W3Z Map Editor

03-26-2004, 03:15 PM

#136

Quote:

Originally Posted by zepir

I'll release an updated version of my editor.
It should fix most of the bug I heard about (trigger string, TFT maps making the editor to crash, addtionnal map flags,...)
It'll also bring some new features like the 3D (openGL) view of the map and a kind of SC->War3 map convertion.
See the work-in-progress screenshots below:

3D OpenGL view

SC convertion (Staredit on the back)

hello zepir, I like programming. I'm trying to write a program which can display WC3's map, just like the WorldEditor . Is this possible? :) Would you like to share W3ZME's source code ? [email protected]

03-27-2004, 02:27 AM

#137

zepir

Quote:

Originally Posted by xichin

You should check the Tutorial section (when it'll be alive), there is all the info you need about War3 maps.

About the source of my prog, many many many people asked for it. The answer is still "no" at the moment. But, if I find the time to clean my code (this include some reprogrammation) and release it.
I'll just quote what I put in the next "ReadMe" of beta 9:

Quote:

-Can I have the source code?
Right now, the answer is NO! Many many many people asked for it and I'm aware
it would be a good idea to release the source code. However, I don't want to
for several good reasons:
* Protection code:
the source code contains the watermark code and I don't want people to be
able to remove watermarks.
* It is my baby:
I spent a lot of time on this editor and I know that once the code will be
released, some people will just steal my work giving me no credits and say
they did the whole thing. I would loose my control over this program.
* Unusable code for people other than me:
the source code is really nasty! I mean comments are rare and sometimes in
French, sometimes in English; there are no naming conventions and variables
can have weird names: I started using naming conventions while coding this
projet so in the begining, there was no conventions, then in the middle,
there are like 3 or more different conventions and in the end, it's a new
convention... The way I did things is not the good/best way since I used
this project to learn some technics, I learned some C++ nice stuff a year
after starting the project, I didn't know enought about War3 files and maps
structure to design a good program architecture that would save coders time
later, there were some adds and fixes everywhere (a patch work...); The
project was originally made under Visual C++ 6.0 and is now compiled under
Visual C++ .Net which required some code adjustements (CString changed, some
third party classes I used were not working, ...)
* Not good basis to learn from:
because the code is nasty, it's not a good program to look at if one plan to
learn stuff. It would teach the wrong way of doing things. And the project is
so big (arround 150 ".h" and ".cpp" files! more than 1Meg of C++ pure code!
more than 38,000 lines!) that any good programmer would get lost... so what
about beginners! Even I get lost from times to times!
* Why giving the source?
I really think it would be too hard for someone to improve the code and add
features. It would also NOT be a good idea to look at the code for learning.
Then, why should I release the source code since it would be useless.
Also, I gave all the information I got about W3x files so anybody could write
his/her own map editor. I expected people to do so and I didn't want to own
the only 3rd party editor. There are also good C++ source on the web to look
at and learn some stuff. There are other source-free projects that are
available and that deal with War3 stuff. I did release the source code of
the War3 map info extractor for example which contains the code to read
inside w3x files and extract data from it.
Anyway, I know there are limited people who wont understand and respect these
reasons. And I'm sure there can be a few good reasons I should release the
source. Some parts of my code are good and interesting to look at. And some
people just need to see what is inside the program they use, just by curiosity
or because they fear a virus or whatever. So I will say that I MAY release the
source code one day (in less than a year... maybe this summer).
One last thing: please, don't ask me the source code, it would be useless. I
only do what I planed to do.

03-27-2004, 02:48 AM	#138
BuRnInSpartan	is there a map protection?

03-27-2004, 02:49 AM	#139
BuRnInSpartan	up there your map editor?

03-27-2004, 04:58 AM

#140

zepir

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuRnInSpartan

is there a map protection?

There is a regular map protection thing and another feature that can help to authentify the original author of a map: the watermark. The watermark is some kind of data hidden almost everywhere in the map so if someone can unprotect your map, there is still the watermark which is part of the map. And if you find like someone stolen your map, you can say "check the watermark on that map with W3ZME, it says I'm the original author! Not anybody else!".

04-05-2004, 09:28 AM	#141
Markus3832	Hmm... I can't download the latest version (the beta 852 thingie) 'cause it says i don't have permission. Why is that?

