Install it by following the on screen prompts. Be sure to not install it into the same directory as Joint Ops. Default is C:\Program Files\Novalogic\Nile which is fine.
After installing, navigate to C:\Program Files\Novalogic\Nile and double-click on Update.exe This will then download the latest updates for NILE. After the update is finished it will automatically launch NILE and it will ask you to set the resource folder. This is how you tell NILE which game you are making a map for. If you are making one for DFX then navigate to the DFX folder and highlight it and click OK. If you are making a Joint Operations Map, either Escalation or IC Mod, then navigate to the Joint Operations folder, highlight it and click OK. In both cases, NILE will detect there are Mods installed and will ask you which one you want to make a map for. Example: if you want to make an IC map then you will select IC Mod and click ok. If you want to change it to a different game map go to File --> Preferences --> Set Resource Directory.
Now NILE is open. What to do next.
First you need to decide what type of make you want to make. You also need to come up with a general idea of what you are going for. You can always tell what maps were thrown together as they were made and which were planned. Planned always looks and plays better. Now that you have an idea of what you want to make you need to pick out some landscape. 1. Go to Mission --> Terrain Variables 2. Use the drop down box at the top to view all the available terrains. 3. Unfortunately you will need to select one and then click OK to view it. 4. To get an idea of what the terrain looks like you can use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out. Also, you can switch to 3D mode by clicking on the icon labeled 3D. Now would be a good time to go over controls. a. W = move forward b. Q = move down c. E = move up d. S = move back e. A = move left f. D = move right g. Push and hold the Space Bar, while holding the space bar, push and hold the left mouse button. Now move around. The Space bar activates this feature. When you release the Space Bar, it is deactivated. That is all the movement controls.
Now you can scan around the terrain you just choose and see if it will work for you. If not then go to Mission --> Terrain Variables and select a new map from the drop down and click OK. Keep in mind you can change the time of day, cloud level, fog distance, water level and water color. Once you have found the terrain you want to use, go back to Mission --> Terrain Variables and change the variable you want. You will see them real time on the screen when in 3D mode. For your first map I would suggest you select Flat from the drop down terrain menu and leave the water level at 0. You will understand why when we get into placing objects.
At this point you may want to save the file. NILE has a tendency to close unexpectingly. Before you save you need to decide what you are going to call this map. You can change the name later, but it can cause problems. So, pick a name and do a File --> Save As. You can save the map anywhere you want. Personally, I created a folder called Maps in the My Document folder.
Now would be a good time to define what kind of map this is. Go to Mission --> Level Properties. At this point you can fill in Mission Name, Designer and select what kind of map it is. The four boxes at the top will be checked, which is ok. And the bottom part is for Coop maps. After filling in to top boxes and selecting the type of map, go ahead and save the map again.
Lets go over the buttons real quick and then we will get into placing objects, buildings, etc.
If you click between the 2D and the 3D buttons you will see other buttons appear and disappear. Lets start in 2D because all buttons are active in 2D.
-The arrow is for selecting and deselecting objects. -The cross arrows are for moving selected objects. -The circle arrows are for rotating selected objects. -The square with black arrow is for selecting multiple objects. Anything within the box created will highlight selected. -The magnify glass is for zooming in. I never use this. -The hand will allow you to click and drag the map to move it. -The ruler is so you can measure the distance between two points. Again, never use it. -The grid is a tool you can use to set up a grid. Never use this either. -The hand with snap is used in conjunction with the grid. If you set up a grid and then place an object on the map, you can turn on snap and move the object and it will line up with the grid. -The 6 blank boxes are for custom functions you can add. -The rabbit, turtle and rabbit/turtle are speed options when you use the keyboard movement keys. The rabbit is obviously fast, turtle is slow and the split allows you to start slow and then pick up speed. -The buttons that do appear in 3D mode have the same function.
Now lets place some objects on the map. Put the map in 2D mode. In the left pane, you have the Objects tab selected. Click on the tab that says Object Palette. You will see the following categories: -building -decoration -effect -foliage -marker -object -person -vehicle You can use anything from any of the categories for all maps, except for person. That is used for Coops, so for TDM, DM, KOTH and TKOTH you won’t be using that one.
