View source for Cat's Maped Guide

==Egg's 2010 Intro to the wiki version of Cat's Infamous Maped Guide==
This was a great a guide but unfortunately it is very very out of date.  I haven't had time to go through it and correct everything. Here are some of the likely errors to watch out for:

* There is no single monster palette 'o' and you can only place spawners
* no mention of the spawner palette: hit the '''s''' key to cycle spanwers - spawners do not count as a feature
* the feature list is under-represented and probably inaccurate - please refer to [[Features and Triggers]] for the most up to date list of features
* items are incorrect - you can place any item now and it can't be stolen and you don't need hooks as it's auto flagged as furniture - see [[Placing Items]]
* metamapping - no mention of regions - see [[Maped Regions]]


If you are a manual editor and feel like correcting errors then do so!
--[[User:Eggmceye|Eggmceye]] 05:51, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

==Catherine’s Additional Guide to MapEd. (Revised edition!)==

Ok, Egg has released both MapEd and the instructions, but for those of you who find it complicated (myself included) here’s an idiot’s, totally fool-proof guide to making maps in EUO. I don’t promise its totally comprehensive nor useful- its merely what I’ve found that works. A lot of this is already in the documentation- think of this as an addition rather than re-write, thus the title :) It is pitched at the absolute beginner, but might contain a few nifty tricks.

Since this guide was first done, Egg has tweaked, improved and made far more user friendly the MapEd toolset (yea! !*happy campers*!) which is a good thing. Checking spawns, teleports and the like is now far easier with helpful graphical pointers (ranges, linked lines etc). Even so, this guide is still invaluable, or at least pretty useful. Bear in mind, a lot of the old maps were created without such help (and in a lot of cases, before certain features were available) so in the words of Han Solo: ‘Don’t get cocky kid’! :p  Count yourself lucky that the MapEd is getting better all the time! :)

Old readers will want to look over the new features, and look at the new tricks n tips bits, and especially the section discussing In Por. Given that monsters have been revamped & made much harder, it’s probably best to note that large spawns of high-level monsters (dragons etc) are now potential level stoppers. Old maps I’ve done are now un-doable, so bear this in mind.

Included at the end is a handy ‘quick summary’ that can be printed out to save you time :) 

==Overview:==

MapEd lets you create maps. Ok, obvious, but it is also fairly powerful at letting you create a number of interesting features on your maps that aren’t immediately apparent, even given its retro look. The things to remember when creating maps are: fun, aesthetics, logical consistency, playability and fun. Notice how the fun part is mentioned twice! When creating maps for EUO, you’re essentially creating maps for the entire community, (& placing your reputation on the line- if you create a broken map, players might lynch you!) so therefore Egg has to veto them. This guide is meant to allow you (the player) to create ‘wow factor’ maps whilst removing a lot of drudge work, especially for Egg. If you hand in a map that is technically perfect, it allows him to get on with coding (those new spells for instance, hint, hint) rather than repair work, and is more likely to be accepted. An impressed, happy Egg is our goal! (Btw, no he has not sponsored this!)

==The Beginning. ==

If you’ve used the MapEd before, you might want to turn to tricks n tips, although a refresher never hurt anyone ;)

When you load up MapEd, you’ll be faced with an unpromising brown square and a muddled lot of map tiles on your right. We’ll ignore the main view-screen for the moment to take a look at the map tile set. EUO uses a three-tier system to create maps, each overlaid on the other: a single tile can only have one tile/object/feature on it, but it can have all three. (i.e. a map tile, an object and a feature)

Pressing the zoom key, ‘z’, at this point allows you to view the three magnifications of your rather dull square. Pressing the resize key ‘r’ followed by two numbers with a space will allow you to resize the map e.g. r 30 30 will make the map bigger (resizing the map to 30 squares wide and 30 squares high).

For the moment, we won’t jump into creating, but will examine the engine that allows you to do so. Understanding the engine is probably the most helpful thing in letting you get the maps you want- everyone has lots of imagination, they just need the tools! :)


==The Map Tile Set. [press ‘m’]==

Looking at it, it seems self-explanatory. However, as you’re going to be spending a lot of time here, it’s best to explain it. There are three types of tile, each with different properties. These are Floor, Blockers and Hazards. If you look at the bottom right when clicking on any of them, a brief description is given

Floors are split into grass, scrub, earth, sand and man-made surfaces. Floors allow players & creatures to walk on them (hey, I did say this was an idiots guide!) but more importantly give the aesthetic feel to a dungeon. The basic grass and earth squares are rather dull, but there are a number of tiles that have interesting additions (plants, small rocks, bones) that can spruce your map up. Floors are also tiles like the river crossing and bridges that allow passage over barriers. (Floors can be also be used to give visual hints in maps, but we’ll leave that ‘till later.) Doors count as floors, but are opaque, thus blocking line of sight between players and monsters, unless windowed. Likewise, secret doors function in the same manner. Anvils and chairs are also floors. 

Floor specials: endless darkness. Endless darkness is a floor, so allows passage, but acts as a permanent ‘drk’ feature- creatures can be hidden by it, and player vision will always be 1 inside. 

Blockers are tiles that block the player from going through them, and are split into opaque (those that block line of sight) and non-opaque. For instance, mountains block the player and prevent her from seeing further; rivers block the player but allow sight. An important thing to note is that this difference also allows passage of objects i.e. missiles/magic. It is a useful thing to remember that creatures can make full use of this property e.g. goblin archers will be able to pelt the player over a river or through a window. Lastly, there are blockers pretending to be something else- impassable forest and barriers (which we will discuss later). Personally, I find the impassable forest annoying (and don’t use forest in maps anyhow-prefer trees) but it is a valid way of blocking without recourse to more substantial looking tiles. Rocks (on earth and grass) are blockers, the tile with the small round stone on earth is not.

Opaque blockers: mountains, impassable forest, walls.
Non-opaque blockers: all ‘items’ on the map level (barrels, signs etc barring the anvil), stone guardians, columns, windows, normal forest. The chasm tile is a blocker.

Hazards are tiles that interact with the player in an ‘unfortunately’ harmful way. These are swamp and lava. Both are also floors, but contain intrinsic properties that always affect the player. Swamp gives a percentage chance to be poisoned (lethal for new players) whilst lava damages the player each second (positively, absolutely, will send you to the morgue unless you’re stocked up/can cast Vas Mani). When placing these tiles, think long and hard about forcing players to go over them: it is perfectly valid to do so, but a 20 square lava passage will kill almost all players, barring the godly. It’s no fun to simply be killed without chance of escape, but we will return to this.  


Important: the water tiles in the continent are navigable by raft. This is never true for any other map (dungeon or towne) so when creating your maps realise that water will prevent an impassable barrier to everything but In Por. 


