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| Thread: Making Maps |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 24, 2002 02:36 AM |
bonus applied. |
Edited By: Hexa on 26 Jan 2002
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Making Maps
When I started using my map editor to start making maps, I haven't played a Heroes game online since. I have trouble working on the incomplete parts instead of rearranging an oak tree and a rock over and over to see what looks better.
Who also likes to make maps? Tell me anything about your map making. What is your favorite map that you made? What current projects are you working on? Give tips to people.
I'm currently working one called Battle for Wood & Ore. It's an open map, but using events the player can't rush the opponents main castle without being attacked by Level 7's. None of the towns start with forts and on day 1 week 1 you lose all of your wood & ore, but your main castle already has built upgraded level 1, 2, and 3 creature structures. Also, on day 1 week 1, each player gets additional creatures to recruit from their castle, so week one you can recruit around 27 level 1 creatures. Each day 1 after that you get extra creature from levels 1-5 but on a smaller scale. This happens for every castle on the map. There are plenty of mines that are fairly well-guarded. But the mines are up for competition. It's kind of like Hot-Spot, Outer Limits, and Seven Lakes combined. The problem with the map is that rampart has an advantage early in the game, because of Grand Elves, and Centaur Captains, and Battle Dwarves. But later in the game there isn't enough gold to buy all of the creatures, so even Fortress with its cheapness is actually good on this map. Castle, which is too good in almost all open maps has archangels very expensive and requires a ton of wood to build it's structures. It generally makes the towns more balanced.
Edit: revived!@
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Go Red Sox!
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dragonsister
Hero of Order
MapHaven administrator
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posted January 24, 2002 02:54 AM |
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Edited By: Hexa on 28 Jan 2002
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Give tips to people, huh? :-) I've been collecting tips at MapHaven (http://heroes.mycomport.com/) (Mapmaker's Guild) for a few months now - with a little help from my friends! :-) I've also collected links to all the *other* mapmaking tips and guides that I've encountered ... about four of them (if anyone knows of any more, please drop me a line!)
There *is* a lot of material there. So - oddly enough - I'm not going to repost all of it. But I've been studying and talking mapmaking for a long time - quite happy to discuss any particular facet of mapmaking that you might be interested in at the moment. Map Balance, Story, setting up quests or AI behaviour or unusual situations ... :-)
My last map was 'Going Gold', submitted to http://www.astralwizard.com/ map competition - I'm on a break at the moment, while I write the map-software for MapHaven and wait for HOMM4 to come out (since I don't have a story burning in my mind at the moment.)
DragonSister
http://heroes.mycomport.com/
QP for: continous help on map making!@
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wiggy_wam
Promising
Famous Hero
local pirate
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posted January 24, 2002 12:28 PM |
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great ideas! I'd like to see this map. Send me a copy when you're done. 
I made hotspot, but I admit that I could've made it better, and should've made it less luck-based depending upon starting condition and heroes. Example: Shakti starting with 100 trogs has a BIG advantage.
In my opinion, it sounds like Necropolis would have a little difficult start, seeing that wights and zombies suck. Perhaps you can give them more critters for them to convert to skeletons to even that out. And as for fortress, if you wish to give them a boost, add a dragon fly hive.
towns that require most wood / ore:
1 - fortress (40 wood, 30 ore)
2 - stronghold (30 wood, 40 ore)
3 - dungeon (25 wood, 40 ore)
4 - castle (40 wood, 10 ore)
5 - conflux (20 wood, 30 ore)
6 - necropolis (20 wood, 30 ore)
7 - tower (25 wood, 25 ore)
8 - inferno (15 wood, 25 ore)
9 - rampart (5 wood, 35 ore)
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- wiggy ... who has a crush on Rob's models. Well ... the ones his age (18-26) 
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 24, 2002 07:44 PM |
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I also made another map
I also made another map called Follow the Arrow. It was on the maps page and was removed, because people were complaining of bugs and imbalance. Well I'm foolish. I submitted the wrong copy of the map.
It had the easiest Day 1 rushes I have ever seen. Gave quests that only the Red player could realistically do that gave. For example plus 10 power or the helm of heavenly enlightment. Oops.
So if anyone wants the RIGHT copy of the map, then just ask.
For more info, it has lots of elements that incorporate HIT & RUN like it has a scroll of chain lightning and the Pendant of Agitation. Then it has implosion in one corner of the map and resurrection in the other.
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Go Red Sox!
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dragonsister
Hero of Order
MapHaven administrator
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posted January 25, 2002 12:17 AM |
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Quote:
I also made another map called Follow the Arrow. It was on the maps page and was removed, because people were complaining of bugs and imbalance. Well I'm foolish. I submitted the wrong copy of the map.
