VÍGVELLIR – make and show your own maps

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Éadric

Knight at Arms
vigvellir.png


You wish to make maps for Víkingr, but don’t know how? You want to show off your beautiful maps, but don’t know where? Look no further, for here you can find instructions on how to make maps and here you can post pictures of maps you are working on or have finished. The best maps will be proclaimed vígvellir (‘battlefields’) and will be added to the map cycle of HRAFNABJÓÐR, the official Víkingr server.

And if you have no talent whatsoever for map making but a good idea nonetheless, do share and maybe someone can realise it for you! Please provide reference pictures if possible.




MAKING A NEW MAP
(for battle and death match mode)​


Setting up the game for map making[list type=decimal]
[*]Go to C:\Program Files\Vikingr\Modules, where you will find a folder called Vikingr; copy that folder and name it Mapping (and keep it in the same \Modules folder).
[*]Double click the Víkingr desktop icon and in the launch window:
a. click Configure, where in the Video tab select Start windowed, and in the Advanced tab select Enable edit mode, and save these configurations;
b. select Mapping instead of Vikingr as your Current Module;
c. launch the game.
[*]Host a multiplayer game in battle or death match mode and pick any existing map that has the size and weather conditions you have in mind for your own map. (If none of the existing maps work out for you, you can find instructions below on how to automatically generate a landscape of your own specifications.)
[*]When you are in-game press Ctrl + E on your keyboard to open the edit window, and you can start reshaping the existing map. You can switch to full screen mode by pressing Alt + Enter on your keyboard, but then you won’t be able to use the edit window.
[/list]
Important note: Make sure that you reverse step 2 above when you are done with your map shaping session and want to play again. The game is slower and more prone to crash when you are playing in edit mode.


Generating a landscape of your own specifications (advanced users)
If none of the existing maps suit you, you can generate one yourself. To do this, open Mount & Blade: Warband native(!) in edit mode. Get yourself on the campaign map and click the Terrain button in the bottom left corner. In the following screen you will be able to generate a landscape of your own specifications (e.g. its size and ruggedness).

Note that:
  • There is a slide bar for Vegetation, which lets you automatically generate trees and large shrubs. Any such automatically generated vegetation cannot be removed later, when you are in edit mode. (Automatically generated vegetation does not include grass, which has a button of its own.) A hard-coded tree can be frustrating when it’s right where you want to build a stronghold for instance.
  • Best keep the polygon size to 5 meters, at least if you are generating a large map. Slower computers won’t be able to handle small polygon sizes.
Once you’re satisified with the landscape you’ve generated, click the Copy button to save the so-called terrain code which you can see at the top of the window (it looks something like this: 0x00000000300005000003e4eb000056df00000bc000000f0b). Paste this code in a text file and save it for later use. You can generate several such landscapes if you want, as long as you copy and paste their codes each time. Exit the game and make sure you disable edit mode again before you use the game for normal play.

Go to your Mapping folder and open scenes.txt. Find the entry to a well known battle or death match map and replace its terrain code with the one you’ve obtained in your map generator. Go to Mapping\SceneObj and delete the file of that same map. After that, set up the game like at the start of this tutorial, and load the map of which you’ve changed the terrain code.


Shaping the landscape and placing objects
Most of this is pretty straight forward and easily learned. Play around with the edit window a bit to get to know its workings before you start shaping the map you have in mind. It is best though, if you know this right away:
  • If you click the Help button in the edit window you will get a list of all the commands available to you, like how to move objects around. Here is a copy of that list:
    Common Keys
    Left Mouse Button: While pressed, mouse movements rotate the camera.
    H: Hides/unhides the highlights and user interface objects (Good for taking a screenshot).
    CTRL + Any movement key: Speeds up the camera movements, slows down the object movements.

