BuildingMaps
A map is the most basic of user made content you can create. Complex scenarios can be developed on them, or they can be played on their own as simple battlefields with with no extra work required.
Wesnoth features a fully featured map editor, accessible from the Map Editor option at the main menu. Inside you will find all the tools you need to create your own arenas to stage your adventures.
Inside the individual map files themselves are simply terrain codes that the games translates into graphics when you play. Usually you will never have to edit these files manually, but it can come in handy to understand the format. For more on terrain codes and the map data format, see the TerrainCodesWML page as well as below.
For further instructions on how to distribute your completed maps, see BuildingMapsDistribution.
Creating a map
Making good, balanced, interesting maps is an art unto itself. ESR has a handy beginners guide in his Campaign Design How-To article. You can also ask for assistance on the Multiplayer Development forum.
So now what?
You've created an awesome map with the map editor and you're ready to test it out. But how can you do this? It's actually quite simple.
Play your map
If you just want to play the map, maybe against the computer or with a friend, all you have to do is save it into the map editor's folder (the default location). Then, when you launch the game and host a multiplayer game, the map should appear at the top of the map choices screen.
When creating a game on the multiplayer server, your map will be described to other players as a "User Map" and any replays stored on the server will refer to the game as "User Map."
For the curious: Saving a map file like this creates a stand-alone file that holds the map data. That file is by default saved in userdata/editor/maps/, and maps in that location are added to the top of the multiplayer map selection list.
When you're ready to share your map with the world, post it to the Multiplayer Development forum or package it to be distributed on the in-game add-ons server. For instructions on how to distribute maps, see BuildingMapsDistribution
Note
There is a proposed update for the map format coming up soon. Please read this to find out more.
See Also
