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- Jul 26, 2008
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Gotta get back to my own map. I added more on to this, and I'll pick up this tutorial over the coming days and complete it. I'll probably create another tutorial with just the file size fixing since so many people seem like they could use it. Dunno HOW many times I've heard: "It'd be GREAT if it just wasn't for that file size."
This tutorail will detail how to make a map for multiplayer utiizing as many resources and tools to your advantage. By the time you are done you will have a map that runs smoothly and has plenty of custom eye-candy. Not only that, you will have basic knowledge of modeling and skinning.
The purpose of this tutorial is ultimately to help the novice map maker build up a stunning map like he was a pro. One that will be asthetically appealing and run smoothly, with low load times and the use of many custom aspects.
Let's begin the tutorial.
It comes standard with WC3 and is quiet restricting. Boo.
You need programs with firepower, umpf. PitzerMike and Vexorian have the tools you need! But, I'll tell you what I use.
A bundle pack provided by PitzerMike. I discovered it while browsing through JESP spells down at WC3Campaigns.
It comes with tools that allow you to import and export mass files and data files, so you never need to remake a map from scratch. As well it uses special Jass functions through vJass. I haven't used vJass yet, but it has some uses that would allow you to manipulate the map to do things you didn't think were possible. The tool also takes down some of the World Editor's restrictions. Overall, it's just a great tool to have, boosting Grimoire, JassHelper, Grim Extension, PJass, TESH, and UMSWE.
Get it, and never look back. You will have to download a backwards patch the puts the world editor at an earlier version though, and optionally, but recommended, WC3 - TFT. They're not too hard to find, and I don't remember where I got mine.
Al always, you'll need a good source of various resources. The Hive Workshop has a ton of those, and is one of the best places to browse. But if you want stunning quality, WC3Campaigns has some really high standards to get your resources approved.
Never limit yourself to just one website. Keep your eyes open. Find what people say about other WC3 resource websites. Honestly these are the biggest two I've found.
A good help and tutorial place though is also TheHelper.net. A lot of info on WC3 finds it's way there.
This is very, very important. You'll have quiet a few tools when this is all over. These tools will take up little space on your computer, and allow you to customize and rearrange your map how you like it, while making it load, run, and play faster and better. Three of the greatest Toolmakers are PitzerMike, Vexorian, and Oinerwinkle.
Warning Note:
Battlenet does not allow maps 4.0 MB and above. It will give you a message that the map file size is too large when you try to host it. That means you've got some limitations to work with!
Now lets take a deep breath, cause we're about to get started. There's a certain order to things. If you import all your models and skins at once, you'll find you have little room for your custom spells and even your triggers. Then you'll have to go back through and make room, which will throw off your planning and side track you!
Try your best to focus on one thing at a time, starting with the ENTIRE map itself. What systems will you need, how much room will you be using, what filze size will you be at before you begin importing your models? Believe it or not, those triggers, and anything in the object editor takes up a lot of space.
I'm sure all of SotDRPs triggers boost it to 2mb before the models push it to 3.9mb. That's half the maps size!
Be wary of this.
Next, focus your attention on the necessary units and heros you'll be adding. Start with one unit at a time. Now, lets start.
Terms worth Knowing:
Texture - The art that covers a model.
Model - The 2D shapes that form into a 2D or 3D form, which textures wrap around.
Particle Emitter - Placed on a model which creates special effects, such as burning fire, bubbling water, falling leaves, etc. Particle emitters are always moving.
This next section is a list of modelers and skinners who are good at what they do. So good, that they're worth checking out. You'll have at least one credited in your map.
Modelers & Skinners worth knowing:
Celestea - Excellent modeler and skinner, though many of her models and skins are not available for DL.
General Frank - Heavy contributor to the modeling community.
jigrael - Amazing all around modeler and skinner.
Mc ! - Modeler and skinner
Jetfanginferno - Highly versed in Special Effects
b17rider
Norinrad - Tons of Dwarf models
Wijonardo - Great skinner
Afroknight_76
WILL THE ALMIGHTY - Futuristic SFX
Black Stan - Excellent oriental models and skins, though he's retired from WC3 now. You may have to go out of your way for his models, but they're worth it.
