Part Ten: Overview

In this section you will create a maximum 4 player map, a max 6 player map and a max 8 player map.

10.0 The Addition of further Players

Lots to do here so I will take it carefully, step by step. We have already set up all the extra folders needed for our Downward Spiral map, and discussed why we are doing this, (in Part One of this tutorial). So let’s get cracking and work our way through the files, adding and modifying as we go along.

Just remember that each folder will be obviously be able to stand alone as a map, i.e. you are going to make 3 more maps in this chapter. All are based on the 2 player version we have already completed, so only relatively minor changes to each are required. This may look daunting because there is quite a bit to do, but as you have done most of it already this shouldn't take long to complete.

Now, I prefer to work on all the files as a whole, but you could quite feasibly do the extra map folders one at a time. I will take you through the way I do things. which I feel is faster. If you were going to change the map depending on the amount of players present then it may well be easier to deal with them in succession, but we will only have minor changes between player numbers, i.e. the map will look pretty much the same for six players as it does for two players.

10.1 - Copying the Description file and making required changes.

Some files only need to be copied into each folder. There are no changes to be made to these files, indeed in the case of the Description file, they all must be identical. We will do these first.

10.1.1 - Copy the Description.txt file from your ‘DSpiral2’ folder into all the other ‘DSpiral#’ folders.

10.1.2 - All we really need to change here is the map name, specifically the amount of players each map supports. For the 4 player map change '2 Players' to '2-4 players', for the 6 player version change this to '4-6 Players' and for the 8 player change it to '6-8 Players'.

10.2 - Copying the Level file into each folder, and making required changes.

The level file however, does require some extensive changes, so lets start dealing with them.

10.2.1 - Copy the ‘DSpiral2.level’ file from your ‘DSpiral2’ folder into your ‘DSpiral4' folder.

10.2.2 - In the DSpiral4 folder, rename the ‘DSpiral2.level’ file to match the folder it resides in, (i.e. to: ‘DSpiral4.level’)

10.2.3 - Open up this new ‘DSpiral4.level’ file in your ‘DSpiral4’ folder, the top 6 lines of the file look like this at the moment;

; MissionMan script, Thursday, Jul 20 2000, 8:17:09 PM
; Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; Multiplayer Level: DSpiral2
; Info: Downward Spiral (2)

[Downward Spiral (2)]

10.2.4 - Rename the Multiplayer level part to match the folder name, in this case its just the simple change of the ‘2’ to a ‘4’.

10.2.5 - Rename the Info part to match the player numbers the map supports, in this case its just the simple change of the ‘2’ to ‘2-4’.

10.2.6 - Rename the Map Listing part (the bit in square brackets) to match what you just changed the Info part to, a simple change of '2’ to ‘2-4’ is again, all that's required here.

These lines should now look like this;

; MissionMan script, Thursday, Jul 20 2000, 8:17:09 PM
; Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; Multiplayer Level: DSpiral4
; Info: Downward Spiral (2-4)

[Downward Spiral (2-4)]

10.2.7 - Repeat 10.2.1 to 10.2.6 for each version of the map, being careful of name, case and the format of each file. (For the 6 player version, 10.2.5 and 10.2.6 changes are to '4-6'. For the 8 player version its '6-8').

OK, that's a Level file and the header of each level file sorted. We need now to ensure that each level file has the correct number of players. There are two ways we could go about this. The Hard way. And the Easy way. Which would you prefer?

10.2.8 - If we were doing it the Hard way, this is what we would do. Looking at the Missionsphere lines as they are now;

MissionSphere -1,?,ResourceSphere,16759.0,-85466.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Resource.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 0,RACE_SECT,sMothership,1000.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 1,RACE_SECT,sMothership,9000.0,-1000.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,1000

- We would copy the last MissionSphere line and paste two copies on the lines directly below. Keeping the space after the last MissionSphere line, before the first defaults line (Lighting).

10.2.9 - These new lines you would have just added will tell the game what the third and fourth MissionSphere's are (ie; player's three and four) and where it can find the file dealing with the objects (in this case, the players starting ships) that this MissionSphere will contain.

So, for the first line (the first one we would have copied):

- Change the playerNumber value from 1 to 2

- Change the contents to Mothership_2.missphere (the player three Mothership file name).

For the second line (the last one we would have copied):

- Change the playerNumber value from 1 to 3

- And finally, change the contents to Mothership_3.missphere (the player four Mothership file name).

These lines would now look like this;

MissionSphere -1,?,ResourceSphere,16759.0,-85466.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Resource.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 0,RACE_SECT,sMothership,1000.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 1,RACE_SECT,sMothership,9000.0,-1000.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 2,RACE_SECT,sMothership,9000.0,-1000.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_2.missphere,1000
MissionSphere 3,RACE_SECT,sMothership,9000.0,-1000.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_3.missphere,1000

- So then is a case of: Repeat for every level file, ensuring six player Missionsphere files are named, numbered and formatted correctly in the six player version, and eight player Missionsphere files are named/numbered/formatted correctly in the eight player version.

