Needing help with map creation for 3vX games!

General Discussion
1

Hey guys, im new to map creation and want to learn everything i can so i can possibly create my own scenarios and i was doing a test run to learn it all but im failing to get the enemy computers to do anything but sit there or just mine minerals i cant get them to do anything else!! any help would be greatly appreciated thank you in advance!

2

Hi! Best way to learn for me was to open similar maps and have a look at the triggers and locations, although I have never made maps.

Here’s a post with places where you can download maps from:

Beware, some maps are locked and you can’t open them in editors like SCMDraft2. Although, even if they are locked, some can be open in Chkdraft editor. I can’t recall if it opens them in edit or read only mode.

SCMDraft2:
http://www.stormcoast-fortress.net/cntt/software/scmdraft/download/

Chkdraft:
http://www.staredit.net/topic/15514/0/

https://github.com/TheNitesWhoSay/Chkdraft/tree/master/Releases

There’s a new editor called ChkForge, but I’m not sure what it can do, as you would need to build the .exe yourself based on the code over here:
https://github.com/heinermann/ChkForge

You could get help on staredit.net regarding map making. They also have a discord server.

You’re welcome!

3

Hey, Paragon. When trying to get a computer player to use a Location AI script in ScmDraft2 properly, there’s a few things to try to be sure of:

  1. The intended computer player needs to be set to “Computer” in the “Properties” Window(This can be found through clicking the “Scenario” tab and scrolling down to “Map Properties”)

  2. The computer player needs to be set to the same race as the units that you want them to control(You can check which race a player is set to through “Map Properties”).

  3. It’s usually best if the computer player has both their main base’s mining structure and their “Start Location” inside the “Location Box” that’s intended to be used to execute their script.
    A. The “Start Location” is the unit shaped like a circular target(You can only have one of these per player).
    B. The “Location Box” is the blue transparent square that can be created through the “Location Layer”(This is accessed by “Edit”>>“Layer”>>“Locations” or by pressing “Ctrl+L” on your keyboard. Once you are in the “Location Layer” you can click and drag your mouse on the map to create a “Location Box” of any size).

  4. A trigger must be created and have the “Run AI Script at Location” action used. This action must have both the intended “Location Box” and “AI Script” selected to get it running the way you want to. It is best that the computer player and the “AI Script” are the same race as each other. (Note: “Area Town Scripts” are usually used for expansions/mining bases while “Easy/Medium/Difficult/Insane/Custom Scripts” are usually used for both mining AND attacking[although only one of these should be used per computer player]).

  5. When in the game lobby of StarCraft, the game type should be set to “Use Map Settings” mode.

Edit: This might be a little late, but there is a few more things you can also try if the above mentioned doesn’t work.

  1. It is sometimes best that the computer player is given a good amount of starting resources to work it’s way up through the tech tree more efficiently(6000 minerals & gas is the recommended amount).

  2. It is sometimes best that the computer player’s resource layout has a good supply of minerals and gas to mine from.

  3. It is sometimes best that the computer player is in a different “Force” than the human player in order for the script to run properly(you can check this by clicking on the “Scenario” tab and scrolling down to “Forces”).

As ege4 said, it is possible to learn how to do this through opening pre-existing maps. However, if you are still having trouble figuring this out, you can also access the “Help Manual” located in the original StarEdit Map editor as it could probably explain how to do this better than I can(amongst other things). I’ll leave the link to it’s download tread at the in of this post in case you want to read it.

Let me know if you still need help with this.

Edit: Found a FAQ page on the old battle.net website as well in case you need further help.

http://classic.battle.net/scc/faq/staredit.shtml

2 Likes