Part
Ten: Overview
In this section you will
add players three through six to the map.
10.1
|
Copy
files
that need no changes between folders. |
10.2
|
Copy
the Level file into all the map folders, and make the
necessary changes. |
10.3
|
Copy
the Mothership file into all the 3 and 4 player map
folders, and make the necessary changes. |
10.4
|
Copy
the Mothership file into all the 5 and 6 player map
folders, creating the fourth and fifth player file as
we go along, and making any necessary changes. |
10.5
|
Copy
the Resource file into all the map folders, making the
necessary changes as we go along. |
10.6
|
Copy
all the Distribution files into all the map folders. |
10.7
|
Tutorial
Summary. |
Quick Links Relevant
to this Chapter
|

10.0
The
Addition of further Players
Lots
to do here so I will take it step by step. We have already
set up all the extra folders needed for our Revelations
map, in Tutorial Map Part One So lets get cracking and
work our way through the files, adding and modifying as
we go along.
Just
remember that each folder must be able to stand alone
as a map, ie you are going to make 5 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, ie the map will look pretty
much the same for six players as it does for two players.
Remember though, if you have changes made, the Description.txt
file header, (the first will still be identical in each
file, make changes to this file and Homeworld goes in a
huff and refuses to show any of the files

10.1
- Copying files that need no 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 Revelations2 folder into all the other Revelations#
folders.
10.1.2
- For our map we have added a new background as opposed
to the default types available within the Homeworld.big
file itself. We have added the background and lighting files
called Downslope.btg and Downslope.hsf
respectively, and so these need to be copied into each map
folder. Copy these two files into each Revelations# folder.

10.2
- Copying
the Level file and making required
changes.
The
level file however, does require some changes, so lets deal
with them and get them out the way.
10.2.1
- Copy the Revelations2.level file from
your Revelations2 folder into your Revelations3'
folder.
10.2.2
- Rename the Revelations2.level file to
match the folder it resides in, (i.e.
to: Revelations3.level)
10.2.3
- Open up this new Revelations3.level file
in your Revelations3 folder, the top 10 lines of
the file look like this at the moment;
;
MissionMan script, Friday, Sep 3 1999, 12:15:09 PM
;
Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; Multiplayer Level: Revelations2
; Info: Revelations (2-6)
[Revelations (2-6)]
MissionSphere
-1,?,ResourceSphere,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,ResourceSphere_1.missphere,1000
MissionSphere
0,R1,Mothership,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,1000
MissionSphere
1,R2,Mothership,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,1000
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
3.
10.2.5
- Next,
copy the last MissionSphere line and paste a copy on the
line directly below. Keep the space after the last MissionSphere
line and before the defaults heading.
10.2.6
- This
new line will tell the game what the third MissionSphere
is (ie; player three)
and where it can find the file dealing with the objects
(ships) that this MissionSphere will contain.
-
Change
the playerNumber value from 1 to 2
-
Change
the
race to R1 (change
the default player race if you want, really it makes no
difference what this is, so do it if you if you want its
not important.)
-
And
finally, change the contents to Mothership_2.missphere
(the
player three Mothership file name).
These
lines should now look like this;
;
MissionMan script, Friday, Sep 3 1999, 12:15:09 PM
;
Copyright (c) 1998-99, Relic Entertainment Inc.
; Multiplayer Level: Revelations3
; Info: Revelations (2-6)
[Revelations (2-6)]
MissionSphere
-1,?,ResourceSphere,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,ResourceSphere_1.missphere,1000
MissionSphere
0,R1,Mothership,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000,0.0,Mothership_0.missphere,1000
MissionSphere
1,R2,Mothership,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_1.missphere,1000
MissionSphere
2,R2,Mothership,0.0,0.0,0.0,30000.0,0.0,Mothership_2.missphere,1000
10.2.7
- Repeat
10.2.1 - 10.2.6 for all the Revelations# folders,
adding and renaming the level file and ensuring it contains
the relevant name and has the correct numbers of MissionSphere
lines naming the correct extra player MissionSphere files
and so on.
The
biggest change here is the addition of further MissionSpheres
lines to each incremental level file, but this example shows
how simple this is. Take note though, we have now added
a third player to the Revelations3 map and Homeworld will
read this new third line and go looking for the file called
Mothership_2.missphere. Meaning of course, that we need
to create that whole new Mothership file to deal with this
extra players starting fleet and its location. Lets start
dealing with these now.

10.3
- Copying
the Mothership file and making required
changes for the Three and Four Player versions.
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 Revelations3.
-
Copy
both the Mothership#.missphere files from Revelations2
into Revelations3.
-
Now
copy and paste one of the Mothership_#.missphere
files into the same folder, renaming it Mothership_2.missphere
(as we have named it in the Revelations3.level file
above in 10.2.6).
-
Done
that? OK, lets open up all three Mothership_#.missphere
files.
10.3.2
- For our three player map we are going to shift
about all three starting locations. We are going to place
them around the central sphere of dust containing the Research
Station, at the cardinal points of an equilateral triangle,
keeping the player starting distances equidistant. We
want each player to start 50km (a value of 50000) from
the centre of the map, so its a matter of working out the
end point of three lines, each line rotated 120°
from the last. All this trigonometry is better covered in
the two html files (Trigonometry or Trig Math and Trigonometry
a Crash Review in Appendix C).
Personally,
I use MS Excel, specifically Dylovs Homeworld Excel
Mapper where on the Distances sheet I can just type
in the distance i want the players to be from the centre
and then save the results. These results are pre-formatted
on the LevelfileFFA sheet, and I save that sheet as a
comma delimited file (*.csv), and then its a simple matter
of copying and pasting as *.csv files can be opened in any
text editor. See here for more
details on the XL Mapper, or here for more on using Excel.
I
have included the actual LevelfileFFA.csv that
Im talking about here, in the Tutorial Map Files folder,
open it up (its a text file) and you can see what I outputted
from MS Excel after typing in that one
number.
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 folder, its all spelled out
for you so away and make the changes..
Use
this file for the co-ordinates for the Mothership files
for the three-player and four-player versions
of your map, and stop there.