That's pretty damned simple eh? And that's the Hard way.. italics, red numbering and everything! Mental!

Right, to summarise so far; The biggest change here is the addition of further MissionSpheres lines to each incremental level file, the example above shows how simple this can be, although time consuming and a bit fiddly, especially if you have a lot of files. You need to watch the spelling/formatting/numbering and so on for each line as well, this could be the Map Makers Mantra - you always have to be aware of those... Well, I am about to make life a whole lot easier for you.

10.2.10 - The Easy way. We need to add the extra player lines in at some point and theres nothing stopping from just copying/pasting right now to get it done. You could open up any level file from any four player map and copy the lines we need as the only parts that matter are the player number and named Mothership_#.missphere file and pretty much all maps use identical formats and numbers here. No other values would need to be touched, we are just making more work for ourselves dealing with the co-ordinates, sphere sizes and so on, they don't matter. But we wont.

I have a better way. Do this instead:

Wait. Yup, just hold off the extra player lines in the level files at the moment and all will be revealed...

We saw there how we will eventually need to add a third and fourth player to the DSpiral4 map and Cataclysm will read these new lines and go looking for the files called ‘Mothership_2.missphere’ and ‘Mothership_3.missphere’, right? Well this Means of course, that we need to create those whole new Mothership files to deal with this extra players starting fleet and its location.

Lets start dealing with these right now... Read on bewildered reader...

10.3 - Copying the Mothership files and making required changes for each map version.

In our folders we need to add the correct number of Mothership#.missphere files. And then make changes to the locations of each fleet contained in each file.

10.3.1 - Lets start with DSpiral4.

- Copy both the Mothership#.missphere files from DSpiral2 into DSpiral4.

- Now copy and paste one of the Mothership_#.missphere files into the same folder, renaming it Mothership_2.missphere then repeat, this time naming it Mothership_3.missphere - as we will eventually name these files in the DSpiral4.level file (see above in 10.2.9).

- Done that? OK, lets open up all four Mothership_#.missphere files. I know i keep saying it, but with TextPad, this is a simple exercise to work between the four players.

10.3.2 - For our four player map we are going to add two more players at the cardinal points. We have a player on the +x axis (75000,0,64000), a player on the -x axis (-75000,0,64000); one to the 'East' and one to the 'West' of our map. Lets add one to the +y axis (North) and -y axis (South). A simple exercise is it not?

You should know this but I will tell you:

Player Three: (Mothership_2.missphere on the +y axis - to the north on our map) has the co-ordinates 0,75000,64000.

Player Four: (Mothership_2.missphere on the -y axis - to the south on our map) has the co-ordinates 0,-75000,64000.

How simple is that? Simplicity personified you say. OK then smarty, we got four players in a big square around the map, good for a 2-4 Player map right? Right. 8 players will be simple to do as well will it not? Just go and calculate the co-ordinates that lie halfway in between each of the players on our four player map to get 8 points where the players start right? It wont be very spherical will it? And worse, what do we do about Six players? Eeek Trigonometry is rearing its ugly head again!

Well fear not. Excel can save us again. The SRD-XL again, specifically the ‘Distances' sheet.

Here I can just type in the distance I want the players to be from the centre, modify where I want that centre to be, and then save the results. In this case I went into the Distances sheet, And in the Player Start Co-ordinates section, the Player distribution parameters; subsection, in the Global Position Settings box I set Dist From Centre as 75000. And below that in the Co-ordinates Shift box I set the z axis + as 64000. And that was that.

Now what that did, was take the distances I wanted each player to start from the centre (0,0,0) which I modified by a z axis + of 64000, meaning (0,0,64000), and work out where 2 players would be starting if they were both this far from the modified centre.

Better still, it also diligently worked out all the details using these same parameters, for 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 players. All players are equidistant from each other, and all are the same distance from the modified centre. Not only that, but it also gives me the facing required for each ship so that they are all facing towards the modified centre I gave it.

The results are calculated and passed onto the LevelfileFFA sheet, ready for saving as a .csv file and copying/pasting into the relevant file, the LevelfileFFA sheet generates the lines you need in the Level file and in each of the associated player Missionsphere#.missphere files. How neat is that? Man, that's pretty damned neat.

So, these results are pre-formatted on the ‘LevelfileFFA’ sheet, and I saved that sheet as a ‘comma delimited file’ (*.csv), and then it’s the simple matter of copying and pasting as *.csv files can be opened in any text editor.

See here for more details on the SRD-XL Utility, or here for more on using Excel.

I have included the actual ‘LevelfileFFA.csv’ file that I’m talking about here, in the Tutorial Map Files folder, open it up (it’s a text file) and you can see what I outputted from MS Excel after typing in those two numbers. 

10.3.3 - Use the LevelfileFFA.csv file to supply the starting co-ordinates for each players Mothership_#.missphere file, using this file you can simply copy and paste each relevant line into the correct file, its all set out for you so away and make the changes..