When using all of these, bear in mind two important things: in EUO, players can move diagonally, so can step between blocking tiles if corners aren’t connected- embarrassing if this leads into the void between your designed map. I’ve done this, (*blush*) and all walls need to be checked to make sure this doesn’t happen. The middle zoom (z) view is handy for quickly checking this. This is also a valid way of creating hard-to-see passages. Secondly, as each tile is a square, it is difficult (but not impossible) to give an organic feel to a map- peoples’ perception of shapes is incredibly good, and breaking up the blockiness is the first step toward a good map. However, we’ll return to this later.


==The Monster and Item screens.==

There’s still that brown square, but we’ll continue to ignore it, to look at the monster and item screens. These two screens are the second layer, and sit on top of the map tiles you have created. Valid ones also occlude the map tile they sit on.

==The Monster screen [press ‘o’]==

This is a list of all of the monsters in the game. Again, clicking on any of them gives a description in the bottom right corner. This is handy, as several utilise the same sprite. More importantly, each has an unique hex code which labels it for the engine. This is the only useful thing about this screen. NEVER (apart from one case, see later) use this screen to place monsters. The reason for this is that it places a single, non-returning monster on your map. Which means the first treasure seeker will slay it, and it will never return, thus making the map useless. This screen is handy for reference only, in relation to spawners (see later). You’ll find yourself memorising a lot of these hex numbers when you use the MapEd a lot. 


==The Item screen [press ‘i’ ]==

This screen contains all the item sprites available in the game. However, like the monster screen, it should not be used to place items on the map, (unless you’re creating display cases, see later)  barring the following:

Clock – 103	Brazier – 10e	Fountain – 111   Campfire – 121 Waterfall- 12e

All of these items are fine to place on the map, as they act as blockers and cannot be picked up: everything else can be, so don’t place it! It will only go walk-a-bout the very first time it is encountered. Note that these overlay on the map tiles, so from the larger zoom views you won’t be able to see them- they are still there though. All other items should be left alone, unless you are creating display cabinets, something we will discuss later.

Barrels and chests here are a difficult one- although it theoretically allows ‘searchable’ barrels and chests, in practise it is impossible to make sure the item hidden underneath to reappear. So I’d advise not using them (Egg has hinted that he is looking into this- best wait for new functions to be put in). 

editor’s note: If you want to place a barrel, use the barrel that is a map tile, that is, select the barrel from the m menu. Chests are better off spawned (read on). –egg

==The Feature Screen [press ‘f’]==

You’ll be spending a lot of time here, second only to the map screen, so it’s best to know how to use it. Features are placed on the map on the top layer, and are invisible to players- only their effects can be felt. Left click to place, left click again to edit them. You will need to edit each one (barring a couple) in order to use them. Like making sure corners are in place, it is essential to make sure each feature is correct. If you don’t check, and they are broken, this breaks the map. Which is a very bad thing, and results in the DM’s having to fix it. Features, more than anything else, can break maps. Golden rule- Proper use of features is the key to making maps interesting, surprising and fun :) 

Each feature has a number of properties, usually value, item, dest x, dest y, text. Each feature uses these differently, so unless stated, just press return to leave that field blank. Features that have to be edited are labelled ‘E’. It is best to note that some features are persistent- i.e. they effect any player stepping onto the square, every time. The player who steps on and off a trap because you’ve designed it incorrectly might feel a little put out. Persistent features are labelled ‘P’.

At important thing to note about features (thanks to OsanJiri for bringing these ones up) is that they are only triggered when a player physically steps on them. If the player teleports onto them (be it by In Por or the tel feature) they are not triggered. Bear this in mind when creating puzzles etc. Likewise, tel or trd features that dump players on impassable terrain (water, mountains etc) will break the map for the player, as they will be unable to move!

Once you’ve created features, you can quickly test most of them by hovering the cursor over them: the details will appear in the bottom left corner. Here is the list, in the order it appears on the features screen.


===Lvl	Level Change (E)===

Egg has said in the forums that this is used to change levels, most usefully between continents and dungeons. However, this has to be used in conjunction with another function, the start position. Best left alone, as Egg will probably determine where your map is on the continent rather than you and as you’re (hopefully) designing self-contained maps, you won’t need to use this.

Editor’s note: lvl will link your map to another map, but where on that map you are linked to is determined by the server. lxy (below) links to another map, but specify where the player starts (the x & the y.)

You don’t always have to use this with the start position feature: you can safely use lvl to link map A to map B only if there is only one ladder between A & B. If there are two ladders between A & B, then you must use lxy – egg.

===Sgn	Sign (E)===

In the Map tileset there is a graphic for a sign. However, without this feature, if a player looks at it, all it will say is ‘you see a sign’. Hardly great decoration- leave all fields blank (press return) until you get to text and then type away. Note that certain key strokes aren’t recognised. Notably the ‘_’ one as it is used to link the text. When checking signs, do not worry about the ‘_’ linking all your words- this won’t appear in-game. It is hard to check the entirety of a message afterwards, so get the spelling correct the first time. A little effort here stops everyone thinking you’re dyslexic (another mistake I’ve made).

Signs are a good way of presenting back-ground/depth to a map without forcing the player to experience it- the lazy hack n slashers will breeze past, the thoughtful ones won’t. C’est la Vie. Signs can also be used to give clues/riddles etc. Bear in mind it is probably necessary (although not essential, it won’t break anything) to tie this to the sign map tile, as players will not look at thin air! This can be useful to create ‘hidden’ puzzles: for instance, in a map I created, a sign (with the sign tile) points the player to look in a certain direction, at a certain co-ordinate. If they do so, they will read a hidden hint inscribed on a tree. So, it can be used other than signs, but make sure you get it right! 

Also, it is probably best to keep signs game related to promote believability- leave signs such as ‘Made by Alpha’ or ‘Wut a kool map, ey!’ to the forums ;) (like all rules, I have broken this, but only once) 

===Msg	Message (E, P)=== 

Much like the sign, this triggers a message to the player that steps on it. Leave blank until the text field. Unlike the sign, this is message displayed to the stepping player every time that tile square is stepped on. Therefore, it is best (and yes, I’ve broken this too) to make it short, e.g. relate general environmental effects. E.g. when a player goes down a tunnel to lava, a message saying ‘It’s getting hotter’ would work. A message longer than 20 words apparently doesn’t work too well, and simply spams the player. If every time a player enters your map and she is hit by your own personal chapter of War & Peace, you won’t be popular. 

===Drk	Darkness (P)===

This extinguishes any illumination the player has going, from torches to Vas Lor spells, limiting visibility to a one square radius centred on the player. Like the message feature, this happens every time the square is stepped on. Very useful for creating suspense and combining with ranged attack creatures (they can see in the dark). Totally useless in maps where the default visibility has been put to 1 (see further down in the map properties section). 

===Spw	Spawn (!E!)===

Spawners are the absolute central facet to any EUO map, and should be treated with respect and always double-checked. I’ve done a couple of bad spawners, and the effects are immediately obvious- either they fail to work, or destroy balance. If you get them wrong, you can create havoc and/or certain death, and worse, totally lag the server. Plus the server DM’s have to sort them. However, they are also totally necessary, so its best to get them sorted yourself.

Spawners work differently from other features, in that they have different fields. These are: type, code/class, rate, max, area. Spawners are used to place monsters (see earlier) and chests on the map so thus providing your fellow players with stuff to splat/loot. The procedure for using them is as follows:

Type: this is either set to 0, 1 or 2. 

0 is used to place a specific class of creature (i.e. all the same type), 1 is used to set a family of creatures (see later) and 2 is used to set a chest. Chest placement has special rules, but we’ll leave that till last. 

Code/Class: this sets either the type of monster to spawn, the family of creatures to spawn, or the quality of the chest (percent chances of more gold etc). 

When using the ‘0’ in the type field, refer to the monster (‘o’) screen to get the hex number of the particular monster you wish to spawn, and enter it here. E.g. If you want to spawn Daemons, put 219 in here- if you wanted Fel Orcs, 2a0. These are hex numbers, so all 0 are 0’s, not o’s.  Make sure you get it correct, or you’ll get the wrong creature (or worse, it won’t work- I’ve done this before).

If you have used ‘1’ in the type field, then you are telling the engine to spawn from a family of creatures- a random assortment of types all vaguely related. The (current) list of families is:

1	Large humanoids (Ogres, trolls, Ettins etc)
2	Pests (rats, bats, slimes, gnomes etc)
3	Goblinoids (goblins, orcs, fel orcs)
4	Minor Undead (skeletons, zombies, ghosts etc)
5	Major Undead (phantoms, skeleton warriors, liches etc)
6	Minotaurs (all types)
6	Dragons (all types)
8	Infernal Creatures (Imps, Daemons, Balrons)
      a-  Animals (cows- don’t kill these in-game, btw ;) )
c-  Evil Humans (thieves, thugs, pirates etc)
      d-  Sea creatures (nixies, serpents, seahorses etc)

Note that although using the ‘1’ family option allows you to create a large amount of diversity, it is totally random. For example, using ‘8’ could easily result in a Balron turning up, thus unbalancing your map. I generally use families for non-central spawns on the map, for diversity. It is probably better, if a little more work, to control your spawns directly using the ‘0’ option in key places of your map, just so you can control exactly the difficulty/impact of the map. More on this later.

However, the creatures are weighted, meaning that tougher creatures in a certain family are less likely to spawn. So by placing a class-8 spawner, there is about a 30% chance to spawn an imp, 20% to spawn a demon and 5% to spawn a Balrog – egg. 


If you have typed ‘2’ in type, you have created a chest. The code/class goes from 0-f in Hex (0-9, a-f,), ‘f’ being the highest, and determines how sparkly the treasure you get out of it is. Bear in mind that the ratios of gold/potions/misc is hard-coded, and all the quality of the chest does is determine how much gold/good the items are if they do turn up. It is up to you what levels to set, but I’d advise keeping balance. Quality ‘f’ shouldn’t be used for a goblin lair etc. Generally, I use 6-9 for minotaurs, 8-c for dragons and e-f for Balrogs. I’m sure you get the idea :)

As a side note, both methods of generating creatures (0 or 1) has a random chance of turning up special red ‘boss’ creatures who are harder and drop good items, so there is no bias towards using either.

Rate: this is the amount of time, in minutes, that lapses, before the spawner resets (if there are no players nearby). I’m not too sure of the absolute correct timing for this, so I generally use 3 minutes. To be on the safe side, use four. Also, I usually put chests as one minute slower than the creature spawner guarding it, to prevent repeated looting of a site. It’s up to you how you time your chests, but they shouldn’t be too fast.  

Editor’s note: spawner times may well get tweaked and become server dependant. Currently, putting 5 will mean creatures are spawned every 5 mins. Another tidbit – spawners only begin their spawn run once the map has been devoid of players for 10 minutes – egg.


Area: this determines the size of the area that the monsters can appear in. Values for area 1 and above indicate a radius. Eg, area=1 covers the 9 squares around the spawner, area=2 covers 25 squares. The placement is random, although monsters won’t appear in blocker squares (see Map tiles) but they will appear outside those walls, if not blocked. (I’ve had creatures dancing outside windows before). There are two ways to prevent this: most simply, work out your distances correctly, secondly, use the Sanct feature (explained below). 

To force the the spawned monster to be created on the exact location where the spawner is, set the area to –1. This has to be used with the max setting at ‘1’ or it’ll break. This is useful for positioning creatures as bosses or as furniture (relatively). 


Max: this is the maximum number of creatures spawned, and is very important for three reasons. Firstly, it determines the difficulty of the encounter (ok, obvious again); secondly, it can conflict with the next field (area) so be mindful of how many creatures you’re trying to squeeze into a space; thirdly, and most importantly, too many creatures can create a huge amount of lag. The most creatures you should aim for on screen at any time is about ten, to be safe. With creatures that summon often (daemons, dragons, Balrogs, liches) you should be mindful that they will do so, and with enough space, with a vengeance. I’ve made this mistake before! Generally, I limit the number of summoning creatures to 5 or below, and even then you can get startling numbers of creatures gating in. Lastly, the number of creatures & area should govern your choice. If you have a huge cavern, and place the area as huge, a greater number isn’t so much of a problem. And vice versa (yep, guilty there). 

To get around these problems, it is possible to stagger your spawners to create the illusion of numbers without the lagg. I’ll mention this again, since its an important trick, but monsters generally have a ‘tickle’ range of 4-6 squares. i.e. They won’t attack until you’re that close- a number of spaced spawners with tightly controlled areas can present a rush of creatures without lagg.  

Editor’s note: ideal values for max depend on the area and the critter. Ideal values for max depend on the area and the critter.   If the area is -1, then use max=1 (single spot spawner). If Area is 1 or more (ie a radius spawner), then pick an appropriate number of critters that you'd like to inhabit this area. Eg, if the area (radius) is 2, then the area would be a square of 5x5 (25 squares total), so a figure of 4-6 monsters for the max might be appropriate here. – egg.


*phew* That should sort spawners out. Once you got the hang of them they’re dead easy, and very convenient. Monsters won’t spawn on chests, so no worries there, btw! 

