The Desert Thread

[theLuckyDragon]

Seeing that many people (3 actually) have threads dedicated to their mapmaking activities, here's my own.

I'm no great mapmaker, but I have a story in mind and I really want to make the Heroes 4 campaign for it. This thread is called "The Desert Thread" because a desert is one of the central elements of the plot.

As time permits, I'll work on that campaign and ask for help here.

So here's what I currently have:
- 1 campaign in the making and 1 separate "prequel" map
- the campaign will have 5 missions (S-M-M-S-M):
* map 1: 100% finished
* map 2: 66%
* map 3: 1%
* map 4: 1%
* map 5: 1%
- the separate prequel map is Small and is at 97%


And here's what I need right now:
- maptesters for the prequel map --- I used CH map-testing first, but no one offered; if anyone wants to volunteer, send me a PM with your e-mail, but please do so until the end of this week, because after that I won't have time

[DaemianLucifer]

Since you are a part of me,Ill test it free of charge

[ScarlettP]

As soon as I finish the final testing of my own campaign, I'd be happy to look at what you have so far. I totally understand the need to have each map in the series tested before you progress to far.

[theLuckyDragon]

Ok. But don't expect lots of activity with the first two maps (prequel+map1).

Map2, on the other hand, when polished and, more importanty, finished , will be my scripting masterpiece. Numeric Variables galore! As for the other three, right now I only have the base terrain and general storyline done.

[Crusard]

Equilibris has some cool desert objects, btw. Maybe you'd like to use them in the future

[theLuckyDragon]

Equilibris has some cool desert objects, btw. Maybe you'd like to use them in the future

You know, I might! But... I think I'll try and finish it in standard Heroes first. That's still somewhere in the distant future.

By the way, I need some suggestions: what could I use to fill a little portion of desert surrounding a mountain with an underground passage? It should be something that one would expect to find in a desert; and no quest huts please.

[Crusard]

Weed, sandhills, rocks.

[theLuckyDragon]

There's already enough of that. I was thinking more along the lines of some adventure objects...

Never mind, I found the perfect solution!

[theLuckyDragon]

Sorry for double posting but I needed to draw attention onto this.

1) How can I check if a hero has been in battle? I've placed an event near a Clover Field; once a day the hero can visit the clover field and also get +2 speed until next battle, but how do I check if he's actually been in a battle? Otherwise he'd just come day after day and +30 speed or stuff like that.

2) I've heard Heroes 4 has a morale issue, and I've seen it work (or not work, to be precise). The morale of the hero's army must decrease by 1 or 2 before battling a stack of Nightmares, and increase by 3 afterwards. How can I make this work? (note: 1 or 2 morale depends on the size of the stack, which is fixed at 25 and 50 respectively)

[Crusard]

1) In the Hero events (Victory), just set a "JustFought" variable to "1". Then the clover event checks if it is ="1". If it is, the script runs and sets it back to "0". You get the idea.

2) The only morale thing that has worked for me is the one you set for heroes. It works as a permanent effect though, pretty weird. Otherwise, it can bring some random bonuses/decreses.

[Thelonious]

As long as it is HoMM IV standard I'll test!

[theLuckyDragon]

It's standard.

[Thelonious]

I've got the map - though it says it requires Winds of War...

[theLuckyDragon]

Darn it.

There are no expansion objects in it, but I think it's from the fact that I've edited it with the WoW map editor... I didn't think it would consider it non-standard because of that.

Is there any method to convert maps?

[cherko]

H4Util. That's why all of (most of) Veldrynus' maps comes in WoW and Standard. I don't know how to use it tho. I tried to make a picture map once, but I couldn't get the util to work.

[ScarlettP]

Ditto. Picture maps are made with the Utility, but only a VERY FEW of the map makers ever figured out how to use it, and they've been pretty stingy about telling anyone else how to do it.

I don't even have a copy of the H4Utility anymore because I lost it when I updated my Windows and the site where I downloaded it originally seems to be gone. Or at least the one with the H4Utility Runner is gone. Haven't made a big effort to replace it as I couldn't use it anyway.

[cherko]

Didn't you use the util when you made Burn 'Em?
Oh, so it isn't just me being stupid... I can't get the util to work, really! I have it on my comp but when I open the util - I press any button and the util closes. Maybe there's some important file I haven't got.
If you wanna try and see if you understand it and can't get the site to work - theLuckyDragon, ScarlettP, anyone - just PM me.

[theLuckyDragon]

That will be very useful if I find out how to use it. In fact... darn, I'm not at a maths-informatics highschool for nothing! I'll find a way.

[a few minutes later]
That was so simple!

For everybody!
READ THE DOCUMENTATION!
For those of you aren't familiarised with pharses the likes of

Use the next command line to generate a random map:
H4util –wr#

This means you must use the DOS command prompt, or a program like Windows Commander or Total Commander or something like that (I've only tried with the command prompt).

To use the commad prompt (if you use WinXP; I'm not sure where its located in other versions):

- go to Start -> Programs -> Accesories -> Command Prompt
- type "cd [path to your h4util folder]" and press Enter (without the "")
(e.g. cd C:\h4util)
- use the program as specified in the documentation

e.g to generate a small random map you would have:

c:\h4util\h4util -wr1

[Thelonious]

What would you usse it for?

[theLuckyDragon]

What are you referring to?