Is it possible to make your own map?

[RaycerX]

I've been wanting to make my own maps for a while now, but all I see are mostly gameplay mods but no map mods. Are there any ways to make your own map?

[Krazyguy75]

Short answer: Not really.

 

Long answer: Yes, AFAIK, I believe it is technically possible, but we'd have to individually move each and every part of an existing map (1 tile of floor, 1 tile of wall, or 1 block of cover at a time), and even then I'm not sure if we'd be able to add or remove parts and I'm sure we cannot add types of parts not already in said map. It's just way way way too time consuming.

[bokauk]

From my research, it's been possible to modify soldier spawn point locations and move certain entities to different parts of the map (I think). If I remember correctly, even just moving a car would require moving several parts and even then, the coverpoints might not even move with the model assets.

 

The map files also only contain the assets that are used within that map, and so it wouldn't be possible to include assets which aren't already used in that file. To do this, we would need to be able to add assets inside of UPK files ie. repack them, which is no small feat. I don't think we'd even be able to add additional cars that already exist in the map without repacking the UPK.

 

Basic map editing such as moving existing assets like as trees and cars etc, I'd say is far more feasible, but still somewhat of a tedious process at best (ignoring the potential coverpoint issue).

[Amineri]

I'm pretty sure that Firaxis makes the maps using the Unreal Development Kit map creation tool.

 

However the released maps are cooked and so can no longer be edited by this tool, and it seems unlikely that 2k would let Firaxis release the source art/code for the maps (even if Firaxis were inclined to).

 

I'm not all that familiar with Unreal map creation, but I think it can involve some aspects of coding as well as art design.

[Krazyguy75]

I'm pretty sure that Firaxis makes the maps using the Unreal Development Kit map creation tool.

 

However the released maps are cooked and so can no longer be edited by this tool, and it seems unlikely that 2k would let Firaxis release the source art/code for the maps (even if Firaxis were inclined to).

 

I'm not all that familiar with Unreal map creation, but I think it can involve some aspects of coding as well as art design.

 

Their version was almost certainly changed to include special types of objects that would then be broken down into the tiles we see now. I doubt they built the levels out of these puzzle pieces.

[Amineri]

I think that Unreal Engine already includes these, called Prefabs : http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UsingPrefabs.html

 

However if you look at their suggested workflow on that page:

 

While the functionality listed in this document is still accurate from a technical standpoint, Epic's level designers and artists use the following internal workflow to avoid any issues when using prefabs:

• Use Prefabs as a level placement device only.
• This means that once a prefab is placed in a level, it should be immediately converted back to straightforward actors by right-clicking and choosing Convert PrefabInstance To Normal Actors.
• Avoid certain advanced features, including propagating actor property changes to prefab instances already placed in the level, and storing Kismet logic within the prefab asset.

While these features do technically work, it is possible that their use my lead to various issues. As such, Epic's internal staff now only uses prefabs as described above and strongly recommends this workflow.

 

 

 

So I'm pretty sure that the map design team places a car as a single object and then breaks it into its component pieces to avoid these issues that the Unreal dev team is mentioning.