getting started

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 26th, 2008, 6:34 pm

hey guys i have very much enjoyed playing the scenarios out there for wesnoth. it has been an awesome experience so now i would like to contribute back with a large epic tale based on an old AD&D campaign we played (and later chronicled in a book that all of our group has). i downloaded the editor, and read the wiki help but am still having a little trouble getting going in the editor. any helpful hints (i.e. i can't seem to figure out what he means by the "tree" for selecting units).

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » January 26th, 2008, 7:01 pm

The Editor is only for making maps. If you want to make an Campaign you have to learn WML or use Campgen. But make sure your campaign don't use copyrighted material. I'm not an expert of this so you may ask someone else about legal things.

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 27th, 2008, 4:21 am

i was trying to use the campgen program, but to no avail. i guess i am not smarter then program as they say.

anyways, there should be no conflict on copy righted materials as the world was created from scratch for our campaign.

Post by **Mist** » January 27th, 2008, 4:26 am

If you use any name, location or construct from AD&D you're using copyrighted material for different purpose than it was published without the owners consent.

Now it might be different if you limited yourself only to things mentioned in d20 system reference. But.

Licence for d20 SRD is probably not GPL compatible, so any work based on it cannot be relased under GPL. Thus you cannot place such work on campaign server or these forums.

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 27th, 2008, 4:48 am

there is no copy right issue as the world and events are completely of a person's invent rather then the company's. it is a neat story of scourging the evil and restoring the world to its natural balance.

anyway, that is not why i posted. i posted because i am having trouble getting started through the campgen program and was looking for some helpful hints in that area. once i get the first scenario or two of the campaign done, i will gladly post it for review, but again i can assure it was totally of a non-company creation.

Aethaeryn (User Page) · Post by **Aethaeryn** » January 27th, 2008, 5:17 am

Make your campaign using WML in a text editor, it's actually easier than trying to figure out campgen and you'd probably have to touch it up anyway.

gotrek860 · Post by **gotrek860** » January 27th, 2008, 9:57 am

I have been trying for a few days, and its true. At first its like reading chinese without a dictionnary , and from frustration to frustration you get somewhere and when you complete your first scenario, well the others just follow...I hope.

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 27th, 2008, 11:25 am

i guess i am just frustrated because i want to provide others with the same enjoyment i have gotten from playing. i really don't have the time to learn WML at this point so i was looking for a shorter easier way.

as an aside here, i used to play a lot of Hero's of Might and Magic. it contains an easy to use map editor and such. might be worth looking at (assuming they would let you).

MarkP · Post by **MarkP** » January 28th, 2008, 6:11 am

A good place to start is to look at an existing campaign to see how they do things.

There is a list of abandoned campaigns - perhaps you should consider taking over one of them first? See how you go with that before you try making an epic campaign of your own - the forums are littered with the remains of user-made campaigns that were started but never completed.

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 29th, 2008, 5:12 pm

i would consider helping to finish a campaign, but honestly without a good story line idea, i am not sure how much anyone would enjoy playing it. it would really lack coherency etc, but hey if that is the best way to figure out the editor then i might well give it a shot.

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » January 29th, 2008, 6:17 pm

If you consider to do it in an text editor, you should use one which syntax highlighting. It'll make you easily see if you mistyped s.th.. The Editors which have WML highlighters are here. (Notepad++ even has Auto-completion here).

p.s. I don't advert, do I

?

MarkP · Post by **MarkP** » January 29th, 2008, 10:26 pm

Well, many of the existing campaigns have good (or at least reasonable) storylines, just that for whatever reason the person who created the campaign wasn't able to complete it. Just because it's not the epic tale you were thinking of doesn't mean the story is no good.

Another option would be to post the basic outline of the story (or at least a teaser) and see whether anyone is interested enough in the story (and has the time!) to help you out with the WML.

smenze · Post by **smenze** » January 31st, 2008, 5:29 pm

i like almost every story i have played, for me it would just seem easier to have the story in your mind and then make the scenarios to fit where you want it to go. anyway, i will look for one so that will help me get started learning what i need to know.

as for a teaser, i suppose that might spark more interest. its a tale of redemption and revenge as former paladin attempts to regain his paladinhood by saving the single living remenant of the once proud human rulers. the epic includes meeting the elves, gaining their trust and helping to rebuild the land from its current barren state.

i have ideas of how some of this would function through what the game can do. unfortunately, i am not able to figure out exactly how the campgen program works.

MarkP · Post by **MarkP** » February 1st, 2008, 12:08 am

You're really much better off learning WML and hand-coding it than using Campgen. Campgen is useful in some ways, but you're going to have to delve into the WML sooner or later anyway.