Map editors in Empire Earth II question

After days of extensive search, I found a great post by a great poster who has written in details not only customizing maps ( *.map) and scenarios (*.scn), but even he included a basic manual for script editig (which i dont need for now). So, to spread those highly useful information for EEII addicts, here it is:

by David a.k.a. Liar,
January 4th, 2006.

Contact:
dalelemu@hotmail.com
www.livejournal.com/~dissembly

__________________
Table of Contents:

1. Intro
1.2 Maps and Scenarios
2. Maps
2.1 Map Size and Shape
2.2 Seas and Hills
2.3 Territories
    2.3.1 Custom territory and city names
      a. city names
      b. territory names
2.4 Animals, Forests and Resources
3. Scenarios
3.1 Setting up players
    3.1.1 Single vs Multiplayer scenarios
    3.1.2 Diplomacy Settings
3.2 Placing Units
    3.2.1 Build-up vs Fixed Force
3.3 Victory Conditions
3.4 Scripts*
    3.4.1 *.dll files
    3.4.2 *.ddf files
4. Sharing maps and scenarios

*The section on scripts (3.4) does not yet contain a real guide to
scripting, as i haven't figured it out yet myself. Hopefully this
section of the guide can be expanded later. In the meantime, don't
panic: Scripting is not an essential skill to scenario creation.
Fully playable custom scenarios and skirmish maps can be created
with the information in this guide.

________________________
     1.0 Introduction

In EEII, you can create your own custom maps and scenarios in Map Editor,
which is accessible via the startup menu. It's a fairly user-friendly
little program, and very well-made, but it does have it's share of inevitable
little quirks and tricks. This is a basic guide to the quirks
of the map editor, which i am writing mainly because i could never find such
a guide myself when when i first learnt to use it. Hopefully anyone who's
played the game will be able to construct their own basic, functional, and fun
EEII map or scenario after scrolling through this guide.

(This guide was created by experimenting with Empire Earth II (EEII) Map Editor on
a PC using the Windows XP operating system. The locations of folders listed
in this guide may vary depending on your operating system. The copy of EEII
was purchased in late 2005. Empire Earth II is a registered trademark, produced
by Sierra Entertainment. Feel free to distribute this beginners guide at your
leisure.)

          1.2 Maps and Scenarios

A map is simply the field upon which you play Empire Earth. It contains all
the land features, the territories, the resources, the oceans and the forests.

Maps exist as *.map files. They are saved by selecting "Save As Map..." from
the "Edit" menu, and accessed by selecting "Open Map". Maps can be used in
skirmish games.

A scenario is a kind of playable map. Scenarios have everything that a map has,
but they also have a victory condition setting, a group of human or computer
players, and units or objects on the map which are controlled by those
players. More advanced users will want to work scripts into their scenarios.

Scenarios exist as *.scn files. They are saved by selecting "Save As..." from
the "Edit" menu. (Any individual scenario can be played by selecting "Single
Player" on the main Empire Earth II menu.)

A sequence of *.scn files may comprise a campaign, where, upon winning one scenario,
the player moves on to the next one. (There are five campaigns that come
pre-packaged with Empire Earth II; "American", "German", "Korean", "Turning
Points", and the tutorial campaign.)

________________
     2.0 Maps

When you open map editor, you are presented with a computer-generated map. It
may have hills and mountains, but there will be no forests, no animals, no
resources, and no players.

Its good to have a rough idea of the layout of the map you wish to make.
Then, you can begin carving your continents/islands/rivers/seas out of the basic
terrain which the computer has generated.

Temperate, Tropical and Arid maps use different kinds of trees, different kinds of
weather, and different looking terrain. To pick the kind of map you wish to make,
go to the "File" menu along the blue bar at the top of the screen, and select
"New...". A blue panel will appear that allows you to specify the broad type of map
you wish to create. (If you have a very specific idea in mind, you may want to use this
panel to specify a flat plains map with as few rivers as possible. That way you
don't start off with rivers or mountains in places where you don't want them.)

Incidentally, you can also decide what time of year (and thus what season) your map
will start off in when anyone plays on it by going to the "View" menu and selecting
"Preview Season".

Maps can be played as skirmish games, by putting starting positions on your map (go to
the "Tools" menu and select "Starting Positions"), and then leaving map editor and going to
"Single Player", selecting "Skirmish", pressing the "Map" tab, ticking the
"load custom map" box and selecting "Browse", and then selecting your map from the
list which appears.