Mr.Goblin - Excellent skinner
AnemicRoyalty - Great skinner and modeler.
<More will be added>
For me this was one of the funnest parts. Seeing all the beautiful crations by submitters and formulating ideas. Grab all the resources you like, no matter what the file size. We can easily reduce the file size down using my instructions. You'll want to split these models into several catagories.
The first two catagories is checked models and unchecked models. Checked models have been looked through by you, have the desired animations you want in magos, have had any undesired animations removed, and have been converted down from a large file size to a smaller file size using the techniques I'll explain. The other two catagories are Skins and Models. Skins are downloaded from the Skins section, Models from the Model section. All skins that came with the model are to stay with that model.
Important Note: You'll download a lot of textures and models. It's a pet peeve of mine, but some people will completely and totally fail to provide a text document with their models or skins explaining who to credit, paths for importing the model, and additional notes. As much as you may want to just not give them credit, please try. Do a search through your resource sites to find the name of the model. Better yet, save yourself time and create a new notepad file if the resource doesn't come with one, and input the information yourself.
Here's the part that almost EVERYONE will want to and SHOULD read. You'll have a ton of models with different file sizes. Quiet daunting! If you try to use a 700kb model in your map, you'll be able to fit maybe four in there before your map is too big for battlenet. Not worth it.
Lets first take a look at what causes excessive file size from easiest to deal with to hardest.
Note: I assume, throughout this guide, that you stop and take the time to read the instructions on every tool you download and use it properly. I will not provide the instructions in this tutorial.
Tutorials:
Skinners:
Textures, when compressed to only 90%, can go all the way up to 500+kb. Owch! The model will look really really pretty, but it'll be near impossible to use on battlenet.
So, lets start by shrinking the texture. First you'll need a program for that!
Go to the Hiveworkshop Tools section and download the BLP Palleter and a BLP Converter. Though I recommend one that has a BMP function like Yogbul's File Converter. Sorry, not sure what site I got it from. Likely WC3campaigns. Also I suggest getting a GUI with the palleter, which is linked to in the Palleter description (Try out BLPPaletterGUI.exe).
Now, turn the .blp into a .bmp or .tga. This next step is important. Check the dimensions. If it's at 512x512 then open it, and resize it to 256x256. If it's just a texture of a helm, boots, or head, and nothing else, consider dropping it to 128x128 (Some people like to use the cinematic skins). This is most common with models that have 3+ textures.
Next, jump down to the model part of this tutorial to see if you can simply use in game textures.
Now when you're done, revert it back to a .blp using the paletter, only this time with ##% compression. I typically go all the way down to 20, because lower than 20 you only knock off a little bit of kb with a durastic loss of quality. But keep in mind that you should be consistent with this number. A 20% compression will be very noticable against a 100% compression.
Viola, you've likely dropped the file size of a texture from 500kb to 40kb with only a slight loss of quality.
Tutorials:
Modellers:
Models are the next part that can be modified to suite you and lowered file size wise. This one, you'll need Yogbul's file converter, but if need be this tool by Guessed should suffice. As well as Magos Model Editor and a few of OinkerWinkle's tools. Currently I'm just using his Animation Transfer and his Anim Remover. The Remover you'll need to google up, as it's not with his complete package but is definently necessary.
Now, you have your tools, so lets begin. Open magos and start with your first resource you want to check. Open up the .mdl or .mdx file and look through it's animations. Make sure they're sufficient for your needs and make note of what you don't need.
Next, convert the .mdx to .mdl by saving it as ModelName.mdl <--The .mdl part is important to add.
If the animations are not to your liking, or you want a certain animation, attempt to transfer some animations from other models with the animations you like. But ALWAYS back up the original. If the animation is wonky, or it doesn't transfer correctly, you'll want that original on hand. If it does transfer properly, good! Careful, a full transfer of all animations removes every single animation from that model, then places the transfered animations into the model.
Now lets start getting rid of those animations we don't want. Open up the animation remover, and remove each animation you don't want. This will free up differing space, depending on the complexity of the animation removed. I usually get rid of victory animations, channel animations, swim and defend, third and fourth stand animations and third and forth attack animations, as well as portrait 2-4 and talk 2-4 animations on portraits. It's all up to you.