Here’s a couple of spawner examples to make sure:

Spawning 2 Daemons in a 3x3 area:

Type:0
Code/class: 219
Rate: 3 
Max: 2
Area: 1 (bear in mind if placed flush against walls, a 2 here would potentially place them outside the room)

Spawning a rich chest for those daemons to guard:

Type: 2
Code/class: e
Rate: 4
Max: 1
Area: -1 



Something to note: Spawners placed on blockers (walls, columns etc) will not (despite what I previously thought) spawn monsters. So- all spawners have to be on floor or open (water etc) tiles!!


===Tel	Teleport (E, P)===

Teleports are fairly self-explanatory, and will throw the player across the same map only. Step on them and *poof* the player is instantly teleported. Use the map tile to put the swirl down (this isn’t strictly necessary, since the feature creates the swirl, but is useful to have for your own reference and doesn’t hurt to allow others to see what you’re doing if they’re checking the map) and then look for the x, y coordinates that you want to jump to. These are displayed in the bottom left hand corner. Double check you’ve got the right coordinates (and for teleports going both ways, make sure each tele targets the other) then edit the dest x and dest y fields accordingly. Obviously, getting this wrong can break maps fairly drastically, so do check :) This feature only teleports players around a single map.

If you want to create an invisible teleport (useful for puzzles & traps) give the item field a value of 1. 

===Trp	Trap (E, P)===

Sets up a trap that will damage players who step on it, allowing you to laugh at their misfortune. This is both persistent, currently unstoppable by searching and doesn’t give a warning, so can be misused quite heinously.  I generally give a small msg warning (along the lines of ‘you feel something is wrong here’), visual clues (a different coloured flagstone) or a sign earlier in the level. However, it is up to you! Traps are set using the dest x and dest y to set the damage dice. E.g. dest x=4 and dest y=8 would do 4d8 (4-32) points of damage. Bear in mind that at level 30, I still only had 120 HP’s- it is easy to slaughter players this way! With the new security skills in EUO, it may be possible one day to disarm these, but this awaits coding- traps you step on at the moment do raise your security skill though!




===Bar	Barrier===

Creates a rather beautiful, stationary and immovable magical purple field. This isn’t created as you step on it, it merely exists in game. (There is talk of allowing items to give passage, but that revolves around Quests, something MapEd currently doesn’t allow you to tinker with- for very good reasons!) Magic can pass through barriers, allowing ranged attacks. It is useful to note that players can use In Por to ‘jump’ over these. 

Editor’s note: it’s true – barriers (like ticket barriers) may let players pass if they have the correct item. Not coded at the moment but maybe one day –egg.

===Lck	Lock (E)===

Creates a locked door, that can be picked or magick’d open. All locks begin locked on server load, and relock themselves after a certain time. Bear in mind that low-level players and certain dumb fighters have almost no chance of getting through. This will reset when the level resets, so also bear in mind that players will (and do) get stuck. A regular feature is the wail over the global channel of ‘Ahhh, stuck, heeeelp meee’. Whilst this is funny, it is annoying for unprepared players. Try to allow at least a sneaky way out, for low level dungeons :) Doors & secret doors that are locked act as blockers (obvious really). 

To enable the lock put the value field to 1, otherwise it’ll never be primed, and never be locked, totally defeating your purpose.

===Nlk	Non-Pickable Lock===

Creates a locked door that cannot be opened in any fashion, except with the correct key. Leave this alone, it’s for quests only and people’s houses. For an example, travel to Bakyre. You can use this to present unattainable areas, but be careful :) You can couple this with In Por usage to create interest, but see the later discussion on this.

===Snc	Sanct===

Creates a safe-zone where monsters will not spawn, and won’t even step onto. Useful for creating areas where monsters won’t appear (as it says), but also for preventing them appearing in places on maps which you’ve cloned (see metamapping) which would be inappropriate. e.g. outside windows, in enclosed spaces, dancing in mid air etc. Players cannot blink (use In Por) onto squares that have this feature, but as you cannot have monsters on tiles with snc features, use with care. (see later).

===Lxy	Level Change (E)===

Ah, the meat and bones of linking your maps! You are going to create more than one, aren’t you? The lxy feature both allows players to swap maps, but also to be taken to different parts of the same map (I’ll talk about this later as well). Teleporting is fine for portals & teleporters if you want them instant, but to use ladders & two way teleports (to get the fade effect correct) you’re best to use these. Like the teleport, it is important to get the dest x and dest y coordinates completely correct, and for ladders to make sure they both correlate but also match if you’re using two. i.e. the left one should go to the left one, and vice versa. However, unlike the tel feature, the value field also has to be filled. This field should be filled in with either the numeral of your target map or, if you’re teleporting to the same map, ‘-1’. A quick example of two lxy’s: one going to the map ‘06’, one to the same level:

 Level 06					Same Map
 Value: 06 					     -1
 Item:0						       0
 Dest x: 23					     23
 Dest y: 45					     45
 Text:0					  	       0


The server DM numbers the maps, so if you’re creating them, simply send them numbered as you created them with a txt message telling the DM how they should be connected. But do set the x,y coordinates though! Since the update, its far easier to tell how maps connect, so there’s no excuse!


===Prt	Portal===

Creates a portal. This should only be used to mimic an instant tel feature between different maps. 

To make sure it becomes permanent & saves (because prt’s are actually Town Portals, and thus temporary), fill in all the usual bits (x,y cords etc) but give it an item field of -1.

To make a portal that sends the player to the designated beginning of a map (usually where the sta is) give the prt a destx of –1.

===Trd	Trap Door (E, P) ===

This is exactly the same as tel/lxy, but deals a small amount of damage to the player as she goes through. This is generated like lava damage, not trap damage, so needs no numbers putting in- the x,y is used for co-ordinates, value for level # (-1 for same level). As such, this is best used for one way trips, for believability stakes (‘yes, I know I fell 20 foot, but I seem to be able to come back up easily enough’). 

===Sta	Level Start Position  ===

Essential, for your base map only. Places the position where players start the map, from the continent. Only place this on the base map, as this is where players arrive from the continent map- not very useful for the third level of your uberdungeon! ;) 

Editor’s note: to clarify further, this was designed mainly for towne maps, to specify exactly where the player should start on the map. You can use it in other places, but it is rarely needed – egg.

===Tck	Ticket===

Don’t use – it doesn’t work.

===Pvp	Non PvP Area===

Self-explanatory. Not very useful for dungeons, so don’t use it. If you are making a map that requires players lack any potential for aggravation, place one of these features on one square of the map only. Somewhere near the top left corner of the map might be a good choice, so that editors etc can easily see it. 

