Creating new maps

[Valjean]

Hello everyone!

I've tried Coldest a few days ago and I like it a lot, since I'm a big fan of mech games and stuff. So, I decided to make a new map called "ruins" for it, set on the remains of a lost alien city. Nothing fancy, only testing the modding capabilities...

But I need to answer out a few questions:
What are .path files?
Did I need those for playing against bots?
In that case, how do you generate one?

Thanks in advance.

-> Valjean <-

[Cybertron]

Glad to hear you like it.

The .path files are bot navigation information.  If you load a map without a .path file and bots are enabled, the server will generate the file for you.  Be aware that generating the file takes a long time, but it only needs to be done once.  However, if you change something on a map that would alter the walkable area (adding an impassable object, changing terrain, etc.), you should delete the old .path file so it gets regenerated.  Otherwise the bots may get confused.

Just out of curiosity, how are you editing the map?  There is an in-engine editor, but I don't think I ever documented it so I assume you must be editing the file by hand?  Or did you figure out how to use it?

[Valjean]

Hello again!

Thanks for the answer, now my level is fully playable!     Once again, I'm impressed with the easy-modding capabilities of Coldest.

To satisfy your curiosity, I resolved how to enter in map editing mode. I knew there was some sort of editor thingy by looking in the gui folder ( that editobject.xml and editormain.xml were really suspicious files  ). A quick look at the source code made me guess the next step: Running the game with the map level you want to edit as an arg. Ta da!

But to be honest, I've made the level all by myself, except for the trees, they were added later with the editor.

I've got one last question: Can I upload my level (once it's fully finished) to some coldest-related site if somebody wants to give it a try?

[Cybertron]

Cool, I'm impressed that you were able to find the editor.

At this point, I think the easiest way to make the map available would be to zip the files up and post them to the forum (I just realized attachments weren't enabled, but that's fixed now).  Zips should be an allowed attachment type and the map files generally aren't too large.  I can check it into the source repository so it will get included the next time I do a build too.  Might be good motivation for me to finally finish the last couple of changes I wanted to make before pushing another build out to the updater.