To name your map, so that it is easy to find on this list, go to the "Edit" menu
in Map Editor, and select "Mission Properties". Fill out the text box in the upper
left-hand corner of the Mission Properties panel with the name you'd like to give
your map.

          2.1 Map Size and Shape

You can set the size of your map by going to the "File" menu and selecting "Resize".
A blue panel will open up, with four fields on it:

          X-offset: (blank text field)
          Y-offset: (blank text field)
          Width: (blank text field)
          Height: (blank text field)

This is where you can decide how large your map will be, by entering numbers
into the "wdith" and "height" fields. If you type "200" into both fields, then
you will have a 200X200 sized map to work with. The editor will chop off/add
on to the RIGHT-HAND SIDE of the map if you increase/reduce width, and the TOP
of the map if you increase/reduce height).

There are some things to consider when deciding on the size of your map: While
it is important to have enough room for all your players on the map (and it's
nice to have enough room to show the island/continent shapes you desire at the
detail level you desire), it is also important to remember that if your map is
too large, your computer will have difficulty running any scenarios based on it.

Maps sized at about 350 squared (LENGTH = 350, HEIGHT = 350) will start to show
problems: the game will tend to stall and generally be a bit of a pain to play. If
you're finding gameplay a but clunky, consider reducing the map size below about
300-350 squared.

You can also modify the position of the land and terrain of your map, using the
"X-offset" and "Y-offset" fields.

     X-offset: If you type "10" into the X-offset field, everything
      on your map will be moved 10 units TOWARD THE LEFT, and 10 units
      of blank flat land will appear at the right-hand side of the screen.
      10 units of land will disappear off the left-hand side.

     If you type "-10", everything will be moved 10 units TOWARD THE RIGHT,
      and 10 units of blank land appear at the left-hand side of the screen.

     Y-offset: I'm sure you can guess what's coming ;) If you type "10"
      into the Y-offset field, everything is shifted 10 units DOWNWARD,
      and the blank land appears at the top of the screen.

     And finally, typing "-10" in the Y-offset field moves everything 10
      units UPWARD, with blank land appearing at the bottom of the screen.

Remember, you can modify the size, and the x- and y-offsets, at any time that
you want. You're not trapped with the settings you began with. However, you
will find that you appear to lose all the terrain colouring, resources,
territories and forests you may have placed on the map (we'll discuss how to
place these things in a moment); but don't panic entirely. You've really only
lost the forests and the territories. Everything else - the resources and the
terrain colouring - will re-appear if you save and close the map, and then
re-open it.

          2.2 Seas and Hills

Under the "Tools" menu, select "Terrain Modification". This brings up a blue panel
with four tabs: Elevation, Terrain, Water, and Cliffs.

'Elevation' gives you a few editing options: "raise/lower terrain", "smooth terrain",
and "set terrain height". You can change the size of the area of land that
will be altered by changing your cursor size in the top panel.

You can create seas and rivers on your map by lowering the terrain below the waterline.
At the bottom of the Terrain Modification panel is a panel which asks you what you
want the land to transform into when it drops below sea level; there are three options:
coastal sea, ocean, and river. Rivers can have bridges built over them, but no boats
or docks. Coastal seas and oceans can have boats and docks (assuming there is enough
room for the dock), but no bridges.

If "raise/lower terrain" is selected, then left-clicking will raise the terrain, and
right-clicking will lower it. Dragging the cursor along the land while right-clicking
and while the river option is selected will carve out a river. Left clicking will
create a chain of raised land that can be made into mountain terrain. The smooth
terrain option can be selected to either smooth or roughen the terrain.

Now, you will notice that a river made by lowering terrain has some rough edges. You can
smooth these out with the smooth terrain option, or, you can use "set terrain height"
to create your rivers and seas (Click "sample", select an area of land thats below the
waterline, and then drag the cursor along), or, you can select the "Water" tab on the
Terrain Modification panel, and create rivers and seas directly. All three techniques
will do exactly the same thing. Play around and see what effects you can create
with them.

Lastly, let's cover mountains. Click on the "Paint terrain type" tab in the Terrain
Modification panel. Mountainsides are areas of land which cannot be crossed by units,
and cannot have buildings, objects or forests on them. They can be made by painting
mountainside terrain onto your land. If you want an impassable mountain range, you
can't just raise the terrain - you must paint it appropriately.

Terrain modifications can always be reversed by selected "Undo..." from the "Edit" menu.