It had the easiest Day 1 rushes I have ever seen. Gave quests that only the Red player could realistically do that gave like plus 10 power or the helm of heavenly enlightment. Oops.
So if anyone wants the RIGHT copy of the map, then just ask.
For more info, it has lots of elements that incorporate HIT & RUN like it has a scroll of chain lightning and the Pendant of Agitation. Then it has implosion in one corner of the map and resurrection in the other.
Big oopses indeed!
One of the nicer little tips I have met involves map file versioning - and, having tried this, I find it amazingly effective. It goes like this. Every time you finish a session of mapmaking - or about two hours of work, or after an important and complicated set of changes - save it with a new name. In the case of my map Going Gold, I used gogold_01.h3m, gogold_02.h3m, ... gogold_038.h3m.
Then when you send your playtesters gogold_027.h3m, you and do a bit of work on gogold_028.h3m before you hear back from them, you can keep everything straight. And you *won't* send the wrong version to the website! When you finally *do* mail it to the website, you'll make the file gogoldv1_0.h3m ... (substitute .zip etc as required.)
The only caveat is that you probably don't want ten copies of the map sitting in your maps directory, because then it's hard to pick the right one when you go to playtest. I dealt with this by always editing the map in the heroes3/maps directory, and moving all older versions of the map to heroes3/maps/backups.
DragonSister
http://heroes.mycomport.com/
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 25, 2002 12:43 AM |
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organization
good idea. Now I just put all of my old maps in a folder a made called extra maps, which also has all the heroes maps that I don't play. I also changed the name of the right map to Follow the Arrow 2. Unfortunately, no more maps are being posted anymore, so I'll have to translate the map for Heroes 4.
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Go Red Sox!
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wiggy_wam
Promising
Famous Hero
local pirate
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posted January 25, 2002 12:55 AM |
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LOOOOL
I played Follow thw Arrow ... if I remember correctly, I really enjoyed it.
Then again, I was red. lol
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dragonsister
Hero of Order
MapHaven administrator
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posted January 25, 2002 02:22 AM |
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Quote:
Unfortunately, no more maps are being posted anymore, so I'll have to translate the map for Heroes 4.
Does this apply to Tournament of Honour?
There are more map sites on the web than that one! :-) www.astralwizard.com is still accepting HOMM2 maps, never mind the ten or so new HOMM3 maps that went up just the other day.
DragonSister
http://heroes.mycomport.com/
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 25, 2002 05:09 AM |
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Quote:
In my opinion, it sounds like Necropolis would have a little difficult start, seeing that wights and zombies suck. Perhaps you can give them more critters for them to convert to skeletons to even that out. And as for fortress, if you wish to give them a boost, add a dragon fly hive.
Good point Zombies have a lot of hit points. They're just too slow, so I could add the haste spell to make things better for Necro early in the game. And with fortress, I don't think that it needs any advantages, because just the inexpensiveness of the creatures will enable that player to build up and recruit creatures from another town much easier. This doesn't include all the additional creature structures that scouts really need for land control.
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Go Red Sox!
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 25, 2002 07:10 PM |
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TOH
The map page for TOH is no longer accepting maps.
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Go Red Sox!
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Thunder
Responsible
Famous Hero
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posted January 25, 2002 07:54 PM |
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Best map I have made so far is Arganthia.
It is a XL SoD multiplayer map.
Story isn't good (partly due to grammar errors) but there is some intriguing stories in it and almost every side has own stories and events. Too bad I never finished the story though.
Balance most important thing for me is the layout not the balance, but every town should have good enough chances to win on this map. I have given lots of positive events for computer opponents like grail structures, resources and creatures. There is no negative events for computers albeit players have them.
Layout is the most beautiful I have seen and I am proud of it. I began to made that map by making small portions of it. Like Wraith Valley for instance. First: painting small dirt are near the northwestern corner of the sea. Second: adding dead forest and mountains to surround it. Third: adding cursed grounds. Fourth: adding Wraiths and events.
Tricks and Traps. Hidden paths are always fun. On that map there is few almost unspottable paths. Teleports behind tall town types (like Fortress for instance), can't be seen.
Advice
1. Use that Validate Map button (especially in larger maps).
2. Don't make large portions of the map by using simple terrain obstacles.
3. Balance isn't important in single player maps. Challenge is.
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted January 26, 2002 04:15 AM |
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I have a question about monoliths. On BFH, when you go for your gold mine and accidentally have one hero not have anymore movement points, you cannot send another one of your heroes through the portal. The hero will go up to the entrance, but will never go through it.
