Creating an interactive guide for The Settlers Online

The first to do is login in the webpage (or create a new user)

Help

After under the menu "Guides" you will be able to press the option "Create guide"

I will select the easier adventure possible to create the first guide, in this case Bounty Hunter..

Lets introduce this guide in settlersonlinemaps.com http://settlersonlinemaps.com/guides...osettlers.jpeg

We select Bounty Hunter from the list of adventures

After we will get into the editor, now I will explain each editor section

http://settlersonlinemaps.com/guideshelp/help1.en.png

(1) It contains some buttons (help and saving errors at the moment)
(2) It is the map of the adventure, we will be able to move the generals to the right position, and moving the mouse over the camps will show us the enemy troops
(3) This is the edition zone and I will explain it detailed in the next lines

http://settlersonlinemaps.com/guideshelp/help2.en.png

(1) Zoom, you can zoon in and zoon out selecting here or using the keys (+ and -)
(2) Some options, fit to screen adjust the map to the current viewport and disables the zoom. Share guide will make it public. Last option is used for guides where you need to finish the adventure fast because last attack is to a leader where some blocks are in a diferent sector (for example in return to bandid nest).
(3) This button allows us to import adventures using text. I will explain this in a diferent post detailing some examples.
(4) Save guide. After we save the guide the server will show us possible errors (Generals not positioned, generals with more troops, etc).
(5) Current Attack/Total attacks and buttons to add and remove the current attack.
(6) Guide's Author (The webpage wil show author and uploader (it can be different). The user is automatically collected from user login.
(7) Numbers of generals in the current attack (max of 9 generals is supported)
(8) Dangerous blocking, it will show a blinking skull when playing the guide if you check this option when the user is in this attack (Usually used with blocks that are very dangerous because the timing are too close and you can lose troops)

Points (9) to (15) will be repeated for all generals of the current attack (based in the number selected in (7)).

(9) General Type, We can choose any general that is actually in the game
(10) Copy from.. this button allows you to copy the position and general type from any other general used in any other attack. With this we can positioning the general without moving it in each attack (if position is the same). This helps a lot creating guides.
(11) Camp to attack. (letter and number). The letter is the sector while the number is the number of camp inside the sector. We named the camps in this way because it is easier to know what camps are in same sectors (sometimes it is confusing).
(12) Attack type... (Normal, Block, Block 1R, Retreat, Do nothing)... The first is just a normal attack, and second a Blocking general. Third is 1R block, used to allow another general to pass throw a camp without being intercepted (losing a general and a recluit). Retreat is used with intercepted camps when you dont want to attack the last camp, just attack the intercepted camps. Last option, do nothing is used just to increase the times of other generals (more flags to the final campament, usually used to delay a general). (Usually we will use the first 2 options)
(13) Delay in launching of secondary general. The recommended to set here is the delay between consecutive generals not the absolute delay... it is less complicated, for example if we use 3 generals in this attack and 2nd/3rd are delayed 12 secons to the first, we set 12 in first general, 0 in second and 0 in third.
(14) Campaments intercepted. Used for example in adventure "The nords" it is used when a general attacks more than 1 campament in the same attack. Also when it is used with Retreat (see (12))
(15) Edit troops, here you will select the troops used for each general in the attack/block. For now you can edit the troops lost, but it will be replaced soon an automatic system, we have a simulator and we will use it for this. Anyways for now it is very important to press the SIM button.


After this, in this guide that we selected an example we have 5 attacks (and we will not able to skip them)

Well, the first step is create the 5 attacks (press 4 times the blue plus button).

After select the general type (normal gen in this case, that is the default value).

And then we set the troops for the first attack. We select the general and move it to the right position. At last, we press the SIM button to see the lost. If we didn't move the general and we select the camp, then it will be moved over the camp, and then we can move it. After this changes we will have something like this.

http://settlersonlinemaps.com/guideshelp/help3.en.png


We do the same with the attack number 2.