Hopefully this has given you an idea of how Terrain Modifcation can work. Now let's
move on to some of the quirks...

My first map was of the Isle of Britain. When i was crafting Scotland, i used the
roughen terrain feature to create a hilly countryside. What i didn't realise at the
time was that roughness is not just aesthetic - it actually affects gameplay. You
cannot build on rough terrain. And even using the smooth terrain option to flatten
out the landscape can leave you with terrain that won't be built on. The best thing
to do, if you need to make some flat land, is to use the "set terrain height" option,
and then just smooth out any sharp edges afterwards.

To test if a peice of land can be built upon or not, go to the "Tools" menu, select
"Object placement", select a building and hover it over the terrain. The computer
should tell you if you can't build there, and why. Another thing to remember is that
buildings won't be placed on the very edge of the map, so if you have a bit of land
sticking out from the edge, leave some extra room if you hope to be able to build
on that land. Keep in mind that you (or the computer) will be placing territories
over your finished map, and if there is no room for a town centre/fortress to be built
on a territory, then that territory will be uncapturable. (This isn't nessecarily
always bad, you may want to exploit this quirk to make a territory deliberately
uncapturable for some plot element in your scenario, or to change the gameplay in
some way. Maybe you want to create a "No Mans Land" in-between two opposing players?)

          2.3 Territories

Territories are the only really frustrating aspect of the map editor, and it's
important to plan out a little way in advance, or you'll find that an hour of
arduous pointing and clicking will all be undone because you had to go back and
change some little, insignificant detail.

To begin editing territories, go to the "Tools" menu, and click on "Territories". There
are a couple of quick-and-dirty options for using computer-generated territories
as well, but i'll assume you're interested in creating your own territories. The
editor automatically draws territorial boundaries at mountains, rivers and oceans.
You can't have one territory spanning two seperate islands, for example, and
there are no sea territories.

To make a single coherent territory, have the territory panel open, and simply cover
an area of land with a particular colour. Use the same colour to paint the whole
territory.

To make a territory bigger, click on the sampling tool button (it looks like a little
eye-dropper) on the right-hand side of the Territories panel, and then sample
the territory you wish to expand. It is not enough to simply select the same
colour as that territory; the Map Editor knows the difference between two seperate
territories that are painted with the same colour, even if you can't see it.

If you have labelled your territory (see below, section 2.3.1.b), then the name
for that territory will appear beside it's colour in the list at the bottom of the
Territories panel.

If you alter a bit of coastline, river or mountain terrain, the computer will treat
any new land created as a distinct and seperate territory, so it will be nessecary
to expand your territories (especially large ones, or ones with fine detail in the
borders) to account for changes in the landscape. This is one place where it can be
less frustrating to plan ahead.

               2.3.1. Custom Territory and City Names

               2.3.1.a Naming Cities:

You can decide what name a city built in a particular territory will have, no
matter what civilisation the builder belongs to. Have all panels closed so that
you have a regular arrow cursor. Double left-click on the territory (say, a
territory along the Thames River). A small blue panel will appear,
titled "Territory Properties". There are five fields on this panel,
three of which have pull-down menus next to them, and two of which
have blank boxes where you can type in your own text:

          Name Category: Pull-down menu
          Name: Pull-down menu
          Owner: Pull-down menu
          Script Name: Blank text box
          City Name: Blank Text Box

The lowest field in the Territory Properties panel, "City Name:", will
determine the name of any city centre built in that territory. If you type in
"London", and click apply, then, during the game, any civilisation who builds
a city centre on that territory will call their city centre "London".

(You will only want to name your cities after you are totally happy with
your landscape, and totally happy with the shapes and extents of your territories.
Why? If you alter the landscape, you may inadvertantly create a new territory
(see above), or alter an old one. And if you edit the territories at all,
then you will lose ALL your city names, and have to go through the map naming
them all again.)

Note that city names set in this fashion will only apply to city centres which
are built upon this territory during the game itself - if you place a city centre
on the territory while in the Map Editor, that city centre will have a city name
based on the player who owns it, not based on the Territory Properties. For this
reason, i prefer not to give my players a city centre to start with - i let them
build it themselves during the game, and that way i get to control the city names.

If you really must place a city centre on the map to begin with, there is another way
to name cities. Double click on the city centre. An Object Properties panel should
come up, with details about the city centre's characteristics. One of these
characteristics will be "Display Name". There will be a string of text that reads like
this: "tx_ms_cityname_London". The text is the computer's label for the city of London.
You can alter it to change the name that EEII applies to that city centre, so long
as EEII recognises the line "tx_ms_cityname_YourCityName" as a valid label.

