Advanced Options Map Editor for HoMM4

Feedback for the articles that appear on Celestial Heavens.
User avatar
{CH}ArticleBot
CH News Reporter
CH News Reporter
Posts: 1113
Joined: 14 Aug 2015

Advanced Options Map Editor for HoMM4

Unread postby {CH}ArticleBot » 20 Jun 2016, 20:26

H4MG (Heroes 4 Map Generator)

The Heroes 4 Map Generator is an advanced options map editor for Heroes of Might and Magic 4, created by iLiVeInAbOx05.

What can it do?
  • Create, open, and edit .h4c (Heroes 4) map files.
  • Paint terrain as you can in the H4 editor, but with significantly larger brushes and different shapes (circle and square so far). The utility here is to be able to quickly and efficiently paint an entire map. It makes level design, as far as terrain, fast and easy.
  • Paint "void" terrain. This is the completely black terrain that gets painted when using the rock or cave tool in the H4 editor. In the H4MG, you can paint that type of terrain without the rock or terrain boundaries, and on any elevation. Just make sure you place all of your objects first, since we can't yet place objects with the H4MG.
  • Gives quick and easy access to all map events and all objects which can contain events. Some fields on the events and objects are editable and some remain to be implemented. Most script types can be edited.
  • Copy / paste events between maps or objects.
  • Copy / paste scripts between events.
  • Save / load events to / from file. Rather than have to open a map with the scripts you want to copy, you can create an event group, copy the scripts to the event group, and save that to file. All event groups are loaded when the H4MG is started and the events can be copied / pasted to any map.
  • Save / load quest huts, gates, and guards to / from file. Have a cool item shop or quest hut? You can save the scripting to file, and load it to any quest hut type.
  • Viewing scripts in an event has been overhauled. Now scripts are in a Tree View, so you can navigate to any script you want, regardless of whether it is nested inside another script (such as inside a conditional script). You can create a new script at any level, and you can even drag and drop scripts to new locations, which can be extremely useful.
  • Easily navigate to custom triggered events from a script which calls said event. For example, if I have a script which calls a Custom Event "Blah_1", then I can edit the "Trigger Custom Event" script, and there is now a button to open the custom event. This is especially helpful for getting to custom events on objects which can be spread out around a map.
Current limitations (that I can think of):
  • It doesn't know how to create smooth boundaries between different terrain types, so the H4 editor is still needed to smooth things out.
  • It can't edit conditional requirements.
  • It can't edit or view all fields of objects with events.
  • It can't edit all fields of all scripts or events.
What features are planned? In order of priority:
  1. Area selection tool with advanced options such as copy and paste. Copy a part of the map, and paste it either in the same map, or on another.
  2. Elevation features such as cliffs and plateaus.
  3. AI difficulty adjustments, using scripts, based on this forum topic.
  4. Zoom in / out (right now you see the entire map).
  5. Change map size without having to create a new map.
  6. Random map generation.
  7. Convert H2 / H3 maps to an H4 map.
  8. Convert picture to map. (This is being worked on by others, thus the low priority).
How to setup:
  1. Download the mod here.
  2. You will also need to download and install the Java JRE from Oracle.
    • For Windows with a 32bit Operating System you'll want the i586.exe, for Windows with a 64bit Operating System you'll want the x64.exe.
  3. Unzip the .zip file with the mod and put the H4MG folder wherever you want.
  4. Double click the "Heroes_4_Map_Generator" icon inside the H4MG folder.
 

If you have any questions, want to request features, report bugs, or whatever else, please visit this forum topic or send me (iLiVeInAbOx05) a private message.
Read full article...
CH First Mechanized Brigade - Newspapers Lieutenant
Submit Map | Maps | Walkthroughs | Downloads

Return to “Articles”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests