|||||||77 ///||| |||||\\\ /|||||||||| |||||\\\ \||\ /||/ ||||||/ /// ||| |||]]\\\\/||||||||||| |||]]\\\\ \||\ /||/ ||| /// ||| ||| \\\)||/ \||| ||| \\\) \||V||/ |||||77//////||| |||||////||/ |||||//// \|||/ ||||/ ///////||| |||||\\\|||\ |||||\\\ ||| ||| /// ||| ||| \\\|||\ ||| \\\ ||| ||| /// ||| ||| \\\||||||||||\ ||| \\\ ||| An In-Depth FAQ for the Map Editor Found in Far Cry Instincts Version 1.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Far Cry Instincts was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft in 2005. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Informtion and Legal Content This small Map Editor FAQ was created by SlipperyAlpha0 to aid those wishing to know what brushes are included for each brush set of the Far Cry Instincts Map Editor as well as provide a frame work on how to make a map. Please contact me at segrossk@hotmail.com for any comments or concerns. All the knowledge was acquired from Far Cry Instincts published by Ubisoft. However, none of the information in this FAQ is composed or organized in a useful manner for those gamer, since they have to be playing the game to see this knowledge. Copyright & Written January 2006 with the potential of future updates by slipperyalpha. The "Map Editor FAQ" text file may not be republished, reprinted, or communicated in any shape or form for any charges and/or profits. Only the GameFAQs web site may present this FAQ without the permission of the original author. Any changes to this file without the permission of the author is breaking the law of the aforementioned copyright. Since the legal owner of this FAQ reserves the right to require any reproduced copies of this FAQ to be removed, just do not take it. However, feel free to save this FAQ for reference and print it for your own personal use. The most recent version of this FAQ will always be available at GameFAQs.com and the FAQ will be updated as needed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE A) PURPOSE OF FAQ B) BREIF DESCRIPTION OF MAP EDITOR CAPABILITIES BRUSH SET LISTS 1) VEHICLES 2) WEAPONS 3) MULTIPLAYER 4) RESPAWN POINTS 5) SPECIALS 6) SMALL BRUSHES 7) LARGE BRUSHES 8) TREES Process of Making a Map I) Preparation (answers to questions and advice) II) What you Start With III) Excavation (caves, tunnels, steps/incline) IV) Inside-Out, Bottom-Up V) Location, Location, Location (weapons/vehicles/power-up/re-spawn) VI) Finishing Touches ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A) PURPOSE OF FAQ This small Map Editor FAQ was created for the sole purpose of printing off the entire list of brushes for each brush set found in the Far Cry Instincts Map Editor, since it is not included in the manual. I was getting irritated that I had to go through nine combinations of brush sets to pick which combination was desired. Before beginning a map you choose one environmental brush set (Tropical, Jungle, and Swamp) and one theme brush sets (Military, Research, and Ruins). After you choose which brush sets you want to use for creating a map, there is no way of choosing another brush set unless you start a new map. This FAQ also lists what is required to be placed on the map in order to achieve a specific multiplayer game type. The faq was also composed to provide the framework for creating maps as well as some hints on how to create some features not originally provided in the map editor brush set. Hopefully, this FAQ will aid those interested in knowing what brushes they are committing to when making a new map and how to make an enjoyable map. This small FAQ does not concern itself with any other features of the game. If you are curious about the other features found in Far Cry Instincts, please look at the FAQ create by jimfish at gamefaqs. His FAQ is certainly better in all other aspects for understanding Far Cry Instincts except for the lists of the brushes in each brush set and the guidelines provided here. The jimfish FAQ is an excellent FAQ and even includes hints and some more advice for making maps. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B) BREIF DESCRIPTION OF MAP EDITOR CAPABILITIES The map editor allows you to primarily do 4 things: "Edit Terrain", "Object Placement", "Edit Object", and the "Environmental Tool". The "Edit Terrain" allows you to 'Bump', 'Raise', 'Set Height', and 'Paint' the terrain. 'Bump' allows you to gently raise or lower (mold) the terrain. 'Raise' allows you to raise or lower the terrain without affect how the terrain is molded or the position of the objects on the terrain. 'Set Height' allows you to bring the height of the terrain to a set point, which is perfect for setting all of the terrain to one height. Subsequently you can not alter the height of the water that is set at 16 meters permanently. 