               2.3.1.b Naming Territories:

You cannot *officially* name a territory with a name that is not included in
the game already, though there is an expansion pack coming out which may include
this feature.

You can, however, make a simple change that will teach the EEII program some
new territory names. It's a very easy modification, and a very safe one. Its
not the sort of thing that will crash your computer, so don't be afraid.

All you need to do is edit the file which contains the list of territory names
used in the game. It's a simple matter of adding your own custom territory
names to the end of that list. If you encounter a problem, or you end up feeling
uncomfortable editing the game, all you need to do is have a backup of the
file you will be editing stored in a safe place. Just return the backup to
it's proper place, and delete the modified version, and everything will be back
to normal.

The territory names for each civilization are stored in here:

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> zips
          --------> db[zip folder]
          ----------> db
          ------------> Text

In the "Text" folder, you will find a few dozen *.utf8 files which all
start with the letters "dbtext_...".

Find the file that is labelled "dbtext_territory_names.utf8". Copy it,
and paste it into an easily accessible, unzipped folder - someplace where you
can play around with it. I suggest making a permanent copy of this file as
it is, and storing it somewhere where it will not be deleted. We are going
to create a brand-new, customized version of this file, and if we stuff up and
cannot remember how the file originally looked, then we will always have
a backup copy of the original file in case of emergency (You don't want to
have to uninstall then reinstall the game to get it back!).

Open up "dbtext_territory_names.utf8" using Notepad (or some other program
which can read *.txt files). Yes, thanks to the extreme thoughtfulness of
the designers, *.utf8 files are not encrypted - they can be opened and edited
by any program that can read a *.txt file - there's no nasty trick to it,
and that makes this sort of modification possible for you and me.

You should see a line of code that looks like this:

          // NAME, TEXT

...followed by a series of headings which look like these:

          // GERMAN TERRITORY NAMES

          // BRITISH TERRITORY NAMES

...and so on through all the civilisations in the game. Beneath each heading,
there is a list of the territory names for that civilisation. The line
"// NAME, TEXT" gives us a clue as to how the EEII program reads these
territory names (in fact, it is this line that tells EEII how to read
the territory name lists). The territory names are written like this:

          tx_terr_german_0,"""Baden-Wuerttemberg"""

The phrase 'tx_terr_german_0' is the NAME of that territory, as far as
the computer is concerned. The phrase 'Baden-Wuerttemberg' is the TEXT
which the EEII program will display on the screen as the territory's
name within the game itself.

Now, let's get an idea of how the EEII Map Editor allows you to set the
territory names. If you've moved it out of its home folder, then
before you start EEII up again, return the file
"dbtext_territory_names.utf8" to it's proper place:

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> zips
          --------> db[zip folder]
          ----------> db
          ------------> Text

Now open up EEII, and open the Map Editor. Go to the "Tools" menu,
open the "Object Placement" panel, and place a few civilians,
from at least two different teams, onto a simple map. (That way, we
can quickly playtest this map in a moment).

Now, double left-click on a territory to open up the "Territory
Properties" panel, as we did earlier to name our cities. It
should look like this:

          Name Category: Pull-down menu
          Name: Pull-down menu
          Owner: Pull-down menu
          Script Name: Blank text box
          City Name: Blank Text Box

"Name Category" determines what civilisation should be used to name
that territory. If you select "German" on the pull-down menu,
then the territory will be named with a German territory name.

"Name" will now have a pull-down menu with a list of all the German
territory names. If you selected "German" under "Name Category",
then you can now select a German territorial name, for example,
"Baden-Wuerttemberg", from the "Name" pull-down menu. The territory
will now be called "Baden-Wuerttemberg" when you play on this map.

But there is another way to accomplish this. Instead of selecting
"German" from the "Name Category" menu, select "Custom". it
should be down the very bottom of the menu

This will open up another blue panel, called "Custom Territory Name".
It will say: "Please specify a text database entry", and there
will be a field upon which you can type.

The Map Editor is asking you what "NAME" you want it to pick from
the "dbtext_territory_names.utf8" file that we've just been
looking at.

Type in one of the NAMEs listed in this file, for example:

          tx_terr_german_0

Don't type anything else. Select "OK", and select "Apply", and close
the Territory Properties panel. Now go to the "File" menu and
select "Test Mission". This should open up a game of Empire Earth II
on the map you've just edited. Command your civilians (assuming
you remembered to place them on the map earlier... you should also
have put an opponent onto the map, otherwise the game will end
itself and you won't be able to test anything out...) to visit the
territory which you have just modifed in Editor. Go to the map. If
all has gone well, then the territory should be named
"Baden-Wuerttemberg". This is the territorial name which the computer
knows as "tx_terr_german_0". If you use your civilians to build a
city-centre on it, the territory should still keep it's name.

Hopefully, it's now become clear how you can exploit this information
to create your own territory names. Close down EEII, and go back to
the zipped "Text" folder:

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> zips
          --------> db[zip folder]
          ----------> db
          ------------> Text

Take out "dbtext_territory_names.utf8" once again (remember to copy it
and hide a backup somewhere, and make a note of it!).

This time, we are going to write a list of our own custom territory
names. Put this list at the bottom of the file, after all the
"proper" civilisation territory lists. We are going to first give
this list a title, for the sake of simplicity. A title should look
like this:

          // GERMAN TERRITORY NAMES

But of course, instead of "German", write something unique:

          // DAVIDS TERRITORY NAMES

It doesn't matter what you call it, these headings are not functional,
they just help us keep our lists in order. Now we are going to list
our territories by writing, first, a name by which the computer will
recognise these territories, and then a comma, and then a space, and then
three of these quotation marks: ", and then our custom territory name, and
then three closing quotation marks, like this:

          tx_terr_german_0,"""Baden-Wuerttemberg"""

Of course, we cannot use "tx_terr_german_0" as a territory name, because
it is already in use. So pick something that will be unique and distinct
from any of the NAMEs that are already there, such as:

          tx_terr_davide_cumbria,"""Cumbria"""

Save the "dbtext_territory_names.utf8" file, and return it to it's place in
the Text folder.

Now open up EEII, and go into Map Editor. Open up a *.map file, and double
left-click on a territory... for example, the territory you wish to
call "Cumbria." On the Territory Properties panel, go to the "Name Category"
list, and select "custom" to open up the Custom Territory Name panel.
Type: "tx_terr_davide_cumbria", and select "OK". Now select "Apply" on the
Territory Properties panel. COngratulations, you have just named the territory
Cumbria. :)

You can also create your own *.utf8 file, by copying one that already exists,
and deleting everything except the first line, which reads:

          // NAME, TEXT

List your territories in this file as normal, and save it with a uniquely
identifiable name. The EEII program will read territory names from this file
just as readily as from any other file in the Text folder, as long as you have
that "// NAME, TEXT" line at the top of it. (This technique was first suggested by
'Guitar' on the Empire Earth Heaven Games website, in the Miscellaneous Downloads
section).

If you plan on sharing your *.map or *.scn files with others, you need to send them
a copy of this *.utf8 file if you want them to see your custom territory
names. All they need to do is place it into the Text folder before they play
your scenario/map. I suggest having a special folder set aside containing all your
custom *.utf8 files, and placing them into and out of the Text folder as you need them.
That way, you needn't worry about accidentally ending up with two custom territories
that happen to have the same NAME.

I also suggest printing out your customized territory names list before using the
Map Editor - that way you won't have to worry about memorising all those unique
and distinctive "tx_terr_davide_cumbria" style NAMEs, because you'll have something
to refer back to when setting your in-game territory names.

Troubleshooting:
If the Map Editor won't accept the NAME you've typed in, double-check the spelling.
If you type in a NAME that doesn't exist in any *.utf8 file in the Text folder, the
program won't recognise it as a valid entry. If your spelling is perfect, but the
Editor still won't accept that NAME, make sure the NAME,"""TEXT""" format is being
followed properly. Check the original dbtext_territory_names.utf8 file for examples.
Check that the *.utf8 file containing your custom name has the correct "// NAME, TEXT"
line at the top.
If you're finding that your territory names are being accepted, but aren't being saved
properly, make sure you're clicking "Apply" in the Territory Properties panel when
you set a territory name or a city name. If you close the Territory Properties panel
without clicking "Apply", your changes won't be saved.

          2.4 Animals, Forests and Resources

Citizens need trees to harvest wood, animals and/or plants to eat, and stone
and mineral resources to mine. You can place animals, forests and resources while
designing your scenario, or while designing the basic map. Animals and resources
can be deleted and added again (for animals, to delete, left-click once and press
delete; for resources, double left-click (to bring up an information panel for that
resource) and press delete.) Animals and resources can both be selected from the
"World" tab in the "Object Placement" Panel in the "Tools" menu. There's no
trick, it's all pretty straightforward.