Use this file for the co-ordinates for the Mothership files for the all the missphere files required in all the versions of the map.

10.3.4 - Well, no doubt upon opening the LevelfileFFA.csv file the first thing you would have noticed was that it also supplies the MissionSphere lines required in each DSPIRAL#.level file. Wow! No need to type and change and beware of format and case and so on! Just a simple past/copy exercise! How incredibly Easy! Using these lines, replace the Missionsphere lines in Level files of your DSpiral4 folder, the DSpiral6 folder and your DSpiral8 folder.

10.3.5 - Repeat the process used in 10.3.1 and create enough MissionSphere_#.missphere files for your 6 and 8 player versions. Use the LevelfileFFA.csv to supply the starting co-ordinates for each player.

10.4 - Copying the Resource file and distribution files into each folder.

Just copy all the resource.missphere file and all eight distribution files from your DSpiral2 folder into all the other DSpiral# folders.

We are not bothering to change the Resource.missphere file at all because we want the map to look identical in each version. You could if you were feeling particularly adventurous make changes to the amounts of asteroids (numResources) for each line, maybe adding a little more to ensure eight players can still harvest a far whack and pay for extensive fleets. My personal opinion is that the map still has an awful lot of resources, but i like the densities so I will leave them be. Feel free to ignore me on this and tweak away.

As for the Distribution files we are not going to bother changing them either, as with the resources, we could thin them for the lower player versions or increase them in the higher player versions, but as I said, I'm happy, but dont let that stop you.

10.5 - Tutorial Summary

Restart Cataclysm, start up the map with each player number to check they all work. If they dont all work you need to track down the mistakes which will be nine times out of ten spelling errors. look out for:

Format Errors - check that when you copied and pasted you didnt overwrite a comma or not overwrite a parameter so lines now have extra parameters, one less parameter, and so on.
Missing Files - have a quick look, just to be sure the all required files are actually present. And while your checking that, check their names compared to whats listed in the level file and/or resource lines in the resource.missphere file.
Spelling Errors - perhaps typing a name of a missphere file in the Level file wrongly pointing to a wrong mothership file.

I refer you to TAKER's Exception Errors Demystified (Written by TAKER, aka James Tooman see Appendix B) which is a marvelous resource to have when a map keeps crashing Cataclysm for no earthly reason.

Did they all work? They should have done if you where being methodical and careful about your work. Just remember to always try to change only a little at a time so errors are more easily tracked.

The way I have done it throughout this tutorial is the way I do things; set up a basic 1v1 map, keeping it very rough, then add a little at a time, building up the map until the two player is complete then scaling from there. Eventually discarding the 1v1 in most cases as it is usually a mess of ships in various locations and resources and specials I have tried out and decided I didn't want in the final version and so on. What I would do next is play a game on the map, see how it goes looking at all the usual things like;

How does it run with all the crap we have added to it? When the game loads the map, does it take ages to finish? When in the game - is it chugging a little? Can I reduce some of the stuff i have added to speed things up?
What does it all look like? Does it all sit well together or are bits disjointed and odd looking? Can I change/add/delete some asteroid clusters or cylinders to make things look better? Asteroid clusters too dense? Anything too close together? Have I left anything in that I meant to delete? The usual stuff.
How does it play? Too much asteroids? Not enough? Are the players too close together? Any player positions giving unfair advantages/disadvantages?
And so on...

Looking at the map as it is now, I think the resources need to be reduced in number a little, I don't like the way the first asteroid semicircular ring just starts at the top of the map, perhaps i will add another ring, or reduce the asteroids a little to make it look better. Also, the player starting positions are a bit crap. Due to the spiralling asteroid belt it's a little uneven, some players start off in the belt others are a little away from it, meaning an unbalanced start. I will change them slightly so they all start off in the asteroid belt, I think to the nearest co-ordinates of a resource cylinder (from the resources sheet). You may have other ideas of course, you may also have other ideas of how to go about things, but you know what to do - and how to do it, whatever suits you is fine as long as you are always being ware of case, spelling and format. So, Tweak! Change! Alter! Feel free 'cos it costs you nothing, it's simple to do and polishing the map is what makes a good map great!

10.6 - Finished!

Well, thats it, you have done it... Congratulations!

Away you go and dance the ‘Jig of Maply Creation’ while singing the 'Song of Maply Creation' for you have completed your First map! Waaaaay! Three cheers! RA! RA! RA! Big smiles all round and a hearty pat on the back for you. Play your new map, feel good about yourself! Tell your nearest and dearest how wonderful you are. For now you know pretty much everything there is to know about maply creation!

Dylov (Grunter-OMO on WON)

Quick Links: HW Primer: Chapter Six - Putting it all together Quick Jump to Relevant Areas in the Primer: 1.3 Directory Content Quick Jump to Relevant Appendices: Appendix B: TAKER's Exception Errors Demystified Appendix B: Notes on Using Excel Appendix B: Notes on the Homeworld Excel Mapper *Use the back button on your browser to return to this page*

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