Snow's Guide to Map Making / Map Editor Q&A

Note: All the Transformice font is courtesy of mais.eu.pn/tmg/criar.php and its author, Relhotel.

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Before you are able to learn anything about glitches, you will have to learn how to change around the grounds attributes, as well as how to exploit them.

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Every ground (except for water and cloud) can be made to act exactly the same as any other ground by exploiting the different attributes of the ground. Some call these "fake grounds," but I call them the building blocks to understanding the attribute's varied uses. Also be aware that every value (minus z) should be manually typed into the box to allow for the most accurate maps possible!

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There are three static (my word for non-dynamic) ground properties: Friction, restitution, and rotation. These apply to dynamic grounds as well.

• Friction: (can be negative, but is a glitch to be discussed later in the guide) A higher friction makes running on the ground difficult, but wall jumping an ease. A friction of 20 is chocolate, while a friction of 0 is ice. 0.3 is wood.
  
• Restitution: (can be negative, but is a glitch to be discussed later in the guide) Restitution is a needlessly fancy word for bounciness. Basically, a mice falling from 10 feet onto a trampoline with normal restitution of 1.2 will bounce back at 1.2 times the force for a maximum height of 12 feet. This is why lava (restitution equal to 20) makes a mice go flying, while grass (restitution equals 0.2) barely makes the mice bounce.
  
• Rotation: (can be negative) This plays a big role in many glitches when in a dynamic ground. Basically, rotation just twists the ground at an angle. The most eye pleasing angles are forms of 0, 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree angles, though other angles may make a map have a better game play. Manually typing the angle one wishes is the easiest way to go about this.
  

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Dynamic grounds are able to be moved around. Used correctly, dynamic grounds will make a boring shaman or racing map into a your own personal jungle gym of fun-ness. If that does not stress the importance of this section enough, then I do not know what will. Friction, restitution, and rotation can still be applied to dynamic grounds.

• Mass: Most glitches (mainly Rype's glitch) work better if the shaman or other frantic mice cannot mess it up by standing or building on it. Mass makes a dynamic ground harder to exert force on by making it weigh more.
  
• Fixed Rotation: Fixed Rotation can be set to either 0 or 1. Zero will make it so that the block is free to wobble, while one will make the dynamic ground static in terms of rotation. Basically, it will keep a block vertical, and not turn it into a domino. Yes, I think that that imagery should show fixed rotation quite well.
  
• Linear Damping This controls how quickly a block will fall. A linear damping equal to 30 will not fall unless a weight such as a mouse, balloon, or rune is causing it to move. Sort of like mass, but this makes blocks float, while mass will make a block less likely to move by a force.
  
• Angular Damping: Angular Damping controls how fast a block can spin. I do not play with this stat very much, but it kind is like fixed rotation where it makes a block retain its original rotation better, but it no amount of angular damping will fully retain it.
  

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All the information in this section is directly copy and pasted from Temple's blog: templemouse.blogspot.com/. He is aware that I copied these numbers here.

Weights of objects:

8 ball (7.8-7.9)
20 mouse
30 small box
55 small plank (55.3)
60 trampoline (60-61)
70 mouse with cheese
110 large plank (110.6)
120 large box
340 100x100 block
1000 anvil
1000 cannon

Mice live at: X = [-400, 1200], Y = [-600, 410]
Dynamic and shaman objects live at: X = [-120, 930], Y = [-900, 900]

Nightmode: Visible area has diameter 150, centered at 30 above the mouse's position (just above the ears).

A mouse is 30x30, centered at the back of his neck (this is the point you spirit in order to send him to limbo).

A mouse is 30x30, so if you wanted to put ground on the bottom the edge would have to be at 410 + 30/2 = 425. For example, height 10 and Y = 430 would work. If Y = 431, then a mouse standing on the ground would die.

Invisible ground. For example, a 1000 long block has 10 gap on each end, centered on the edge. From the center you'd expect a distance of 500, but actually the invisible part starts at 495 and what you can walk on extends until 505, for a total invisible gap of 10.

