Tutorial:Map Making

Map Making has been one of the greatest hobbies of Populous players new and experienced alike. Players began emerging in early 2003 with nothing but a simple Hex Editor and a great passion for making superb maps. Back in the day, Populous New Worlds (Made exclusivly by TheGabber with a few submissions from others) were the only major third pary maps avaliable for download. Later Khickman emerged on the scene with Mod Worlds (which included God Worlds, Prisons Worlds, and the first releases of Fate Worlds). Khickman later joined Populous: Reincarnated to help them with their efforts to revive Populous, bringing Fate Worlds into the New Worlds family; unfortunately the old God Worlds and Prison Worlds haven't beem seem in some time.

Introduction

The following information is a simple guide on making decent multiplayer Populous levels. IF you want to get your maps online, then this is the place to start.

Simple Concepts

The most important thing about maps is ensureing that they are both enjoyable, and practical. Not all maps need to neccessarily fit to a mold, but they should follow a few simple guidelines to ensure they are fun for all and provide a decent match for players. Here is what can be done to make fun and enjoyable maps:

• Make Fair Maps

One of the largest complaints about any map in Populous these days is about the map being unfair. The typical complaint usually refers to Blue's land on the level Face Off being too small while everyone else can build a massive base. While there is a great deal of importance in making a map fair, not everything needs to be perfectly 100% symmetric. Usually the best practice is to design the land, use Ted Tycoon's Symmetry Tool to make a symmetric skeleton and then go back into the map and change things around a bit. Usually it's good to give one player an advantage over the other, while giving the other player some kind of a different advantage. For example: give blue more wood, and red more wildman, but only in small increments. Practicing such ideas will make your maps fun, fair, and even more importantly, desired to be replayed as there will be four different strategies to practice as opposed to just one for everyone.

• Provide Objectives

Players need something to fight for in order to get the game going. If you have a map with just land for the players to use and that is all, then there are no real strategical points to fight for. Usually, the best practice is to add a stone-head or two into the map which provides a powerful spell that each player will want to fight for in order to gain control of the map. Providing oppertunities to side-door or back-door an opponent can allow for the possibility of a rush or a less one-sided experience as the game goes on.

• Be Practical, but not Predictable

There is a great deal of importance in how a map is designed (obviously that is why this guide has been submitted). It is a common bad habit of new map-makers out there to make a map which they see to be ideal (significant amounts of land, tree's, wildmen, etc..) but it is also important to consider that you are not the only person playing your map if you intend to take it online. Thinking outside of the box is definately a good trait to have, but remember not to push the envelope too far. No one likes to have 100 clones of the level Face Off, so don't bother makign another one, but at the same time, no one wants to spend 6 hours defending a stone-head from their enemies only to find out that it is one shot of the Blast spell. Make your maps interesting, but not pointless by providing weird twists which will be figured out after having played the map just once.

Online Map Standards

All online maps should abide by a simple set of standards to ensure they not only work properly, but also provide enjoyment to those who play them. Here are some simple tips to follow:

• Use braves inside of a reincarnation site instead of wildmen as they will line up properly and be converted to wildmen when the game is started. Make sure the braves are the same color as the shaman which will convert them.

• Do not exceed more than 300 objects, including braves, shamans, trees, wildmen, stone-heads, triggers, discoveries, and effects. Any other object not specified may be used, but can be subtracted from the total number of objects as long as the final number is less than 300. For example: 300 objects with 5 huts for each side is acceptable because 5 huts for four tribes equals 20, but the huts are not included in the list of objects which are crucial to the map. 350 Object plus 4 huts would be bad. 290 objects plus 5 huts for each tribe would be acceptable.

• Use script 122 in the header files.

• Provide a level name in the header file for easy identification when in the editor.

• Make sure all stone-heads have triggers and discoveries properly linked up. *Do not set any alliances in the header files. *Do not preset Fog of War in the header files.

• Set the number of players to the exact number of people intended for the level, don't just use four as it will be mis-identified in-game.

• Set all of the spells to not charging except for Blast and Concert.
• Use neutral prisons on multiplayer levels and ensure lightning is turned off when in use.
• Do not use Vaults of Knowledge online.

Conclusions

This article was written by Khickman, for more cool tips about map design, see my site The Populous Vault.