    Edit Objects Mode
    Right Mouse Button: Selects objects.
    CTRL + Right Mouse Button: Selects multiple objects.
    Double Click on Scene Objects list: Selects the clicked object and moves the camera towards it.
    A,S,D,W: Moves the camera.
    C,E: Increases/decreases the height of the camera.
    G: While pressed, mouse movements move the selected object(s) parallel to the ground.
    T: While pressed, mouse movements increase/decrease the height of the selected object(s).
    X,Y,Z: While pressed, mouse movements rotate the selected object(s) with respect to the object's X, Y and Z axis.
    U: While pressed, mouse movements rotate the selected object(s) with respect to the "Up" axis of the world.
    R: Resets the selected object's rotation.
    B: Scale selected object.
    B + X: Scale selected object along X axis.
    B + Y: Scale selected object along Y axis.
    B + Z: Scale selected object along Z axis.
    Alt + B: Resets the selected object's scale.
    Delete: Deletes selected object(s).
    Space: Enables add object mode.

    Add Object Mode
    Right Mouse Button: Adds current object to scene.
    Space: Disables add object mode.
    T, U, X, Y, Z, R and B can also be used in this mode.

    Ground Elevate and Ground Paint Mode
    Right Mouse Button: Elevates the ground up or down in "Ground Elevate" mode and paints the ground in "Ground Paint" mode.
    Middle Mouse Button: Clears the elevation in "Ground Elevate" mode and clears the paints in "Ground Paint" mode.

    Edit AI Mesh Mode
    Right Mouse Button: Selects AI mesh objects.
    CTRL + Right Mouse Button: Selects multiple AI mesh objects.
    1: Activates Vertex Editing Mode
    2: Activates Edge Editing Mode
    3: Activates Face Editing Mode
    G, T, X, Y, Z, B and Delete can also be used in this mode.

    Additional Help
    You can save your changes only when you leave the edit mode.
    You can not undo your works, you can only discard changes while leaving the edit mode. So you should save your work occasionally by leaving the edit mode and re-entering it.
    Scene files are located under [Current Module]\SceneObj folder. When you save your changes, the related scene file under this folder will be updated.
    Create AI Mesh button works only on outdoor scenes.
  • Saving your progress is done by pressing Ctrl + E (i.e. toggling the edit window) and clicking “Yes, save”. Make sure you save your progress frequently!
  • Grass and small shrubs are automatically generated wherever the standard ground texture is in place. If you want to revert to this standard ground texture, for instance if you want to ‘erase’ a path you’ve painted, use the middle mouse button whilst in Ground Texture Paint mode. But note that the automatically generated grass and small shrubs won’t return until you’ve reloaded your map.
  • Similarly, if you change the elevation of the landscape, any automatically generated grass and small shrubs won’t snap to the new ground level until you’ve reloaded your map.
  • You can get a river or any body of water by changing the elevation below zero, saving your progres, and reloading the map. Water will appear!
  • Go easy on the vegetation. The more trees you plant, the lower the frame rate will be for many players. A dense forest is of course awesome, but unfortunately the game can’t process it very well.
  • The outer terrain, i.e. the map beyond the borders of the map you can edit, cannot be changed in-game. To change it, go to your Mapping folder, and open scenes.txt. Find the entry for the map you’re working on (e.g. scroll to scn_taiga if you’re reshaping Taiga); a few lines under it you will find something like outer_terrain_plain_hills. To see what you can replace it with, take a look at what outer terrains are used for other maps.


Deciding where players spawn
In the edit window, switch to the Edit Objects mode and in the lower half of the window, select Entry Points (see image 1 below). If you are making a battle map, place two entry points: one for each fighting side. Set the Entry no. of the first one to 0, and that of the second one to 32. If you are making a death match map, place 64 entry points, set from 0 to 63, scattered around your map. Make sure to test the entry points by spawning yourself.

entrypoints.png
Image 1: Entry Points


Submitting your map
When you’ve saved and finished your map, exit the game and go to C:\Program Files\Vikingr\Modules\Mapping\SceneObj. There you will find the file of the map that you have just reshaped. If you are not sure which file it is, have the files arranged by date modified; yours will be the one most recently modified. It is this file you can send to Víkingr developer Moeckerkalfie. But do post some screenshots first, please.



