Editor Tips: Making Easier Maps
by Auratus

Things to remember:

1. Smaller maps tend to result in faster and less difficult maps (but not always, of course).

2. Put goodies like bows, swords, stone, wood, tools near the human player.

3. Big plus: Give the human eye catchers as sets, pre-built. The more, then the easier it generally will be.

4. Animals. Put in grassy patches and dark patches too. This helps in animal generation (at least that's what I've observed). Use the automatic forest tool and grass tool to sprinkle in a little of each over each terrain type. That helps too (I think). Always do all pre-placed structures before terrain modification beyond normal green grass to avoid problems of adding additional buildings after the modifications are already done. Flowers result in the butterflies.

5. Don't give the AIs any gold ore in their mountains for easy games, but this is only true if they use gold to get level 2 and 3 soldiers to pit against the level 1 soldiers of the AI players. This especially makes it easier if you also did number 3 above. Without gold, the AI may recruit faster since it needn't take time to process mine and smelt gold ore.

6. To weaken the AI player(s) even more, don't modify their coal and iron deposits in their mountains, that is, accept the medium default. If you modify to low, then the AI pretty much is big easy target if you did numbers 3 and 5 above.

7. Lastly, you could opt to not give the AI any iron or coal deposits. Instead, scatter weapons in the bush for them to find. Be sure you give the AI a pre-built barracks if you do this, because they may not build it if they can't find coal or iron (I've seen it happen, LoL).

8. If you want certain buildings or towers on higher terrain, then do raise the height of the area as you desire.

Let's say you want a castle on a mountain. Choose a small tower. Try to place it where the castle is desired. If the area will not accept the small tower, then adjust the land height as needed until it does. Now: Delete the tower and put it back at a slightly different spot near where it just was. See how the land automatically levels itself? Keep deleting, moving and adding back the small tower until the land will accept a medium tower. Now repeat the process with the medium tower and/or small tower until the land area will accept your castle or other building. Note that the land may not level automatically in the desired manner if the desired high area is too close to the sea or another building that prevents the lower lands to "fill in " automatically as it normally otherwise would according to this procedure. Once the buildings are placed the way you want them, you may want the re-rough'n the mountain areas near your buildings by hand again. Use "speckle" tool for added effect. This will eliminate any odd-looking extra leveled land near the buildings.

9. Viewing an AI In Play-Test:

Enter the editor, select the human player, select for mules. Place mules evenly through out the AI's territory and where every else you want to see. Now, when the game runs, you will see the AI and what it's up to as an enemy AI. I do this in all my maps in play test. Afterwards, just delete the mules. The AI, BTW, will ignore the mules. Of course, if you need mules in the game, a few may "volunteer" to help, since they belong to the player.