Making custom maps
There are two types of maps in Allegiance. The first set are hardcoded into Allegiance and are available on every server. This group includes maps such as HiHigher, InsideOut and Star. The second group of maps have been custom made by players. This group includes Limited Diamond, Dune and Sinuous.
What is a custom map?
A custom map is a .igc file created by a player using the Allegiance Map Editor. This file is added to a server by the server host and can be selected by the Game Controller from the game settings screen.
Allegiance Map Editor (AME)
AME is a program created by KGJV to enable players to create new custom maps for Allegiance. To install AME you will need to download the installer which can be found in the FAO downloads page.
Creating a custom map using AME
Once you have installed AME you can start creating your own custom map.
The AME interface
When you open AME you will see the main editing screen. The large black area on the right shows the currently selected sector. The smaller black area at the bottom left is the minimap which shows sectors of the map like the in game minimap. The other controls we will come to later.
Creating a new map
To create a new map open up AME and click the New button below the minimap. You can also load an existing map to edit it.
Creating sectors
Start by creating your first sector. It is useful at this stage to check both the Snap to Grid and View Grid checkboxes. To create a sector double right click on the minimap. A white dot representing the new sector will appear on the minimap and the sector will be listed in the sector list above it. The new sector is created empty of rocks, alephs and bases. These will be added later.
Now create some more sectors to make the shape of the map you want. If you need to move a sector you've created just click and drag it in the minimap. If you drag the sector beyond the edge of the minimap it will resize to accomodate it.
Linking sectors
None of these sectors are joined at this stage so you'll want to add aleph links between them. To create this link right click on a sector in the minimap and drag to another sector. You should now see a line linking the two sectors and alephs will be shown in the sector view. You can now join up the rest of your sectors in whatever way you choose.
The Alephs created will be named for the sector they lead to.
If you make a mistake and create an Aleph that you don't want you can remove it by right clicking on the Aleph in the sector view and selecting delete. This will delete both Alephs and remove the link on the minimap.
Adding bases
There's one more step you need to take to make a working map. You need to add a base for each team. Most custom maps are made for two teams but you could just as easily make them for three to six teams. Select the sector you want to be Yellow's home. Right click in the sector view and select Add Base from the menu. The base added by default is a Yellow Garrison so we don't need to edit this base at all.
Now select the sector for Blue's home and add a base in the same way. Now double click on the base to bring up it's preperties dialogue. Change the team to 2 in the drop down menu. The base should now show as blue in the sector view. Now repeat for each extra team if you're making a map for more than two teams.
For home sectors you also need to set the garrison sectors to belong to their teams. Right click on the sector view and select properties. By default the sector belongs to team 0 (no team) change this to whichever team's base is in this sector. The sector should change colour on the minimap to reflect it's ownership.
Other sectors
Apart from alephs and the garrisons the sectors are empty. An empty sector is randomly populated by the server when the game is created according to what money settings were chosen. In addition the alephs will be randomised. This means that a blank sector will have normal rocks, helium rocks and tech rocks added to it.
Saving
Use the Save As button to save the map. You should now be able to test it in a LAN server and pass it on to a server host to add to their servers.
Tips for basic maps
Layout
It is suggested that maps are kept symmetrical as this ensures that the maps are evenly balanced for both teams. Some people prefer 2-axis mirror symmetry whilst others are happy with rotational symmetry. It's the choice of the map maker but if players don't like the layout they aren't likely to play the map.
Aleph links
Try to make your aleph links as clear as possible when viewed on the minimap. Try to avoid alephs that cross and look messy. At all costs avoid having an aleph that crosses behind another sector but doesn't join to it.
Advanced techniques
Double Alephs
You do not need to link sectors using just one Aleph. You can repeat the process to add another aleph link. More if you prefer.
Fixing giant Alephs
The default size of all Alephs created in AME is 200. This makes them appear very large in game compared to the standard maps. Many players dislike the large alephs so it is worth taking the time to make them 100 in size.
There are two ways to achieve this. Firstly you can edit the properties of each Aleph. In the Sector View double click or right click and select properties on the Aleph you wish to edit. In the box named size change the number to 100. Then repeat for each Aleph.
