Matrix Games Forums

With the finalized beta version you have a new directory in the game called maps.

Here all created (or custom) maps for generated battles can be kept.

To pick a pre-designed custom map for a generated battle, this is the procedure:

1. Go to battle

2. Click on custom map.

3. Click continue

4. A list of maps will appear. Now it won't appear until you have some maps with a text file for them, just like a scenario.

So maps in this directory will have three files just like a scenario. You have a pzmap**.dat (map itself), pzmap**.cmt (title of map) and pzmap**.txt (a descriptive text file telling about the map).

What does this mean? It means you can now have human designed maps for any generated battles you want to play.

Be sure and try it out when 3.0 becomes avilable. It works well.

And to help you get started, we intend to include some 30 generic maps and about 50 historical ones! Now that is a nice supply of maps.

No more weird maps from the AI. Now you will have some first quality battlegrounds.

This is going to make generated battles a lot more fun on well done maps, even historical maps if you so choose. Quite a revolutionary change. My congratulations to Tom Proudfoot and David Heath for pulling this off!

Wild Bill


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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

[This message has been edited by Wild Bill (edited August 19, 2000).]

Can custom maps be used in generated and long campaigns????? Plz........

a mighty ROAR of youuuuuuuu good things you goes up here , top effort guys i salute you. just when you think it can't get any better than your already excellent efforts you come up with this.

YESSS!!! This is something great what I (and many SP-players) have only dreamed of years!
Thank you for Matrix's staff making it finally true!

Sami

Originally posted by Wild Bill:
With the finalized beta version you have a new directory in the game called maps.

Here all created (or custom) maps for generated battles can be kept.

To pick a pre-designed custom map for a generated battle, this is the procedure:

1. Go to battle

2. Click on custom map.

3. Click continue

4. A list of maps will appear. Now it won't appear until you have some maps with a text file for them, just like a scenario.

So maps in this directory will have three files just like a scenario. You have a pzmap**.dat (map itself), pzmap**.cmt (title of map) and pzmap**.txt (a descriptive text file telling about the map).

What does this mean? It means you can now have human designed maps for any generated battles you want to play.

Be sure and try it out when 3.0 becomes avilable. It works well.

And to help you get started, we intend to include some 30 generic maps and about 50 historical ones! Now that is a nice supply of maps.

No more weird maps from the AI. Now you will have some first quality battlegrounds.

This is going to make generated battles a lot more fun on well done maps, even historical maps if you so choose. Quite a revolutionary change. My congratulations to Tom Proudfoot and David Heath for pulling this off!

Wild Bill

[This message has been edited by sami heimola (edited August 20, 2000).]

Yeah...bring it on!!!!

TO sum up all that is coming in version 3 and to state my opinion of Matrix in general...WOW!!!!

What more need be said?

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Cavalry Trooper (8th US) and Grandson of a Leibstandarte Tanker.

You make me so very happy

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Good hunting,
Pack Rat

Sounds terrific !

Okay, sounds fun, but...

My opinion is that it would have been better to improve the random map generator to use the new terrain types and to generate more realistic maps.

It would't be much more interesting to use the old x times used maps in a campaign. At least for me, one of the main reasons for playing a campaign is that every time the map is such that I haven't played on it. The computer generated random maps do look pretty dull, so it would be nice to see them improved.


Some other ideas (maybe not in the next version but later?):
- In winter there could be ice on water, which could carry lighter vehicles and be broken with artillery fire
- A bridge type for the trail(like few logs over a stream) - could carry only men and horses, etc. A neat detail in jungle.
- Weight limits for the bridge types (That wooden bridge doesn't look strong enough to carry a Mouse or even a Tiger)

Just a small improvements. Generally I don't have anything to complain, which you wouldn't been fixing now. The game is great already.

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Pave

Very nice suggestions, Pave.

I wish we could get them all. Some are fairly simple, others would require many days of recoding.

Hard to say what will and what won't make it from my vantage point. I hope it all does, of course...Wild Bill

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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

Very good point, Pave. On the other hand, it could be boring to play with same "old" maps long time (if only known amount of maps are available). But can player choose between "already pre-made maps" and "AI's generated maps"? And can "pre-made maps" be available in Campaign Generator and Battle Generator or only in Battle Generator?

BTW, I'm agree about your ideas anyway.

Sami

Originally posted by Pave:
Okay, sounds fun, but...

My opinion is that it would have been better to improve the random map generator to use the new terrain types and to generate more realistic maps.

It would't be much more interesting to use the old x times used maps in a campaign. At least for me, one of the main reasons for playing a campaign is that every time the map is such that I haven't played on it. The computer generated random maps do look pretty dull, so it would be nice to see them improved.


Some other ideas (maybe not in the next version but later?):
- In winter there could be ice on water, which could carry lighter vehicles and be broken with artillery fire
- A bridge type for the trail(like few logs over a stream) - could carry only men and horses, etc. A neat detail in jungle.
- Weight limits for the bridge types (That wooden bridge doesn't look strong enough to carry a Mouse or even a Tiger)

Just a small improvements. Generally I don't have anything to complain, which you wouldn't been fixing now. The game is great already.

--
Pave

The problem with the random map generator is that it is random. You would have to make the computer a lot smarter then it is to have it produce nice maps. Its the same problem you run into with the AI, to get it to were it would be that good you would need a super computer just to run it.

I think they did the best they could by offering players the chance to use custom maps that people made.

Very perceptive of you, my friend. Exactly. We chose an alternate for the moment that unfortunately does not give you the scope of maps in generated campaigns, but we did the best we could.

I always prefer human maps to computer generated ones anyway...if they are well done, of course.

Give me some more like the ones you've been doing and there will be a lot of happy gamers!

You guys oughta see Drake's Omaha Beach map. Wow!

Wild Bill

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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

Originally posted by Skotty:
Can custom maps be used in generated and long campaigns????? Plz........

Not to be a stick in the mud, but can anyone answer this question?

Great work fellas

Skotty

Originally posted by Wild Bill:
With the finalized beta version...
Wild Bill

Bill, does that line imply that V3.0 is almost ready ?

No later than Sept 23'd is the last thing i've heard..

Answers: Skotty - no
Antonius - yes

Wild Bill

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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games

Originally posted by Skotty:
Can custom maps be used in generated and long campaigns????? Plz........

Well yes and no Scotty, no, they are not without some tinkering, but if you are into some filename changing, and editor using, yes, I do it all the time with my campaigns!! You have to save the campaign after you deploy, or just before, change the name of the savexxx.dat, to a scenxxx.dat, and put it in the scen. folder. Open that scenario in the editor, and pick whatever map you want, tinker with the vic. hexes, start lines, then save the scenario. Change the name of the file back to savxxx.dat, and put back in the save folder, open in the game, and , Voila!! Have fun,


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Mike Amos
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

Thanks for the reply WB and mucho thanks to Warhorse for the workaround.

Perhaps a routine in the Campain game to randomly choose one of the pre made maps would work. The more pre made maps the more variations in the maps used in the Campain games.