You'll typically cut a .mdx down from 200kb to 140kb when you remove about 3 animations. However some models are just far more complex than others, so you may only be able to get them down to 220kb. Almost all .mdxs will drop to 250kb at least, with the exception of morphs.
Next, lets check out the model's textures. In the advanced info on Hiveworkshop's model's page where you download the model from, you can find out what textures replace actual wc3 textures. You can usually remove these and just use the normal WC3 Textures, since those provided textures are merely fancy additions.
If you find a skin that has an in game counterpart, consider using that counterpart instead. Especially if it's just armor. This can save you an average of 20kb space.
Now to do that, open up the .mdl with notepad, ctrl+f, and find Textures. Now open up magos or War3Viewer if you have it, and search the appropriate .mpq for the in game texture. Copy the path name to the appropriate texture path counterpart and save.
Note: If you opened folders to get to it, write it like this: FirstFolderYouOpened\SecondFolderYouOpened\ThirdFolderYouOpened\Etc.\NameofTheTexture.blp
Now reopen the model and make sure the style is acceptable to you. If it is, good! You can also use this technique to replace textures with other textures.
Once all the editing is done, you'll want to squish that model using MDL Squisher. Unfortunately I don't have a link for you at the time, but it's easy to find, as Guessd made it.
You just need to squish the mdl once. Do it for the portait and the model, then open up the squished versions with Magos to make sure there was no conflict.
Good, now the file is ready for your use and perfectly suited for you needs! You can turn a 700kb download into a 150kb download using this.
Even better, anyone can do this with or without experience. You'll probably even learn a thing or two about WE, modeling, and texturing! However if you're just wanting to stay with map making, I'd say learn what bit of modeling you can first, then move into texturing if you need to. Getting the models to do what you want is far more important than making a skin look good.
Tutorials:
Spellmakers:
Implementing Jass spells isn't easy for beginners.
Even for JESP Spells You have to have to know a little bit jass and be very familiar with where everything is in the WE. JESP Spells are created under a standard which makes them easy to import and even easier to modify to your liking. If you're just learning the World Editor, I suggest sticking to JESP spells.
However there's a myriad of skills out there that you can use, and several tools that'll allow you to make your own spells. Perhaps the greatest spellmaking contributor is Vexorian, who has quiet a few systems and even spell making templates. Vexorian is also the one who created the JESP standard. If you are really into custom spells, and you should be when you're map making, then check out Vexorian at WC3Campaigns.
Also it's important to note that there's unit skills which can translate into great hero skills, so keep that in mind if you're just starting out. Sometimes Jass spells can take up a lot of room in your triggers.
The one thing I wish I would have known when implementing JESP spells is that the map icon at the top of the trigger editor is actually a trigger as well. Also that there's a button with a yellow X in it that stores udg variables. As long as you know that, JESP spells are importable for you.
When you start making your map, this is probably the first thing you'll want to do. Import the spells you need before your object editor becomes full.
Tutorials:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/f279/basics-trigger-enhancing-spells-7334
Your map can't be a non-melee map without these. Hell, it couldn't even be a melee map without these. But believe it or not, the triggers can count for a lot of file space. Trigger Enhanced Spells take up much more space and load time than WE native abilities. Consider this when considering the map's file size.
World Editor skills can do a whole lot more than you'd guess. Just browsing the Unit and Item skills can give you some great abilities.
Never be shy to make your own abilities. Try out the Trigger Editor, and if you're up to it, attempt to use JASS. I don't suggest starting all on your own, though. Take a look at other people's skills they've made, and try to pick up on what they do. Then, modify it and use it to your advantage. Always remember to give credit though! and never take anyone's work.
Same goes with any other trigger you're doing. It's helpful to look at what everything does in the trigger, and try to figure it out. That way you can modify it further. Just remember to always back up your work!
There's a ton of systems available for your use, already created from helpful Triggerers. Item Combining, Save/Load, Backpack, and much more. These are quiet useful, and may require different WE tools to use. However, they're invaluable to have.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tell me what you think so far. I believe this model will help a TON of people, and maybe net me some +rep.
