Hey guys, long time no see...

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[Osprey]

I was hoping someone might be able to help me out. I really want to make a vanilla COH map of my home town, it's semi-rural and I think it's layout is perfect for multiplayer either 1v1 or 2v2. Trouble is i can't figure out the editor for the life of me.

Now I'm aware of the many tutorials out there, and as far as I can tell they all require you to basically be pretty clued in with regards to game/map editing and all that malarkey. Even with the editors advice, I've no idea how to shape the map in a sensible way. I know what the relief should look like, but how so I get the whole map to listen, rather than edit it bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit... well, you get the picture.

It's not even a complex map, a simple, gentle-sided river valley with a few buildings and roads, and fields around the outside, but the only method of editing the relief seems to be a brush tool, or something involving .tga files, which I cannot make at all.

Then there's the process of adding in entry points, etc etc, which I have a rough idea of how it should go, but not quite certain how it all works. I have a sector map, relief map and terrain map all drawn out with planning in mind, but when I got to the editor my hopes and dreams seem dashed against the rocks of computer techy stuff in a sea of programming ignorance.

Basically, what I need is someone to help me out. Either give me a heads up on how to use this editor deeley in a simple, layman's way of approaching it (Show me how to draw the terrain, rather than tile edit perhaps) or someone to have a look at my designs and tell me the easiest way to accomplish what I'm trying to make.

I know I'm probably going to get about 3 or 4 responses at most, and they'll all point me to some editor I've already scratched my head at, but if just one person has the know how to make it straight forward for me, or virus hack relic until they make a simple editor than any player can use, I'd be grateful.

[Schicksal]

hm, if you know what a heightmap (greyscale image) is, and if you can create one with the data you have the worldbuilder can do the job for you and shape the terrain as needed

[Lolto]

Truth of the matter is, I don't think anyone here will show you how to do it step-by-step, the best way to learn is watch some of the tutorials, the tutorials do teach you how to use the editor... you just have to take it slow.  Your first map won't be what you expect or what you want so it's probably better if you did something simple and not geographically accurate to start, just make something up.

Look at each individual button at the top, there is the object button for when you want access to place objects, the EBPS tree under objects is the one you want to use.

There is splines, they are a little more complex in terms of use but very handy when you learn how to use them.  To get a rough idea on how splines work click on it at the top, select a texture then right click four times on the map and press enter.  Ta-da! Spline! To move a spline is simple, click and drag, but if you want to edit the way it looks in a sense just select it and press your spacebar, rest should be self-explanatory.

There is splats, these are quite simple, choose a texture and right click around the map a few times to get a rough idea of these, most people use splats for craters on a map.

You have the height-map tool which takes some practice to get use too, just make sure that if you want to add/decrease/smooth/whatever, that the first drop down box at the top is set to what you want.  The brush size/feather/height are also key in terms of using this tool, you will have to tinker around with these to get exactly what you want for height-map.

The tile tool should be self explanatory, if you want to add another texture to the map, simply select one from the list then there is a little button under the layers tab next to the trashcan, click that with the new texture and there you go, two textures to paint with.

The water placement, stamp, grass, and territory tool are something in which you should mess around with after you have the basics listed before down.  The rest will come to you in how you learn the editor, just make sure you do a few random maps at first before doing something you really want to shine, do not expect people to play your first map, the editor takes time to learn and even more to master, good luck.

Edit: perhaps by opening up some relic maps will give you an idea of how they do it, simply download corsix mod studio > install > load coh/of mod > select 'RelicCOH' > files tab > data/scenarios/mp > for any map you want to look at extract the .info and .sgb file, these will be extracted to your COH folder.  As soon as you've extracted those two files, open up the world builder and open the map(open for add) under your MP folder.

[Osprey]

Not sure how to make grey-scale images Schicksal, my relief map uses contour lines so I'm not really sure how to translate that...

Thanks for the brief Lolto, I guess when a game is as detailed as CoH, the map editor is hardly going to be a walk in the park.

Is there any kind of tool in the editor that lets you set equal height co-ordinates and then creates a smooth geometry from the points you enter in? If it's only the brush tool then I suspect my plan might be a little ambitious/take years, as it's all a gentle gradient, but the brushes all seem to be small area, patch-by-patch editing.

[Lolto]

Well there is set value for height, as for creating linking plateau's or from what I understand of your post; there is no way from my knowledge to link height-map co-ordinates.  Most of it has to be done on experience and a sense of understanding with the tool, so it takes practice, yes patch-by-patch is the only way I know of to height-map.

Set value is the only way to make symmetrical plateaus, the other settings such as addition, subtraction,  and smooth all have to be utilized to simulate a natural flowing map.

[ReapersVengeance]

be patient with the program too. dont expect to have your map completed in a week and on your first try. i made 2 maps (both which sucked) but i put over 30 hours into the editior just learning and now i know if i had to make a map i could go in a do it.

[Steinmarder]

a height map is a grayscale image (black <----> white ) of a view on the map in bird perspective

the difference in the grey tones is the information for the height (white areas the highest, black the deepest, or the other way around)


there should be a bunch of tools out with which you can create a heightmap;

but maybe you will be quicker with the "brush" if you just watch a tutorial about the height editor. Its quite easy to use and has a bunch of options to fasten up the work

[Kolath]

I know its not what you wanted to hear, but you really should read relicwiki guide to the worldbuilder.  It goes through every tool and explains the use.  You can find the link in the tutorials sticky.

Steinmarder is very right that the only way to learn is to mess around with it.  You'll find that the worldbuilder has its eccentricities but the basics aren't too bad.  I would make a test map and just try to build something simple like a single house and farm plot with a hill to get a basic feel.