Remember that Animals and Forage Patches (found in the list of resources) are
important sources of food in the first Epoch, before farms can be built. Animals
don't affect gameplay much, but it's good to have a sprinkling of them near your
citizens as a food source to begin with. Forage patches can be used as well, but
keep in mind that they can obstruct building foundations.

You can create a balanced map, with enough recource in each territory to satisfy
all players, or you can create a realistic map ;) , where a particular area is
especially desired - and fought over - for it's mineral resources (e.g. Cornwall
in England has historically been a vital tin-mining area). But keep in mind that
a player who has to just give up because they can no longer get any resources is
less fun than one who is capable of challenging you for yours.

Forests are different to other resources. You place them as if you were painting
terrain. The trees in forests don't seem to exist as individual objects which can
be moved around and deleted at will. Worse yet, they cannot be "Undone" once they
have been placed, in the way that terrain can. The only way to erase a forest is to
erase ALL forests on the entire map!

My strategy is to first place only those forests that i KNOW i want, and that i
KNOW won't get in the way of, for example, a potential building site for a city
centre (placing forests on hilltops and rough land will ensure that you don't block
any building projects, as such land can't be built on anyway). Then i save that
as, for example, Britannia01.map. Then i place the next most important forests,
and save it as Brittania02.map. This is a simple and stress-free way of going back
and forth between different stages of map design without becoming frustrated by having
to start from scratch every time you make a mistake.

_____________________
     3.0 Scenarios

Once you have a map, you'll want to play a game on it. All of the modifcations
described above can be saved in *.map files. Scenario files (*.scn files) are
for preserving the particular characteristics of a scenario: its players,
and units and objects which belong to a particular player. They do not
use Starting Positions - these are only used if you're playing a skirmish game
on a custom map, and so they cannot be saved in *.scn files.

          3.1. Setting Up Players

This is fairly straightforward. Go to the "Edit" menu and select "Mission Properties".
There will be a list of players. To remove a player, uncheck the box in the far
left column. To add a player, check the box next to an unchecked player. Here you
can set the players civilisation, colour, and starting epoch.

By clicking the "Starting Resources" tab, you can decide how much of each resource your
players begin the game with. There are many reasons you might want to alter the gameplay
like this. If you want to start the game quickly, for example, then giving everyone
lots of resources will let you get right into the action. If you start without any
town centres, then make sure your citizens have enough resources to build one (the
computer should automatically have given them enough for this). I prefer not to
give my players city centres to start with - i just give them the resource equivalent
of a town centre (300 Wood and 300 Stone), so they can build it themselves. That
way, i can control the name of the city they build (see section 2.3.1.a, above).

If you have added a new player, you will need to double-check their starting resources
- or the extra players may start off with zero of everything.

               3.1.1 Single player versus Multiplayer

For a single player scenario, you will want to set a computer opponent. Simply
change the player from "Human" to "Computer" in the Mission Properties panel.
You can choose what personality the computer will have by changing the AI between
default, economic, imperial, and military. A player with the economic AI will try
to win the economic crown, and so on. Now, click on the pull-down menu under "AI
map type", at the top right-hand side of the Mission Properties panel. Here, you
can make sure that the computer players act appropriately for the particular kind
of map you have created.

Remember to leave one player as "Human" - this will be you.

To turn your *scn into a multiplayer scenario, simply set more than one player as "Human".
Anyone with the EEII map editor should be able to change single- into multi-player
scenarios and vice versa.

               3.1.2 Diplomacy Settings

To control each players relationship to the others, go to the "Edit" menu and select
"Diplomacy". This will bring up a blue panel containing a grid which summarises the
relationships between players. Clicking on the grid will enable you to change the
players attitudes toward each other.

          3.2 Objects

Now that you have your players, you can place them on the map. Go to the "Tools" menu,
select the "Object Placement" panel, and use the drop-down menu to choose a player.
Now you can go about selecting units, and placing them on the map. Uncheck the
"limit to Player Epoch" box in the upper right hand corner of the panel if you want
to give them units or buildings that are beyond their level of technology. It may
be nessecary to do this to give your player a Scout to start with.

You can also use the Object Placement panel to draw in roads, extra buildings,
and buildings from the EEII campaign scenarios, to imply a pre-existing civilisation
in your scenario. This may make sense if you start your players off in an advanced
epoch, for example. You're making a peice of art; use the editor to express your
imagination! It may be fun to make a story or a background to go with the scenario.

