How do I load/use a custom map?

[dandavis]

Sorry for the relatively dumb question, but I'd really like to tweak and then use one of the maps that came with the game. Specifically:

1) I want to limit the number of starting provinces available to increase my chances of beginning in a comfortable location (I prefer playing from corners, as we all do, right?).

2) I want to limit the number of neighbors that provinces have - mostly to limit the AI's tendency to "jump" oceans and invade some of my coastal provinces. (Note that I am not referring to the seafaring races here, but the land-based ones). I want to be able to establish choke-points on the map - provinces that you can fortify with the expectation that a land-based AI can only approach you from that direction.

On the Urgaia map in particular, I don't consider this cheating. You all probably know the province that should be a proper choke-point - the long, horizontal province that connects the larger Western continent to the Eastern continent. I don't feel that a land-based AI should be able to avoid that province and cross the middle sea to invade my coastal provinces. Rather, I'd like to grab the entire Eastern continent and relax behind a nice fortified city... but thusfar, I've been unable to achieve that on the map editor.

Anyway, I'm not totally unfamiliar with the map editor -- I've certainly played around with it -- but so far, I've found it clumsy and I don't know when I'm playing on my tweaked map or not. if someone could give me some very basic but detailed instructions on how to adjust a map in the manner that I've suggested, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

[Edi]

You need to do as follows: Load the map file in the editor, then assign borders as you see fit and check the nostart checkbox on those provinces you want to disqualify as start locations. Save map file under different name. Then open new map file and the original in text editor, and copy everything except Province Names/Terrain section from old file to the new, then save new file.

You're done. The map editor is the only practical way of reassigning neighbors and terrain without it being a huge hassle.

Edi

[dandavis]

Could you elaborate a little bit on the "open the map file in the text editor and load it" bit?

When I did this before, I succeeded in getting a "A map with 59 provinces" to show up in the available map list, but never with a specific name or any other information.

Another question:

I've also reduced the number of available starting provinces to 1 on a map before -- but it has still located me anywhere. In your experience (anyone kind enough to reply) have you been able to guarantee yourself a starting location on a given map using the map editor?

[Cainehill]

Originally posted by dandavis:
1) I want to limit the number of starting provinces available to increase my chances of beginning in a comfortable location (I prefer playing from corners, as we all do, right?).

IMO, the easiest / best way to handle starting provinces is to use the "#nostart XX" entry in the .map file, where 'XX' is the province number. (Dom2 uses 2 files for every map that's played - one is a '.tga' file, a targa bitmap image. The other is has a ".map" extension, and is a text file containing a lot of lines of entries and commands.)

Using '#nostart' means that you don't have to do bitwise math for terrain flags, and minimizes the chances of it getting screwed up if someone edits terrain types. It also allows you to quickly and easily grep the nostart provinces.

If you only want a very limitted number of provinces available as starting provinces, I'd simply figure out which province numbers you want allowed as starters, and put in "#nostart 1", "#nostart 2", etc, for all the other provinces.

2) I want to limit the number of neighbors that provinces have - mostly to limit the AI's tendency to "jump" oceans and invade some of my coastal provinces. [...]

On the Urgaia map in particular, I don't consider this cheating. You all probably know the province that should be a proper choke-point - the long, horizontal province that connects the larger Western continent to the Eastern continent. I don't feel that a land-based AI should be able to avoid that province and cross the middle sea to invade my coastal provinces.

I've played several games on that map, and I believe you're mistaken. The AI isn't "jumping" over the ocean - that province (# 32) is a perfectly good chokepoint. If the AI is getting past it without conquering the ocean province first, it's either using flying troops, sailing troops (Vanheim and 1 Marignon theme, also some mercenaries), stealthy troops, or summoning them there.

If you look at the province in-game and turn on the neighbors filter (by pressing '8', you'll see which provinces neighbor which ones. #32 is a chokepoint.

[Cainehill]

Originally posted by dandavis:
Could you elaborate a little bit on the "open the map file in the text editor and load it" bit?

When I did this before, I succeeded in getting a "A map with 59 provinces" to show up in the available map list, but never with a specific name or any other information.

Load the map's text ".map" file into a text editor - vi, notepad, wordpad, whatever. To get a decent title in the map list, find the "#dom2title" line in that ".map" file and change it to something more informative. Some map creators (incidentally, it's rather unfortunate that Illwinter chose ".map" as the extension, as it makes it awkward and confusing to discuss the maps with newcomers) haven't always put the best information in there - "A map with 221 provinces" is much less useful than "Cradle of Dominion - 221 provinces".

I've also reduced the number of available starting provinces to 1 on a map before -- but it has still located me anywhere. In your experience (anyone kind enough to reply) have you been able to guarantee yourself a starting location on a given map using the map editor?

If you limit it to 1 starting province, it doesn't have enough for the AI players, therefor, it starts picking them at random.

You could guarantee your starting position by having only 1 province allowable as a start province, and choosing 1 human player, no AIs. This has the added benefit of allowing you to win the game after turn 1.

[dandavis]

Got it... so essentially, if I wanted to play Urgaia with 7 players, the best I could do in terms of setting myself up with a starting province, through only the map editor (not fidgeting with the text file), would be to open 7 starting provinces, leaving myself a 1-in-7 chance of getting the starting province that I want.

I'll try your other suggestions... and thanks.