Go ahead and click on the plus next to building. Click on Large Warehouse 2 and move your mouse to the right. You will see the outline of the building. Just click anywhere once. You will now see a blue outline of the building you just made. Lets play with the buttons. Click on the tab in the left pane called Objects. You now see one object in the list. If you click on it your building will highlight in yellow. Now the building is selected, click on the cross arrows. Move your mouse over onto the screen and click and drag your building around. Now click on the circle arrows. Click and drag to rotate your building. Now click on the first button, the arrow, and click on top of the building to deselect it. Now lets take a look at the building. Click on the 3D button. Push and hold the Space Bar and the left mouse button to move the screen around. When you see the building, use the wheel on the mouse to zoom in. You can hold the Space Bar and use your mouse to move the screen around, and then use the keyboard controls to fly around the building. Once stationary, go ahead and click on the building. You will see a yellow box around it. This means it has been selected. You can now use the cross arrows and the circle arrows to move and rotate the building. If you need a better view, just zoom out with the wheel. You can also fly into the building to see the inside. Side note, some buildings can only been seen from the inside when selected. You can build in either 2D or 3D mode. Personally, I like to place objects in 2D and fine tune in 3D. Go ahead and click on Object Palette. Now just scroll through the buildings, objects, decorations, etc and start building you map. You will find spawn points and spawn buildings through out the categories. They will be marked by either PSP at the end of there names or change teams or just spawn.
Under Marker you will need three things. Click the plus sign next to Marker and then scroll all the way to the bottom. You need start, Blue Team and start, Red Team. Then if you scroll half way up you will see KOTH center. You will need the Blue and Red start markers on all maps. For the KOTH center you need to place it onto the map and then go to the Object tab, you will see it at the top of the list. Click on it and then click on Edit below. You will see a box called Radius. This is where you enter the how big the zone is going to be. Again you will see in real time on the map. You can make it as big or small as you need.
Go to the Object Palette and expand the vehicles category. Click on Dessert Dune Buggy and place it on the map. Click on the Objects tab in the left pane. If you are not already, switch to 3D mode and zoom in on the buggy. Click on the buggy to highlight it. You will notice that it is half way in the ground, which is not good. Since the buggy is highlighted you can click on Edit which will bring up the propertied of the buggy. The coordinates X, Y, and Z are directions in the 3D world. What you need to worry about is the Y, which is your vertical. Go ahead and highlight the 0.0000 in the Y box and type in 1. You will see the buggy jumped up 1 unit and you can see the yellow box around the buggy. The unit value can be decimal, so you can type in 0.5 as well. The trick is the get the bottom of the yellow box touching the ground, but not under it. If you go to low the bottom of the box will disappear. After you got the Y setting correct, click OK. The Phi, Theta and Omega have to do with twisting the object. You can try changing them to see what I mean. The reason I told you to use the Flat terrain is because when you use mountains and water your objects will be at different levels and some will be underwater, which is not a big deal cause you can adjust the Y. It is just easier for your first time to not have to deal with that.
Don’t forget to save.
So, for a basic TKOTH map you need a start point for the Blue, one for the Red and a KOTH center. The rest is all filler. TDM and DM are even easier, cause all you need is two starting points. Again the type of map is determined in Mission --> Level Properties.
LLets test the map. Save the map and close NILE. Go to the folder where you saved your map. You will find four files with the same name and different extensions. Select all four and copy them to your Joint Operations folder. The default location is: C:\Program Files\NovaLogic\Joint Operations Typhoon Rising. Now launch your IC Mod and on the main menu select LAN and then Host Game. On the left you will see available missions. Scroll through the types until you get to your map type. You should see your map right at the top of the list. Click the big Plus sign in the middle to select your map and the click Start Hosting. Your map should come up and you can run around and test it out. When you start putting objects and vehicles in, it is very imported to test everything out cause nothing pisses off players more then something not working.
That’s it! Now its play time! Mess around with it. Download a finished map and open it up in NILE to see what they did. The rest comes from playing around with it.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them.
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