Introduction
So you're tired of playing the stock scenarios in Point of Attack
2 (POA2) and you want to design your own eh? Well one of the first
things you need to know how to do is use the Aid de Camp 2 (ADC2)
map editing utility to create a new map. Aid de Camp 2 is the only
way to make maps for POA2, as the system has no map editor of its
own. For the purpose of this tutorial we'll assume that you've
already done your research and know what you want your map to
be. If this is your first attempt at using ADC2, I strongly suggest
you create a test map using this tutorial as a guide, as there is a
fair chance that you will mess up your first attempt.
The first thing that you to understand is that POA2 (and ADC2)
can display two different types of maps: topographic, and hex-based.
The maps that shipped with the game are topographic-based maps and
only use hex symbols for the extreme close in view (zoom 3).
For zoom 1 and 2 they use a large .bmp image. Hex-based maps use terrain symbols for all three zoom levels and do
not use any topographic images at all. The process for creating
maps using these two types of maps is similar, but there are some
significant differences in the techniques used. This tutorial deals with creating
hex-based
maps only.
Getting Started
Before we can start you will need a few things. First, you will
need a copy of the ADC2 program. This does not ship as part of POA2,
so you will have to purchase it separately from HPS if you have not
already done so. Got it? Okay good. The POA2 engine uses a set of
map "symbols" to display the map. The symbol sets that come with
POA2 only work at the close in zoom level (zoom 3) because a topographic
image (a .bmp file) is used for the the other two zoom levels. There
are three zoom levels total, and each uses it's own graphics or
"symbol set." So if the symbol sets that come with the game will
only work for zoom 3, how are we going to create a hex-based map?
That's a good question and I have a good answer! I created a custom
symbol set just for this purpose. You can download the "alternate
symbol set" from the
POA2 section on the HPS website. Go forth and download!
Got it? Okay good. Once you have the symbols installed as per the
instructions that came with it we're ready to start.
Setting Things Up
Go ahead and fire up the Aid de Camp 2 map editor. Select
Create New Mapboard. You will need to do two things on this
screen. First, you need to tell ADC2 which symbol set we are going
to be using, so click on Select Symbol Set and browse to the
folder where we put the alternate symbol set. Next, we need to tell
ADC2 how big we want the map to be. Use the little arrow keys to
enter the correct number of rows and columns for your map. For this
tutorial we will use 30x30. This yields up a map that will have 900
hexes total. Click OK.
It's important to point out that maps made with this symbol set
will not be compatible with the original symbol sets. When your map
is finished and you share it with other POA2 players, they will need
to have the alternate symbol set installed before they can play your
scenario. That's not a problem as it's available as a free download
from HPS, just be sure to inform them of this in the scenario notes.
At this point you should see a screen that looks as if there
isn't anything on it. That's because we haven't told ADC2 what we
want it to display yet. Go into Preferences - Toggle Map
items Drawn, then one by one select all the items in this list.
Right now they are all turned off and we want to be able to see them
all.
In both ADC2 and POA2 terrain is made up of "layers" of
different terrain symbols. These layers consist of Primary
Terrain, Secondary Terrain, Attributes, and Place Names.
With the exception of place names, there is no difference between
the other types. They are assigned in the order in which we place
them on the map. Confused? I thought so, but this is actually quite
simple. Let's get started and you'll quickly get the hang of it.
To make things a bit easier, the first thing we're going to do is
turn on the hex grid. To do that we need to let ADC2 know which map
symbol to use as a "hex." Click on Preferences, then click on
Select Map/Board Overlay Symbol. You should see a small
pop-up box appear. This displays all the available symbols we'll be
working with in the map creation process. There are over 3,000 of
them! It will take you a little while to learn what order they are
in and what they are used for, but after a while you'll get the hang of
it. For now, surf down just a little until you'll see a symbol named
Hex. This is the one we want, although you can choose Hex Alt
or Hex Alt1 if if you like those better. Click OK.
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Be sure to keep the
Randomize selection box unselected for now. |
Your map should now be displayed with a hex grid
on it. Pretty ugly right? So let's go ahead and assign some
primary terrain. This is going to be a fairly simple map, so
let's make the whole map elevation 5 to start with. To do this,
click Map Board Symbols - Fill Map Board Symbol.
When the symbol box appears, surf to Elevation 5 and
click OK. Nothing happened right? Now click anywhere on
the map and select Keep Changes. Now we're getting
somewhere! Your map should look like the example below.
Elevations
Take a look at the little display area at the
bottom of the ADC2 interface. You'll notice as you move the
mouse around that it displays all the information for a
particular hex. This will come in handy once our map starts
getting a little busier. There are several ways in which to add
elevations to the map, I'm going to show you the particular
method I use. You can do this differently if you wish. So let's
add a hill. Go to Map Board Symbol and select Place
Primary Map Board Symbol. Select Elevation 6. Now paint the
outline of the hill you wish to create. Make sure that you
either make a complete circle, or that the ends touch the edges
of the map. You'll see why in a minute. My map now looks
something like this:
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Notice that I ran
the new elevation to the edges of the map. |
Now click on Map Board Symbol - Fill
Primary Map Board Symbol. Select Elevation 6 and click OK.
Now click anywhere inside the area we just created. The entire
area inside the area we defined should be filled with the new
terrain. That's why you have to completely enclose an area or
make it touch the edges. If you leave a gap it will fill the
entire map, and we don't want that. Repeat this same procedure
several times in whatever pattern you like using different
elevations. Here is what I came up with.
Okay, now we have defined the Primary Terrain
for the entire map, but we still need to assign the actual
elevation. You see all we just did was assign elevation symbols,
the game still thinks the map is flat as you can see in the
display at the bottom. For a simple map this process isn't bad,
but for very large, complex maps--it can be quite time
consuming. Click on Elevations - Set/Modify Hex Elevation. Enter
100 (this is in meters). We'll use this as the height for Elevation 5. Now,
everywhere that you see the elevation 5 symbol displayed on
the map, click on that hex to assign it an actual elevation of
100 meters. See you in a little while!
Finished? Okay good. Time consuming isn't it? You
can choose to do your whole map this way, or you can use a
little built-in utility to speed up the process. Let's do
Elevation 6 next. We'll use 120 meters for this elevation. This
time, only define the outlines of the elevation, much the same
way we assigned the actual terrain symbols. Once you've done
this, click on Elevations - Fill Map Board Elevations, then
click inside the area you want filled. Nice right? The entire
area was just filled with the new elevation. Repeat this same
procedure for all the other elevations using increments of 20
meters. Be careful not to leave any gaps using this method or
you'll risk inadvertently filling the entire map with the new
elevation.
Now that you've completed the entire map there is
one more thing I need to show you about elevations. You can also
choose to have the engine assign a terrain symbol based on the
elevation you input. To do this click on Tools -
Auto-Place Symbols for Elevations. You will see a screen
that pops up that allows you to select which terrain symbols you
want to use. Double click on Elevation 1 through Elevation 11.
Make sure you click on them in order. They should appear one by
one on the right-hand side of the screen. At the bottom select
Make Symbols Primary Terrain. Click Update Map Now.
ADC2 will now assign terrain symbols based on the elevation
data you entered and the symbols you told it to use. Play around
with this some more until you get the hand of what it's doing.
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Click for a larger
image. |
Congratulations! You've just created a simple map
and assigned all the elevation data. In our next step we'll learn
how to place terrain on the map.
Continue to
Step 2. |