Chat Box: X = [0.5, 799.5], Y = [397.5, 596.5]
Information Bar: X = [0.5, 799.5], Y = [-2.5, 18.5]
Middle of visible screen: X = 400, Y = 174.5

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Rype's Glitch is one of the most basic glitches, but once mastered, makes some of the most unique maps. This will show you how to make only the most basic maps and probably a few useful ways to exploit it. This glitch's main use is for making dynamic grounds move in the ways that you want them to move instead of how the mice or shaman make them move.

To get started, make a long, vertical ground such that the top or bottom or this block is where you want the final block to be located. Please note, the center or your block should be located off screen (under the chat box if possible). To see under the chat box, push selector and then you can simply hold space and drag the mouse to see hidden mechanisms.



Now, create the block that you want to have on your end map. For this map, I'll go with a simple ice ground, but any type (except for water) will work in the final map. Then, place a green nail in the center of the block which will show in the final map.



Next, we need to play around with the properties to actually get the glitch to work. Make both grounds dynamic with fixed rotation set to 1 (one). Then, make the longer, soon to be hidden block's mass 999999. Rotate the wooden ground to an angle of 90 or -90. Now, put an ice ground under your rotated wood so that it will not drop to its death. Finally, change the wood's restitution and friction to both be 0 (that last step for changing properties is only necessary for certain Rype's uses.) Remember to hold space and drag the map so that you can see the blocks once they go under the chat box.



Okay, so that is Rype's glitch in a nutshell, but that is not very fun by any means. Maybe you want to make it jump up and down? All you have to do to make that is add a trampoline set to anything over 1 (that way it will reset itself should it begin to slow down). Add an above roof if you want it to jump to a shorter height. Also, add side rails so that the block will not begin to move right to left.



Also popular for a Rype's Glitch map is making the blocks move right to left. This is a bit trickier, but once you see the way it works, you should be fine.

You'll want to delete the grounds you made for making the block jump. Now, add a rotated, static trampoline so that the ground will fall onto the angled section and not the top. Note: I had to lower the ice for the upcoming step. I am breaking this up into two separate XML's since it could go wrong so easily. The restitution on the trampoline will control how fast your ground will move. The higher the restitution, the faster it will move, but do not make it go too fast.



Now, the ice ground probably went flying to its demise. You will want to add trampoline grounds with restitution changed to 1 on both sides to keep the ice moving, while also maintaining the speed. The further out the trampolines, the farther on the map your ice will move. This will be helpful for keeping an ice block moving where you want it. Also, add a roof above the mechanism so that the shaman cannot simply spam anvils to stop the swinging. Here is a simple shaman map that is possible to make with this glitch.



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Ever seen a map where there was an arrow floating or a word fell from the sky? This is what you were looking at. Floating anchors falls into the category of Rype's Glitch since you are essentially just anchoring two dynamic grounds together and then rotating them, but here is the guide in case you still need some more help.

First, make two grounds large grounds like you would be using them in Rype's Glitch, but do not rotate them yet! Note: These grounds will need to be wider than a normal Rype's ground to accompany all the letters you want. There are two here, but they are on top of each other. You should make yours also stack!



Now, put any combination of yellow or green anchors so that they lay on top of both grounds in the shape you want them on the map. Then rotate your grounds to an angle of 90 and put a ground under them. You can use the same methods from the above guide to make the anchors move around the map.



So, Rype's Glitch is one of those seemingly simple map features, but when used correctly can turn a shaman map into a moving challenge. Floating anchors really hold no real purpose other than making a map decorative or showing mice where to go. Playing around with Rype's wields pretty much all the power that a good map maker will need. There are however many draw backs to a Rype's map and those are outlined below.



Treadmills are useful in forcing a mouse to go in a certain direction or to make a path one way. They basically use high friction and a fast moving ground to keep a mouse going where they want them.

