Working on Your Map
After you've laid the foundation for your map, you need to really start
working on it. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months,
depending on how experienced you are, and how much you work on it a day.
While this can seem like a daunting task, when you break it down, it's
not so bad. This walk-through assumes you have completed all instructions
on the STARTING YOUR MAP page.
1) TOWNS : One of the first thing you need to think about is where your towns will
be located. Anyone who has played HOMM3 knows that towns are a VERY critical
point in the game. For the most part, try to place towns on their native terrain,
not only does it look better, it makes it seem more real. Also, try to work with
your geography as much as you can. Think about real life. If you have a mountain
range stretching through your land, you will probably either build into it, or
at least use it as a border. Setting a town in mountains, when done correctly,
looks great! For beginners, start with an Inferno, and put a lot of volcanoes,
it's easy to make them look good!
2) RESOURCE SUPPLIERS : This is not the "official" name for them, but I think
it makes sense...Resource Suppliers are where you get constant production of
a resource for your benefit. Of course, this includes Mines, Sawmills, Ore Pits,
Sulfur Dunes, Gem Ponds, and Alchemist Labs. Windmills and Water Wheels are NOT
Resource Suppliers, they are Special Buildings. Most Resource Suppliers are fairly
easy to put on your map, however, as always, there are some tricks to the trade.
Always put additional trees around a sawmill to make it look realistic, a sawmill
in the middle of a desert won't be productive for long. For Gold and Crystal mines,
try to incorporate them into mountain ranges. Make it look natural. The Map Editor
supplies you with different mines to go with different mountains-take advantage!
To wrap it up, make sure you have enough Resource Suppliers on your map. Generally,
It's a good idea to have one of each by each town, unless it's a small map, where the
urgency dies off a bit. Also, if you don't have one of each, make sure you have ones
that town needs. It's no fun to play a Dungeon if you don't have Sulfur, and similar
thing can be said for most every other town.
3) SPECIAL BUILDINGS : Ahh, here's where we seperate the pretenders from the
contenders. Putting in special buildings requires thought, work, and a lot
of patience. This step will take you more time than any other. By special
buildings, I mean any building or location NOT a town or resource supplier.
By this, I mean creature dwellings, magic wells, monoliths, etc. Note that
many of these aren't really buildings,and some (magic plains) aren't even a
structure. Still, we call them Special Buildings. Most S.B. are divided into
a few subcatagories:
(a) CREATURE DWELLINGS : Where creatures dwell, okay? if you have one of these
near you, you can pay to get creatures from here, just like in a town. For higher
level creatures, you may have to fight to gain access.
(b) HERO UPGRADERS : Alright, this is a lame name, but it's the best I
could do. Hero Upgraders are anything that makes a hero get better. These include
Mercenary Camps, Marletto Towers. Star Axis', Gardens of Revelation, Universities,
Libraries of Enlightenment, etc. Some others include Schools of Magic, Schools of War,
Learning Stones, Trees of Knowledge, and Witch Huts. Scholars can also be grouped with
these, even though they're not a structure.
(c) MOVEMENT AFFECTERS : Gee, wonder what these do? Affect movement? Wow! Movement
Affecters(here again, a lame name) do just that, some positively, some negatively. Positive
ones include Rally Flags, Fountains of Youth, Stables, Shipyards, Lighthouses and Monoliths.
Negative ones include Border Guards, Border Gates, and Quest Guards.
(d) VISION AFFECTERS : Basically what the name says, these include Huts of the Magi,
Eyes of the Magi, Redwood Observatories, Pillers of Fire, Cartographers,and Covers of Darkness.
(e) CACHE BUILDINGS : These are places where you fight creatures for rewards, either
creatures, resources, or artifacts. These include Griffin Observatories, Imp Caches, Naga Banks,
Dragon Fly Hives, Cyclops Stockpiles, Dwarven Treasuries, and Medusa Stores.
(f) MISCELLANEOUS : These ones, which don't really have a category include some of the most
important ones of all, like Magic Wells, Dens of Theives, and War Machine Factories. There are also
many minor ones, such as Altars of Sacrifices, and Warriors' Tombs.
Maps Links
Back to Maps Page
Back to Step 2: Starting Your Map
Step 3: Working On Your Map (part 2)
Email: tbotf@hotmail.com
