ToT Creation Question by a MGE Creator ...

[jim panse]

Hi there, I hope some of you ToT wizards could provide some help for me. Having created a number of - more or less - puny MGE scenarios I am thinking of stepping up the ToT train.

Basically that would suit me just fine but I have more than one unanswered question to the principles of scenario creation with ToT.

I will now post the first of the long, long list of my questions

The map could be the same as in MGE?

I am currently building a map and I am wondering if I could possibly use that map also within a ToT scenario?

I hope someone could provide some answer

[Dr Kellogg]

You can use the same map files and with that converter programme *forget the name* you can even use MGE scenarios or save files.

[jim panse]

@ Dr Kellog: Thank you very much for that swift reply!

Next one ...

How is that multiple map set working? Same terrains, same stats or is there more to it?

....Thanks in advance ...

[Dr Kellogg]

There's an terrain.bmp file for each map and an there's an extra entry for each map in the rules.txt as well.
Don't know exactly how it works. *sorry*

*edit* I found this thread in the ToT forum. It might help you.

[techumseh]

Here's a simplified version. When starting your multimap scenario, add the following to the Rules Text, right after the @TERRAIN3 field:

@SECONDARY_MAPS
6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,
;6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,
;6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,

This will create a 2 map scenario. Take away the semicolons on the other two lines and you can add a third and/or a fourth map. You can use either game generated or pre-made maps. The only provisio is that they must all be exactly the same dimensions.

There are 4 @TERRAIN fields which function exactly the same as in MGE, except there is a Yes or a No at the end of each line. Yes means the terrain is impassible.

[jim panse]

@ Dr Kellog: Thanks again

@ techumseh: Those additional maps ... must they be the same or can they be different?

[Boco]

Must be the same dimensions, but can differ otherwise. Note that when you start using multiple maps, CivCity and CivTweak are but fond memories. I'd love to be wrong, but in my hands they can't edit multimap files.

I've just been working with multiple maps lately. It's a great way to introduce reinforcements.
(Shameless example)

(/Shameless example)

In this shot, the dark brown is ocean. All land terrain has an mf cost of 0. Access by land units to the central transporter (the blue dot) can be dictated by ChangeTerrain events. So, a complex stack of reinforcements can then be given access to the main battle map with a single ChangeTerrain instead of multiple CreateUnit actions. In this case the transporter is unidirectional.

I'll bet Catfish has some nasty orc tricks with multiple maps by now.

One thing that caused me trouble. I added maps to my old El Aurens file (single map scenario created from the Original game), edited the rules text, and saved in a new folder. I could deploy units and edit all maps, but I couldn't use the teleporters. When I couldn't figure out anything clever, I started from scratch using the SciFi game and imported the EA maps. Teleporters worked fine. Did I miss something in the text files (@TERRAIN>2, @SECONDARY_MAPS, @UNITS_ADVANCED, @MAP_TRANSPORT_RELATIONSHIPS), or is there a teleport toggle encoded in the sav file?

[jim panse]

So those maps can be different. Excellent.

Each one has its own Rules set I assume ...

Next one: What about the max. number of cities and units? Is this counted for each map or totalled?

[techumseh]

@Boco: Unless you start the game with the the map-transport relations defined already, you can't adjust them just by changing the Rule text. However, you can fix them by using a temporary events file in the same manner as Darth Veda's tip on changing tech availability (Cradle site). Use the Transport event to fix the intermap capabilities of each type of unit.

@JimPanse: each map has it's own @Terrain field. Everything else is shared. Max numbers of cities and units remain the same as in MGE, just spread over 4 maps.

[jim panse]

Am I am bound to using all 4 maps or can I use only - say - 2 maps as well?

OT: Sorry if I am asking all that stuff but I have simply no clue of ToT creation and I am that tempted to do it ...

[N35t0r]

Responding Jim's question:

Originally posted by techumseh
Here's a simplified version. When starting your multimap scenario, add the following to the Rules Text, right after the @TERRAIN3 field:

@SECONDARY_MAPS
6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,
;6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,
;6, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0,

This will create a 2 map scenario. Take away the semicolons on the other two lines and you can add a third and/or a fourth map. You can use either game generated or pre-made maps. The only provisio is that they must all be exactly the same dimensions.

There are 4 @TERRAIN fields which function exactly the same as in MGE, except there is a Yes or a No at the end of each line. Yes means the terrain is impassible.

I guess you can create from one to 4 maps, depending on how many of the secondary ones you make availiable (they are disabled with the semicolons)

[Mercator]

Originally posted by jim panse
So those maps can be different. Excellent.

What use would it be to have 4x the same map? And if you have ToT I would assume you have at least looked at the different games (Extended Original, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Midgard).

Each one has its own Rules set I assume ...

As techumseh said, no. Only the terrain rules and graphics are different, the rest is like MGE (if I didn't foget anything ). Oh, a transporter can only transport to the exact same coordinate on another map. Only with the "starport" city improvement you can transport to a different location (like an airport, except between maps).

And yes, what N35t0r said, 1, 2, 3 or 4 maps, whatever you want. But don't ask me how to do it. (but techumseh is the expert in that area anyway)