===Jai	JAIL!===

Interesting one, this. EUO currently has a jail where abusive, psychotic to newbie or bovicidal players are sent. Sets a flag preventing Town Portals being used, thus preventing escape/teleportation in. This also prevents any magic being used. Use with care, but can be useful to simulate ‘non-magic’ zones where players are prevented from quickly nipping back to town to restock. Not advised for large areas, as features cannot overlay other features, thus creating exception zones. If you create lush treasure areas, it’s a good idea to jail the surrounding area, to prevent ‘harvesting’ by people using KOP spells.
				
===Nob	No Blink===

This is used like the Pvp feature, and should only be placed once on a map. It does what it says it does, preventing any usage of the In Por spell. Useful for dungeons that could be broken with In Por usage, but it does prevent interesting traps/puzzles being used. When creating tower levels with ‘outside’ backgrounds, always use this feature to prevent players wandering off into the impossible areas (‘look! I can fly!’), if using snc is going to be a pain. 

(And for the UK people, I know it’s amusing/rude, but Egg is an Aussie!)

===Are	Arena===

Like the Pvp feature, this should only be placed once on a map. It turns off the criminal flag system, and allows morality-free Pking to go on. Don’t place this willy-nilly in every map you create- the Arena (east of Izumi) has it, and is probably the only place where it is designed to be used. So don’t use it.

===Tpa	Town Portal Area===

Used for towns that can be bound to. Under the control of Egg, so you don’t ever have to use this. 





That’s the features. Only one last thing to stop you mapping:


==Map Properties [press ‘p’]==

This sets the properties for your map, whether it is underground or not, day or not etc.

Name: This is the name of the map, eg New Sosaria. The name of the map is displayed to the player when she enters that map, eg

Entering New Sosaria.

This isn’t the name that is used by Lxy though: Lxy uses the file name, e.g. ‘7’ or ‘102’ and should be left up to the server DM to decide. 

Type: Either 0- Continent, 1- Dungeon or 2- Towne.

A continent is a globe – when the player walks to the edge and beyond, she is placed on the opposite end of the map. (Avoid using – as its buggy - egg.): a dungeon is an enclosed map which the play may not exit by walking off the edge, and a towne is a map where the player may exit the map by walking off the edge of the map.

Avoid using continent- use either Dungeon or Towne. Use according to need: Dungeons are self-contained, and don’t allow you to step off the edge, Towne’s allow you to step off the edge of the map back to the continent. Depending on style of maps, towne should really only be ever used for the base map, if ever. If in doubt, use dungeon (1) and it’ll be fixed, probably by Egg :)

Vis: Visibility. 0= Dark (like a dungeon) or 1= Light (like a towne). When set to 0, players can only see what is lit artificially, e.g. by torches. When set to 1, the entire map is governed by the light cycle of the game world. Light in day, dark at night. 

Exit Level: tells the server what level to put the player on if she walks off the map. It only applies to townes (ie maps you can walk off).  Inapplicable to dungeons, and for towns really should be left to the server DM to decide.


==The Top Left Hand Corner ==

When creating ‘open-plan’ maps (i.e. over-ground bits) the edge of the map you create is not the end. When a player steps to the edge of your map (before stepping off or arriving) the engine will ‘fill-in’ her screen with a type of scenery: this fill in scenery is governed by the very top left (NW) corner tile. So don’t put lava there, or a wall, if you want your map to look right :) Generally grass is a good idea. 






==The Tricks n Tips bit!! ==

Here’s where I’m going to discuss the bits that I’ve found help out when making maps. As such, its totally subjective. A good set of articles can be found on the forums (http://forums.swut.net/euo) to also aid in this. As you’re still sitting in front of a boring brown square, here’s some inspiration (I hope). For more specific engine tricks, go right to the end.


General Principles:


===Aesthetics===

No, not a seminar on the Kantian sublime, or a crash course in interior decoration, just a few pointers.

MapEd contains a good number of different tiles, although not as much as we’d all like. (This is due to engine constraints, and might be changed in the future, who knows?) The first mistake I ever made was over-doing different floor-tile colouring and generally going over the top with fittings. Every room had a different floor, every room was stuffed with furniture. Whilst you can make it look good, too much clutter not only limits player/monster movement, but creates unbelievable rooms. No-one in their right mind has a bookcase 10 squares long. Likewise, rooms shouldn’t just be strange shapes because they can be. Most sentient creatures aren’t into making rooms that spell out your name. (I have broken this one, in a different shape, but I doubt anyone will get to it ;) ) Likewise, it is unusual in the extreme for goblins or mindless slimes to be living in opulence.

On the reverse side of this coin, monotony is soul-destroying. Room after room of the same flooring, with no fittings, all being perfect squares will drive people nuts, and turn them off your map. Endless caverns with no purpose are soooo dull.  Imagine mapping as trying to flirt with the player, and entice them to continue to engage with your map. Basically, a good aesthetic is something that is not really too noticeable, but fits smoothly in the back-ground. This will make the times when you do want to make a statement even better. (for an example, I have done a couple of mosaics on my maps, which I think work).

For outside maps and caverns, taking a little time to ‘randomise’ the grass or earth with the special tiles is worthwhile. Used effectively, they can give effects ranging from a battlefield to a crop field. Don’t simply splurge them willy-nilly, think about them. Rocks can be rubble or cairns or markers. Little stones can be used as trails. Huge caverns can tire very quickly, and so need a little sprucing. Overall, the human brain gets tired quickly of constant aesthetic tricks, but likewise totally fails at 700 paces of the same brown earth. A little difference, once in a while, makes it perk up again :)

I’ll discuss this more in the organic topic, but the basic premise is that players are there to squash stuff, but they don’t have to do it in the equivalent of an urban tower block.


===Logical Consistency (engine tip)===

A killer this one. Yes, EUO is in a fantasy setting. Yes Daemons might have a totally different rationality to us. NO this doesn’t mean the base of a tower can be smaller than the top (without struts at least) or that one room later your dungeon can suddenly change into a desert (ok, I can think of a reason for that, but you get the point). 

General rule of thumb- totally illogical stuff jars. If you’re going to do it, either teleport the player (with maybe a small message along the lines of ‘this seems a different part of the caverns’ etc) or tie it in with signs outlining the idea (for instance, from an upcoming map of mine ‘To the oik reading this: Yes, I appeared a smelly mountain trapper, but I’ll have you know I’m a mage of high repute. The smelly disguise was simply to make oiks like you ignore me! Now piss off!’)

