Part 4)Making and Applying Patches Now you should know how to make a custom map of your own, but how are you going to distribute the changes you have done in your map to all the players on your shard? You have a few options. Zipping down the three .MUL files using WinZip, WinRAR, ACE or any other such program, and then letting people download them from a ftp/website is one option, but the big downloads may put some players off. The other option is to use WorldForge to make a patchfile that contains the difference between YOUR map and the original one. This file can easily be zipped down to under 1 mb, which shouldn't be a too big download for anyone. But this option has a slight backside as well. It's time consuming. It can take long to make the patches, and it can take long to apply the patches. In worst cases it CAN be over 1 hour for each (make and apply). *NOTE* I'm not trying to scare you off here, just informing you so you know what you're heading into :) WorldForge does all the work, you just go drink a cup of coffee or a glass of coke(or 20) until it's done ;) One thing that is important to know is that the people who are to apply the patch after you make it have to have the same version of UO as you do UO "gold" or T2A)or the patch won't work. MAKING PATCHES Now, to make these patches you need two things; a customized map, and your UO/T2A cd. (*NOTE* You don't need the cd if you already have the original MAP0.MUL/STATICS0.MUL/STAIDX0.MUL files on your harddrive. If so, use them instead of the cd.) The first thing you should do is to insert the UO/T2A cd in your drive and close the UO installation menu that pops up if you have autostarting of cds enabled. After that, start up WorldForge and make sure the paths at the bottom of the screen are for the customized STATICS0.MUL and STAIDX0.MUL and not the original ones/or the ones on the cd. Then you click the WF-DIFF button, which should take you to a new screen. At the new screen, first of all select which files you want to generate the patch for; If you've only done changes to MAP0.MUL, you select only MAP0.MUL. If you've only done changes to the STATICS0.MUL/STAIDX0.MUL, you select only those. If you've done changes to all, select all. Now read through the text in the window to learn about what steps will be taken during the patch generating, as well as those that will be taken when applying a patch. As the text told you, you'll have to insert the path to the original .MUL files in the text fields where it says "Original files" (obviously.) Also enter the paths to the customized/modified .MUL files, in the text fields where it says "Modified files". As always, the paths are correct only when the text boxes light up GREEN. When done with the above instructions, click the Generate Diff button, enter a filename (what you want to call the patch that WorldForge generates.) and press OK. The blue bar in the main window will now pass from left to right 6 times, as described in the WF-DIFF instructions in WorldForge. When it's done, you can Zip down the patch and send it off to your users..... almost... You still need to know one thing, which you also have to tell the people you send the patch to.. APPLYING PATCHES Applying patches basicly follows the same rules as making them does. Your users will need copies of their original .MUL files (only the three .MUL files I have mentioned in this tutorial)or their UO/T2A cd, so WorldForge will have some files to compare the patch to. Also, some files they can apply the patch to. *NOTE* You can't apply a patch to the same file you're comparing the patch to. After starting WorldForge and going to the WF-DIFF screen, your users must select the same files to edit as you did when you made the patch, and they must enter the file paths correctly. The "Original files" are the ones on the cd, the "Modified files" are the ones that WILL be modified when WorldForge applies the patch you made. When the file paths light up green, one must click the Apply Diff button, and select the patchfile that you made(at this time unzipped). This part has 5 steps, meaning the blue bar in the main screen will pass from left to right 5 times before WorldForge is done. The End < Previous Page: MapMaking