EDITOR TIPS AND TRICKS

Editor; Basic Tips To Use (Auratus)

Quick Map Making Tips:

1. Click File, New, then pick Size. Click EDIT, Map Settings, Games Settings: Alliances Changeable (check box if yes). Click High goods (can't hurt). The map default is for single player maps.

2. Lay down the land except mountains (rock). Most people like green grass. Use custom size brush to 25 for fast work. Don't worry about looks or edges of coasts. Leave speckle off.

3. Do a few lakes. These are great to end rivers at and place fish.

4. Pick where you want mountains (rock). Turn on speckle tool. Use a medium brush (usually). Do it.

5. Time for coasts. Pick speckle narrow brush, beach terrain. Go along the main land edges for nice beaches, but not everywhere.

6. Click water, type 2, point size brush, speckle on. Go again along coasts and beaches to get a nice looking coast.

WARNING Ship yards and Harbours need clean edges to the water, smooth, or they won't place. Keep this in your mind as you do the coast roughing.

7. Click green grass, point size brush, speckle on, and go to some of your larger beaches and make them mesh nicer with the land.

8. Repeat 7 above with rock to make a nice transition from rock to green grass. Then do the same again with grass to mesh the rock out where you don't want it, but the look will be natural.

9. Will there be a Mayan player? If so, add desert. Mesh it with green grass according to step 7 above.

10. Rivers. Draw them in, size 4 at the beginning; size 1 at the end. You may need to zoom in to a 3 or 5 to control the river lay-down route. Click river mouths at the lake or coast with a size 4 river.

11. Time for altitude adjustments. Use a large or medium brush for small adjustments with speckle on. Go custom size 25, raise steeply, for large fast adjustment. A quick click will naturalize the land to end the smooth look it otherwise has. Hold longer for bigger changes. Make your rock terrain become mountains. Be careful not to mess your rivers up. But it is better to draw rivers before altitude changes, because rivers draw much easier on flat land.

12. Create your players, but don't put them down until all are created. Set player one to human, the rest to "free selection" for race/tribe types. Or set the race also to your fancy for each player.

13. Set down the start flag of each player on grass (required for most players races) inside the territory where the player will begin.

14. Set player one to human and the rest to free selection in the Team Data block for "Played By."

15 Skip to step 18 if you want to set buildings.

16. Decorate the map. Be sure to set down resource also, like coal, fish, iron ore, gold ore, sulphur, etc. Don't forget to place building stone and some trees near computer players.

17. Export. If there is a map error, then you will be told, if not: Play. Tell us here about map errors.

18. Now! If you don't like the default play arrangement... you most likely will need to set buildings. Players tribes must be specified. Do so, then set at least one small tower for each tribe near it's start flag. Set other desired buildings for each player. Re-level land as needed around buildings with the altitude tool on speckle. Player (human) tower doesn't have to have connecting regions, but all computer players towers must have connecting regions!

19. Set down the settler people yourself as custom... or use the standard settler team (selection) for each player. Don't forget builders, diggers, miners, smiths, and stone cutters, fishermen, and others (wood cutters, sawmill people, etc).

20. Repeat step 19, but for goods (wood, stone, tools, food, etc). Don't forget wood and stone.

21 Go to step 16.

That's the simple short explanation, but there are lots of details to learn as time moves along in your adventure in making Settlers Maps! But that's why you're here!