Good luck!
 
Éadríc said:
(for battle and death match mode)

Deathmatch?
The gamemode is Deathmatch sometimes?


Éadríc said:
Edit AI Mesh Mode
Right Mouse Button: Selects AI mesh objects.
CTRL + Right Mouse Button: Selects multiple AI mesh objects.
1: Activates Vertex Editing Mode
2: Activates Edge Editing Mode
3: Activates Face Editing Mode
G, T, X, Y, Z, B and Delete can also be used in this mode.

I have to make AI Mesh. D:
I haven´t done it before.


Éadríc said:
Deciding where players spawn
In the edit window, switch to the Edit Objects mode and in the lower half of the window, select Entry Points (see image 1 below). If you are making a battle map, place two entry points: one for each fighting side. Set the Entry no. of the first one to 0, and that of the second one to 32. If you are making a death match map, place 64 entry points, set from 0 to 63, scattered around your map. Make sure to test the entry points by spawning yourself.

You could add the MotF-Spawns 67 to 69 to your List.
 
Eyecatcher said:
Éadríc said:
Edit AI Mesh Mode
Right Mouse Button: Selects AI mesh objects.
CTRL + Right Mouse Button: Selects multiple AI mesh objects.
1: Activates Vertex Editing Mode
2: Activates Edge Editing Mode
3: Activates Face Editing Mode
G, T, X, Y, Z, B and Delete can also be used in this mode.

I have to make AI Mesh. D:
I haven´t done it before.

The AI mesh is not necessary for multiplayer, many maps don't have it. Maps without AI mesh will have bots running into sceneprops and/or water though.
 
Éalá all. I'm Ealdgýð Wudurúne Fyrninga, and this is my map. I haven't a name as of yet as I'm still thinking of one. I have attached pictures below. This map has a deep river that goes straight through the middle with three crossing spread out across it, to prevent aggravating bottle necks and one sided constant victory. Cavalry can still be utilized on this map but also there are a good few advantage points to be exploited. Instead of me ranting about it on here and showing you pictures it's probably better played, so I will try my best to get this in the next patch. I see this being a very good and enjoyable map when there a good few on and playing, but also enjoyable when there aren't so many.



mb6p.jpg

mb5xc.jpg

mb4uc.jpg

mb3iq.jpg

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Splendid! Many thanks, my fellow Fyrning, for kicking off this series. It looks nice and compact and I look forward to playing it!
 
I support this thread. We need many more maps to keep things from going stale, so the more people who get into map making, the better. Those who do not feel up to the task can perhaps contribute ideas for the mappers out there.

Ealdgyð, that's beautiful!
 
Éala Éalde!

Your maethelstéde looks really good, I'm looking forward till the day we fight together on it and our hláhford leads us into victory!
 
This is a map I made last December. It's basically a siege map disguised as a battle map. One side spawns inside the main house, the other side spawns on the hill directly opposite it (the first screenshot shows their starting view). Obviously the defending side has an advantage, so I could still 'remove' the front doors (i.e. have them permanently open).

At any rate, I spent quite some time furnishing the main house and I think the whole thing approaches a lived-in feeling well enough. Outside the paths needs some work to make them look more 'natural' and I might add some bushes too. What do you think?

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More screenshots below, behind the spoiler tag.

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The problem with shrubs in Warband/Víkingr: they are often barely noticable from a distance. And so they eat up resources without adding much. But I will try to add some.



Anyway, here's another map I whipped up today. It's not meant to be spectacular looking. The church has a door, but it can be opened by both sides so this can't be used as a siege.

mb1nq.jpg


More screenshots below, behind the spoiler tag.

mb2dy.jpg

mb3vy.jpg

mb4bq.jpg

mb5a.jpg
 
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