The
In this thread you can see an overview of the various tips and tricks that have been brought to our attention by the numerous regulars on this forum. It will list everything from simple tips about the editor, through pictures of eyecandy, to more extensive threads on step-by-step creation of specific features. With a continuing active interest in Scenario Design, hopefully the Compendium can continue to be expanded and updated moving forward.
Section 1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Section 2. Alt Key Combinations
Section 3. How to Create a Scenario
Section 4. Eye Candy and Editor Tricks
Section 5. Other Useful Links
A: Save your screenshot as a .jpg file. There are many good picture hosting websites on the Internet.
A: Follow the instructions
A: Yes you can. When on the main map editor screen hold down alt , at the same time - it will give you the option to change the type of map you want.
A: Make sure you have placed a signpost (you can find them in the map features tab, next to the rocks) on your map. If you have a signpost and they're still not working, try deleting some units or map features, so you aren't pushing the sprite limit.
A: All you need to know about writing reviews can be found in the
A: Read
A: Here's some
A: Switch the map to Invasion (using alt-,), then create a bunch of enemy troops. Tell them to attack the walls, and stop them when the walls get to how you like them. Then, switch it back to your desired map type.
A: Stronghold automatically deletes or adds units depending on the difficulty level. Play it on a harder level, and the troops won't disappear.
A: Yes. Make the map a Siege by pressing alt-comma in the main scenario screen. Save the map, then play it as attacker. While attacking, save the game and convert the .sav file to a .map file.
A: It happens occasionally in scenario design that you will place a keep, and your Lord will go AWOL. If this is the case, the keystroke Alt+V resets your Lord, and will regenerate a missing Lord in the editor.
A: You have reached the maximum number of sprites, or objects allowed in the map. This is 1000 for buildings, 2000 for plants, and 1499 for units and animals. In the newest patch, the editor will warn you when you can only have 200 more sprites.
A: Peasants can be created in the map editor by disbanding troops, but they will not turn in to workers. House mothers cannot be created in the editor. To get peasants to turn into workers and get house mothers to appear, play your map for a short while, save it then rename the saved game file to a .map file and place it in the maps folder - you will now have workers and house mothers in the editor! Note that peasants will not appear in siege maps.
A: Iron ore cannot be immediately placed on the lowest terrain. The minimum height for placement is High Plain. Once the iron is placed, though, the terrain that it is resting on can be lowered without losing the iron.
A: Unfortunately there is no current definate answer to this, as various people have tested different theories on this subject, and no word has come down from our good friends at Firefly Studios. For the time being, the most current discussion on the topic can be found
A: You can use the three extra MP players in single-player scenarios by placing the purple, cyan (light blue) or green units in the MP editor and then changing the map type into some other map type. These units will fight against any other unit on the map including other enemy units. They can be used as extra eye-candy colours or you could even start a scenario with an epic battle with computer players fighting each other. And if you're creative, you can use this trick to have unstable "allies".
This FAQ has only the most common questions. There are more detailed FAQs found elsehwere on the site, the first one being
ALT+E: kills off all animals within the editor
ALT+@, or ALT+': brings up the panel where you set initial taxes and ration levels of your scenario
ALT+D: Shows connections and linkage layers. Useful when analysing where your units can and can't walk within the editor. Need to use this whilst looking at the map terrain itself
ALT+V: Respawns the Lord
ALT+,: Allows the map size to be changed as well as the map type
A good place is to start is by looking at this basic tutorial
Without a doubt, the use of events in both Stronghold and Crusader are essential. From a simple win/loss event to the slightly more complex events dependant on other factors, they allow the map you design to be playable and enjoyable by those that downloaded your file. Firstly, I would recommend this quick
Events when well managed can be very effective and can add a lot of enjoyment and extra features to map. However when events are used badly gameplay can be spoilt entirely. Below are a few points worth remembering.
Think about the scenario you are designing. What do you hope to achieve? Is your map to be economic-based, with a number of win-criteria to be met? Is it an invasion, where you must defend a castle against multiple waves of attacks? Or how about a combination of the two - sometimes referred to as an ecovasion within the forums? For each of these possibilities, the use of events can add spice to the scenario. As well as meeting, say, a stone amount objective, you could add in a few bandit invasions that would more often than not target the stone quarry and force you to rebuild. By adding the tree fungus event in a scenario where you need to build a wooden fort and manufacture weapons from planks of wood, you could place an extra burden on the woodcutters as they search for raw materials. These can have a spectacular effect in scenarios where time limits are set, especially within the confines of an economic map. You can create an impact on your popularity by scheduling both wolf attacks and plagues, for example, to the extent that popularity may start to fall quicker than your positive aspects (religious coverage, ale coverage, etc.) can compensate.
With invasions, which are in themselves events, try different methods of getting the AI to attack you. Rather than have one large invasion of, say, 400 troops, try to break it up into 4 separate invasions of 100 troops and see how the map plays. It may play slightly differently, but give you the effect you want. Some of the downloads available here have very large invasions to deal with over a period of time, as a result of the above method - smaller invasions spread out over a period of time, but sufficient in size and frequency to ensure you are kept on your toes. If the invasions are well managed and balanced it can add a huge amount of enjoyment to a map. They is a specific tutorial on the site aimed at helping with balancing invasions found
The biggest piece of advice that many, many forumers have given about events is to playtest. It is wise to run through your map a number of times, tweaking and correcting if required, before submitting your map to the downloads section. Probably the second best bit of advice is to download and play as many user-submitted maps here as you can, to gain ideas on what you can and can't do, what works, what doesn't, but also what works for you.
When deciding to place a river or stream as part of your map, there are a couple of very basic, yet critical factors to remember if you want to achieve a realistic effect. Put simply, water will always find the quickest and easiest way to get from top to bottom. Bearing this in mind, try to place rivers in a natural environment.