The alternative way is to use the templates system in AGM. On the main screen click the Templates button and select Alephs. The screen that comes up is a lot like the properties screen for an individual Aleph. Change the size setting to 100. Now hit the save button to keep this template for further use and click Apply to all. This will change the size of all the Alephs on the map in one go.
Sector lighting and backgrounds
Each sector has a defined light source which you can change the position and colour of. Right click on the Sector View and select the properties option. The sector properties screen gives you options for the position and colour of the lighting amongst other things. It's a simple case of trying different colours and lighting positions.
In this screen you can also change the background image for each sector. It's a good idea for immersion to try and match the background to the lighting you choose (or vice versa). A bright red star may look odd in a sector that's being lit by green light.
Selecting black as the lighting colour will make the sector totally dark. No objects in that sector will show up in game, although you can still target and hit them.
Rotating Objects
All objects (Alephs, bases and rocks) can be set to rotate via their properties screens. Rocks will rotate by default but Alephs and bases are static.
If you set Alephs to rotate they will change the entry vector of all incoming ships. This makes them harder to camp and especially hard to prox. However they will also send ships out in the direction that they're facing when the ship enters which may be the opposite direction to the path the ships wish to follow.
Bases set to rotate will rotate about their centre point. This makes manual docking harder and drones will not be able to dock at all (they line up but by the time they've done that the door has moved so they have to line up again and so on).
Positioning Alephs
The aleph location randomizer is VERY smart, it keeps the distance to center within a defined range, so that if you set alephs in the quadrant and distance you want, the randomiser will then randomise their location based on a sphere with a specific width. Keep alephs you want out on the edge out on the edge of the sector view and those you want closer closer to the centre point.
'Home' sectors
Setting a sector to belong to a team does not necessarily mean that they should have a base in that sector. It actually affects the resources placed in that sector by the game. Most game settings will have a different number of helium and tech rocks in a home sector when compared to the other sectors. By setting more than the starting sectors as home you can create sectors with limited resources as defined by the settings in Allegiance.
Multiple Starting Bases
With maps for larger games particularly you may wish to have more than one starting base for each team to avoid activating Sector Overload when people first launch to scout. The commonest option is to add a second Garrison sector for each team, although other bases can also be used.
With multiple Garrisons, miners and constructors will launch from the first Garrison you create in the map for each team. So you can specify which location each team will expand from.
Adding Rocks
Rocks can be added to a sector in much the same way that bases are added. However if you add any rocks the game will not populate the rest of the sector with any other rocks.
If you want to make a fully populated sector you will need to add tech rocks, helium rocks and normal rocks. You can use AME to add a group of normal rocks randomly but be sure not to add too many or the large update when a player first enters that sector in a game may crash people.
You can also make an empty sector by placing a normal rock a long way out of the centre of the sector and giving it a very low sig.
Custom Helium Rock Settings
It is important to know what you are doing when you add Custom Helium rocks to a sector. AME by default sets up the rock with a random amount of He3 that is generally far higher than normal rocks generated by the game. To create custom He3 rocks with more normal values you can calculate the settings using the process described below.
The important factors in determining how much He3 a given rock has on it are the pre game settings of resources and total money.
The resources setting determines how many He3 rocks there are in each sector. When set to Normal or Plentiful there will be 2 rocks in the home sectors and 4 in every other sector. In the Scarce settings there are 2 He3 rocks in non-home sectors and between 0 and 2 He3 rocks in home sectors.
The total money setting determines how much He3 is on the map. This He3 is spread evenly between all the He3 rocks, so if there are more rocks, there will be less He3 on each rock by default. Most cores will give 3000 units of He3 at a total money setting of Medium (1.0). The number in brackets is a multiplier so if you set it to High (1.25) the 3000 units will be multiplied by 1.25 to give 3750 units.
Now given these two settings you can decide how much He3 to provide on each of your custom rocks. As a guidline, work out the He3 per rock on your map assuming normal/medium settings. This is easily done using the following calculation:
(((no. home sectors)*2) + ((no. normal sectors)*4))/3000
With this baseline you can decide to have more or less He3 on your rocks but you should at least be able to avoid having stupidly high amounts of He3 on your rocks.
