Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic Scenario Designer’s Hall
Overview | Mapmaking | Scripts | Interviews & links
Welcome to the Scenario Designer’s Hall, where you may browse through articles, read up on important mapmaking matters and share your knowledge with others. Feel free to drop us an e-mail if you have anything to contribute to this section. Articles, short suggestions, and additional information to the existing sections are most welcomed.
Are you looking for Age of Wonders II : The Wizard’s Throne?
With the original version still being quite popular, you can find the archived scenario design notes for AoW2 here. If you have AoW:Shadow Magic, you may STILL want to visit the archives, for much of it still applies.
Section 1: Overview – Mapmaking and Important Reminders
- The Mapmaking Process In Summary
A quick overview with some tips on how to build your scenario. - Guide to Scenario Design Reviews or “What to Put In Your Scenario”
Detailed information to help you help out the community by reviewing scenarios. This is also an excellent resource for finding out what a good scenario design should be like. - The ReadMe.txt File
Including a ReadMe file can be very helpful to those who download your scenario, and is an opportunity for you to tell the player more about the scenario. - IMPORTANT Reminders In Scenario Design
Very important: if you read anything on this site, be sure you include this!
Section 2: Mapmaking – How-to’s, Examples, and References
- Mapmakers’ Gallery
Basic terrain examples, user-submitted screenshots, and demonstrations of terrain design techniques. - Shadow Magic Editor Interface
A User’s Guide explaining the editor’s features. - Map Scenery Design Tips
All sorts of examples with pictures for how to make your map really shine. - Editing Wizards and Kingdoms and Things…
Everything that can be edited excluding scripts: Wizards and heroes and cities and armies and quest stones and power nodes and mines and furnaces and windmills and water mills and inns and rogue shacks and teleporters and signs and gold and mana and magic catalysts and reflecting pools and watch towers and haste berry trees and criter’s dens and circuses and druid circles and shipwrecks and marketplaces and dragon’s peaks and dungeons and magic vaults amd magic relays and ancient ruins and campsites and dragon’s lairs and chaos nodes and haunted crypts and rainbow’s ends and poison clouds and fires…. - Story Elements in Scenario Design
Help for writing a story for your scenario.
Section 3: Scripts – How to Make and Use Them
- Scripting Database
A collection of easy and complex user-submitted scripts, ready for your use. - Scripting Basics – User Guide
How to use the scripting features of the editor. - Scripting Manual
All known details on how scripts work, including detailed information about specific events, triggers, and conditions. - Quick Reference
Section 4: Interviews and Links
This section will feature articles in relation to anything that has to do with scenario design. From sharing about map making experiences to how to get ideas, etc.
- More Balanced Multiplayer Maps Needed For League Games
An Interview with LeagueAOW Lead Admin, Der Waggs. Though LeagueAOW no longer exists, this interview is still useful to the scenario designer. - Overcoming the Obstacles of Creativity
An Interview with Queen Elquein where she touches on how to get over corrupted map files and mapmaking burnout. - Useful Sites and Utilities for the Scenario Designer
External resources for scenario design ideas.
Note that all these pages may be updated time and again to reflect new findings and to correct or add new information.
The suggestions in this section are by no means straight foward instructions that one is limited to but, hopefully, it will help spring new ideas for those who have just started dabbling in the editor. As it is said, let there be no limits to the human imagination.
Yes, we realize you have heard that before. We just want to make it very clear, that when it comes to creativity there is no straight road to how things should be done. Happy Mapmaking! – AoW Heaven Games Staff