Basic Mapping

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After you've configured Hammer to run with Empires, you're ready to start making maps.

Step 1: Build a large room

Build a huge room that will represent your level. If you're doing an outdoors map with vehicles, make sure to allow lots of room.

Step 2: Add Entities

You're going to need one of each of these:

• Emp_info_params
• Emp_info_map_overview
• Emp_building_imp_barracks
• Emp_building_nf_barracks

Step 3: Create your map's resource file

The best way to do this is to go to your empires directory and look under the resources/maps directory. Copy one of the existing map's files there and rename the copy to match the name of your map (plus the .txt extension). Edit it and make adjustments as needed.

Step 4: Set up your map's materials directory

Go to your Empires\materials\maps directory and create a folder that matches the name of your map. Then either create or copy one of the existing .vtf files to serve as a placeholder until you can get around to making one for yourself. These hold images to be overlayed on the mini-map and spawn menu.

Step 5: Flesh it out

Adding Buildings

Buildings are in the form of entities. See the Entity Index for a complete list. Buildings are the entities with building in their names.

See Also: Entity Index