On the consistency front, a very good tip for designing over-ground towers is to create a new map, exit MapEd and simply copy the old map file onto the new one. (Editor’s pro-tip: you can now use the ‘n’ key to save a copy of your level with a different number – egg.) You can then gut the place, but the size and exterior won’t change when looking through windows. If you look out a window and see brown earth, believability is challenged, and this counters this totally. Obviously, if you want to change the size of the tower, you can, but at least you have the outline to work from. Underground is not so important, but a little consistency never hurts (why have we suddenly left the earthen caverns for pristine floors?). Best used with judicious use of the sanct feature though ;) 

Overall, EUO has to work on your imagination, it being a little retro. However, you can help this along :)


===Learning Curve===

I’m totally guilty of this in one instance: nothing sucks worse than getting royally destroyed out of no-where. A general good rule of thumb is to gradually increase difficulty (with maybe dips and stretches of evenness) not suddenly leap to x-rated monsters from goblins. This will give players a chance to know when they can’t continue a map and go elsewhere. Player parties can handle worse monsters, so there’s no need not to increase the difficulty, and having bits that can’t be reached is enticing! 

Since the recent ‘monsters get badass’ patch, monsters have been given a wide variety of magic spells to use: and use ‘em, they do! Bear in mind that many of the older maps were created before this, so don’t worry if your map seems to have fewer creatures than them. 

The Base Map

The base map is where you should start, and serves to ‘anchor’ the rest of your connected levels, & branch off to other levels of your map(s). It may be linear (with only one exit) but this is where the action starts :) When starting out, there are three main things to consider- what player level is this map roughly aimed at, what type of map are you creating, and lastly, what is the theme. 

The player level is fairly obvious, at least if you’ve played for a bit. The monster families (barring the first one, which should be after minor undead, imho) give a good indication in the numeral stakes. To get an exact indication of strength, look at the monsters.txt in the sdat directory in your euo folder. 

The type of map is self-explanatory: keep, or dungeon or both. Even forest with keep etc. The theme is just a general outline of what you’re trying to do- sprawling crawl or focused linear map (the tower is a good example of the last two fused together.) A rule of thumb is that if you’re not going straight into a dungeon crawl, the base map should be a towne map, all the others dungeons, even if they are overground. 

Overall, you should have at least a rough idea of what you’re aiming at or the map will run out of steam. You’ll think of other things as you make it!

===Linearity ===

To have it or not? Unfocused sprawls are annoying since players get lost and have to spam the global chat with constant ‘where are you?’ cries. However, too linear and you run the risk of boredom. A general rule of thumb I use is to have one to three offshoots/mini areas per map with the central core going through it. This will give the illusion of freedom without compromising focus. E.g. In an up and coming map, I have two ways to get to the ladder leading to the next level- one is direct, but very dangerous/damaging, the other less so with more puzzles. This (I hope) caters for both the hack n slasher and the tourist type, who likes to explore. 


===Being Green, or dealing with the Organic (engine tips)===

EUO is based on the U4/5 map set and so creates tiles that are square. This makes making organic outside areas a little difficult. Water and mountains are the hardest, with rivers coming a close second. Forests are dead easy. As a rule, the player’s view is about 11 squares across, so 5 on each side. As it’s always centred, this can be a handy tip (see later).

General tips: avoid bunching or straight lines at all costs. Nothing in nature comes in straight lines or at 90 degree angles. Take the time to create bumps, outcrops, wiggles, indents etc to break it up. Nothing too special, but the difference is staggering. Likewise, avoid over-use of the same tile. Mix n match your tiles randomly- the opposite binary on-off effect is even weirder.  This holds true for natural caverns also, that absolutely should be broken up in this way. Natural caverns are not square!! The big mountain tile is good for stalagmites. Remember that certain terrains are vision blockers, and work to this. You’ll quickly get what can and can’t be seen by the player. 

Water: you can make this look good with a careful mixture of the diagonal edging, river squares and use of the scrub tile. Avoid just using square tiles, since it looks terrible. (Lava doesn’t, mainly because it looks good against earth for some reason). For water, don’t over use the diagonals, as your coast ends up looking like the invasion of the pod people, squares work if they’re broken up. Occasionally have inlets made out of river tiles and apply ‘fractal’ techniques- e.g. if your coast runs south, occasionally have an inlet, outcrop or a piece of land jutting northwards. If a piece is looking a bit too square, often a piece of scrub can give the illusion that it isn’t- this is because the scrub tile has circles in it, which fool your mind- the forest is too chunky to do this (oooh- the psychology of EUO ;p )

Editors note: Cat knows more about “ the psychology of mapping” than I do – egg.

Mountains:  Mountains are easier since not only are there three types of mountainous terrain, there is an edging tool that melds grass with mountain. Basically, avoid straight lines at all costs because, as mountain occludes your vision, it looks even worse than water! You can feature mountains as cliffs, but only after careful building up to it. Outcroppings and inlets are a must.

Forests:  I’ve said before I don’t like using the forest tile, mainly because I think the scale looks wrong. Scrub fits as bushes, but forest is too continent type. However, this is personal bias. Make sure to space trees, and use scrub. Easy!

Editor’s opinion: I generally think that forest tiles should be used for the continent only, but may be used in towns sparingly with care, depending on circumstances. Basically what Cat said – egg.

Rivers: the wiggle is all. Don’t over-use, but U4/5 had great rivers, though make sure you use the stepping stones, and in the correct alignment. If you’re doing rivers that lead off and can’t be followed, make sure you continue for line-of-sight. Don’t have rivers leading off map since they go no-where (see the top left corner requirement). A tip here is to use vision & movement blockers and a bend to give the illusion the river is going off-map, when it actually isn’t.


===METAMAPPING (BIG engine tip)===

You’re designing a map, but you don’t have to fill it all, and more importantly, you don’t have to have it all in one area. Judicious use of teleports and ladders using the lxy -1 can give the illusion that the player is in an entirely different area, when map wise they are only a few squares away. If you get the edges right (see being green) and have a basic idea of player vision occlusion due to blockers, the areas will seem totally separate. You can get a feel for how a map will look in the engine, but the only way to really get this is to play lots of EUO or U5, which as you’re mapping, shouldn’t be a problem! 

Use this to your advantage to fool players into thinking your map is bigger/longer than it actually is. It is far better to create a couple of largish self- contained maps rather than a multitude of tiny ones. Obviously, don’t get silly, but fitting all of your map in snugly is stylish and shows you can think about the map in ‘meta’ terms.

You’re advised to read the section on In Por here to look at problems inherent with this though!

Using the ‘map copy’ tip earlier to clone maps for towers (the ‘n’ key) can also work if you have an outside bit. As long as you make sure the player vision is not intruded on (say 7 squares away from the centre point to be safe) you can create pockets in the map that contain other rooms- this increases the area you have, and doesn’t waste map area. As a plus, they already have outside scenery to ogle. In outside maps, you can mix half of it outside, the other half inside.

