So you'd like to start making custom maps and campaigns for Space Colony!

This is a very basic guide to get you started.

Before you begin creating things, know what you'd like the end result to be. Are you creating a tourism campaign on a huge planet? How about a military campaign on a series of small rocks? Think about what is going to happen to your colonists during this mission, and how long it might last. There is no shame at all in pulling out a piece of paper and writing down a few ideas to help you while you create.

SAVE OFTEN

The Map-Maker can crash at any time, so be sure to save often.

Start with the Planet Editor.

Create a new planet, and choose its size. Give it a unique name so that you can find it later. You are now looking at a blank planet. It has no lights, it has no vegetation, it has nothing. It's up to you to place everything. Be creative with the planet, give it plants (or no plants), give it minerals (or no minerals), give it aliens (or no aliens, whatever you like!).

What it will need is a habitable base for your colonists to live in.

The "Extras" tab of the Buildings panel will allow you to place the necessary structures for life that you wouldn't normally be able to place in a mission, like the shuttle pad and bridge, both of which are necessary for the base to run.

Don't forget to place lights! You can "test visibility" for a few seconds to show the light spread.

You can create your planet as lush or as barren as you like, and the base as luxurious or utilitarian as you prefer, so long as there is a Bridge, Shuttle Pad, and Light to see them with.

Now that we've got our Planet(s) ready to go, it's time to string them together.

Leave the Planet Editor and open the Campaign editor. This is where the fun begins.

Create a New Campaign and Add the Planet you want to go first. Let's call it Earth.

Earth is now Map 1.

1 Earth (--> Victory) This means that Map 1 is Earth and it leads to the Victory screen. Just for the heck of it, let's add a second mission using the same map.

Find the button that says >> Reuse Map <<

1 Earth (--> Map 2)
2 Map 1 (--> Victory) This means that Map 1 is Earth and it leads to Map 2. Map 2 is a reuse of Map 1 (Earth), and it leads to Victory.

From here, you can add a unique briefing and specify the mission type.

Click on the first planet entry.

You are now in the Scenario Editor screen. The three buttons in the middle of your screen indicate where that map leads upon completion (Next Map/Map X/Victory). From this menu you can edit:

-Which training programs are authorized
-Who is assigned to this mission, and when they will arrive
-How much of any one resource the base can possess
-Which resources are available for trade (at default prices)
-Which buildings can be used

Now push the "Options" button.

Remember what type of planet you had? Be sure to select the Planet Type. Type 1 is white, Type 2 is green, Type 3 is red.

If you allowed any training programs previously, be sure to allocate how many from this screen.

You can also adjust the financial details here, as well as how much Power and Oxygen the colonists start with.

Still following? Great! Now lets make the action happen!

You may notice that there are two things up already.

Day 0 0:00 Lose Bridge Destroyed
Day 0 0:00 Lose Out of Personel

First, a quick explanation. For each listing, there is a CONDITION and an ACTION. Rather like Cause and Effect, an Action occurs when the Condition is met. Already we have the condition, "Bridge Destroyed," leading to the action, "Lose." Day 0 at 0:00 indicates that there is no specific time at which this happens, the Action will happen whenever the Condition is filled.

Click "New"

This is truly where the magic happens. From this menu, you select your conditions and actions from a pre-selected list of scenarios.

For example, to make my crew sick, I'd start by triggering the rodent disease (an action) automatically at a specific time (the condition).

I'd set the time, then select Auto in Conditions to make it happen automatically at the selected time. I'd then go down to Actions and select "Rodent Disease." Then I get to select the severity.

Day 1 6:00 Auto Rodent Disase Mild

But we'll need rodents to perpetuate the disease.

Day 1 4:00 Auto Place Rodents 25

And the lazers are having maintance, which is why we can't kill them

Day 1 0:00 Auto Target Rodents OFF

Now that we are sick, the lazers come back

Day 1 15:00 Auto Target Rodents ON


So you see, each action is a new, separate listing in the editor.

Conditions do stack, however. A WIN action could have up to 5 conditions that must all be met. Let's say we move to the next campaign after the base is stocked. I wouldn't set a time, but I'd go down to Actions and hit Win, then go back up and select Acquire Resources: Base Nutrients (15) AND Power Stored (1000).

Day 0 0:00 Win ...

The (...) means that there are multiple conditions which must be met.




Be sure to set win (and lose) conditions, plus plenty of actions on each map of your campaign.

During your play test of the new campaign, you'll want to take screenshots for the Steam Workshop entry.

After you've completed your campaign, played it, and are satisfied, it's time to publish it!

1. Close your game, and then relaunch it to the "launch menu". That's what pops up first, showing you news, stats, achievements, ect, asking you to "Play" or "Steam Workshop" on the Right hand side.

2. To publish a new campaign, you'll click "Steam Workshop". You will then have the option, in the middle of the menu, to "Create New" or "Update Existing"

3. Select "Create New", and follow the steps given there; which I'll rehash here.
Step 1: Add a campaign file. When you select this option, your PC will open a list of .CAM files from your Documents>Space Colony>campaigns folder. Simply select the filename corresponding with the CAMPAIGN name you created.
Step 2: Add Map Files. When you select this option, your PC will open a list of .MAP files from your Documents>Space Colony>Maps folder. You will need to select ALL of the .MAP files (each one corresponds to a planet) used in your mission. If your campaign is set on 3 different planets, make sure you have all 3 .MAP files.
Step 3: Fill in your Workshop Title and Description. These will be what people see when they look at your Workshop entry.
Step 4: Select Preview Image. This image will be the thumbnail and main image for your campaign. You can find your Space Colony Screenshots in
C:>Program Files(x86)>Steam>userdata>63662184>760>remote>297920>screenshots
OR by going to the Space Colony library entry in the Steam client and selecting "View Screenshot Library", selecting your desired screenshot, and then "show on disc" to view the file location.
Step 5: Hit the Publish button!

And congrats! You've created an awesome new map for an awesome old game!

These tools are very user-friendly, and by experimentation and lots of playtesting (LOTS OF PLAYTESTING) can be figured out very easily.


My best advice to everyone is to just click on everything and see what happens.