map making info

[myythryyn]

Hello, I was looking forward to making H6 maps, but sadly the editor is so complicated you need a graphics design degree to use it. It also has the most useless documentation and the biggest problem is that custom maps cannot be shared and only played in hotseat.
So ill have to go back to older versions of the game to make a map.

what is the most popular version for custom maps these days?
Do people still download and play H5 maps? It is my favorite editor.
What version of H5 maps is used now? Is it ToE?

Is there interest in H3 maps as well? Would I have to make a H3 WoG map? I am a H3 purist and dont like any of those user made mods and would prefer just a SoD H3 map, but if people prefer WoG I would use it.

ok thanks for any info!

[Kalah]

* H3 is still played by most fans, because the game is excellent and the editor is easy to use. You can make a normal H3 map but I recommend you make it for Shadow of Death. You don't need to WoG it. Most H3 players are purists.
* People still play H4 too, so if you make an H4 map, people will play it, though I think more people play H3. If H4, make it standard or Winds of War.
* There are still H5 players our there, so you can make a TotE map, but since the editor is rubbish, you will not get as much map for your effort (value for money).

When your map is finished, we'd be glad to host it on CH.

[Salamandre]

Just updating infos

on mapsforheroes, download statistics show that wog maps are on pair with SoD ones. Then, from comments, that they are more played, much more. Probably purists got bored with "month of" and "plagues" and wanted to try a game which will not be screwed in late stage by those.

Not forcing you to choose wog or whatever, but a map can be designed in wog editor (much better than SoD) then disable wog scripts and keep only those who guarantee safe game. No plagues, no month of. It will play 100% SoD then except bad surprises.

[Kalah]

Will you also be able to open the map in the standard editor later?

There's a reason why WoG maps submitted to CH without minimaps are released without minimaps ... I can't open them.

[Salamandre]

If no special objects are used, it is easy to revert a wog map to SoD by changing one hex value in map file. As WoG, SoD can't open it, nor play.

[Kalah]

Then your idea is indeed possibly a good one. Once you make a WoG map, you eliminate all those potential players who play SoD (the 'purists'), but you could use some of the WoG features to make a better SoD map.

[Salamandre]

In general, the "purists" are just ignoring wog mechanics. They are bad informed and believe that WoG will always change the mechanics or important details, while wog has the capacity of self disabling, up to 100%.

Myself I played a lot of SoD maps on wog with only useful scripts, which should have been included by 3DO from start:

No plague
No month of
Rename towns
Buy all creatures in one click
Display movement points
Enhanced hints (we can check if dwellings have creatures to recruit in)

All the other scripts were disabled, and results were 100% similar with original map, except that I did not have to click one million times to buy each creature, did not get stopped by some stack placed in wrong location, did not have to check to which town to teleport every time, and did not fear plague (such bad randomness can invalidate the best strategies), and I could check how many tiles my hero can travel, and I did not lost my time to visit twice same dwelling, because it displayed as "visited". Better game play, no changes.