'Paint' allows you to change the texture on the terrain from sand, grass, or cliff (rock). Thankfully, any texture can be placed at any height on the terrain and if you erase the texture below the water it will be a blue-green sand texture. You can also update the shadows of the map in this mode by pressing the white button. The "Object Placement Tool" allows you to place the newly select brushes and objects onto your map. While placing objects on the terrain, you can rotate any object and can raise the objects classified as Large Brushes. Subsequently, you can have Large Brushes floating in the sky if you like, but no other brush type allows you to do this. All other brushes have to be set on top of or in another brush or terrain to be able to be placed on the map, except the Trees brushes have to be on the terrain. You can get some objects that are not Large Brushes to float in the air by deleting the suspended large brush supporting the smaller brush. However, this is not advisable, since some people have reported problems with maps that are made this way. The "Edit Object Tool" allows you to move, raise, rotate, or delete any object/brush already on the map. The "Environmental" Tool allows you to change the time of day on the map from dawn, day, dusk, and night. You can also adjust the amount of fog and ambient background sound for the map. Subsequently, this is also the area of the Map Editor where you can take a screenshot of your map that is attached to its saved file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) VEHICLES: applicable to all brush sets; limit of 8 per map ATV (2 people can ride) RMV (5 people can ride, top mounted turret) Water Scooter "Jet Ski" (2 people can ride) Inflatable Boat (at least 3 people can ride) Patrol Boat (2 people, front mounted turret) Hover Craft (2 people, top mounted turret) Hang Glider (1 person) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) WEAPONS: applicable to all brush sets; limit of 50 per map Health (regenerates 50) Large Health (regenerates 100) Armor (provides 50) Mega Armor (provides 100) Evolution Hand Grenade Claymore Mine 9mm Auto Pistol (duel-wield, side arm) 9mm Pistol (duel-wield, side arm) Desert Eagle (duel-wield, side arm) P90 (duel-wield, light weapon) MP5 (duel-wield, light weapon) Carbine (light weapon) Machine Gun (heavy weapon) Sniper Rifle (heavy weapon) Assault Weapon (grenade launcher alt-fire, light weapon) Shotgun (light weapon) Scout Rifle (heavy weapon) Rocket Launcher (heavy weapon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) MULTIPLAYER: applicable to all brush sets Blue Sample (1 per map, needed for steal the sample game types) Red Sample (1 per map, needed for steal the sample game types) Sonic Alarm Generator (1 per map, needed for predator game types) Sonic Generator Lights (2 per map, needed for predator game types) Blue Team Flag (3 per map) Red Team Flag (3 per map) Green Team Flag (3 per map) Gold Team Flag (3 per map) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) RESPAWN POINTS: applicable to all brush sets Player (16 per map, need 4 for Chaos, Team Chaos, and Predator) Blue Team (16 per map, need 4 for Steal the Sample) Red Team (16 per map, need 4 for Steal the Sample) Predator (16 per map, need 4 for Predator) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) SPECIALS: applicable to all brush sets Ladder (8 per map) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) SMALL BRUSHES: limit of 300 brushes (small and large) per map -ALL BRUSH SETS- +TROPICAL+ SWAMP> -Sand Bag 1(L-shaped) >Wrecked Boat(canoe) -Sand Bag 2(C-shaped) *MILITARY* ^RESEARCH^ #RUINS# *Tent 1(wide A-frame) ^Chair(blue) #Flower Bed *Tent 2(slim A-frame) ^Computer(white) #Buda Statue *Hedgehog (metal) ^Console(grey and red) #Dog Statue *Barrel Rack ^Radio Set(black) ^Gas Tank(white) ^Specimen Tank 1(broken) ^Specimen Tank 2(intact) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) LARGE BRUSHES: limit of 300 brushes (small and large) per map, these are the only brushes originally designed to be raised above the ground to float in the air -ALL BRUSH SETS- >SWAMP> -Sniper Tower >Hut 1(enclosed) -Small Rock >Hut 2(exposed) -Medium Rock >Small Wood Walkway(railings) -Open Container(freight) >Small Wood Ramp(railings) -Closed Container(freight) >Small Wood Corner(railings) -Wood Fence >Small Wood T-Section(railings) -Metal Fence >Small Wood Intersection(4 pegs) -Open Metal Gate >Large Wood Walkway(railings) -Small Concrete Walkway >Large Wood Ramp(railings) -Small Concrete Ramp >Large Wood Corner(railings) -Large Concrete Walkway >Large Wood T-Section(railings) -Large Concrete Ramp >Large Wood Intersection(4 pegs) +TROPICAL+ *MILITARY* ^RESEARCH^ +Hut 1(enclosed) *Fuel Tank(big red) ^Small Walkway(metal) +Hut 2(exposed) *Truck Wreck(big rig) ^Small Ramp(metal) +Covered Deck *Guard Post ^Observation +Bamboo Fence *Bunker 1(metal roof) Tower(metal) +Bamboo Gate *Bunker 2(round concrete) ^Research Unit 1 +Wood Dock *Shelter(metal roof) (window, block) +Small Wood Ramp(dock)*Barracks(white concrete) ^Research Unit 2 +Large Wood Walkway *Shack (very large tent) (no window, block) +Large Wood Ramp ^Research Unit 3 (2 story) ^Research Unit 4 (4 story) SWAMP> +Bush 1(sm green) Bush 1(wd dark green) +Bush 2(sm rd green) Bush 2(wd olive green) +Bush 3(red flower) Bush 3(sm fern) +Bush 4(small fern) Tree 1(tl dd trunk) +Palm 1(curved) Tree 2(md dd trunk) +Palm 2(straight) Tree 3(sh dd trunk) +Tree 1(tl oak) Tree 4(st dd trunk) +Tree 2(sh oak) Tree 5(dd stump) +Cluster 1(6 oak) Cluster 1(2 dd, 1 al) +Cluster 2 (4 oaks, 1 sm palm) >Cluster 2 (3 dd) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Process of Making a Map Now you know all the tools that you have at your disposal for making a map in Far Cry Instincts. The next few steps cover the thought process that I use when making a new map. You do not have to follow these steps, but I have noticed that it helps me to be organized to follow these steps when making a new map. I) Preparation (answers to questions and advice) II) What you Start With III) Excavation (caves, tunnels, steps) IV) Inside-Out, Bottom-Up V) Location, Location, Location (weapons/vehicles/power-up/re-spawn) VI) Finishing Touches ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I) Preparation (answers to questions and advice) Here are some answers to basic questions asked about the multiplayer. There are no bots in multiplayer; none anywhere. If you don't have LIVE, then you can play 4 player split-screen on one XBOX. However, any maps you make off-line can only be played off-line. If you have LIVE, you have to make your maps while you are logged into XBOX LIVE if you want to share the map with your friends or host games on that map over LIVE. While playing on LIVE or system-link, you can have only one person per XBOX while playing Far Cry Instincts. Those are the bells and whistles for multiplayer and sharing maps. As far as creating maps are concerned, I have a few suggestions for preparation. First off, I strongly suggest playing the maps provided by the developer in a few multiplayer games just to get a feel for the gameplay mechanics in Far Cry Instincts. To me the game plays like a cross between Halo and a Tom Clancy game, since it is a more arcade type FPS with real world weapons and stealthy gameplay elements. This also give you the opportunity to use the weapons and drive the vehicles, which is very important for maps. This will help you decide which weapons you want to add to your map, the location of those weapons, what vehicles to add to your map, how wide roads/waterways need to be for those vehicles, and how to balance a map for these items. If you do not have LIVE, then the single player campaign can provide a good framework for weapon reference. However, LIVE multiplayer can be quite entertaining and is a real draw for making maps. After you have experience with the gameplay mechanics, I strongly recommend playing some other user created maps already made. This will help you to understand what is a fun/fair map to play, where you can be creative when making a map, and what to avoid when you create your own maps. Although I realize that these are some rather subjective criteria for evaluating maps, they are probably the most important. A fun/fair map allows anybody the chance of equal skill to be able to win their objective (win gunfight, get the sample, or beat the predator). Creativity in a map makes the map unique in some regard and instantly recognizable; whether it be geography, plants use, interesting use of brush set, creating a sculpture, and so on. This to avoid are flat maps, uneven playing field, unnecessarily large mountains, long foot time between bases, bunching too many weapons/power-ups together, undrivable terrain that is meant to be drivable, creative maps that sacrifice gameplay, and so on. I can not stress how important it is to see other people’s maps to get a sense of what works and what is creative versus what is bad in a map and boring to play in. This you can only learn with experience. Finally, commit your idea to paper and then go the map editor. The terrain worked on an invisible grid, so it may be useful to use graphing paper. It is very tough to make circles with the editor, but with time you may be able to. When you draw out your map, first figure out how you want the terrain to be. If there are going to be multiple levels, make a two dimensional drawing for each level. Once the terrain is decided, work some brushes into the design like bridges, architecture pieces, landmark pieces for navigation in the map, sniper points, sniper blind spots, bases, passage ways, tunnels, and especially any water passages you plan to include. I strongly suggest you design every critical gameplay area (like bases or sniper points) with at least two ways of access (three or more access points are better). If you don't, it makes it way too easy for sniper camping which I am prone to do quite successfully on most created maps (note that I am a horrible sniper in most games), so try to take away opportunities for camping. Next, decide on the foliage placement. This part is not always critical. If plants are integral to the maps look and gameplay, then I strongly suggest making a plant layout. If the foliage is used to decorate and won't cause gameplay balance issues, then it is not necessary to draw them in. Finally, draw in key features unique to the map. This is not always important, but can add a layer of depth to the map if you plan on an evolution placement or a single sniper rifle placement that can great depth to gameplay if thought out well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II) What you Start With Now you have your ideal map already drawn out on paper and you’re ready to make the map. You have decided which single environmental brush set (Tropical, Jungle, or Swamp) and single theme brush set (Military, Research, or Ruins) will help you create the vision you have on paper. Remember, once you have started a map you can not change the brush sets. You have to start all over if you changed your mind. Now you advance to making a map. You will be presented with a small island surrounded by a sea of water. That is all a new map will give you. However, don't be disappointed because you can and should do something dynamically different than this crescent shaped island. