Setting Up Mapedit For Custom-maps

[DaiShiva]

the file mapedit.dat is a text file that tells the program which maps exist at what locations on your harddrive, and what images to load in what order. If you want to keep your custom made maps separated from the original maps, then this guide is for you =)

 

I dont suggest using the paths editor, i think its a LOT easier to manually edit the mapedit.dat file. Its possible to do with the paths editor, but people have reported problems using it to manage large numbers (10+) of files at once.

 

first you need to set up a new group. Use the following template for your custom maps:

Tileset:Custom maps
    type:1
    rootPath:c:\mapDirectory\
    rmpPath:c:\rmpDirectory\
    blankPath:c:\blankDirectory\	
    palette:ufo
    files:A Subgroup

    end
    files:Another Subgroup

    end	
end

things of note:

rootpath,rmpPath,blankPath can be the same directory, but they need to have the trailing backslash ( \ ) in order to work

 

palette can either be ufo or tftd, more on this later

 

This simple addition to the mapedit.dat file achieves this effect:

http://www.daishiva.com/images/edit1.gif

 

now we need to add maps.

between the files: ... end tags, put the name of the file of the .map file

ie, if in the directory c:\mapDirectory\ i have a file named MYMAP.MAP the line would be

 

     files:A Subgroup
         mymap:       
    end

 

There should also be a MYMAP.RMP file in the c:\rmpDirectory\. If you do not have a .blk file in the c:\blankDirectory\, that is not a problem.

 

now it looks like:

http://www.daishiva.com/images/edit2.gif

 

lastly, you need to specify the images that go with the map. The images you can use are defined in the images.dat file.

 

if there are lines in images.dat that say:

img1:c:\imagePath\
img2:c:\imagePath\

 

then your mapedit file will say:

     files:A Subgroup
         mymap:img1 img2
    end

 

the palette defined on the palette:ufo line will be the one used to color the images. All images will use the same palette. If you specify the wrong palette, you get some pretty interesting looking maps =)

 

so, our final, custom edit to the mapedit file looks like this:

Tileset:Custom maps
    type:1
    rootPath:c:\mapDirectory\
    rmpPath:c:\rmpDirectory\
    blankPath:c:\blankDirectory\	
    palette:ufo
    files:A Subgroup
         mymap:img1 img2
    end
    files:Another Subgroup

    end	
end

 

note that this only organizes maps for the map editor, the easiest way to get the maps into the game, is to rename them so they overwrite the original maps used by the game (make sure the map sizes match).

 

More information can be found in the online help file

Edited January 7, 2004 by DaiShiva