The Efficient Multiplayer Map Making Guide
Introduction
This tutorail will detail how to make a map for multiplayer utiizing as many resources and tools to your advantage. By the time you are done you will have a map that runs smoothly and has plenty of custom eye-candy. Not only that, you will have basic knowledge of modeling and skinning.
The purpose of this tutorial is ultimately to help the novice map maker build up a stunning map like he was a pro. One that will be asthetically appealing and run smoothly, with low load times and the use of many custom aspects.
Let's begin the tutorial.
The World Editor
It comes standard with WC3 and is quiet restricting. Boo.
You need programs with firepower, umpf. PitzerMike and Vexorian have the tools you need! But, I'll tell you what I use.A bundle pack provided by PitzerMike. I discovered it while browsing through JESP spells down at WC3Campaigns.
It comes with tools that allow you to import and export mass files and data files, so you never need to remake a map from scratch. As well it uses special Jass functions through vJass. I haven't used vJass yet, but it has some uses that would allow you to manipulate the map to do things you didn't think were possible. The tool also takes down some of the World Editor's restrictions. Overall, it's just a great tool to have, boosting Grimoire, JassHelper, Grim Extension, PJass, TESH, and UMSWE.
Get it, and never look back. You will have to download a backwards patch the puts the world editor at an earlier version though, and optionally, but recommended, WC3 - TFT. They're not too hard to find, and I don't remember where I got mine.
A Resource Pool
Al always, you'll need a good source of various resources. The Hive Workshop has a ton of those, and is one of the best places to browse. But if you want stunning quality, WC3Campaigns has some really high standards to get your resources approved.
Never limit yourself to just one website. Keep your eyes open. Find what people say about other WC3 resource websites. Honestly these are the biggest two I've found.
A good help and tutorial place though is also TheHelper.net. A lot of info on WC3 finds it's way there.
A Handful of Tools
This is very, very important. You'll have quiet a few tools when this is all over. These tools will take up little space on your computer, and allow you to customize and rearrange your map how you like it, while making it load, run, and play faster and better. Three of the greatest Toolmakers are PitzerMike, Vexorian, and Oinerwinkle.
Getting Started
Warning Note:
Battlenet does not allow maps 4.0 MB and above. It will give you a message that the map file size is too large when you try to host it. That means you've got some limitations to work with!
Now lets take a deep breath, cause we're about to get started. There's a certain order to things. If you import all your models and skins at once, you'll find you have little room for your custom spells and even your triggers. Then you'll have to go back through and make room, which will throw off your planning and side track you!
Try your best to focus on one thing at a time, starting with the ENTIRE map itself. What systems will you need, how much room will you be using, what filze size will you be at before you begin importing your models? Believe it or not, those triggers, and anything in the object editor takes up a lot of space.
I'm sure all of SotDRPs triggers boost it to 2mb before the models push it to 3.9mb. That's half the maps size!
Be wary of this.
Next, focus your attention on the necessary units and heros you'll be adding. Start with one unit at a time. Now, lets start.
Gather your resources
Terms worth Knowing:
Texture - The art that covers a model.
Model - The 2D shapes that form into a 2D or 3D form, which textures wrap around.
Particle Emitter - Placed on a model which creates special effects, such as burning fire, bubbling water, falling leaves, etc. Particle emitters are always moving.
This next section is a list of modelers and skinners who are good at what they do. So good, that they're worth checking out. You'll have at least one credited in your map.
Modelers & Skinners worth knowing:
Celestea - Excellent modeler and skinner, though many of her models and skins are not available for DL.
General Frank - Heavy contributor to the modeling community.
jigrael - Amazing all around modeler and skinner.
Mc ! - Modeler and skinner
Jetfanginferno - Highly versed in Special Effects
b17rider
Norinrad - Tons of Dwarf models
Wijonardo - Great skinner
Afroknight_76
WILL THE ALMIGHTY - Futuristic SFX
Black Stan - Excellent oriental models and skins, though he's retired from WC3 now. You may have to go out of your way for his models, but they're worth it.
Mr.Goblin - Excellent skinner
AnemicRoyalty - Great skinner and modeler.