               3.2.1 Build-up versus Fixed Force

For a basic game, you need to give all your players citizens (As long as they can
build a town centre, and there are enough resources for them to find, this is really
all you need to start a self-sustaining empire).

However, you can also design a Fixed Force scenario, where a player has a set
military force, and they must use this to win the scenario. Consider NOT giving
them citizens: that way they cannot build or advance, and must make do with what
you give them.

If you are recreating a historic battle, for example if your map covers a WWI trench
warzone, it may sometimes be unrealistic to have a population of civilians gathering
resources and building city centres across your trenches. You might just want to
give the players military buildings and adequate starting resources so they can
reinforce, but nothing else.

On the other hand, if you're simulating the Norman Invasion, it may make total sense
to have innocents wandering around, living their lives while a war rages.

          3.3 Victory Conditions

There are a range of different game types in EEII - you can compete for a crown, or
play a game of conquest (the most basic), or play a game in which the player who
conquers fifty percent of the territories wins, or any of a number of other options.
Set the victory conditions by going to the "Edit" menu and selecting "Victory Conditions".
A blue panel will appear with a drop-down list containing the various victory conditions.

At this stage, your scenario should be completely playable. You can play it by
selecting Single Player and then Scenarios in the Empire Earth II main menu. There
will be a list of *.scn files to choose from.

(Alternately, you can play-test your scenario without leaving the Map Editor, by
going to the "File" menu and selecting "Test Mission".)

          3.4 Scripts

Scripts allow you to build a plotline into your scenario, and to create a customized
victory condition. There is reputed to be a version of the game which contains a
*.doc file explaining the basics of scripting in EEII, however i have not managed
to get a hold of it yet.

To set a custom victory condition, you will need to have a script properly prepared
for your scenario. Go to the "Edit" menu and select "Victory Conditions", then
select "Script says so" from the drop-down list. Now your scenarios will use a victory
condition specified in your script.

Here are some preliminary thoughts on how scripts might conceivably work. Note that
these are not fully fleshed-out ideas, but rather an initial investigation:

*****
*****
*****
To make our own script we must first figure out what a script is: what kind of file
it is stored as, and what lines of code are needed in this file to give us a working
script. There are two lines of evidence for what the script files might be: *.dll files
and *.ddf files.

               3.4.1 *.dll files as scripts

Go to the "Edit" menu and select "Mission Properties". Next to the blank text box
with the heading "Script", there is a button that says "Browse". Click on it, and
you will see a list of files ending in the extension *.dll. I don't think these
kinds of files can be edited without a specialised program, so it would be a shame
if these were the *only* way to make scripts.

Nevertheless, other people have done it, so it can be done. Here is where these
files are stored:

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> scriptlibs

Now let's move on to some other preliminary thoughts...

               3.4.2 *.ddf files as scripts

Take a look at this folder:

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> zips
          --------> db[zip folder]
          ----------> db
          ------------> Campaigns

In the Campaigns folder, you should see five sub-folders; American, German, Korean,
Turning Points, and Tutorials. There will also be a *.ddf file named
"EE2CampaignSet.ddf". This file acts as a directory, and simply lists the subfolders
which i've just listed, so that the EEII program understands that these subfolders
are present. *.ddf files are not encrypted - they can be opened (and edited...)
in the same way that *.utf8 files can (see section 2.3.1.b above), by opening
them with Notepad or a similar program (the same way you would have opened this *.txt
file.)

Go to any one of the folders - say, Tutorials - and there will be another
set of folders - one for each of the *.scn files that comprise the Tutorial campaign.
You will see another *.ddf file, this one containing a directory to this next set
of folders. Each of these folders contain a single *.ddf file. Open one up, and
take a look at it. There will be a list of OBJECTIVES, and, at the very bottom of
this list, there will be a section of code that reads like this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario Tutorial4 {
     name = text_scen_tut4_name
     mapfilename = "tutorial4.scn"
//      briefing = text_scen_tut4_brief
     briefing = text_scen_tut4_desc
     sprite = spr_tut4_camp_screenshot
     thumbnail = spr_tut4_camp_thumb