To start out, make a ground of any type. Make the ground dynamic. Give it a mass of 999,999, a friction of 9,999, and a fixed rotation of 1. The ground which this lies on has to have a friction of 0.



Next, you will want to make the key component to the map. Add a ground next to the treadmill on the side of what direction you want it to go. In other words, I want this treadmill to go left, so it will be on the left side. Now, make this ground have a restitution of ... Make sure that this ground is not touching the treadmill.



Okay, now you will want to make the ground move. Add a dynamic, high restitution ground to the opposite side of the ground which will fall onto the corner of the treadmill. This may take a few tries to get right. The higher the restitution, the faster it goes. Make the mass of it 999,999 and add fixed rotation. (I moved the grounds a tad since the last XML)



You now have a working treadmill. This next step is just for making it look pretty, but is not needed if the treadmill is hidden. I just recommend that you hide the invalid restitution ground so that people cannot see it as well or mess it up somehow.



Please note: Treadmills are kind of crash-prone so you shouldn't use too many in one map or in a close proximity. Also, simply place a box between the IR ground and the treadmill and it will stop. I recommend that treadmills be made off screen with just the top showing.

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Getting good ratings in no way indicates that a map is good. Basically any map with even the slightest chance of bubbles will be voted down. Here are a few tips and tricks for getting maps past the 55% safe zone. Anything below 55% after 100 votes will probably go away in another 100 or so votes.

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Test your map - Play your map such that you have tried every possible way to finish the map. Also, check your glitches to make sure they cannot crash the map should a shaman mess with them.

Make a challenge - Everybody loves free cheese, but at least make the mice run a few steps to get the cheese! Plus, anything too free is prone to die from a mod.

Align your map - Look at the x and y value of every ground and make sure that the grounds match up. Be aware that ending any ground's length or height with an odd number will make aligning a map perfectly nearly impossible.

Ask someone else to play your map - This will further help you to test every possible way to play your map. It also helps to have someone else try to find a short cut or way to bug your map.

Be unique - Yes, I realize that house maps are pretty to look at, but seeing one every sixth map is ultra boring. Also, do not make three vertical grounds with cheese on top, those are not fun either.

Be simple - Not so simple that the map is just a wall jump up a ground to the cheese and jump down to the hole, but do not turn your map into a bootcamp.

Reward players - No one wants to get the cheese after a near perfect run just to see that the beloved clock is going to run out on them. Once someone gets the cheese, usually it should be easy to finish the map.

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Ground Spam - It can be tempting early into your map making career to see how many grounds you can put into one map, but it just causes lag and usually over-complexes game play.

Hide objectives - Mods are required to delete any map that has a hidden hole or cheese. Not only this, but most mice will vote no if they lost just because some noob saw the hidden cheese first.

Go off screen - The offscreen portion of your map is for glitches and barriers only! Do not play shortcuts, cheese, or the hole off screen or it will get deleted immediately.

Long maps - If you cannot finish your map in around one minute, then expect no one to be able to finish it without the previous knowledge on how too.

Trap mice - If the mice fall somewhere that they can neither finish the map or bubble themself, then their is no reason to vote yes to the map. The shaman was unable to enter the hole and the map was forced to just time out.

Make the map too hard - I enjoy a challenge, but having to plunch myself into a pit of bubbles because I cannot figure out some strange mechanic used by a map does not make me want to vote yes. I say that atleast 60% of mice should be able to complete any given map.

Nightmode, soulmate, and collision - No, I do not care how awesome you think your map will be when you add them all into one super map. I will not vote yes for it even if you are my friend.

Kill AFK's - If a mouse dies within ten seconds of a map starting, then you are doing something wrong. There is a reason a mouse will bubble if it does not move for 30 seconds.

AFK map - Mods are required to delete any map where mice can get the cheese without moving. Not only this, but why would you want to give people free cheese when you work so hard for cheese?

Crash maps - An intentional crash map is bannable. Some glitches- particularly Slow Motion- are extremely fragile and can cause a map to crash. Use with caution!