04-05-2004, 11:20 AM

#142

zepir

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markus3832

Hmm... I can't download the latest version (the beta 852 thingie) 'cause it says i don't have permission. Why is that?

My bad! Should be fixed now. --> Download here.

BTW: remember this version is not working with TFT and have some bugs (I think there's still a trigger strings bug which will be fixed soon)

Expect a newer version before the en of april. Just be patient. ;)

04-08-2004, 02:39 AM	#143
zepir	Still working, getting the whole thing better... Some 3D views from my editor... ...and the famous "The Hunters" converted from SC to War3 (screenshot of Blizzard's WE). The darker part is a model that contains a screenshot of the original SC map to show how it matches. (Thx RodOfNod for the model)

04-08-2004, 11:49 AM	#144
Krakou	Ah oui c'est nettement mieux que l'ancienne version. :D

04-17-2004, 12:07 AM	#145
zotax	Looking good, quick question: will the tileset functions, (everything to 1 point and the addition of cliff tiles) add any extra size to the map? I tried doing the same thing with WEU and it bloated my map 300kb+ for just adding 2 extra tiles.

04-17-2004, 01:17 PM

#146

zepir

Quote:

Originally Posted by zotax

Looking good, quick question: will the tileset functions, (everything to 1 point and the addition of cliff tiles) add any extra size to the map?
I tried doing the same thing with WEU and it bloated my map 300kb+ for just adding 2 extra tiles.

The thing is that you can add up to 16 different ground tilesets and it wouldn't make your map larger. Each tileset added requiers only 4 bytes!
But if you want to add cliff tileset, it's a different problem. It seems that War3 doesn't deal with the list of cliff tilesets specified in the map and just uses the 2 default cliff tilesets used by the terrain type (Lordaeron Summer, Northend, Dungeon,...). A way to "force" War3 to use these cliff tilesets is to make the textures and models of the cliff tilesets you want to use replace the original default ones. That's a kind of hack. I dunno if it's what those editors do but mine doesn't do it right now and may do it later (not in the coming beta).

It means that the map size will not be increased but you will only be able to use the cliffs from the choosen terrain type.

04-17-2004, 07:28 PM	#147
Starcraftfreak	Isn't it even less than 4 bytes? It's 4 bytes in the W3E for the tileset ID. But the W3E gets compressed in the MPQ so it might be less than 4 bytes per tileset. ;)

04-17-2004, 11:58 PM

#148

zepir

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starcraftfreak

Isn't it even less than 4 bytes? It's 4 bytes in the W3E for the tileset ID. But the W3E gets compressed in the MPQ so it might be less than 4 bytes per tileset. ;)

True! :)

Anyway, I got a working beta but before making it public, I'd like to add some improvments. If someone really needs the temporary beta and wants to try it and give me some feedback, just query me on IRC and I'll DCC it. ;)

04-25-2004, 05:18 AM

#149

zepir

There we go! The new W3ZME beta after month of inactivity!
The new beta brings many new intersting stuff:
-OpenGL 3D rendering
-Starcraft maps (SCM and SCX) conversion
-TFT support (W3X)
-Plugins support
-new .ini format (check it! Many many many hidden features!)

Bug fixed:
-fixed the trigger string bug
-campaign loading screen bug fixed

Where can you get it?

==> HERE! <==

Some notes:
The openGL view doesn't update automatically so you'll have to hit F5 sometimes to update it.

If you want/need to know more about map conversion, read these:

Warcraft 2 to Warcraft 3 Conversion - Technical Documentation (pdf)

Starcraft to Warcraft 3 Conversion - Technical Documentation (pdf)

04-27-2004, 01:00 AM

#150

zepir

I noticed a stupid bug... :(
When you create new maps or convert maps (and maybe in some other cases), the editor deletes the "default" files in W3ZME\MapFiles.
These files are used as "default" files when a map doesn't have them and needs them in order to work with War3. If the files are not here, the map wont be playable in War3.

I'll release a fix one day but right now, what everyone should is quite simple:
make sure all the files are still in that directory:
war3map.j
war3map.mmp
war3map.w3c
war3map.wct
war3map.wtg
war3mapMap.blp
war3mapUnits.doo
war3mapPreview.zip

Just open their file properties in Windows explorer and set their attibutes to "Read Only". That's all you need!

UPDATE: get the fixed version here

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