10.4
- Copying
the Mothership file and making required
changes for the Five and Six Player versions.
In
our folders for the five and six player versions of the
map, we still need to add the correct number of Mothership#.missphere
files!
10.4.1
- OK. Lets deal with the files for players five and
six..
Remember
we said we would have a player directly above and one directly
below? You Do? Cool! For the Five-player map we will
have one above, one below the sphere and the other three
in triangular formation about the spheres equator. We have
already made three files in the three player map folder
where the starting locations for the three players are in
this huge triangular formation about the equator, so its
an easy copy/paste exercise to begin with.
-
Copy all three Mothership files from the folders
Revelations3 to Revelations5.
10.4.2
- Now we need to create a new player four file for
the five player version of the map (Mothership_3.missphere).
The co-ordinates for these ships will be 0,0,50000 which
is 50km straight up. Away and do that. OK, now repeat
for a Player five file; (Mothership_4.missphere),
and set the co-ordinates to 0,0,-50000, which of course,
is 50km straight down.
And
thats the five player map, lets quickly move onto the Six-player
map. This time, we will have four players in a huge square
formation around the equator and a single player above and
one below again. We have already made every Missphere we
need here, so this is merely a matter of copying/pasteing/renaming
the relevant files. I'll walk you through it but I'm sure
you have seen what I'm up to by now.
10.4.3
- For the Six-player map we will have 4 players
about the equator in a big square along with the player
above and the player below.
-
Copy the four Mothership files from the folders Revelations4
folder into Revelations6 folder, leave them
be because they are fine
-
Copy the new player four file (Mothership_3.missphere
the top player) file from the Revelations5
folder into the Revelations6 folder and rename
it 'Mothership_4.missphere', then repeat this for
the player five file in the five player version folder (Mothership_4.missphere
the bottom player), this time copying into the six
player version folder as 'Mothership_5.missphere'.
Note;
This is most easily accomplished using TextPad
which supports the multiple file editing and easy interchange
between each file you have open. See Appendix
C if you want to get hold of TextPad.

10.5
-
Copying
the Resource file and making required
changes for each Player number versions.
Now,
we wanted each player to begin in his/her own sphere of
asteroids, the focal points for our Revelations map are
going to be each players starting point. So, we need to
add the sphere for the third player as well as move the
two existing spheres so they are centred on players One
and Two (we moved these players above didnt we?). We will
only have these spheres of asteroids (local player resources
I'll call them), around each player, if you play the map
two player only two will appear, play 6 player and six will
appear, you see?
10.5.1
- If you have not already done so, copy the ResourceSphere_1.missphere
from Revelations2 into the Revelations3 and
Revelations4 folders.
10.5.2
- In Revelations3 folder, open up the ResourceSphere_1.missphere
file.
10.5.3
- Its then a simple matter of copying all six lines
that make up the local
player resources for each players own
little cluster, so, we have three of these six-line clusters.
So, from the Mothership#.missphere files in this
folder, we use the player start co-ordinates as the co-ordinates
for each cluster, copy and paste until you have your three
clusters sitting at the correct co-ordinates, ie at where
all three players start.
Your
ResourceSphere in the Revelations3 folder should now have
three clusters looking like this;
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,0.0,0.0,?,?
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,45.0,45.0,?,?
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,0.0,0.0,?,?
Resources
Asteroid,-52323.0,0.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,45.0,45.0,?,?
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,6000.4,12000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Asteroid.dist,16,8000.4,16000.8,45.0,45.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,0.0,0.0,?,?
Resources
Asteroid,26162.0,-45313.0,0.0,Cylinder,Tiny.dist,30,10000.4,22000.8,45.0,45.0,?,?
10.5.4
- OK,
now youve done this, repeat 10.5.3 for the Four-player
version
(Revelations4).
10.5.5
- Once
you have done that, copy the ResourceSphere_1.missphere
file from the Revelations3 folder into the Revelations5
folder and add two more of these 6-line clusters for local
player resources at co-ordinates 0,5000,0
and 0,-50000,0. And that's your five player resources
sorted.
10.5.6
- Now
copy the ResourceSphere_1.missphere file from the
Revelations4 folder into the Revelations6
folder, open up the ResourceSphere_1.missphere
file from Revelations5 and copy the last two local
player resources clusters you created
(the clusters at co-ordinates 0,5000,0 and 0,-50000,0),
paste them into your Six-Player version of the ResourceSphere_1.missphere
file. And that's your Six-player map resources sorted.

10.6
- Copying
the Distribution
files.
As
for the Distribution files we are not going to bother changing
them, as all the clusters are localised and regenerate at
one helluva rate. Just copy all three distribution files
(Asteroid.dist, DustCloud.dist and Tiny.dist)
into all your Revelations# folders.

10.7
- Tutorial
Summary
Restart
Homeworld, 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:
Spelling
Errors - perhaps typing a name of a missphere file in
the Level file wrongly pointing to a wrong mothership file
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 and so on.
Missing Files - have a quick look, just to be sure
the all required files are actually present.
I
refer you to TAKER's Exception Errors Demystified (Written
by TAKER, aka James Tooman) which is a marvelous resource
to have when a map keeps crashing Homeworld 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 the tutorial is the way I
do things; set up a basic 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. Of course, you
may have other ideas of how to go about things, whatever
suits you is fine as long as you always be aware of case,
spelling and format.

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)
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