Armada II Map Editor FAQ Thread

[Datarock]

Right, after observing alot of the questions asked about maps in Armada 2, i decided to use my time to make an FAQ thread so it saves you posting any of the frequently asked questions. If you think i have missed anything important, PM me and i will get on and add it.

What do i need? - Find the CD drive where your Armada 2 CD is and right click and open it, then open the folders, Setup/Editor and copy and paste the files named ATVI and unsupportedextension_mapedit to the Star Trek Armada 2 root folder, usually:

C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II

How do i resize maps? - Press CTRL + R and type in the desired size of the map you want,

eg 12000 x 12000

Then click ok, then save the map. Then load the map back into the map editor and it will be the desired size.

Whats the biggest size map i can have? - You can make a map any size you wish, but i recommend you dont go over the 100,000 x 100,000 size.

How do i get Ships in the Map Editor? - Ok, this is how i do it, Say im creating a map with 3 teams, i press CTRL + R, create 3 teams, leave the rest empty, so now you should have 4,5,6,7 and 8 Empty.
Put the ships in the Map, double click on them And change the team number and the Percieved Team to 4 and make sure that the ship has no crew. Then when you start the map ingame, you can beam aboard the ships and take control of them.


Or you can use the next tip, which is so much easier.

How do i start the Map Editor in game? - Follow the first step in this FAQ and just press CTRL + A whilst playing the game. This can prove handy if you are testing new ships.

How do i make a shortcut to the Map Editor - Right click on the Armada2.exe

Open the properties and add /edit mapname.bzn to the end of the Target line.

Example: "C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Armada 2.exe" /edit mapname.bzn

I hope this has answered some of your FAQ. Feel free to add to this if you would like to. If none of this helps you, please post a new thread about your problem and not here.

Good luck with your Map Editing.

[Aerilon]

Stuck!

[Datarock]

Are you?

Update:
Tutorials - For those of you new to map editing, these map editor tutorials will come in handy if you dont understand anything that is written above.

Add Ships To Map Editor
Editing Maps
Map Background Tutorial
Map Editor FAQ
Trickster's Map Making Tutorial
Westworlds Big Book Of Modding

I will be copying all of this and putting it into an FAQ and uploading it to A2 Files when i have the time.

As stated above, feel free to add to this.

[FCVPI99]

thank you for posting the files i have been looking for the big book of mods to try to fix a problem with 1 of my many installs if armada 2

[Datarock]

Originally Posted by FCVPI99

thank you for posting the files i have been looking for the big book of mods to try to fix a problem with 1 of my many installs if armada 2

No problem, glad i could help.

Also, you can find all of this information on A2 Files here. It was supposed to go up as an actual tutorial in the tutorial section, but there were some difficulties with the tutorial upload form.

[Datarock]

Update: (No need for merge).

How do i create starting positions? - You will need to create "start locations". To do this, hold down the Alt key and click to drop a point. Double Click on the point to name the point Camera_1, this sets the starting position for the first player.

Then continue this for the subsequent player’s starting positions by increasing the number, i.e. Camera_2 etc. Left click and hold can be used to drag the point around. The number of Camera’s that are appropriately named will determine the number of players, which can play on a given map. Remember that you can only have 8 start positions. Then finally save the map.

You then select your start position and your opponents start position on the game set-up screen.

This question came up in another thread so it was wise to post it in the FAQ thread.

[wildcard621]

How are the small .bmp files created when a map is made? The ones that show the positions of the races in single player so that you can set a race to that camera point?

[086goinfast]

The bmp file is made when you save the map.

[wildcard621]

I thought so, but mine havent been created. Once you go ctrl-s, that should be it then. Thanks, I'll try to find out what is going on then.

[086goinfast]

Im guessing the other two map files are where they should be right?