Ok, you chumps want to try your hands at mapping for First Strike eh?

Well you have opened the right thread to start!

I would like to say first and foremost,

THIS IS NOT A GUIDE FOR HOW TO MAKE A MAP

It is for setting up the BF2 editor to map for First Strike. If oyu want to learn how to map, go to General UnCos "Ultimate Mappers Tutorial."

Also you need WinRAR!

Ok, so lets get to it.

*** *** *** *** ***

First make sure you have the BF2 Editor 1.3 installed into the BF2 directory, NOT the bf2142 one.
Second make sure you have the latest patches or First Strike and latest compatible BF2/2142 patches for it.

*** *** *** *** ***

Ok, now once you have all that sorted out, this is where the fun begins!

Navigate to C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Battlefield 2142/mods/   folder.

COPY the First Strike folder. (Yes the entire thing.)

Now, navigate to C:/Program Files/EA GAMES/Battlefield 2/mods/   folder.

PASTE the First Strike folder here.

*** *** *** *** ***

Now, open the First Strike folder you just pasted in there, OPEN the objects folder. You will see lots of .zip files in there. The ones we are focusing on are:

StaticObjects_Client and _Server
Vehicles_Client and _Server
Common_Client and _Server
Weapons_Client and _Server
Roads_Client and _Server

First we will get the biggest one over with, StaticObjects.

Select the _Client and _Server .zips and right click them, if you have WinRAR, like you should ;), you should see a "Extract Files..." Button. Click this.

Then a window will appear with some weird stuff, at the top is a bar with a folder directory in it, it will probably say:

C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142\mods\FirstStrike\objects\objects

Change the last "objects" into "StaticObjects" (Capitalize it EXACTLY as it is there)

If you have been following me, you are extracting the "StaticObjects_Client" and "StaticObjects_Server"  .zip files into a folder called StaticObjects inside your objects folder :D

Press "OK" and let it extract the files.

*** *** *** *** ***

When its done you should have a folder called StaticObjects :D

Now, repeat those last steps with those other files:

Vehicles_Client and _Server
Common_Client and _Server
Weapons_Client and _Server
Roads_Client and _Server

And when you are done come back here :D

*** *** *** *** ***

Have a sandwich.
This is imperative to your success.

*** *** *** *** ***

Now roll up your sleeves and start up your BF2 Editor.

Select, surprise surprise, "FirstStrike" and press "OK"

Go watch some youtube videos or something boring like that, because it will probably take a LOOONG time to load. Even longer after we get this set up right ;)

*** *** *** *** ***

Ok, hooray! It's done loading!

*** *** *** *** ***

Now look for the "Mod" tab on the top menu bar. Under "Mod" click "Mod Manager." A window will appear with 2 tabs.

Click the "Editor Content" tab.

Now you will see some check boxes, they should be the folders you created when you extracted those files earlier, if one is missing, you screwed up. Check all the boxes.

Then press "OK"

*** *** *** *** ***

Twiddle your thumbs, or start counting to one million.

The text box will probably splurt out a lot of red stuff but its ok, it always does that, don't mind it.

*** *** *** *** ***

Ok its done!

But OH NOZ! It's all gray? Well, look for the drop down at the top left corner, it will say something irrelevant to what we are doing like "Object Editor" or whatever. Select this and go down to "Terrain Editor"

Then click File, and under that, click New.

Another window will appear with some blank boxes.

First one is the name of you map, if you want a space in your map use an underscore "_"

Second is the size of the map, if you are a noob, set this to 256.

Third is the scale you map is going to multiply the size by, LEAVE THIS AT 2 AT ALL TIMES UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED MAPPER.

Fourth, this is the default height of you map, I usually just leave it at default, 25, 0 is as low as the map ground can go, and it goes up to like 200. This has nothing to do with water for your information.

Fifth, this is the resolution of your ground textures, I try to get the "Low-res scale" number as low as I can.

Once you are all set, press "OK"

Your map will generate and you are off :D

Read the other tutorials, I would say UnCo's "Ultimate Mappers Tutorial" is a good start, once you get into more advanced stuff go SEARCH on the bfeditor.org forums. they get kinda pissy when you ask questions that were brought up 2 days ago, or 5 threads below yours.

One tip I have for you noobies, start small.

I guess I can write up a specific tutorial for finishing a FS map sometime, but if you have any more questions you can xfire me: ty2d2, contact me on IRC in the first strike channel or PM if you are desperate :P

Hope this helps.

Also, ADMIN STICKY!

"Munchkin: One who, on being told that this is a game about politics and intrigue in 17th century Italy, asks to play a ninja."
— Andrew Rilstone