A warning though- setting the map parameters for light has a huge effect on dungeon believability. Don’t make the mistake of using that spare space for a dungeon unless you include lights in it, or make the whole level dark! (creating even more problems- ‘ahem, we seem to be experiencing a highly localised eclipse on level one of that keep’)


===!IN POR! The potential map & heart breaker! Or- Catherine’s top tips for making IP usage fun…===

In Por, or the blink spell, allows a player to ‘jump’ up to seven squares away, in any direction (including the diagonals) through anything in the way (blockers included) so can drastically break maps- players can jump over your carefully constructed puzzles, get into that impregnable treasure room and generally just create havoc. So, if you’re not comfortable with how In Por works, you’re better off using the nob feature to prevent its usage. Note that players (for obvious reasons) cannot jump to blocker squares, treasure chests or floors with monsters on. Snc also blocks a player’s egress. Bear this in mind for creating puzzles~ as spawners are random, try to avoid creating situations where players are blocked by monster placement. However, In Por does allow players to ‘jump’ over barriers, water & nlck’d doors- bear this in mind. In Por attempts to jump the full distance, but then ‘counts back’ until it can jump- for instance, if a player tried to blink east, but 7 squares away there was a wall, and 6 away a monster, the player would be moved 5 in that direction. 

The nob feature should be used in tower levels (i.e. non-ground level maps) to prevent a breakdown in logic, unless you’re very confident of your snc usage!  However, disallowing it prevents some crafty tricks n puzzles, which is where the fun starts :) 

Basically, players who haven’t seen the map in MapEd have no real idea where & when an In Por could or could not break a map (e.g. allowing skipping to later levels) so in areas where occlusion is at work, it isn’t so important. Although a few will try it in random places, generally this works to the mapper’s advantage. So we’ll break this down into levels that just allow In Por usage, and levels that are designed for it.

In levels where it’s just available, e.g. in a base outdoor map or in a normal dungeon, don’t worry too much about it. Protect sensitive areas with either jail tiles at the ‘jump off’ point or the snc feature at the arrive point- carefully count distances to see where to put them (setting up a spawner with a range of 7 is a good tip to provide a visual guide for placing them). Be careful to realise that monsters won’t step on snc squares, or be birthed there, and that they block the spell. In Por isn’t really that useful to players, other than a quick(ish) escape, so allowing it rarely completely destroys maps. Most of the old maps were designed before blink was implemented, so contain blinkable exploits. My thoughts on this are that players should be allowed maximum freedom~ the odd exploit (skipping a section of dungeon) is ok. Skipping your hard thought out puzzles, or into the loot isn’t though! Always remember to snc display cases though. Any tile with an item on, or allowing access to an item should have a snc tile on!

In levels where you’re aiming for In Por to be used, greater consideration is needed. This can be broken down into secret areas, hindrances & puzzles.

 Secret areas are obvious- in an area of occlusion, blinking at a certain place allows access to a secret area. Coupled with signs or cryptic messages this allows depth to a map, & will give the players a kick :) I’ve used this technique a couple of times, (lots in one map) and people seem to have fun looking for areas that provide ‘kudos’ for getting to them. I generally reward players who do so as well (although I get miffed when it’s abused).

Hindrances are a good way to block areas from players. Water, barriers etc that can only be jumped over. You can use this with or without occlusion blockers~ but bear in mind that visual occlusion will need pointers (for instance, in the forest, there’s a give-away to where you can use it). 

Puzzles that include In Por can be very devious. These range from the easy (e.g. grass tiles separated by water that have to be jumped to) to the fiendish (remembering a sequence of directional In Por’s to get to a secret area). 



Overall, blink isn’t a great problem, but it does allow thoughtful mappers to present some cranial challenges. However, when designing for its usage, always remember that players need some guidance or hints, otherwise they’ll have no clue as to when/where to use it!



==Submitting Maps==

You can currently send completed maps to me, of all people, at ctaylor_MapEd@hotmail.com. I’ll look over them, & send emails discussing the map, and do edits if necessary. If you’re reading this & I no longer exist, send them to egg@swut.net. If other servers pop up, then the DM of that particular one could be sent maps. Things to bear in mind: is the map technically perfect? If you’re not sure, check! Have I placed important features where they can easily be seen? (the top left corner is preferred for global ones like pvp) and lastly, have I zipped the complete set of maps up? All maps should come in multiples of four- don’t forget the item or monster file, even if it is blank.

 If all of these are complete, send it off with a brief text message outlining any level linkages and special features (e.g. ‘NE level 1 ladder links to level 3 central region where the fountains are’ or ‘that bit in the SW of level 2 is supposed to be a continuous teleport loop’) & it will be vetted by Egg (or the DM on the particular server). Bear in mind the DM potentially has a huge number of maps to check- and checking a 100x100 map with twelve exits and hundreds of spawners and teleports does take time! :) If every map you send is technically perfect, s/he will probably more likely to trust your maps in future, leading to them being approved quicker and so on. If they’re a pig’s dinner, they won’t be! Obvious, really. :)



==Specific Engine Tips==


Here’s some ideas and ways to do them. I can think of more, but you’ll find them :)


Cabinets: The engine has three ‘railings’ tiles. I misused them constantly- the railing side has to face inwards not outwards. i.e. the space away from the railing on the same tile can be grabbed from, and shouldn’t hold the item you wish to display- the tile being bounded does that. Use sancts on these cabinet tiles- I haven’t in the past, and monsters dancing in them makes weird viewing!

One way teleports: Nothing wrong with this, just make sure they’re at places people won’t want to come back to. Having one half-way through a level to the next is a bit silly.

Unreachable Areas: Using the nlk feature & snc’s you can show an area that will never be reached. For example, the inside of a hut or a treasury.

Kinky Ladders: Ladders can be forced into going to other ladders that already have links. This is one way, but can confuse players.

Secret Doors: These are a great way to include interest in your levels. The secret doors on the white tiles are especially hard to spot. Over-use gets a bit dragging though.

Beastiaries/Menageries: over-used (the first, I think, is in the big castle on Tanelorne between the twin townes on the river and copied by me) but it can work. Use spawners here, as players will quake your pets, like it or not.

Using tiles as tips: It’s often a good idea to give visual clues, through different coloured tiles or tiny stones, of both the correct way to go, and/or traps. 

Choke Points: All the monsters in EUO will rush the player. When designing, bear in mind that single doors are lethal to monsters as it gives a 3 on one footage advantage to players. The difference in difficulty with and without choke points is staggering. Make sure you don’t make every room with a choke point, as players will chomp your monsters. Likewise, if a corridor is single file, bear in mind that backing up (with lagging and incoherent players) is very difficult and can result in bloodbaths!

