Hey everyone,
quick update since my last post about the Atlas maps. Back then I was building maps for myself with a little generator I wrote. Since then I turned that generator into a real program that anyone can use, and today the first public pre-release is out.
It's called
Atlas Map Forge. It's a Windows program (one exe, nothing to install, no Python needed) that builds finished, playable Zero-K maps from templates. You pick a template, move some sliders, look at the preview and hit Build. The map goes straight into your Zero-K map folder.
Download v0.4.22
What's in it
*
25 templates: land, sea, chokepoints, river crossing with lava tides, a volcano that erupts, co-op chicken defense and a crater asteroid in space (inspired by Apophis, with low gravity, and falling off kills your units)
*
Free-for-all for 3 to 8 players, everyone gets an identical rotated slice of the map
*
12 biomes (temperate, autumn, desert, arctic, jungle, swamp, industrial, alien, moon, volcanic, ashland, asteroid), each with its own painted sky and a time of day setting
*
Fair maps by design: terrain, metal and start boxes are mirrored or rotated. A check report (red, yellow, green) tells you whether tanks, bots, hovers, amphibs and ships can reach the enemy and every metal spot
*
Editor in the preview: move, add and delete metal spots, geos and start points, resize start boxes. Symmetry is kept automatically and you get a warning right at the object if something is wrong (water, too steep, too close, unfair). Ctrl+Z works
* Save your map as a project file and open it again later
* Every map is named "Forge <Title> v<Version>", carries your author name and gets a small FORGE badge in the map browser
A few things you should know
* The exe is
not code signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen will complain. Click "More info" and then "Run anyway".
* On first start,
enter an author name in Settings. Without it the program won't build maps.
* This is a pre-release. It hasn't seen much testing in game yet and almost none in multiplayer. Expect bugs.
* Uploaded Forge maps are "unsupported" on zero-k.info until the Zero-K team approves them, so for now they only work in passworded rooms. I've already asked the team about it.
* The exe is Windows only. On Linux you can use the Python command line.
* It's open source (GPL-2.0-or-later). Every exe is built and tested automatically on GitHub from the public code:
github.com/Scuide/atlas-map-forgeFeedback
What I'd love from you: build a map or two, play it, and tell me what breaks or what feels off. Bug reports and ideas go here:
GitHub IssuesNext up are terrain brushes in the editor (raise, lower, flatten, smooth, draw ramps), later painting paths and lava and placing trees and rocks, plus more templates like King of the Hill or City Grid.
If you want to support the project, there's a
Ko-fi (totally optional).
Scuide (Ling Ling ingame)