Now, if you leave your hero on the other side of an entrance will opponents be able to attack you through the monolith in order to get to places that can only be accessed in this manner. Because a player could play unhonorably, like with first day rushes, and never allow their opponents to get to the crucial places in the game, like utopias, level 4 arties, gold mines, castles.
Couldn't this also be applied to sub-terrainian gates?
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Go Red Sox!
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dragonsister
Hero of Order
MapHaven administrator
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posted January 29, 2002 04:50 AM |
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Quote:
I have a question about monoliths. On BFH, when you go for your gold mine and accidentally have one hero not have anymore movement points, you cannot send another one of your heroes through the portal. The hero will go up to the entrance, but will never go through it.
Now, if you leave your hero on the other side of an entrance will opponents be able to attack you through the monolith in order to get to places that can only be accessed in this manner. Because a player could play unhonorably, like with first day rushes, and never allow their opponents to get to the crucial places in the game, like utopias, level 4 arties, gold mines, castles.
Couldn't this also be applied to sub-terrainian gates?
The situation varies with one-way and two-way monoliths, and subterranean gates are just like two-way monoliths in this respect.
Basically, you cannot lith-block against your enemy. If his hero tries to come out where your hero is standing, his hero will get into a fight with your hero. I don't know whether the attacking hero, if victorious, will end up on the entrance or exit side of a one-way monolith - probably the exit; the game designers took great care to prevent anything being sent back through a one-way monolith. This is why, with one-way monoliths, your heroes do *not* go to the hero trading screen, whereas with two-way monoliths and subterranean gates your heroes *will* be able to trade artifacts and creatures across the lith.
DragonSister
http://heroes.mycomport.com/
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Camelnor
Famous Hero
Also known as Blue Camel
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posted January 30, 2002 04:50 AM |
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LOL
Yes, lith-blocking was an art in heroes 2... i won many a game by doing this tactic.
There were many maps in h2, where there was one monolith to your home area, and that was the only way to get there, so when your main was gone, you would send a scout to the monolith so that no one could attack you .
This was very effective on "Hail Unicorns" hehehehe...
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My Site
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The_Prophet
Adventuring Hero
Protector of Virgin Goats
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posted January 31, 2002 06:41 AM |
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I sure loved lith-blocking, especially since I was a much less experienced player in my HMM2 days. I can't even count the number of times lith-blocking saved my !%!~$@!~
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An army of foes die the same as a single enemy, it's just more fun killing them.
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted February 01, 2002 12:23 AM |
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Follow the Arrow
If anyone wants the CORRECT version of the this map E-mail me at RedSoxFan3333@yahoo.com and I will send you a copy of it.
Edit: I finally resubmitted the map in TOH season 5. But that's all over now so I guess it's a little late. Hopefully we can keep an automated Heroes 3 tourny.
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soccerfeva
Disgraceful
Famous Hero
banned
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posted June 21, 2003 06:56 PM |
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I've made a map..
It's called the War of the Worlds.I would like some advice on how to further improve it.The balance is still not very good but the layout of the map is..not too bad... I think...
Maybe someone can how edit my map-note just edit the balance and give me advice.I'll take it and include yr name in my map-as a Map Editor.
I think the map has got a good future-but one thing i would like to ask is have you ever seen some kind of a map that look like this b4?If so please tell me what map is that.
Who wants the map juse email me at kahyongz@hotmail.com
And who wants to edit it please tell me.
1st come 1st serve LOL!
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2XtremeTotake
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted June 21, 2003 07:05 PM |
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im making a campaign, its based on 20 years after Armageddons blade. Gelu has returned from his solitary confinement, Crag Hack became nothing more than an overwashed drunkard. Catherine resumed her position as queen of erathia, and Dracon is the king of all dragon slayers. The four factions leave peacefully neighboring one another, until a conflux appears. When a conflux appears its usually at a time of great crisis. A large force of Undead and demon forces have moved in underground and Sandro and Xeron arent dead by the way....Now the war begins all over again
I have trouble placing those damn mountians and trees and stuff...its annoying as hell.
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I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted July 01, 2003 04:40 AM |
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btw that map I made, the one I described at the beginning of the thread, is now called Forts Come First, and is downloadable from Myths in the Medium maps section.
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Go Red Sox!
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Kuma
Promising
Supreme Hero
u can type so much text in her
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posted July 07, 2003 08:42 AM |
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More new maps have been added there. check it out.
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People used to call me crazy, but now that I'm rich I am excentric.
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