Barriers for mages: Using the bar feature to block doorways etc can force a certain level of player only to get through- i.e. those with access to In Por (5th level). This is handy for preventing new players from entering a dangerous area. However, its best not to over-use this, as anything special soon becomes jaded with repetition. Also see the In Por section below, as if you have them, you’ll have to think about potential IP abuse.

Coloured tiles as puzzle choices: using the tel feature with an item of 1 allows invisible teleports- useful for creating puzzles. If you combine this with a colour coded sequence, it provides an additional depth to your puzzle. For instance, if you had a teleport sequence with a sign saying ‘the colour of blood, then bile, then a bruise will get you safely through’ and then had a selection of coloured tiles on a neutral back-drop, the player stepping on a red, green then purple tile would be safely teleported through, whilst all others lead to danger. Bear in mind to jail all the neutral squares in the puzzle if you haven’t used the nob feature, otherwise players will IP through your plans.

Diagram:

 xxxxxx		In this case, the player would step on tile R(ed), then G(reen), GRBYP 		then P(urple) to get through. All lettered tiles would need tel
 - v-----			features with item 1, and all squares ‘x’ would need jail
 xxxxxx		features (if nob isn’t being used).  The ‘v’ shows the teleport 
 GRBYP		feature at work (imagine it as an overlay)- all ones not with a 
 v------   		‘v’ should lead back to the start or to a dangerous area etc. 
 xxxxxx
 GRBYP
 -------v
 xxxxxx

This is a simple one, there is plenty of potential for complexity. Again, don’t over-use this, as it’s a once-in-seven dungeons thing. Likewise, make sure to get all the tel’s correct! Bear in mind that this is rather tricky, and has lots of potential for errors, so only use if you’re confident with the features involved. Likewise, making one of these without a sign or message giving a hint is a total no-no as it reduces it to blind luck. Not fun!

Doors as Teleports: It’s perfectly valid to place tel features on doorways. Use this to baffle the player, or to create areas which cannot be escaped (i.e. player steps on door, gets port’d back a square). Might be good to use a msg as well here (‘an unseen force hurls you back!’ etc). Bear in mind that an In Por spell can break this.

Spawn Staggering: As mentioned before, this is the key to creating the illusion of hordes of monsters without actually causing the game to lagg horribly. The principle is to tightly control your areas and leave about 1 square (2 to be safe, maybe more for summoners) between the edges of the twos areas, so that monsters randomly spawned in either area don’t overlap, but become progressively seen by the player’s line of sight. Use with care, as this can be easily be broken by players charging through. Although, that’s their fault, not yours! You don’t always have to use this, but it is useful if you want a really populated area. 

Hazard Use: Hazard tiles are a really powerful tool to use against players, but also have a double function. You can use them to ‘herd’ players along the correct path, but at the same time allowing freedom of movement to other ‘secret’ bits of your map. The Pit is an example here. This gives the player a choice (which they always like) and also adds depth to your dungeon. You can also create areas where the hazard is unavoidable to add difficulty (the underworld is an example here). Always make sure to think of the intended player level when using hazards- a level 38 person won’t mind a bit of lava, and will laugh at swamp, but a level 12 player will find both difficult. Lava does 5d8 damage per second, so it is very dangerous!

Puzzles and Mazes: Using signs, secret doors, hard to find passages (using the diagonal) and teleports, it is fairly easy to make simple mazes and puzzles. Three things to consider- don’t make mazes or puzzles fiendishly hard, as players will grumble and leave; secondly, don’t make them too long and thirdly, make sure they work! If you create a puzzle where the sign is wrong (tells the player to take the wrong teleport or to search wrong area of the map) or the teleports don’t allow you to leave a maze then consider your map broken. It’s quite hard to check these when you’re checking a map you haven’t made, so get it right! Also, players tend to like the odd bit of difference, so a huge featureless 100x100 maze would get a bit grating (unless it was tightly controlled with hint signs, and rooms in there :) )

A very good tip is to at least provide enigmatic hints via signs or messages- you can also use NPC’s, but that’s a different guide ;)


Player Stupidity: Ok, not an engine tip, but always try to consider ‘what’s the dumbest thing a player could do here?’ when mapping. Believe me, someone will do it. Repeatedly!  

Egg’s tip:
Save often! There is no undo, and MapEd might crash. 




'''HAPPY MAPPING!'''




Ok, that’s all folks. Hope this was of some use, and hope to see good maps abounding! :) I’ll be online so if you have criticisms/comments, feel free to spam me. 
Thanks again to Egg for EUO, and long may maps be made!

Catherine

The Keys

removed from the guide : click here [[Maped Controls]]


 Feature	Persists?	Use?	Value	Item	Dest x	Dest y	Txt
 Lvl	-	Y	Lvl #	-	-	-	-
 Sgn	-	Y	-	-	-	-	Y
 Msg	Y	Y	-	-	-	-	Y
 Drk	Y	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Tel	Y	Y	-	0 or 1	Y	Y	-
 Trp	Y	Y	x, y =dam. 4,5=4-20 	-	Y	Y	-
 Bar	-	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Lck	-	Y	1	-	-	-	-
 Nlk	-	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Snc	-	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Lxy	-	Y	Lvl # or -1	-	Y	Y	-
 Prt	Y	!	Lvl #	-1	Y	Y	-
 Trd	Y	Y	Lvl # or -1	-	Y	Y	-
 Sta	Once	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Tck	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
 Pvp	Once	-	-	-	-	-	-
 Jail	-	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Nob	Once	Y	-	-	-	-	-
 Are	Once	-	-	-	-	-	-
 Tpa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

‘Persists’ means whenever the tile is stepped on, it will automatically action. ‘Once’ means it should only be placed a single time on a map, usually to top left corner. Only use the item values for the tel & prt features if you know exactly what you’re doing! The prt feature should rarely, if ever, be  used. The trp feature has no value, just to clear up confusion.

Spawners:

Type			
0= Specific type
1= Class
2= Chest		Ranges- 1-9, a-f. 1 lowest, F highest. Max=1, Area= -1 Always!!


 1	Large humanoids (Ogres, trolls, Ettins etc)
 2	Pests (rats, bats, slimes, gnomes etc)
 3	Goblinoids (goblins, orcs, fel orcs)
 4	Minor Undead (skeletons, zombies, ghosts etc)
 5	Major Undead (phantoms, skeleton warriors, liches etc)
 6	Minotaurs (all types)
 7	Dragons (all types)
 8	Infernal Creatures (Imps, Daemons, Balrons)
 a-  Animals (cows- don’t kill these in-game, btw ;) )
 c-  Criminals (thieves, thugs, pirates etc)
 d-  Sea creatures (nixies, serpents, seahorses etc)