After we will make the 3rd attack different, because the general is in the same position (that attack 2). Se can set it manually but will be harder and slower. Just press the (10) and a popup will show us Ata 1 Gen 1, Ata 2 Gen 1, Ata 3 Gen 1. We are interested in Ata 2 Gen 1 because it is the right general that we want to copy. Finally press the button SIM to simulate lost (0 in this case)

Create the attacks 4 and 5 like attack 3

Finally i set the author.. in this case Dvork and then save the guide (we can save it previosly and repeat the saving)

Now we are ready to share the guide with the world!, just press the checbox in (2)

Here you can see the guide

and here

In the next post I will explain how to import guides from text, an easy and very fast sistem to include new guides in the web.

Help

Importing a guide from text

A very powerfull feature is the option to create the guides using text files, this makes the creation of guides really fast. In the tools bar we press the button (3)

As first basic example, we are doing again the Bounty Hunter guide <a href=\"http://settlersonlinemaps.com/guideshelp/bounty-hunter-g1-1-osettlers.jpeg\" target="htmlimg">bounty-hunter-g1-1</a>

In this guide all campaments must be attacked (A1, B1, B2,... B4) and all will be simple attacks. All attacks use the same troops too, 1R 70C, so, to import this guide as text we will need to follow the next steps:
Step 1. Create the guide in the editor, in this case in Bounty Hunter adventure.
We don't even need to create the attacks, importing will create them automatically (Anyways you can add them manually if you wish)

Step 2. Make the text file

Code:

---

1.1 A1 1R 70C
2.1 B1 1R 70C
3.1 B2 1R 70C
4.1 B3 1R 70C
5.1 B4 1R 70C

---

Paso 3. Positioning the generals
After you import the files all generals are set over the campaments that they will attack, just move them to the right position. The easier way is copying the position as I explained using (10), (better than moving them manually).

Step 4. Simulate the losses
This step will be removed in a close future, but for know it must done just pressing the SIM button in each attack.

Finally, assign the author name, and set if there are dangerous blocks, etc. Save the guide. Finally we share the guide if all is right.

The steps 1, 3 and 4 are common in both ways, importing from text and doing it manually.

Before we see another example lets explain all the options
File format to import guides as text files

Code:

---

[AttackNumber].[GeneralNumber].[AttackType (Optional)] [Camp] [TROOOPS]

---

1. For troops the next letters are used. R-Recluit, M-Militian, S-Soldier, E-Elites, C-Cavalry, B-Bowman, LB-Long bowman, A-Crossbowman, K-Cannoneer.
2. For each attack we can select the next attacks types: BLK-Block, 1R-1R Block, RET-Retreat, NO-Do nothing
3. To attack with multiple generals we just use the same attack number, be we change the general number
4. [Camp] It is the name of the camp, but we can use a list of camps between parenthesis, where the first camp is the attacked camp and all the others are the intercepting camps

An example with all the previos stuff together

Code:

---

1.1 (E6,E4,E5) 85R 185K
2.1.RET (F1,F2) 30M 160B 60A
3.1 G1 50R 105B 95K
4.1.BLK G4 79E
4.2 G2 102R 58B 110K
5.1.1R F4 1R
5.2 F3 145R 105K
6.1.BLK A2 1R 54E
6.2 A3 200R
6.3 A3 45R 125C 70A

---

Attacks explanation

1. Direct attack to E6 with troops 85R 185K but it will be intercepted previously by camps E4 and E5
2. Direct attack with troops 30M 160B 60A to F1, being intercepted by F2, but we will retreat the general after destroying the F2 camp
3. Attack to G1 with troops 50R 105B y 95K
4. Attack camp G2 with troops 102R 58B 110K, doing a block over the camp G4 with troops 79E
5. Attack camp F4 with 145R 105K, but using 1R block with ... 1R over the camp F4
6. Block camp A2 with troops 1R 54E, while we attack with 2 generals the camp A3, first with 200R and after with 45R 125C y 70A

Reserved for future use and new features