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III) Excavation (caves, tunnels, steps/inclines) The first thing that I suggest is selecting the 'Set Height' option in the "Edit Terrain" mode. If you plan on using water in your map, set all the height to 17 meters. If you want to make a map where falling is a danger, even when falling in a vehicle, then set the height to 40 meters. From 0-16 meters is the water level. From 16-150 meters is the limit for raising the terrain. I do not know if you can still add brushes/object on a 150 meter tall piece of terrain, but I would assume that you couldn’t. Next, select 'Paint' in the "Edit Terrain" mode and paint all of the terrain as cliff. This provides you a two dimensional surface to draw out the map you already have on paper with the sand paint on the cliff terrain. Note that the sand will write in 1 meter semi-square shapes, which is the invisible grid mentioned earlier. Once you have your map drawn to the surface, you can sculpt away. If you want to have your land surrounded by water and still have falling be a vehicle hazard, then set the majority of the terrain around you main body of land to 15 meters, thereby making a 15 meter self around your land. This still permits the editor to draw water in your map, while having a vehicle explode upon hitting the shelf and injuring any occupants if the vehicle has fallen from a significant distance. If you want to make a cave, then set the height of the terrain for the cave walls at least 3 meters higher than the cave floor (2 meters is ~ 6 feet, so 3 meters provides room to jump). You'll notice that you have a sky light in your cave and you'll need something to cover it if you want to make a complete cave. You can use any large brush to cover it by raising that object above the cave. Preferable objects to use include the medium rock, the freight containers, some walkways look nice, and if you don't care how it looks or if it works into map you could always place a base/shelter/research unit/hut over your cave. If you want to make a tunnel, then set you height to 3 meters for a person or 4 meters for a vehicle passageway (3 meters may work) and either dig or rise the terrain to make a ditch or aisle. You can then cover the tunnel with any of the aforementioned brushes/objects discussed for making a cave. One piece of cautionary advice, don't always expect to use a plant brush to cover a cave/tunnel since plants have to be in contact with the ground in this editor. Tunnels are especially important in some maps for gameplay, because they provide great cover from sniper fire while crossing a map and can create some intense close quarters combat. If you want to make some steps or an incline with the terrain, then use the 'Set Height' tool and make it have a 1 meter radius. If you are making a steps going up, set the set height 1 meter taller than the land and make 2 squares at that height (if the land is 18 meters, then make two 19 meters pieces of raised land). The first piece raised at that set height will be inclined and the second piece will be flat at the new height. Continue making 2 squares of terrain one meter taller than the previous two and you will make a great set of steps out of the terrain (if the land is 18 meters, then make two 19 meters pieces of raised land, and then two 20 meter pieces an so on). If you want to make an steep incline, then make every single piece of terrain raised 1 meter higher than the previous piece. It is a little more work to make a gentle incline out of the terrain. To make a gentle incline, make every 2+ pieces of land be the same height like you would make a series of steps. The more pieces of land you include, the gentler the slope of the incline will be. Once you have made your steps, then choose the 'Bump' option in the "Edit Terrain". The 'Bump' option will allow you to raise or dig the land for making an incline with a smooth slope. If you are making a series of steps or an incline for people to use then you will need to make those steps or incline two meters wide to be easy enough to climb. If you are making an incline for a vehicle to use, then I strongly suggest making it at least 4 meters wide. You can make the widths of your steps or incline smaller, but I have found that to be really difficult to navigate while playing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV) Inside-Out, Bottom-Up While editing your terrain and placing large brushes/object/plants, I strongly suggest you start in the center of your map and work your way out as wells as starting at the bottom of your map and working your way up. This is for a number of reasons. First and most importantly, moving the terrain can and usually does alter the placement of objects located on the terrain being edited. This is not always a problem, but can definitely misalign connected bridge pieces or walkways connected to bases so dramatically that they can no be used while playing. Secondly if you work your way from the center of the map out, you can usually make your map larger by expending outwards. If you start on the outside and work your way in, you may not have allowed yourself enough space and thus wasted a lot of time by having to start over. Finally, you want to work your way from the bottom to the top so you can move brushes/objects easier. Objects (especially smaller brushes) on top of other objects can be moved sometimes if you move the bottom piece. Working from the inside to the outside and completing things from the bottom to the top will save you