Hi guys i was just wondering if there is any way to make custom terrains. I see many different ones when playing but very few when actually trying to plan out a new map. Is there any way i can create my own for use with the med editor?
Joined: Wed Oct 11 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 635
If you have the right tool for it you can....I don't know which tool most Mod'rs use to make terrains. But you'll have to consider this....IF you make a custom terrain for your map...You will have to provide that terrain to ALL the players who want to play your map...Otherwise they won't be able to play it...
One drawback to that is that most of the site's who run a dedicated server, won't be hosting your map. Simply because, in turn, THEY would be responsible for providing YOUR custom build terrain.
So it's no problem if your making a single player map, but any other type of map is almost out of the question.
Joined: Wed Oct 11 2006 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 635
Not exactly...like I said..you can use them for single player maps...
The IC4 terrains originaly came with the International Conflict MOD... Or maybe at some point you downloaded a terrainpack containing them...
If a MOD team releases a new MOD (like recently with the IC Europe MOD) they supply you with a bunch of new stuff. Thats why they call it a MOD (short for modification). All this stuff is packed inside the PFF file...That's why you can't see them in the install directory...
Joined: Fri Dec 19 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 4651
In respect to what ACE said and having dedicated servers ourselves we would not host any map with a custom terrain outside a mod, it means having to upload the map and a terrain file to the server and its a 100% certainty that even having the terrain file up for download on the site not everyone will get it and so we just end up annoying people when they get kicked.
The creation of terrains isn't that hard. I have made a few custom terrains myself and it didn't even take that long to learn. If you want to make a new height map as well you will need the modding tools. If you just want to remake a terrain with the existing height maps all you need is notepad.
A terrain is made of up to 4 height maps of 512x512 meters and (optional) a 5th ocean floor tile. That is also why on the JO:TR Island maps there are so many of the same islands in each map: they can't have more then 4 island tiles. You can freely place those 4 tiles (and the ocean floor) in a grid however, you can use the same tile multiple times in any order. So by editing the existing terrain files you can move the islands around the map or add/remove islands.
But as said above, this is useless for multiplayer maps. If you want to be able to use custom terrains, either make singleplayer maps and include the terrains in the download or get involved in mod development. I'm not sure, but I think having additional terrains in your folder won't get you punted by punkbuster, since you don't modify any existing files. However, never modify an existing terrain file and then play in a public server!
So if you like terrain creation, don't stop doing it just because you can't use it in multiplayer games. If you have good terrains, there will always be some modding team that is willing to include it. It might take months before people are be able to play the map you made for that terrain, but maybe some day you can enjoy your own terrain and the map you made for it in novaworld.