Matrix Games

Hello everyone,

I hope you’ve all been enjoying the “What’s your mod?” series these last few months. This past week, I’ve changed the format slightly and so I thought I’d write this article to explain my thoughts on the show… and talk about where it’s going in the future. There may also be more of these as the show continues forward, so I hope you look forward to them.

In a break from covering mods, we looked at Starship Troopers: Terran Command, which  has just released its new map editor. One comment I often hear is that someone has an idea for a mod, but that modding is too hard to get into. This is where map editing bridges the gap between having never modded before and becoming a modder. It’s much, much easier, but it teaches you the skills needed for other kinds of modding.

In fact, over 20 years ago, I got my start in making “mods” making maps. Map Editors - and Starship Troopers: Terran Command is no exception - often come with trigger or scripting systems that allow you to create some very complex missions.

Did you know that Counterstrike, Team Fortress, the entire MOBA and Tower Defence genres and much more, all got their starts as custom maps for strategy or FPS games? So there really are no limits to what you can do with map editing! Entire games can be built in some of the most powerful ones!

Getting started with Starship Troopers: Terran Command is easy and I hope the show will give you the start you need to bring your own vision to life. Be sure to download the map I made during the show from the workshop, then open it up in the editor to see how the simple triggers were done. It should be all you need to make your very first map - and who knows - maybe you’ll make the next mod that becomes a massive franchise.

As always, I’m on the forums to answer your questions, along with our very friendly community.

Edmon - Community Manager