So you are interested in creating a mod for Ancestors Legacy? That's great! Information from this guide should make it easier for you to start and then there are other official guides for providing you more detailed information.

Another great source of information is analysing how base Ancestors levels were made, you can find many useful tips and tricks in their Level Blueprints for example.

Bare in mind that you will need basic knowledge of Unreal Engine 4 environment to be able to work efficiently. Fortunately there are a lot of resources on the web that help you understand how to use the editor, place actors, change edit modes, script in blueprints etc.

Official Unreal Engine 4 documentation[docs.unrealengine.com]

In case of any further question hit us on our Discord channel![discord.gg]

• Click on "Ancestors Legacy Mod Tool" -
  
  
• Click on Create a New Mod
  
  
• Click OK on „Restart the editor to activate new mod Plugin”
  
  
• After restarting you need to check Show Plugin Content in Content Browser.
  
  
  
  
  You should now see your mod in Content Browser (you may have to use Show or hide the sources panel button to show the panel). It should look like this: "YourModName_RandomNumber".
  In this screen example the mod name was SeboMod
  
  

• Select a mod directory in Content Browser and add new level there (see the gif below). The name of a new level must start with mp for multiplayer map or sp for single-player map. The level name must end with _p
  Examples:
  
  • sp_MyModMap1_p - for single-player map
    
  • mp_MyModMap1_p - for multiplayer map
    
    
  
  Open the level you have just created. Now we have a lot of things to do as an initial setup. First add 2 actors to the level, Landscape and MapDesigner.
  
  
  • Landscape: To create a basic landscape you need to get into the Landscape mode (look for Modes window). It's important to properly setup the Landscape size, you should have Section Size 31x31 Quads and 1x1 Section per Component. We highly recommend sticking to 15x15 components maximum to avoid future problems with too large map area. When you are ready, click Create.
    
    
    
    
    
  • Next step will be putting a material onto your newly created landscape. You can use one from any landscape material already created by Destructive Creations. For this example I'll use LandscapeAutoMaterial/Materials/m_ln_map_01/mi_ln_mp_map_01.mi_ln_mp_map_01
    
    
    
    
    
  • Last thing to finish basic configuration of a landscape is to set the Layers in Landscape Mode. You have to add Layer Info for each individual Layer, do that by using plus sign button (Create Layer Info), select Weight-Blened Layer and save it in your mod directory.
    
    
  
  
  • MapDesigner: Now we need to put on the level a very special actor called MapDesigner. You can find it at this location Blueprints/Game/BP_Anc_MapDesigner.BP_Anc_MapDesigner
    Or just type „MapDesigner” in ContentBrowser.
    
    
    
    
    
  • Now select the MapDesigner on the level and click on „Util Check Map Status” button – this should automatically configure more elements to the level (like MapBoundsMarkers or FogOfWar):
    
    
  
  
• Next thing to do is to set up MapBoundsMarkers by adjusting their locations – they will determine the size of playable area on the level. Important: The playable level area NEEDS to be a square! We highly recommend to set them in a way that center of the playable area will be at (x = 0, y = 0) location. Good starting point will be moving your markers to (x=16000, y=-16000) and (x=-16000, y=-16000) locations.
  
  
• You will also need a NavMeshBoundsVolume - only inside this volume a NavMesh can be generated, and units require a NavMesh to being able to move. You should have NavMesh only inside the playable area! Best approach would be placing your volume at (x=0, y=0) position (assuming this is the centre of your playable area) and adjust its scale in a way that it will cover nearly the whole playable area - leave some margins to prevents units being to close to playable area borders.
  
  More info on NavMesh can be found HERE.
  
  
  
  
  Tip: You can press "P" in editor to toggle NavMesh visibility.
  
  
• So now when we have landscape and NavMesh set up, select our MapDesigner actor and click „Generate Regions” button. This operation can take few minutes, depending on i.e. playable area size. It will generate some stuff (more info HERE), it will also save your map.
  
  So our map is almost ready! Now you only have to add minimum 2 PlayerStarts, set them up and choose a proper game mode.
  
  
• Add 2 PlayerStarts (maximum number of PlayerStarts is 6) and set them up – choose proper PlayerIndex and TeamIndex (we suggest starting with indices 0 0 and 1 1). For single-player map make sure PlayerStart with PlayerIndex 1 has IsAIControlled flag set. Check out more detailed info about Player Starts HERE.
  
  
• Locate WorldSettings window and choose a GameMode Override. For single-player level you will need BP_Anc_GameModeSP, and for the multiplayer one: BP_AncGameModeAnnihilation.
  
  
  
  
  When you are still in WorldSettings window, search for Kill Z property and set it up for something reasonable, i.e. -10000.
  
  
  Boom. Now you have a fully functional level! At this point you should be able to play the level in editor (just remember to set Number Of Players as 2 if testing multiplayer map). It's not very interesting yet, but that's where you and your imagination comes in!
  
  
• Add villages and resource generators, it's a must-have for every multiplayer and almost every single-player mission! More info HERE.
  
• For multiplayer maps add BP_Markers for AI (take a look at existing multiplayer maps how it's done).
  
• Learn how to script a interactive and complex single-player mission - more info HERE.