# WARLORDS 2 SCENARIO DESIGNER'S GUIDELINES

    DESIGNER RULES
    If you did not commit them to memory (most of us don't), you should
    probably go back and read "THE COMMANDMENTS" section of the Scenario
    Builder user guide (pages 7-9) frequently.

    The wisdom it expounds is well worth heeding. I've seen scenarios,
    which had lots of potential, rendered less than playable/enjoyable
    because the designer ignored the COMMANDMENTS. (Were they, perhaps,
    users who were using the Scenario Builder without benefit of the
    user manual?)

    METHODS

    There are basically two ways to enhance your presentation of a scenario:

    SCENARIO BUILDER ACTIONS:

    1. Use the designer notes section. (Access if through COMMAND->SCENARIO.)
    Several lines are available for you to give a thumbnail sketch for your
    scenario. And, by all means, include your name in the author's name block.

    2. Add just another creative touch to your efforts and include a scenario
    picture. The specs for such a picture are fairly simple: 320 x 200 pixels
    ....16 color PCX, LBM or BMP file.  Such a picture can give a user a
    graphics interpretation of what your scenario is all about. And, it adds
    a professional touch. (Just a suggestion.)

    READ ME FILE:

    1. Tell us about you: how long you've been computing, playing WL2, etc.
    What do you do in real life, etc. Not an autobiography; just a few lines.

    2. Tell us about the backgound of your scenario.  Here's an example:

         "1861 - Dialog between the Southern planter states,
          led by South Carolina, and the New England industrial states,
          led by Massachussets, has mired to a standstill.
          Issues such as customs tarrifs on exports to England, admission
          of new states, and slavery have brought Congressional temperatures
          to the boiling point.

         "The election of Abraham Lincoln, perceived by the South
          as an Abolitionist hiding behind words of concilation,
          has made matters all the worse.

         "Militia units are forming and drilling from New Orleans
          to New York. And, just yesterday, South Carolina batteries
          fired on a Charleston harbor post known as Fort Sumter.

         "Could these have been the first shots of a war with the
          potential to split the Union, as many say? Or, is it just
          the action of some hothead local politician seeking
          fame and glory in Charleston?"

    Of course, this example is a bit boring becuase we all know it so well
    already. But, your between the tribes or nations of the Xaflagalopolis,
    or whoever, will probably not be as familiar to us. So, we need to know
    its origins; its background.

    3. Special devices you used in creating your scenario: you made the
    cost of such and such units exorbitantly high so nobody could buy the
    "production rights" to them; you drew your map with no roads but put
    lots of rivers in to function as roads; things like this.

    4. Explain any special units you may have designed and whose use and
    object may be readily apparent to the average user. For example:
    A "steel-hinged, parsiogenic retrosphincter" is not intuitively a unit
    which cancels another player's hero bonus or which might be used to
    fortify one's one position. Tell us what they do and why we might want
    them to do it.

    5. Tell us about any assumptions you had to make about the map...terrain,
    scale, etc...which might have been imposed on you be the 112 x 156 pixel
    limitations on your source file, etc....also, about any compromises you
    had to make in order to work with the scale.

    6. Finally, use the READ.ME file to add anything else you feel might
    enhance the user's enjoyment and appreciation of your hard work and
    effort.

    FINAL STEP

    Now, you can't and wouldn't want to send two separate files to COMPUSERVE
    or AMERICA ONLINE or GENIE, etc. So, you'll need to compress the read me
    file along with your SZP file into one neat and tidy package.

    Most people have a copy of PKZIP and PKUNZIP.  On AOL, they only allow
    compression with PKZIP 1.01 although CIS and GENIE don't have such a
    requirement. I suggest you stick with PKZIP 2.04G (for now) unless you
    are uploading to AOL (then you must use 1.01).

    Once compressed READ.ME and your .SZP into a ZIP file, it's time to upload.

    Leave a message to other users that you've uploaded it and a very brief
    description of what it does (Civil War, fantasy, etc). This will
    get folks excited and they will be looking for your scenario once
    the sysop turns the switch on for others to download it.

    A BIT OF COURTESY, PLEASE:

    Unless you have designed and added special city or army sets, please use
    the "-A" and "-C" switches on PACKSCEN. If you do not do this, you cause
    an Army set and a City set everyone already has to be added to your
    .SZP file!!!! This causes your .SZP file to be larger than necessary and
    causes the download time to be longer. Of course, if your army and/or
    city set was specially designed, then you would not use the appropriate
    "off" switches.

    And, until SSG allows us to design our own shield sets, be very sure
    you turn off shields when you use PACKSCEN ("-S").

    THAT'S ALL FOLKS

    I sincerely hope these guidelines help you in preparing your scenarios
    for public consumption. I suspect you, like me, would not upload your
    work if you weren't concerned that people would like it and use it.

    I really believe you'll find folks will appreciate your effort all the
    more for following these guidelines.

    THIS LIST WAS WRITTEN BY:
    Paul Fields - Avid Warlords Player & Designer

    Changed by EEL 1994.