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HELLHAWK'S CHECKLIST FOR ADVANCED MAP-BUILDERS
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(Written by Hellhawk666)

This file is not a FAQ for people creating their first map, nor is it an instruction manual for map creation.  If you need these tools look for them in the Homeworld Editing Files section of the Homeworld Map Archive.  It is intended for use by experienced map builders, most probably using a text editor to create their map files.
The file is a checklist of all the files necessary for your map to work, the necessary parameters you should have in these files, and the required inter-relationships between files.
It does not contain detailed explanations of how the files work, because it is expected that you will either know this already or can refer to other documentation to find the answers.
I created this file for my own use so I could be sure I had checked all the common problem areas before testing my maps, and to help in finding errors in maps which crashed during testing.
Hellhawk666 - January 3, 2000

Updated for Cataclysm from the original Homeworld orientated document by Dylov - December 21, 2000


1. Directory Structure
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a) Is the directory name identical to the level file name?
	Are there Spelling mistakes?
	Is the Case correct?


2. Directory Content
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a) Is the "Description.txt" file present in the directory?
b) Is the "XXXn.level" file present in the directory?
c) Is the "XXXn.level" file correctly spelt and numbered?
b) Is the "XXXn.level" file named the same as the directory in which it resides?
c) Is the "Resource.missphere" file present in every directory (Did I set up for more than 1 resource sphere in this map? If so;
	Are the Resource_n.missphere" files present in every directory?)
	Did I spell ".missphere" correctly?
d) Are the required .dist files present in every directory? (XXX.dist, YYY.dist, etc.)
e) Are the required "Mothership_n.missphere" files present in each directory? 
	DIRECTORYp includes "p" instances of Mothership_n.missphere
f) Are the "Mothership_n.missphere" files sequentially numbered?


3. Basic File Content
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3.1 "Description.txt"
a) Are the game settings correctly formatted?

3.2 "XXXn.level" files
a) Does every file have the required comment lines and game information present, eg:

	; MissionMan script, Tuesday, Aug 24 1999, 5:25:46 PM
 	; Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
 	; Multiplayer Level: Haldane4
 	; Info: Haldane (2-4)
 
 	[Haldane (2-4)]

b) Under these lines, does every file have a reference line for each Resource sphere and Mothership sphere file in the directory in which it resides, eg (for Haldane4):

	MissionSphere    -1,?,ResourceSphere,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,ResourceSphere_1.missphere,?
	MissionSphere    0,RACE_SECT,sMothership,-50000.0,0.0,50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    1,RACE_BEAST,bMothership,50000.0,0.0,-50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    2,RACE_SECT,sMothership,-50000.0,0.0,-50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_2.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    3,RACE_ BEAST,bMothership,50000.0,0.0,50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_3.missphere,0

c) Is everything below these lines identical in each "XXXn.level" file?

3.3 "Resource.missphere"
a) Is the resource file named identically as it is in the Level file?
b) If more than one resource file is present, are they all named in the level file?

3.4 "XXX.dist", "YYY.dist", etc.
a) Are all the "XXX.dist" files named identically as they are in the Resource file?
b) Are they correctly formatted?

3.5 "Mothership_n.missphere" files
a) Are the "Mothership_n.missphere" files named identically as they are in the Level file?
b) Are they correctly formatted?


4. Detailed Inter-File Content
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4.1 "Description.txt"
a) no inter-file settings
 
4.2 "XXX.level" files
a) Are the references to the resource sphere and mothership sphere files numbered correctly, eg (for Haldane4):

	MissionSphere    -1,?,ResourceSphere,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,ResourceSphere_1.missphere,?
	MissionSphere    0,RACE_SECT,sMothership,-50000.0,0.0,50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    1,RACE_BEAST,bMothership,50000.0,0.0,-50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    2,RACE_SECT,sMothership,-50000.0,0.0,-50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_2.missphere,0
	MissionSphere    3,RACE_ BEAST,bMothership,50000.0,0.0,50000.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_3.missphere,0

b) Are the Lighting, Background and SongNumber parameters valid and correctly formatted?
c) Are the Exclude and Include parameters valid and correctly formatted?

4.3 "ResourceShpere_1.missphere"
a) Are the resource references correctly formatted, eg:

	Resources     DustCloud,-3500.0,2500.0,0.0,Cylinder,Dustcloud.dist,10,500.0,1000.0,0.0,-50.0,2048,7
	Derelict      AngelMoon_clean,0.0,500000.0,0.0,0.0,-90.0,0
	Ships     ,-115000.0,-115000.0,115000.0,0.0,RACE_DERELICT,dCrystal0,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,0,? 
	Ships     ,-1194.4,9334.6,-4982.5,0.0,RACE_TRADERS,trJunk_LGun,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,4096,?

b)	If Slipgates are present:

Are there two correctly numbered lines making up a single slipgate?
Are these two lines formatted correctly, eg:

	Slipgate ,128431.0,12941.0,74149.0,1/2,-84.0,dSlipgateLarge 
	Slipgate ,-91967.0,60000.0,28823.0,2/2,-96.0,dSlipgateLarge

c) If Crystals are present:

Are the crystal lines formatted correctly, eg:

	Ships ,82636.0,50000.0,-25879.0,0.0,RACE_DERELICT,dCrystal0,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,0,? 
	Ships ,82636.0,-50000.0,-25879.0,0.0,RACE_DERELICT,dCrystal1,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,0,?

Are the crystal Derelicts Included in the level file?

d) Pay attention to spelling errors, particularly:

	resource types
	resource.dist file names
	resource shape types

e) Check that there are no derelicts or ships specified which are also excluded in the "XXXn.level" file.
f) Are the correct resource.dist files associated with each resource type?
g) Is the file larger than 64KB in size?  If so it must be cut into two files.


4.4 "XXX.dist" files, etc.
a) Are the correct resource types present within each type of  resource.dist file? eg:

	Asteroid0	DustCloud0	dCrystal0	Nebula0
	Asteroid1	DustCloud1	dCrystal1
	Asteroid2	DustCloud2	 
	Asteroid3	DustCloud3	
	Asteroid4	DustCloud4	
	
b) Is there a space between the resource type label and the value columns? eg:

	Asteroid3   1   2  etc.

4.5 "Mothership_n.missphere" files
a) Are the ship resources for each player formatted correctly? eg:

	Ships     ,-68732.6,-3678.0,0.0,0.0,R1,Mothership,1,NULL_FORMATION|?|?,0,?
	Ships     ,-66922.6,-5659.0,-104.0,0.0,R1,ResourceCollector,2,PARADE_FORMATION|?|?,0,?

b) Check that no ship is specified which is excluded for that race by the "XXXn.level" file.
c) Check for spelling errors, particularly in the names of ship types and formations.


5. Testing
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a) Test vs. CPU for every combination of players.  
b) Test saving the game and recording the game. 
c) Test loading from a cold start.
d) Test vs. human opponents online.