a lot of potential headaches later in your map. Also while you're editing your terrain and adding objects, do not forget about the "Editing Options" that are available to you by pressing the black button. Here you can hide the water while you're editing your map by unselecting 'Draw Ocean Water'. If you want to see all of the gameplay object icons (weapons icons, re-spawn placement, sample locations), then select the 'Draw Object Icons' to see an icon on your map where all of these items are placed. When you add brushes and objects, you may want to place them off of/above the terrain. To do this you will have to unselect 'Snap Brushes to Terrain'. Similarly, you might not want to have fences and bridges automatically connect the way the program connects them. To over override this, just unselect 'Snap Fences and Bridges'. Finally, you can have the editor notify you what you are deleting with the white button. To make sure you are notified about what object is being deleted, just select the 'Show Prompt When Deleting an Object'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V) Location, Location, Location (weapons/vehicles/power-up/re-spawn) Before you add any gameplay elemets like sampl locations, weapons, or re-spawn icons; I strongly suggest that you finish adjusting your terrain, painting your terrain, adding brushes, and adding plants. If you have brushes left over, than use some of the small brushes to decorate the bases so that they look unique from other bases. Also use some of the plants to make the environment look a little different from another area that might otherwise look identical. Once you have the map basically finished, pop into the map yourself by pressing the BACK button and check for geometry that you can get stuck on, that the ramps and stairs are easy enough to navigate, and that you made at least two ways to approach each area (three or more is better). Once you have the map basically done, it is now time to add weapons, vehicles, power-up, and re-spawn placements. The best piece of advice I have is to avoid clustering weapons or power-ups (health, armor, evolutions). If you cluster items, it promotes people to camp. If people are winning by not moving and owning a couple weapon spawns at the same time, it make for a very unbalanced map. Similar in thought, do not always place weapons at the best tactical location. Instead place them near their best tactical location. For example place sniper rifles at the base of a sniper tower, not on the top walkway of the sniper tower. By placing the sniper rifle at the base of the sniper tower, it forces the sniper to come down to get more ammo which leaves them vulnerable while they are climbing the ladder. Be sure to place a lot of the better weapons and power-ups (health and armor) near or around bases, but not always in the base. This forces players to move and allows them to be more vulnerable. If you are going to place a weapon that can be duel-wielded, then be sure to place at least two of that weapon somewhere on the map because most of the duel-wielded weapons are underpowered by themself. Don't be afraid to place the better heavy weapons and evolution in difficult locations as long as it remains balanced for team games. If you are going to include vehicles, make sure you test drive the terrain for each vehicle. Be sure to test drive the terrain with the RMV and Hover Craft because these vehicles are exceptionally difficult to handle on rugged terrain. The Hang Glider is another vehicle that has to be thoroughly test because the passenger will fall out if they bump anything while they are flying. By testing all of your vehicles, you can be sure the map plays the way you intended it too. Finally once all of environment is done and most if not all of objects are placed, you can add your re-spawn points. Re-spawn points are tricky to add because you want it to be as fair as possible for the players. Everyone hates being spawned killed and try to avoid that. The best way to avoid spawn killing is to place re-spawn points in a place with the back of the player against sufficient cover or have about fifty percent of the respawn have cover. If you can not place the respawn in an area with enough cover, than place it near a really good weapon to off-balance the lack of cover. Placing re-spawns in good but fair locations guarantees that the players can enjoy balanced matches even if the map is a little bland. In all tuth, a fair and bland map can be a lot more fun to play than an unbalanced and creative map, so please keep that in mind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI) Finishing Touches You've finished your map and have it set up for all the multiplayer game types that it was intended for. The first thing I suggest doing is go to the "Edit Terrain" and press the white button to update the terrain shadows. Doing this will make all the elements in your map look cohesive. Next I would save the map at least twice, because some people have had their map files corrupted. Finally, you need to publish it to play it in multiplayer. If you follow my advice, I can not make any guarantees that your map will be the most balanced, most creative, or the best playable map. However, I will say that this advice can aid to to make a competent map that should be very playable and hopefully enjoyable to whoever is playing it. I wish everyone the best of luck while making your maps.