modding campaign map

[izzi]

Hi Mitch and Spartan Warrior,
Whe are alredy grateful what you have alredy so far.
Maybe in time that you can make some little tutorials of the map,whe can look in it and try to make a liitle map piece by piece.

[.Mitch.]

Honestly there's no need for much of a tutorial, perhaps for the basics one is possible but not for anything else.

Everything that needs to be edited is in the raw_data folder of the toolkits modding files, it is extremely obvious what files are what.

For example to make new land you edit the heightmap file, I'm pretty sure even Rome1 and Medievil used hieghtmaps for their campaign.

Nobody thinking of campaign map modding should need an explanation of what a heightmap is.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When you have your land drawn, you just use BOB to do the rest, select the files you have edited. BOB will convert your edited raw data into working data and then it can be packed for use as a mod.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

...and that is literally it. That is how you can draw a map of the world in the terrain.

Next you edit the supertextures with Crux3Ds tool to get the bump mapping and the parchment detail.

Welcome to the stage everyone else is at, now you need to trawl through the large amount of other data in the modding files that make up a campaign map. (I.e. the other 95%)

[ls612]

Next you edit the supertextures with Crux3Ds tool to get the bump mapping and the parchment detail.

Welcome to the stage everyone else is at, now you need to trawl through the large amount of other data in the modding files that make up a campaign map. (I.e. the other 95%)

Could you please point me at a link for the supertexture tool? I can't seem to find it on the forums.

[.Mitch.]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...21#post8749121

[ls612]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...21#post8749121

Thanks.

[spartan_warrior]

The good thing about BOB is that when you you want to process something, say like the regions.esf, it automatically selects and identifies all the files which goes into it. So you can see that things like the regions.cs2, mountains.cs2, etc are referenced, likewise you can see which database files are referenced as well, so things like campaign_map_settlements, campaign_map_slots, regions etc. So it becomes clear that if you add a region and settlement you have to add the appropriate data to each of the files. The only thing I can see which warrants a tutorial would be what is required to export from 3ds Max into each of the CS2 files. But of course for this, one needs to be familiar with at least the basics of 3ds Max to begin with, as for sure I have no intention of writing how to use that.

[other mitch]

I'm just trying to simplify, can I add a new region, not new lands or a working korea, just a simple province split using the assembly kit and 3ds max? and what besides the two do I need to accomplish this (other than skills)?

I want to work on this but every time I use the assembly kit it crashes and it seems like more work than it's worth by what I've read thus far...

[spartan_warrior]

I'm just trying to simplify, can I add a new region, not new lands or a working korea, just a simple province split using the assembly kit and 3ds max? and what besides the two do I need to accomplish this (other than skills)?

I want to work on this but every time I use the assembly kit it crashes and it seems like more work than it's worth by what I've read thus far...

Quick answer is yes. You can split regions to make new ones.

[other mitch]

but the catch is that the slew of other files (the other 95%) inside the data.pack (and other areas) that need to be edited to add this province to have it work properly, if I understand you and mitch correctly...

I can understand why if you aren't already interested in this time period/location you probably wouldn't want to do all this. It's seems by the time you start accomplishing anything Rome 2 will already be out...

[ls612]

I can understand why if you aren't already interested in this time period/location you probably wouldn't want to do all this. It's seems by the time you start accomplishing anything Rome 2 will already be out...

They've said that Rome II will have an entirely different way of handling campaign maps.

[ls612]

Two more things (for some reason I can't edit my earlier posts, so sorry for the doublepost)

1. Regarding trees (and other repetitive tasks) I suspect that you could write a script to enter those in for you, and then load the resulting file into BoB.
2. Would you be willing to post the products of this experimentation on the Workshop so that we can mess around with it ingame? (even though it is just a flat square)

[spartan_warrior]

1. Regarding trees (and other repetitive tasks) I suspect that you could write a script to enter those in for you, and then load the resulting file into BoB.
2. Would you be willing to post the products of this experimentation on the Workshop so that we can mess around with it ingame? (even though it is just a flat square)

1. That won't quite work as BOB doesn't support editing the require tree_list file, you need to use TAW's ESF2XML tool to edit that. I have a few idea's how I will do it when it comes up, but since trees will be like the absolute last step in making a map, along with other visual markers, I am not to concerned about in now.
2. That would be sort of pointless as a finished mod uploaded to the workshop cannot be broken down to edit. The assembly kit doesn't support converting finished ESF files back into raw model and database data, so no experiments can really be done to it.

[Nizam89]

I just want to know: Is there any possibility to edit maps/terrain and regions in ETW through this foundings and achievements? Basically Shogun and Empire are based on the same Engine, so is this tool/kit usable for ETW modding ? And on top of that I want to know if we can implement coastal battles to ETW?
Thanks for any response

[.Mitch.]

I just want to know: Is there any possibility to edit maps/terrain and regions in ETW through this foundings and achievements? Basically Shogun and Empire are based on the same Engine, so is this tool/kit usable for ETW modding ? And on top of that I want to know if we can implement coastal battles to ETW?
Thanks for any response

No and No.

Sorry, but just purely impossible.

[uanime5]

Spartan regarding your guides I think you're having trouble writing them because you're trying to create a complex guide that explains everything about mapping. Several simple guides which explain how to do basic things would be much more useful as they allow mappers to develop the skills they need to make more complex maps.

If you do make any guides I'd recommend that you create the following guides:

1) How to move farms/towns/ports/settlements.

2) How to add new farms/towns/ports.

3) How to merge regions.

4) How to split a region and add a new settlement.

5) How to turn the sea into land and vice versa.

While these guide are all basic they do teach modders how to modify the existing maps and using the skills they'll develop from this they can progress to creating new maps. Though some advice on how to create more complex maps would also be useful.

[mons]

Is there anything you are doing now about this Spartanwarrior?
Has anybody else been trying this out?

[spartan_warrior]

Is there anything you are doing now about this Spartanwarrior?
Has anybody else been trying this out?

I am still working with modding the map, but since my college classes have resumed, I don't have a lot of free time to work on them. It will be a long time before any map is done, especially since I really the only person doing much work in this regard.

[Livebyte]

Spartan, would it be possible to release, or even better expand and release your proof of concept map? Showing the community that campaign map modding is finally viable would be an awesome first step in generating interest.

And with a fair sized grid, it might even be fun to play. :-)

[ibrahim028]

i was trying to do what spartan worrier did with the map. i ve seen that bob doesnt create the mod.pack correctly. i did changed heights map i used bob to create the mod.pack and it just didnt work. so i did searched for the changed data on the modding directory and ve seen that working_data directory has the changed data. i used packfilemanager to create a mod.pack with the changed data from working_data directory and it worked. but since only thing i ve changed was the heightmap i just visualy destroy the sea but still armies cant go to new lands and ships still can travel on the new land which was actualy sea before. i understand that i must change regions.cs2 and other files that might tell the game which one is sea and which one is not. any idea?

[Biggus Splenus]

Height maps don't tell the game what kind of terrain the map has, so armies will be able to march over that visual water, because other files in the game still say that it's land.

Spartan warrior did say that BOB does build the maps correctly, so maybe you have done something wrong in the process?