Hope you find this helpful. This short guide is to show you how to make a SC1 Melee Map come to life in the Galaxy Editor.
How do you start?
If you dont know what the map looks like then going here (SCWikia, TL, or Nibbits) might help. Otherwise open up the old Starcraft Campaign Editor.
Either import the legacy map into the galaxy editor using the legacy import feature in the Galaxy Editor and get to work or start from scratch.
Legacy imports offer 2 things, good placement of resources and an idea of where your terrain is supposed to be,
however be prepared that you will have create cliffs by hand as well as most of the actual terrain look.
Now what?
When making a SC1 Map that is identical in gameplay to the original you have to do many things and have many choices:
Resource (Mineral and Vespene Gas) amounts and locations should be the same, however see below for some ideas on changing resource amounts.
Cliff locations should be exact and correct and reflect the original map.
Critical areas like cliffs overlooking resources are properly positioned so a high templar, siege tank, ghost, or other far range units can still do thier business.
If players normally expect to be able to block at an entrance then make sure that the same kind of blocking can occur.
Given the new SC2 units and their simplified footprints this can either be easy or harder to do.
Accurate buildable/pathing reflection on the original map. ie if you cant place a building on the original make sure you cant do so on the new version.
Use pathing/creep blockers where necessary.
Accurate bridge doodads and pathing. This will be very hard without new models on some maps.
If you cant make a new model then try to change the tint color of the actor to reflect the ground and of course the scale.
Certain areas are unbuildable, uncreepable, or unpathable that you will have to artifically make so.
What makes a map melee vs not melee?
To see if you have added in something that isnt melee, go to the menu MAP->MAP STATUS and see if it still shows as melee.
At a minimum you need 2 players set in the player properties, and 2 starting locations.
Using Game Variants you can really be specific on the player choices so a 4 player map could be either FFA, 2v2 or 1v1.
You can import files. This is helpful to replace textures on existing doodads or terrain if you need to do so.
You can change things in the data types terrain textures and terrain sets. ie if you need snow terrain you can make your own.
While you can change the actor and model data types, and thus change the actual model you want a particular unit or doodad to use,
if you want a truely melee SC2 map then do not change these data fields.
You cannot change most fields in most of the other data fields or it will not be considered a melee map anymore.
Maps will be different.
Terrain does not work exactly like it did in SC. For one thing SC had a fake camera angle so the famous 45 degree angle will be a stepping stone.
Take the existing map make it look like the original THEN add in some fun doodads that make sense for the map is alot easier than doing it all at the same time.
It is recommended that you first get the overall look of the terrain down first and THEN add doodads.
If the actual SC terrain doesnt really exist, ie SNOW, then either create it or fake it.
SC2 doesnt have all the normal SC critters so pick some that are similar. I hope that some future artists will be making these, perhaps a contest.
If you want to make a SC melee map critter model then please do so but realize that the actual NAME on the critter cannot be changed for Melee.
Maps can also have added Starcraft 2 features if you want.
High Yield Minerals can be added where appropriate as well as High Yield Resources.
SC2 has 2 different RAW GAS models so use the approprate one, ie space platform textures should use the space platform version.
Double the RAW GAS Units since most SC1 maps have 1 and since SC2 gathers at 60% of the rate.
Gas should be either the same as the original or some consistant percentage higher say 20%.
ie if the normal starting location has 1 gas worth 5k you can place another gas and have 2 with a TOTAL gas of 6k, ie each gas would have 3K.
Destructable Debris in front of expansions can make the map more SC2ish.
Xel' Naga Towers can be added.
Line of site blockers may be added where approriate.
Remember the purpose of site blockers is to make it easier to hide either a Xel' Naga Tower or for a proxy for the player of some kind.
Am I correct when I say that balance should be more important than the exact recreation of the look of the map? Not all SC1 maps are balanced for SC2.
Example of a map; one player has cliffs next to its base, the other has water. So one player can simply be reaper-harrased (or whatever) while the other can't. Besides, many SC1 maps have large entrances to bases without being on cliffs. I assume that I could change that as well(?)
In sort of the same idea of balance that OutsiderXE is talking about, a lot of the SC1 maps don't have naturals at them either, which could lead to disadvantages for certain races. Would we be able to add expo spots in places that the old maps didn't? Not really change the terrain, just plop down some minerals and gas in a logical spot on the map.
EDIT: Or, would it be possible to move the start locations while keeping everything else on the map virtually the same? There are some maps I am considering working on that would make more sense for SC2 balance to have their start positions at one of the original expos.
Looking at all the old SC1 maps I understand why barely any of them got played in pro leagues ;). And even if you sort that out, they do need significant changes in order to work for SC2.
I guess the real question is, do they want us to recreate official SC1 melee maps (ie the ones installed with the game), or can we include pro league maps, which are going to be much closer in style and balance to the current SC2 maps available?
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I made this guide for the upcoming contest as well as to show the things i had to think about when making my Blood Bath 2010 Map.
I also made some killer doodads to promote SC2Mapster.com.
Hope you find this helpful. This short guide is to show you how to make a SC1 Melee Map come to life in the Galaxy Editor.
How do you start?
Now what?
What makes a map melee vs not melee?
Maps will be different.
Maps can also have added Starcraft 2 features if you want.
Am I correct when I say that balance should be more important than the exact recreation of the look of the map? Not all SC1 maps are balanced for SC2. Example of a map; one player has cliffs next to its base, the other has water. So one player can simply be reaper-harrased (or whatever) while the other can't. Besides, many SC1 maps have large entrances to bases without being on cliffs. I assume that I could change that as well(?)
In sort of the same idea of balance that OutsiderXE is talking about, a lot of the SC1 maps don't have naturals at them either, which could lead to disadvantages for certain races. Would we be able to add expo spots in places that the old maps didn't? Not really change the terrain, just plop down some minerals and gas in a logical spot on the map.
EDIT: Or, would it be possible to move the start locations while keeping everything else on the map virtually the same? There are some maps I am considering working on that would make more sense for SC2 balance to have their start positions at one of the original expos.
Looking at all the old SC1 maps I understand why barely any of them got played in pro leagues ;). And even if you sort that out, they do need significant changes in order to work for SC2.
I guess the real question is, do they want us to recreate official SC1 melee maps (ie the ones installed with the game), or can we include pro league maps, which are going to be much closer in style and balance to the current SC2 maps available?