Map Maker Utility

Well with modding coming in the 1.2 patch, i'm sure we'll see something to this effect. It may be community developed more so than GPG/SD, which is by no mean a bad thing.

1.2 will open many doors i hope.

That levels themselves are made using 3DSM, rather than a tile based system you see in, say, Warcraft III. I believe tools to help people make maps are in the works, however it'll be far from easy to construct due to the way the levels are made.

Dawn of War 2 got a World Builder with the last patch...

Just saying.

Not to be rude, but I don't see how this is at all relevant to the topic at hand?

Not sure if this is all that helpful, but I got a little bit of info out of Kryo awhile ago regarding what we can expect.  Here a link to the thread:  http://forums.demigodthegame.com/359733

My statement/question:

Kryo's response: 

Most likely it means just making the very basic stuff neccesary available. I.e. you'll be doing lots of stuff manually, but it'll be possible at least.

If anyone cares you can edit the maps now but it's a annoying process requiring the knowledge of hex editor and what not. I'm posting this more so a programmer can kind of figure it out. I don't have the skill to write a GUI (Also the damn SDK is coming out in a month) If someone wants to write a GUI to make this easier then go ahead. But with out a copy of Granny you can't do much.

WARNING WARNING BACKUP ANYFILE YOU CHANGE. IN FACT IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT JUST STOP READING. This is  the least user friendly way to do something possible and it's probably better to just say you can't edit the map. This information is more for programmers and people who like code.

This is how to edit Prison

Go to the Demigod/bindata/maps/Map13 Directory (Also known as prison)

Make a copy of the file

MAP13.scmap

This is the contained for the mapping information for prison. You'll need it untouched to play online so be careful and back it up.

Copy the file again and rename the file. 

Map13.raw

Open it in photoshop with the following settings

Width 513

Height 513

Channels Count 1

16 Bit

Header 48-Bit

Keep while saving

And you should see a image of prison. This file defines where demigods can walk. Unfortantly it get's more complicated. While it defines where they can walk and the height of the level it doesn't define the edges of the map. Also photoshop seem to enjoy changing the values slightly when you save... YAY for photoshop so writing your own bitmap editor would be easier.

In the MAP13.scmap there is DDS file that contains the edge detail (Side of the map). So work on your file walk data file and then save the raw file.

Open Map13.scmap in a hex editor and use the find utility to find DDS | and | DDS. Copy everything between those two tags and the tags them selves and save them to a file called Map13.dds. Open the DDS file (http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html) and now you'll have the edges of the map. Modify as necsary and save that files as well.

Then in a hex editor replace the Raw section of the file and the DDS portion of the file. And now the demigods can walk in different places in the map but nothing else has changed (YAY)

To change the placement of object spawning points etc you have to modify the LUA files.

To change the models used in the map export them from granny.

Oh and expect the camera to be far to high or far to low for the playing area. That's usually cause the 16-bit value in the walk plane are slightly different then they should be.

Frogboy also mentioned the possibility that we could submit maps & SD could convert them to Granny for us... I asked for clarification but unfortunately, the man is busy

^ This was also my understanding. i imagine a Demigod library with the SD approved/developed mods that can be used in custom games.

I really hope we can make some new maps & items for the game.

We'll have to find out what scale we must work to though, otherwise the conversion process will get complicated & tedious...

We'll also need to find out what level of detail models require & how we're going to define routing & position items.

Assuming SD gives us the same feedback & input they have so far, we should be able to figure something out

If Demigod can have the same level of customization as GC2 has, then the sky will be the limit.

And that is by no means a bad thing, provided the moderating process of the submitted mods is handled well and no imbalancing mods are allowed.

It will likely have more customization than most games. The problem is that it will all require some higher level knowledge and experience. The good side to that is that mostly only decent map makers will make maps and such.