<More will be added>
For me this was one of the funnest parts. Seeing all the beautiful crations by submitters and formulating ideas. Grab all the resources you like, no matter what the file size. We can easily reduce the file size down using my instructions. You'll want to split these models into several catagories.
The first two catagories is checked models and unchecked models. Checked models have been looked through by you, have the desired animations you want in magos, have had any undesired animations removed, and have been converted down from a large file size to a smaller file size using the techniques I'll explain. The other two catagories are Skins and Models. Skins are downloaded from the Skins section, Models from the Model section. All skins that came with the model are to stay with that model.
Important Note: You'll download a lot of textures and models. It's a pet peeve of mine, but some people will completely and totally fail to provide a text document with their models or skins explaining who to credit, paths for importing the model, and additional notes. As much as you may want to just not give them credit, please try. Do a search through your resource sites to find the name of the model. Better yet, save yourself time and create a new notepad file if the resource doesn't come with one, and input the information yourself.
Start checking your resources
Here's the part that almost EVERYONE will want to and SHOULD read. You'll have a ton of models with different file sizes. Quiet daunting! If you try to use a 700kb model in your map, you'll be able to fit maybe four in there before your map is too big for battlenet. Not worth it.
Lets first take a look at what causes excessive file size from easiest to deal with to hardest.
Note: I assume, throughout this guide, that you stop and take the time to read the instructions on every tool you download and use it properly. I will not provide the instructions in this tutorial.
Textures
Tutorials:
Skinners:
Textures, when compressed to only 90%, can go all the way up to 500+kb. Owch! The model will look really really pretty, but it'll be near impossible to use on battlenet.
So, lets start by shrinking the texture. First you'll need a program for that!
Go to the Hiveworkshop Tools section and download the BLP Palleter and a BLP Converter. Though I recommend one that has a BMP function like Yogbul's File Converter. Sorry, not sure what site I got it from. Likely WC3campaigns. Also I suggest getting a GUI with the palleter, which is linked to in the Palleter description (Try out BLPPaletterGUI.exe).
Now, turn the .blp into a .bmp or .tga. This next step is important. Check the dimensions. If it's at 512x512 then open it, and resize it to 256x256. If it's just a texture of a helm, boots, or head, and nothing else, consider dropping it to 128x128 (Some people like to use the cinematic skins). This is most common with models that have 3+ textures.
Next, jump down to the model part of this tutorial to see if you can simply use in game textures.
Now when you're done, revert it back to a .blp using the paletter, only this time with ##% compression. I typically go all the way down to 20, because lower than 20 you only knock off a little bit of kb with a durastic loss of quality. But keep in mind that you should be consistent with this number. A 20% compression will be very noticable against a 100% compression.
Viola, you've likely dropped the file size of a texture from 500kb to 40kb with only a slight loss of quality.
Models
Tutorials:
Modellers:
Models are the next part that can be modified to suite you and lowered file size wise. This one, you'll need Yogbul's file converter, but if need be this tool by Guessed should suffice. As well as Magos Model Editor and a few of OinkerWinkle's tools. Currently I'm just using his Animation Transfer and his Anim Remover. The Remover you'll need to google up, as it's not with his complete package but is definently necessary.
Now, you have your tools, so lets begin. Open magos and start with your first resource you want to check. Open up the .mdl or .mdx file and look through it's animations. Make sure they're sufficient for your needs and make note of what you don't need.
Next, convert the .mdx to .mdl by saving it as ModelName.mdl <--The .mdl part is important to add.
If the animations are not to your liking, or you want a certain animation, attempt to transfer some animations from other models with the animations you like. But ALWAYS back up the original. If the animation is wonky, or it doesn't transfer correctly, you'll want that original on hand. If it does transfer properly, good! Careful, a full transfer of all animations removes every single animation from that model, then places the transfered animations into the model.
Now lets start getting rid of those animations we don't want. Open up the animation remover, and remove each animation you don't want. This will free up differing space, depending on the complexity of the animation removed. I usually get rid of victory animations, channel animations, swim and defend, third and fourth stand animations and third and forth attack animations, as well as portrait 2-4 and talk 2-4 animations on portraits. It's all up to you.