Bearing the screenshots above in mind look at your map... where (if any) are the high ground areas going to be? How would the river flow in nature? River terrain looks messy if applied to steep river banks or placed halfway up hills as you sweep the brush around the map. Most rivers will have some degree of current and when it comes to bends, deposit sediment and pebbles on the inside of banks, where the flow is slower. Small areas of land on the inside of bends gives this feeling of sedimentary deposit well. In slower moving rivers, for example nearer to river mouths, the capability of water to hold large volumes of material decreases and this material is deposited in the form of deltas. Large, meandering rivers can be made to look realistic by using the method used on river bends... small, mainly elongated strips of grass terrain reflecting these deposits.
The ford tool is often overlooked but can look very effective when used sparingly in rivers and lakes, not just to allow troops to cross but it also gives a good effect of stones just underneath the surface.
Higher up near the rivers' source, the flow is less in volume but quicker. On higher terrain, small streams, babbling brooks and waterfalls look extremely impressive, as do springs, which can be easily done either by disguising the source of a spring with rocks, shrubs and/or trees, or allowing the spring to appear between two different levels of plain. See the screenshots in the first paragraph for good streams that are on higher terrain.
For design ideas for waterfalls you may want to look at this
On the lowest terrain, it's an idea to place trees next to river banks, along with the occasional stone or boulder. Shrubs also work equally well in making the river more of a feature.
Lakes follow similar rules as rivers in terms of decorating them. Raising the surrounding terrain slightly around a lake really gives the idea of depth to a map. You can also recreate wetland without using the marsh effect by using the very smallest brush size and, with river terrain selected, drawing small streams and waterways leading from a main body of water. Try to make this main lake as irregular as possible in terms of shape.
Lakes have a larger role in Stronghold Crusader, taking the form as an oasis. In
Marshes can also be very good water features in Stronghold,
The sea terrain tool can also be used for rivers, especially for coastal settings where the river meets the sea, or where you don't intend to have water on any terrain other than lowest.
The preset terrain levels, low, medium and high, are useful if your map involves extensive building, but can look a little out of place in other areas of your map. Whilst flat plains can look effective, they need disguising by additional features such as trees, shrubs and rock to avoid blank areas of landscape. This fabulous
In areas that aren't crucial to your map design, a rugged landscape can add real atmosphere. An easy way to do this is to use the second or third smallest brush size, and place areas of different terrain heights around the map. Then, using the equalising tool in the same size, blend the terrain together until you are happy with the result. Don't forget to raise or lower the terrain in areas where you want more of a contrasting effect. Small areas of cliff face need not be equalised, but can be used to reflect outcrops of the parent rock (the rock type below the soil surface) and further enhanced again by careful use of stone and/or boulders.
If you are creating larger areas of raised terrain, a large brush size is naturally better for speed.
True mountainous areas can be difficult to achieve within the limits of the editor due to the height restrictions. However, basing the whole of our map on terrain ranging from high to low can combat this limitation and provide more than acceptable results. Small pathways and larger rock outcrops adds the atmosphere element, along with pine trees and shrubs/bushes.
Also the default effect when placing blocks of terrain produces the cliff look, and can be used to ensure that the AI follows specific routes around the map. Cliffs can be made to blend in by placing rocks and boulders at the base, imitating the weathering effect of ice and water as the rock shatters... known as weathering. Also try to blend rolling terrain with cliffs for a more subtle effect.
In Crusader mountainous scenes are harder to create as the elevation feature does not look as effective and there are not as many types of rocks and pebbles to use. Personally I feel that using cliffs, a few rocks and some sparse vegetation gives the best feel as in this
One of the greatest features of Stronghold allowing you to make great looking landscapes is the range of bushes and trees. They can take a map and transform the design. Equally, they can also ruin what could be a great terrain if they are placed incorrectly. By this, I mean clumsily or not in keeping with the landscape itself.
It's widely recognised that the pine tree looks better on higher terrain, by coastal scenes or by lakes. The oak and chestnut trees are equally effective lining the route of a river or for creating a thick forest. In this
Shrubs and bushes look perfectly suited in between stones in a rocky outcrop as shown in this
Lining the banks of a river or lake with shrubs (interspersed with trees, as above) works too. In fact, there isn't any specific area on a map where shrubs don't, or can't, look good. Try to avoid large clumps of single colour that end abruptly, a more random placement seems to be more in keeping with the natural look.
Vegetation is almost more important in Crusader, as it is much more of a contrast in a desert scene. It is placed well in
There are some interesting essays on mapmaking on the site as well, there is the
An idea originally thought up by
This detailed tutorial by
Secret passages and caves are based upon something that may be a bug, namely that diagonally connecting bits of (high elevation) terrain can be passed through by units.
This very clever trick is explained by
Stairs can be used in a variety of ways to give very creative pieces of design.
There are two very good threads written by
This
This basic
This
This
These two magnificent screenshots of the finished archery tournament have been created by
This small
There are two articles on the way from
Above and beyond articles on how to create various elements, several of our core of designers and posters have albums in our gallery. They showcase the ideas they have had. In these albums you will find inspiration as to what the editor can do. That's the power of this section, and why it has been given its own category, these ideas are all stepping stones, suggestions of where the editor can go.
Anyone can have an album in the gallery. Submissions are made to
These links will go to other parts of Stronghold Heaven (marked "SH"), and to outside sites (marked "Outside").
Main Stronghold Site:
The Editor:
Mapmaking 101:
(Includes more in-depth presentations of some elements first explored in forum posts). This also includes the
[This message has been edited by WL_D Arthus (edited 05-24-2009 @ 06:33 AM).]