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--- en:games:star_trek_armada_1:modding:tools:map_editor [2025-04-21-09-41] – [Setting Teams of Map Objects] 7saturn
+++ en:games:star_trek_armada_1:modding:tools:map_editor [2025-04-21-10-32] (current) – 7saturn
@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
   - Remember not to over saturate your maps with objects. The more objects the slower the game will go. This is especially true of Nebulae. Use them sparingly and avoid stacking Nebulae of the same type as one Nebula is just as effective strategically as several stacked on each other.
   - If you use too many Wormholes, Temporal Gates or Black Holes, they might begin to optically vanish. They are still there, having their effects but the game’s engine fails to render them properly.
-  - The effects of different Nebula types **do* stack, so it is important to remember that. For example if you stack a nebula which drops shields with one that damages ships you are likely to blow up anything which enters it.
+  - The effects of different Nebula types **do** stack, so it is important to remember that. For example if you stack a nebula which drops shields with one that damages ships you are likely to blow up anything which enters it.
   - Do not adjust the height of stations as this causes serious issues with pathing.
   - To avoid getting the viewable trapezoid on your minimap when you save, scroll to the top right corner of the screen and zoom all the way in before saving. It reduces the trapezoid to one dot which is usually not recognizable or visible.
   - When creating a new map, set the race to Borg, at least until you are finished with saving the map for getting a preview bmp. The Borg interface shows the greatest area of the strategic map, with no corners being cut.
   - When saving a map with a wide-screen resolution, you might end up with map previews, that are the wrong aspect ratio and size (game crashes when trying to select the map or view its preview). This mostly happens when saving with very high resolutions. So you may have to correct that yourself. When resizing the preview with a graphics editor, you may notice that map objects are not depicted very recognizable any more. So when saving a map, better use lower resolutions while you do it and use 16 bits (e.g. 640x480x16 should do just fine). If you are forced to fix it afterwards, keep the following rules in mind:
-  * The bmp file **must** be 128x128 pixels
+    * The bmp file **must** be 128x128 pixels
-  * It must **not** have a color space embedded.
+    * It must **not** have a color space embedded.
-  * It **must** have 24 bits per pixel (**not** 32).
+    * It **must** have 24 bits per pixel (**not** 32).
   - When placing Wormholes or Temporal Gates remember to always place two of them as they work in pairs. Example: The first wormhole laid down is connected to the second wormhole laid down. If you create a sole Wormhole, a unit entering it will crash the game.
   - The height of Wormholes, Dilithium Moons and Black Holes is set automatically by the game so there is no point in adjusting their height.
-  -
+  - When adding stations for scenario maps (using map units as starting units), placing stations is OK for human players. But the AI will not use them unless there are definitions (rules, scripts) that make them do something. So on a normal multiplayer map the AI will not use pre-placed stations for construction of anything. (It will, however use yards for repairing ships.)
+  - You can adjust the map lighting by laying down a light, then double clicking on it and using the color option to set its intensity and color. You can then rotate and position the light as desired. The exact location of a light is not important. The direction it faces is global. You can use more than one, if you want to illuminate the map objects from different angles at once.
+  - If you want to place map objects or points/paths in a straight line, you might want to turn the map to a proper angle and use your cursor keys, while keeping the mouse completely still. Using the F-keys will place new objects along a straight line.
+  - Keep enough distance between Dilithium Moons and barriers (map border, asteroid fields). Otherwise freighters mining them might get stuck.
+  - When placing moons, consider where the corresponding mining station will have to be. If there is not enough room to place the station near the moon it might get frustrating for the player (especially if different starting locations are more or less advantages regarding this aspect).
+  - Try and make maps AI friendly. The AI tends to take the nearest two moons early on in the game. So when one or two of the moons are in an opponents base, things get messy.
+  - Keep enough distance between moons to make freighters automatically use the proper station to deliver their cargo. When moons are two close to one another, the mining stations might also be too close to one another. That may lead to the problem, that freighters are not delivering their cargo to the mining station they are supposed to use, when the nearest one is the same for at least two moons. In essence your freighters might prefer one mining station over the other, causing them all to go to the same station, although there are two available.
+===== See Also =====
+  * [[en:games:star_trek_armada_1:maps|Stock Maps]]
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