You'll typically cut a .mdx down from 200kb to 140kb when you remove about 3 animations. However some models are just far more complex than others, so you may only be able to get them down to 220kb. Almost all .mdxs will drop to 250kb at least, with the exception of morphs.
Next, lets check out the model's textures. In the advanced info on Hiveworkshop's model's page where you download the model from, you can find out what textures replace actual wc3 textures. You can usually remove these and just use the normal WC3 Textures, since those provided textures are merely fancy additions.
If you find a skin that has an in game counterpart, consider using that counterpart instead. Especially if it's just armor. This can save you an average of 20kb space.
Now to do that, open up the .mdl with notepad, ctrl+f, and find Textures. Now open up magos or War3Viewer if you have it, and search the appropriate .mpq for the in game texture. Copy the path name to the appropriate texture path counterpart and save.
Note: If you opened folders to get to it, write it like this: FirstFolderYouOpened\SecondFolderYouOpened\ThirdFolderYouOpened\Etc.\NameofTheTexture.blp
Now reopen the model and make sure the style is acceptable to you. If it is, good! You can also use this technique to replace textures with other textures.
Once all the editing is done, you'll want to squish that model using MDL Squisher. Unfortunately I don't have a link for you at the time, but it's easy to find, as Guessd made it.
You just need to squish the mdl once. Do it for the portait and the model, then open up the squished versions with Magos to make sure there was no conflict.
Good, now the file is ready for your use and perfectly suited for you needs! You can turn a 700kb download into a 150kb download using this.
Even better, anyone can do this with or without experience. You'll probably even learn a thing or two about WE, modeling, and texturing! However if you're just wanting to stay with map making, I'd say learn what bit of modeling you can first, then move into texturing if you need to. Getting the models to do what you want is far more important than making a skin look good.
Spells
Tutorials:
Spellmakers:
Implementing Jass spells isn't easy for beginners.
Even for JESP Spells You have to have to know a little bit jass and be very familiar with where everything is in the WE. JESP Spells are created under a standard which makes them easy to import and even easier to modify to your liking. If you're just learning the World Editor, I suggest sticking to JESP spells.
However there's a myriad of skills out there that you can use, and several tools that'll allow you to make your own spells. Perhaps the greatest spellmaking contributor is Vexorian, who has quiet a few systems and even spell making templates. Vexorian is also the one who created the JESP standard. If you are really into custom spells, and you should be when you're map making, then check out Vexorian at WC3Campaigns.
Also it's important to note that there's unit skills which can translate into great hero skills, so keep that in mind if you're just starting out. Sometimes Jass spells can take up a lot of room in your triggers.
The one thing I wish I would have known when implementing JESP spells is that the map icon at the top of the trigger editor is actually a trigger as well. Also that there's a button with a yellow X in it that stores udg variables. As long as you know that, JESP spells are importable for you.
When you start making your map, this is probably the first thing you'll want to do. Import the spells you need before your object editor becomes full.
Triggers
Tutorials:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/f279/basics-trigger-enhancing-spells-7334
Your map can't be a non-melee map without these. Hell, it couldn't even be a melee map without these. But believe it or not, the triggers can count for a lot of file space. Trigger Enhanced Spells take up much more space and load time than WE native abilities. Consider this when considering the map's file size.
World Editor skills can do a whole lot more than you'd guess. Just browsing the Unit and Item skills can give you some great abilities.
Never be shy to make your own abilities. Try out the Trigger Editor, and if you're up to it, attempt to use JASS. I don't suggest starting all on your own, though. Take a look at other people's skills they've made, and try to pick up on what they do. Then, modify it and use it to your advantage. Always remember to give credit though! and never take anyone's work.
Same goes with any other trigger you're doing. It's helpful to look at what everything does in the trigger, and try to figure it out. That way you can modify it further. Just remember to always back up your work!
There's a ton of systems available for your use, already created from helpful Triggerers. Item Combining, Save/Load, Backpack, and much more. These are quiet useful, and may require different WE tools to use. However, they're invaluable to have.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tell me what you think so far. I believe this model will help a TON of people, and maybe net me some +rep.
Last edited:
