Generals 2 - Worldbuilder Wish List

[fenixlives]

All this talk of whats going to be in the game, what faction etc has made me want to make a post about the map making side of things. To me this is the most exciting aspect because I really did enjoy making maps for kw and cnc4.. Now alas, we get one for generals 2 which looks promising.

So to all the map making fanatics out there, why don't we share what we would like to see in the program that you feel will make it worth while and efficient ?

(Of course, I wouldn't expect devs to do this, I am sure they got their hands full making the game) - Still I am curious



I'll begin with:

- Adding custom music or video files to it - Perhaps we can create our own "mini-map video transmissions" and use it to create exciting missions. - I remember in Kw editor you could add music from the game itself and tie to a script/ event. However we couldn't add anything outside of that.

- Would like a world builder that gets some support and updates along with the game as well.

- LOTS OF COOL doodads like. eg- aircraft carrier or anything rare that we might not have in missions or multi to embrace our creativity.

- short cuts to the game from the editor would be nice so we don't have to open it separately.

I'm sure I had more but this is all i can think off. Fire away.

[Alaskan_Viking]

I remember about a decade ago, I made a map in the world builder. Never really finished it, I got the gameplay and design down but I only detailed about about half of the map to make it look nice, though I did run it several times with random people on generals online. Anyways, I reformatted my PC and lost the save file, then forgot about it, but then years later I was on generals online and saw somebody hosting up a game using my half finished map! It made my day.

They definitely need a map maker/world builder, it adds so much to the game.

[CnC_Fin]

First things first, let's hope they at least publish a WB tool to the public ("FB2 engine is very complex for everyone else except developers")

But if that happens, I wish they put lots of civilian buildings from different places. Generals had lot of structures from Middle east (called Mogadishu buildings in WB) but not very many structures from Europe or Asia, and only a few buildings from North America (in ZH)

Also various weather effects like C&C4 had; light snow, heavy snow, rain, thunder storm etc.

[Noodlesocks]

Only thing I would like improving is the scripting. Other world builders had a lot of redundant script functions left over from older games that had no use in newer games. I'd have liked that to be cleaned up.

But really, I'd be happy with a worldbuilder just being released given Bioware's recent stance on modifying games.

[Harrrr]

All this talk of whats going to be in the game, what faction etc has made me want to make a post about the map making side of things. To me this is the most exciting aspect because I really did enjoy making maps for kw and cnc4.. Now alas, we get one for generals 2 which looks promising.

So to all the map making fanatics out there, why don't we share what we would like to see in the program that you feel will make it worth while and efficient ?

(Of course, I wouldn't expect devs to do this, I am sure they got their hands full making the game) - Still I am curious



I'll begin with:

- Adding custom music or video files to it - Perhaps we can create our own "mini-map video transmissions" and use it to create exciting missions. - I remember in Kw editor you could add music from the game itself and tie to a script/ event. However we couldn't add anything outside of that.

- Would like a world builder that gets some support and updates along with the game as well.

- LOTS OF COOL doodads like. eg- aircraft carrier or anything rare that we might not have in missions or multi to embrace our creativity.

- short cuts to the game from the editor would be nice so we don't have to open it separately.

I'm sure I had more but this is all i can think off. Fire away.

There are a couple of issues with the nature of your requests that I'm not sure you're aware of.

A) Adding in custom audio/video
The issues with this is mainly concerned with encoding, transmission from player to player, and the possible content that comes with it.

The thing that makes maps so popular among players is that anyone can play them without needing to download a huge mod, and the map files are so small that they can feasibly be transferred at the start of a match. Audio wouldn't be that much of an issue at all, but video can add a ton of file-size weight to the map transfer. Then there's always the issue of where to put the media, as many people even had issues of where to put the maps with previous CnC games.

The second major issue is that for the feature to be usable, there needs to be some standards known for media encoding; which means that due to licensing it may not include some formats (mp3 or h.264 encoding). The third and relatively minor issue is with content. Should the content of the audio and video be monitored? If they make adding audio and video incredibly easy, I would certainly see griefers taking normal maps and adding potentially-questionable content video on there (ie adult entertainment).

B) More objects to add, especially those not found in missions or existing maps.

Possible issues here: bloat, transmission from player to player, and/or excluding some players.

As I mentioned above, maps excel at making everyone that has the base game able to play them. For that to happen, everyone needs the assets for those new map-editor objects.

If the devs add objects to Generals 2 that can only be found through the map editor (apart from a few easter eggs), that don't exist anywhere else in the game, the first question to ask is why is it there in the first place. Depending on the number and size of these unused assets, it could add a significant amount to the installation footprint (and consequently the download file size) that has no baring on the core game itself.

If you give people the option from either a DLC, a patch or added in with the World Builder download itself, then you're going to start limiting who can play the map...something they won't find out unless they try to load. This could lead to map and map community fracturing.

C) Shortcuts to the game from the map editor
The main issue for this is that both would be running at the same time, and thus both are utilizing resources. There also might be issues of a "live editor" that would need to be mitigated...like how you can make changes on your map in the editor that instantly reflect on the game. There can certainly be a host of errors and such that come about from that.

[Garbarsardar]

Would be cool if it'd be a powerful tool akin to Blizzard's SC2 world editor. Of course, given EA's track record, good luck with that.

[fenixlives]

There are a couple of issues with the nature of your requests that I'm not sure you're aware of.

A) Adding in custom audio/video
The issues with this is mainly concerned with encoding, transmission from player to player, and the possible content that comes with it.

The thing that makes maps so popular among players is that anyone can play them without needing to download a huge mod, and the map files are so small that they can feasibly be transferred at the start of a match. Audio wouldn't be that much of an issue at all, but video can add a ton of file-size weight to the map transfer. Then there's always the issue of where to put the media, as many people even had issues of where to put the maps with previous CnC games.

The second major issue is that for the feature to be usable, there needs to be some standards known for media encoding; which means that due to licensing it may not include some formats (mp3 or h.264 encoding). The third and relatively minor issue is with content. Should the content of the audio and video be monitored? If they make adding audio and video incredibly easy, I would certainly see griefers taking normal maps and adding potentially-questionable content video on there (ie adult entertainment).

B) More objects to add, especially those not found in missions or existing maps.

Possible issues here: bloat, transmission from player to player, and/or excluding some players.

As I mentioned above, maps excel at making everyone that has the base game able to play them. For that to happen, everyone needs the assets for those new map-editor objects.

If the devs add objects to Generals 2 that can only be found through the map editor (apart from a few easter eggs), that don't exist anywhere else in the game, the first question to ask is why is it there in the first place. Depending on the number and size of these unused assets, it could add a significant amount to the installation footprint (and consequently the download file size) that has no baring on the core game itself.

If you give people the option from either a DLC, a patch or added in with the World Builder download itself, then you're going to start limiting who can play the map...something they won't find out unless they try to load. This could lead to map and map community fracturing.

C) Shortcuts to the game from the map editor
The main issue for this is that both would be running at the same time, and thus both are utilizing resources. There also might be issues of a "live editor" that would need to be mitigated...like how you can make changes on your map in the editor that instantly reflect on the game. There can certainly be a host of errors and such that come about from that.

Interesting, Thanks for the detailed explanation. I can see it would be a lot of work and challenges for them to add any extras. The most anyone of us could ask for is "Less buggy Version".. seriously though I will fly to the moon and back if they just at least add the custom music part, as you mentioned, it wont be that much of a issue.

I listen to lots of different music and when I come across a song I think would be good for a map & I just cringe at the fact I cant use it in the game to add a a bit of suspense / creativity...Then you just have to settle with what ever the game has.. That has been my motivation.

An example of a good album would be , Two Steps from Hell... If you haven't listened to this, GO NOW!

But as garbarsadar just said - We all know EA's Track record. But EA isn't making the game, bio-ware is. Could this be a a polished game or will they FALL to EA's dominance and do a rushed release.. Only Time will tell.

[Lauren]

I listen to lots of different music and when I come across a song I think would be good for a map & I just cringe at the fact I cant use it in the game to add a a bit of suspense / creativity...Then you just have to settle with what ever the game has.. That has been my motivation.

An example of a good album would be , Two Steps from Hell... If you haven't listened to this, GO NOW!

And who controls that the creator of the map has the license to put that stuff in in the first place?

Also as a side note: adding custom sound/music to a custom map is possible in both TW, KW, and RA3, but such maps cannot be transferred ingame as the required files aren't transferred.

Would be cool if it'd be a powerful tool akin to Blizzard's SC2 world editor. Of course, given EA's track record, good luck with that.

Good thing that a good portion of the new and redesigned stuff is more akin to the WB then the WC3 editor.

[TheScriner]

My request is a Mac version of the worldbuilder

[Harrrr]

My request is a Mac version of the worldbuilder

At this time, it is doubtful that Generals 2 will be released for OSX at all, which would make it doubly pointless.