Part Two: Overview

In this section you will deal with the Description File: 'Description.txt'.

2.0 The Description File

The Description file (Description.txt) gives the description of your map and allows you to tweak the options that are available within the Cataclysm game itself, in the Multiplayer\Skirmish Vs CPU settings screen. With this file you set the default options for the map, be it crates on, caps off, injections on etc.

2.1 - Copy and Paste a Description.txt file into the DSpiral2 folder.

Open up the HWC Tutorial Map Files Folder (or indeed, any other map folder in the ../cataclysm/multiplayer folder), and find the file called Description.txt. Highlight the file and copy it (highlight it, press ctrl-c or right click on the file and select copy), then paste a copy of this file into your spanking new ‘DSpiral2’ folder.

2.2 - Set up the Description header displaying the in-game name and accompanying notes.

OK, open up this file and look at the first five lines:

Description        The HWC Tutorial Map (2-8 Players)
Description        Your Map description goes here
Description        Settings: Crates off.
Description        AUTHOR: Dylov (dy.lov@techemail.com)
Description        VERSION: 1.0 (December 22nd 2000)

While not touching 'Description' or the tab spacer after it, rename the map to “Downward Spiral (2 Players)” and change the map description text to: “WooHoo! My glorious HW:C map! Who's da man!???” Leave the line; ‘Settings: Crates off’. In the line below put your own name and email in, below that change the date.

I would really suggest you keep these last two lines in, everyone likes to advertise who made the map and there is a fantastic Cataclysm community of map makers out there, all centered on the relic boards, and who are always happy to help/be helped. The version is important so folks can see at a glance what version of a map they are using, especially if updates are available (So far this has happened with ‘Haven’, ‘Deepspace’ and ‘Arachne’- all fine maps that had some initial teething problems).

OK so now you have something looking like this:

Description        Downward Spiral (2 Players)
Description        WooHoo! My glorious HW:C map! Who's da man!???
Description        Settings: Crates off.
Description        AUTHOR: Dylov (dy.lov@techemail.com)
Description        VERSION: 1.0 (January 11 2001)

Of course you will have a different name and date, but you get the idea.

Now, later on we will be copying this file into all the other map folders, and I will be telling you that to change this header to fit each map, this is the only bit that you need bother to change, and even then its not essential, just nice. Changing the Downward Spiral (2 Players) to Downward Spiral (2-4 Players) in your 4 player version lets the person playing your map know which one hes loading from the 'about' box in the game. Anyway don't worry about this just now, this will all be covered later, lets just concentrate on the 2 player version. We'll continue down the file and change the default settings to fit our map.

2.3 - Set Colour of you text in the Description box

The Next three lines give the settings for the font and colour in the description box, they are;

Font                Arial_b12.hff
Color               0, 180, 40
DropShadow     Yes

Don't change the font, or it will crash HW:C. Don't change 'Dropshadow' either, I have no idea what it does, and you can set it to "No" but I have never noticed any difference and its probably best left well alone. You can change the text colour, and it's probably best I leave you to play around with it a bit yourself, until you come up with a colour you like, just change the R/G/B values, (min=0, max=255), remember don't touch the format, just the actual values.

2.4 - Set Default: 'Crates off'.

From Chapter 2.2 of the Primer (Default settings),  we learned that if you want an option off, place a semicolon at the start of each "type.flag" line, not the "type.flgNeeded" line. If you want the option on, then remove the semicolon from in front of it. On your Description.txt file, scroll down until you come across the two lines dealing with crates and switch the crates off. Just follow the example I gave. Don't change anything else, we will leave the rest of the settings as they are for the moment.

Again, this is not a strict requirement. The game has default for crates set at 'ON' but we will turn them off, really because we can. You could if you wish delete everything below the settings for font and colour and the game will just have everything set up at its default values, which you can change to your hearts content.

2.5 - The Last wee bit, and a Summary

The last wee block deals with injections and starting RU defaults, again the game defaults are all preset at the popular options of 'NO Injections' and Maximum RU (ie 4000) beginning amounts. We will ignore them as we want these starting amounts, they are fine for us.

We are finished with the Description file for the moment. Save the and close the description.txt file and lets move on to the Level file.

[top] [On to Part Three - The Level File] [Back to Basic Set Up] [Main]