     victory = text_scen_tut4_victory
     loss = text_scen_tut4_loss
     
     hints = text_scen_tut4_hints
     
     historicalInfo = text_scen_tut4_history
     
     description = text_scen_tut4_desc

     date = text_scen_tut4_date

     objectives =
          [
           OBJ_CITIZEN_MANAGER          
           OBJ_OIL_DERRICK              
           OBJ_EPOCH_13                 
           OBJ_PERMISSIONS              
           OBJ_PICTURE_IN_PICTURE       
           OBJ_SEND_PLAN2
           OBJ_SET_MISSION_FLAG       
           OBJ_SILO_BUTTON              
           OBJ_ABOUT_SILOS              
           OBJ_ABOUT_CROWNS             
           OBJ_MILITARY_LEADER          
           OBJ_ABOUT_LEADERS            
           OBJ_TERRITORIES              
          ]
}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have read section 2.3.1.b of this guide, you will probably already be able
to guess how this works. Lines with the format "text_scen_tut4_hints" are the
computers' name for some customizable element of the game. The very first such
line, which reads "text_scen_tut4_brief" in this example, tells us that somewhere
within the db ("database") folder, probably in the Text folder;

          -Program Files
          --> Sierra
          ----> Empire Earth II
          ------> zips
          --------> db[zip folder]
          ----------> db
          ------------> Text

... there must be a file which contains a line that defines what the the NAME
"text_scen_tut4_brief" is supposed to refer to. In this case, it appears,
from the context, that the thing which text_scen_tut4_brief refers to must
be the mission breifing for the scenario known as Tutorial 4. We could conceivably
change the text in the mission breifing by finding this line, and editing whatever
comes after the "text_scen_tut4_brief" bit.

As another example, the line "OBJ_CITIZEN_MANAGER" is a NAME which refers to an
OBJECTIVE within this particular scenario. In this case, it is easy to see where
this NAME is defined; just scroll up to where all the OBJECTIVEs are listed, and
you'll see a paragraph that reads:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objective OBJ_CITIZEN_MANAGER {
name        = tx_t4_obj_citizen_manager
description = tx_t4_02_citizen_manager
type        = Primary
startHidden = 1
}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here, we can conceivably begin editing this objective, to change the gameplay.

It's possible that all this information can be exploited to create "unnofficial"
scripts. All the "NAME, TEXT" lines needn't be so complicated - they could
conceivably all be placed in a single custom *.utf8 file (thus making it easier
to share) and dropped in the Text folder. A bigger problem would be getting the
program to look at our peicemeal *.ddf 'script' in the first place.
*****
*****
*****

______________________________________
     4.0 Sharing Maps and Scenarios

To copy your maps for posting to the internet or to give to a friend to play with,
you just need to find where the *.map and *.scn files are stored. (To copy campaigns,
remember to keep all the *.scn files of the campaign together.) The prepackaged
*.map's and *.scn's can be found in:

          -Program Files
          ----> Sierra
          ------> Empire Earth II
          --------> maps

          -Program Files
          ----> Sierra
          ------> Empire Earth II
          --------> scenarios

When you create a *.map or *.scn yourself, EEII should automatically
store them in your Windows user profile:

          -My Documents
          --> Empire Earth II
          ----> maps

          -My Documents
          --> Empire Earth II
          ----> scenarios

(If you *are* using windows, it's a good idea to keep backups somewhere; if your
user profile is accidentally deleted, you'll probably lose your custom maps
and scenarios. This sort of thing has happened to someone I know...).

If your maps and scenarios are not being stored in the folders i've directed you to
(for example, if you don't use windows profiles, maybe the computer is putting them
somewhere else), then there is a really simple way to find out where they are:

Open up a new map or scenario in the editor, save it with a really distinctive file
name, and then exit EEII and just perform a search for that filename (Make sure that
the search is also looking for "hidden files and folders"); in Windows, the search
option should be listed in the start menu on your desktop. The search feature should
find the right folder for you.

If you've downloaded or been given a *.map or *.scn file that you want to play,
all you have to do is place the file into the appropriate folder (above), and
open up the game in the usual way. EEII will know where to look to find the files.

Keep in mind that if you have created a new custom territory list to name your
territories (as described above, in section 2.3.1.b), the territories in your
map won't show up with the correct name on anyone elses computer, unless you've
made your custom territories list available (as a *.utf8 file) along with the map.
It's also nice to include breif directions as to where the file should be placed,
so that newbies have an idea of what to do.

The same thing applies to any other special files you have created for your
scenario, such as scripts or *.ddf files. Other people won't be able to play
your scenarios in quite the same way that you can, unless you also give them
the right files for their EEII program to refer to.