Icons

Okay, I was wondering a few things, one...which of these editors is best for newbies? And now that that is outta the way, I was looking for how I would go about creating a custom(hand drawn) icon for the map editors. I am a fairly good artist(when motivated) and would like to see my custom units with new faces, also..is there an editor that holds onto old custom units? And how would I go about making it so my race can build said cutom unit?

well, skinning is infact an advanced type editing, first you need to read in the tutorials section. You'll get most of the answers there....

Your Salvation - http://www.wc3campaigns.com/modules.php?name=FAQ

And keep posting if ya got a problem :)

first of all, welcome to the board =)

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well, which editor is the best? the tools of the trade are:

Mpq view WITH listfile (available on wc3campaigns in download section)==> this tool allows you to open the mpq files and actually get all files that are used by wc3

Excell from microsoft ==>to open and edit data entries of wc3, compare it with the rules.ini from ra2

blp->tga covertor==> it is still in testing phase, but when its done, you should be able to do custom made icons etc. ATM its not posible to do custom icons YET (blizzard changed filestructure again so we have to work things around again)

PSP==> this graphic editor is recomended to create custom Icons, textures, gui etc. This one is mostly used because of its easy interface, small learn curve, and alpha channel support (alpha channels are in every texture/icon of wc3, so its a must that your Graphic editor supports alpha channels)

MPQ2k==> dos program, used to integrate files within the war3patch.mpq

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these files are Necesary for modders around here. BUT PROLBEM NOW is that blizzard broke support with inread filereading in w3m (mapfile of wc3) . This means you cannot use custom units in the game, UNLESS you creaate your own war3patch.mpq. So basically editing wc3 is, after the beta, only usefull for creating mods etc. DURING the beta, it was possible to add custom units in the map itself, so it would be loaded by the game. Now, with retail, the game only reads mpq.

Of course, if you only create icons for the World editor interface, then you can mod of course, as World editor itself read folders instead mpq

about your last question=> go into your unit editor, and go to the line==> trained units. Select the custom unit from the popping unit layer, and voila, its done!

good luck with editing =)

if you have any questions later on be free to post them here or visit us at #wc3campaigns chat channel. All advanced editors/modders/programmers of wc3 are there swamping, so if ya need help go there (be aware that mostly they are inactive, but when they are around you can get your question answered very fast)

Hey, thanks for the info guys. I'll definately be checking this out over the weekend, but when I say newbie, I mean never touched a 3d modeler or any type of program like that before:( But hey, everyone who does it now was new sometime right? Well anyways, thanks for everything, if i have any probs when I get around to it(prolly sunday night)I'll give a shout.

~J- the Woodyelf

k, im glad that we are of help. Besides, we also started out as a noob, and about 3d modelling? pff there isnt even a coverter out yet so dont worry about it =)

cheers!