if maps screwed up your game by crashing :-) ******************************************************************************************** 22 - Where else can I find help? Relic's forums are good (http://www.relic.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi) ******************************************************************************************** 23 - For practice, can I edit other people's maps? Sure, thats what I did for a loooooong time. Try testing different variables one at a time to see what they all do. ******************************************************************************************** 24 - How do I put together the files to post to a site? Download either WinRAR, or WinZip. For these programs all you have to do is put all the files (the folders and a readme usually) into 1 folder, then tell the program to zip everything in that folder. ******************************************************************************************** 25 - How do I make sure my map will work? Test it, play on WON, play against the computer with every possible number of players. If you can't play over WON, send it to some other people, and have them tell you what to change. I didn't do this for my first map, and as a result I had to keep re-releasing it to fix a number of problems. ******************************************************************************************** 26 - When I try to play my map over WON, when it tries to download, it chashes. What is wrong? WON has a size limitation of 64k, if your map has any files larger than 64k it won't auto-download over WON. If you can't split up the big files (see question 11) then just have each player download the map regularily (from your website, over ICQ, or whatever). ********************************************************************************************