New Map.. looking for some help

[Narra]

Hi everyone..

I'm a new poster here (long time reader tho), looking for a little help with my user created map.

So far, I've managed to get a DEM based map of the North East UK stretching from Edinburgh in the north down to Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield in the south. The map is created and functional, with all towns and industries placed and stable, but I'm struggling with the scenario XML file to get user created eras and goals, AI characters available to fight against and the final polishing up of the whole.

At the moment, the map resides in the My Documents/ My Games/ Sid Mier's Railroads/UserMaps file. Is this where user created maps usually live in the finshed version? If not, where should it be placed and what changes need to be made to which file to get the scenario running?

Also, how would i go about taking goal and era data from a currently existing scenario, modifying it and inserting it into my scenario.xml file?

I've got no experience with XML (or any programming language) and was wondering if any of you experts might be able to assist. I've set the goals for the scenario out, but have no idea how to actually set these out in XML and when i tried to cut and paste modified goals from the standard UK scenario, all that happens is an ugly crash to desktop.

Any assistance would be grately appreciated..

Narra

[stormfather]

Most people put their published mods in the CustomAssets folder. This directory will have been created for you if you download the FIraxis Santa Claus map, or basically any user made map. Just drag the scenario folder from User Maps to CustomAssets. You don't need the scenario file (xxx.smr_scenario); I think this file allows the map to be opened in the scenario editor.

If you don't have a CustomAssets folder, the directory path should be: ...\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Railroads!\CustomAssets , you can just make the folder yourself.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to XMLs, but I'd recommend making sure that every era has at least one objective. I'd copy and paste the scenario objectives from a multiplayer map into your game (three eras of 'eliminate all opponents). Change the era years, starting texts, etc to your values. Test it. Next, add your victory conditions, one at a time, teting after each one, until you find the one that causes a CTD.

Good luck with your map, I'm looking foreward to playing it.

[Narra]

Many thanks for they reply so promptly Stormfather. I already wondered if the file would need to be shifted to that location.. thanks for the confirmation.

I've spent the afternoon tinkering with some of the files and have managed to get 2 eras in to the map (the eliminate the competition ones oddly enough) and so far the scenario is stable.

I'll try cutting the various objectives that I want and pasting them in over this, admending as I go.. wish me luck

Narra

[atani]

Many thanks for they reply so promptly Stormfather. I already wondered if the file would need to be shifted to that location.. thanks for the confirmation.

It is not required to move it from the UserMaps directory. If you do move to the CustomAssets folder you will need to put it in CustomAssets/XML/_SCENARIOS_/<your map name>

I'll try cutting the various objectives that I want and pasting them in over this, admending as I go.. wish me luck
Narra

It is probably a good idea for you to take a look at the Scenario Manager thread in the "Mods - Misc" section. This will help you edit all of the XML files which are used by the game in your map.

Mike

[Narra]

I d/l'd the scenario editor.. when i load it up, all that happens is it tells me that my scenario isn't a scenario and it simply spits the whole thing out. Tried a number of workarounds but nothing helps.. always get the same errors.

I can happily set up the win conditions to "buy out every other player" but try and change this to anything else and i get ctd's happening all over the place or the scenario appears in the list but with no map/ title etc.

Man.. my brain hurts guess i'm getting senile. Not sure how to proceed..

[snoopy55]

Since you're having problems you might want to try uploading it to the Railroads! Technical Issues section and I and/or another can take a look at it. write out what you want in a text file and one or more of us can work with you on it. I promise to keep my Globals out of it til it's working and someone asks for them.....

As to the Scenario Manager, I've played with that and used it often, but one thing it requires is a working version of the map first. When working on a map, always keep the original in the Usermaps folder and a copy of any that worked, with your changes, in a personal folder with a V(x) after the name to keep them seperate. You can keep notes as to what you did on each one. Also, keep notes on paper or Wordpad as to what you do so you aren't doing the same thing twice.

[Narra]

That's a very kind offer Snoopy, which I may very well take you guys up on.

I spent yesterday evening chewing on the issues, and have decided to try a few more things as a fix. If i have no success with these, then I'll post over on the technical issues forum with the uploaded zip file later this evening or maybe tomorrow.

Narra

[Dr Frag]

Narra, what are you using to edit the XML files with? I'd suggest Notepad++ and the XML checker add-on if you don't have anything better.

DF

[gforce]

hallo,
i've got also a problem with the scenario-goals
- the goal i want to set is:
grow 5 (ANY)villages into a town
i've got no error, but after i 5 villages had grow, still i had no checkbox checked

here's the code:
***
<Condition>
<szType>GrowCity</szType>
<bRequired>1</bRequired>
<GrowCityList>
<GrowCityListItem>
<szTargetSize>Town</szTargetSize>
<szCityTagName>ANY_CITY</szCityTagName>
<iGrowQuantity>5</iGrowQuantity>
</GrowCityListItem>
</GrowCityList>
</Condition>

****
there's more code like description etc...
but that's not the problem...
i can't run the scenario manager, so i can't test it overthere
Maybe someone could run the scenario manager and send me the <condition>
Or did i misunderstood the code???
i'm not so sure about the iGrowQuantity, is this the quantity of villages or the needed growth-level???
*****
plz help....

[atani]

here's the code:
***
<Condition>
<szType>GrowCity</szType>
<bRequired>1</bRequired>
<GrowCityList>
<GrowCityListItem>
<szTargetSize>Town</szTargetSize>
<szCityTagName>ANY_CITY</szCityTagName>
<iGrowQuantity>5</iGrowQuantity>
</GrowCityListItem>
</GrowCityList>
</Condition>

Change that to:

Code: Select all

<GrowCityList>
  <GrowCityListItem>
    <szInitialSize>Village</szInitialSize>
    <szTargetSize>Town</szTargetSize>
    <szCityTagName>ANY_CITY</szCityTagName>
    <iGrowQuantity>5</iGrowQuantity>
  </GrowCityListItem>
</GrowCityList>

That should fix it up to make it work.. Found this in the US NorthWest scenario.

Mike