WIKI / GUIDE

Map editor

The map editor runs in your browser like the game does. Sculpt terrain, place resources and starts, export a file, play it. No tools to install, nothing to compile.

Sculpting

• Raise and lower terrain in grades — cliffs, terraces, and ramps that pathfinding genuinely respects.
• Drag to carve canyons and riverbeds; hold SHIFT to snap the stroke to 45°. Water blocks ground movement — fords and ramps are your chokepoints.
• Erase works on entities and elevation separately, so you can clear a forest without flattening the hill under it.
• Middle-mouse pans, HOME frames the whole map, and undo behaves.

Resources and features

Deposit placement IS the balance of your map. Close, rich deposits make greedy fast games; scattered ones stretch the map and reward map control. Trees, craters, and elevation decide where armies can walk — a single ramp behind a base is a story every player will tell.

Player starts

Place START kits for each player slot — the editor shows owner-tinted ghost previews and slot markers, and it understands symmetry, so mirrored spawns land where you expect. Check the census chip if the editor flags a start as cramped: every player deserves room for a first base.

Saving, exporting, playing

1. SAVE keeps the map in the editor's own library (rename and overwrite-protection included).
2. EXPORT downloads it as an .aamap file.
3. In the game: match setup → custom maps → IMPORT the file. The game validates it against the current balance and it's ready to launch.

The .aamap file is the whole map — share it with anyone and they import it the same way. Files carry a checksum, and maps made in older versions re-validate on load rather than silently breaking.

A good first map

1. Generate a base map instead of starting blank (GENERATE & EDIT), then edit what the generator gave you.
2. Two starts, one contested middle with the richest deposits, one defensible expansion per player.
3. Playtest against the AI once before you share it. The first game always teaches you something the editor didn't.

REFERENCE GENERATED FROM LIVE GAME DATA — BALANCE v51 · 2026-07-28 · NUMBERS UPDATE WITH EVERY RELEASE