Map Making Tutorials

What to install, what only you can do, and what to hand to the model.

1. What this course coversEverything that goes into one finished UMS map.2 min
2. Installing the map toolsScmDraft 2, TrigEditPlus, EUD Editor 3, and what each is for.2 min
3. Installing Claude Code (Windows / Mac)Written for someone opening a terminal for the first time.2 min
4. Your job and the model's jobIt will build the code. It cannot open the editor, compile, or launch the game.2 min

The part done in the editor. However much code a model writes, this groundwork is yours.

1. A new map, and who plays itThe player layout comes before the terrain.3 min
2. Terrain and placing unitsStructure first, decoration later.2 min
3. Creating locationsDeciding what parts of the map a trigger can point at - the resource a real map uses most.2 min
4. Changing what units can doHit points, damage, range, cost - all editable here, with no EUD involved.2 min
5. Renaming units to make countersThis is how you create variables, and it is a job only you can do.3 min

Ninety percent of a map is built here, before any EUD is involved.

1. Anatomy of a triggerPlayers, conditions, actions. That is the whole thing.2 min
2. Every conditionThere are 23 of them, and this is all of them.4 min
3. Every actionAll 57. You will not need most of them, but you need to know they exist.10 min
4. Death counters are your variablesStarCraft has no variables. Death counters are what you use instead.2 min
5. Making triggers run fastNothing works at the default speed. These days one plugin setting fixes it.2 min
6. Order and the trigger cycleThe same trigger gives a different result depending on where it sits.2 min
7. SwitchesThe lightest tool when all you need is on or off.2 min
8. Text, colour and formattingColour and alignment are control codes placed inside the string.5 min
9. When it does not workTriggers give you no error message. You have to go and look.2 min
10. Working with locationsOnce a location can move, area checks and tracking follow.2 min

Defence, arena, progression, survival - the pieces are mostly the same whatever you are building.

1. Measuring time with death countersUnder EUD Turbo, 24 deaths is one real second. Every period in your map comes from that one conversion.5 min
2. Spawns and wavesProduce enemies on a timer, cap how many, and step the waves up.5 min
3. Counting players and handling arrivalsWork out who is present, and give each of them a start.3 min
4. Defence: waves and leaksEnemies reaching the goal cost you a life.4 min
5. Rounds and teamsThe structure arena, PvP and survival maps share.5 min
6. Winning, losing and eliminationHow to end the game, and how to eliminate someone without ending it.5 min
7. Shops, and restricting who can buyStand on a pad to buy, and the trap that comes with it.5 min
8. Experience and levelsNot just for RPGs - difficulty tiers in a defence map and ranks in an arena use the same structure.5 min
9. Death and respawnPutting a player who lost their unit back into the game.3 min
10. Skills and cooldownsA production building becomes the skill button - the same structure serves an arena ultimate or a defence map's special ability.9 min
11. Drops and probabilityRandomised switches are where probability comes from.4 min
12. Giving a boss behaviourRe-issue orders to keep it in line, and change phase by health.3 min
13. Zones, teleports and safe areasMove people around, and keep them out of where they should not be.3 min
14. Showing the player their own numbersWays to show level and money before you reach EUD.2 min

Where everything classic triggers cannot do becomes possible.

1. What EUD isReading and writing the game's own memory.2 min
2. How EUD Editor 3 is laid outThe TE section, the Plugin section, and compiling.2 min
3. What eudplib actually doesWhat is working underneath EUD Editor 3, and the three ideas you need.3 min
4. eudplib: triggers and control flowConditions and actions as function calls, plus if and while.9 min
5. eudplib: variables, functions, structsReal variables and functions, past the death-counter era.5 min
6. eudplib: memory, strings and mathsThis is where what EUD can actually do lives.8 min
7. eudplib: map data and the buildOpening the map, turning names into numbers, and saving it.5 min
8. Putting text on screenThe first EUD worth getting working.2 min

The language that makes EUD readable.

1. The basicsVariables, conditionals, functions. It looks familiar.2 min
2. The syntax, in one placeWhat real maps actually use is a narrower language than you would expect.3 min
3. How a script is laid outGlobals, helpers, and the entry point that runs every cycle.4 min
4. The player loopOnce per cycle, once per player.2 min
5. Reading a counter as a numberConditions give you true or false. What if you need the number?2 min
6. Putting values on screenDisplayText for fixed text, f_eprintf for text with values in it.3 min
7. The traps that get everyoneThe cases that compile cleanly and then behave strangely in game.2 min

If progress has to survive the game, this is half the work - and painful to bolt on late.

1. Why saving decides the mapIf what you built up disappears, there is no reason to come back.2 min
2. Choosing what to saveWhat you store is what decides how long the code is.2 min
3. Generating the systemYou do not have to write the encoding yourself.2 min
4. Wiring it into the mapTwo pastes and two triggers.2 min
5. Shutting out the obvious cheatsA solo lobby and a computer slot are the two main doors.2 min
6. When you update the mapKeep old codes working; stop new ones opening on old builds.2 min

From here on it is entirely hands-on.

1. CompilingKeeping the source and the output apart.2 min
2. Testing in gameThe bugs that never show up when you play alone.2 min
3. PublishingA map page, downloads, and a way to be found.2 min