Dorfball started out as a few dozen haxored dwarfs on Bungie's Untamed Lands mesh. It was silly, but strangely appealing. A few days later, the first real Dorfball mesh was created. A little while after that, a second mesh was created with little or no warning. All of a sudden, we realized that there was really nothing to keep us from making as many Dorfball arena meshes as we wanted.

But why should we have all the fun? At that time, Badlands witnessed the difficulty other unit makers were having keeping fourth party maps under control. Not our cup of tea... we'd rather make maps than enforce policies.

As such, we've decided to make our tags available to anyone who wants to try their hand at making a Dorfball map. Only a few restrictions apply, though there are rewards for following certain guidelines. This is a new experiment for us, and we hope the results are worth the effort.

Dorfball Overview

Dorfball was designed to make fourth party maps easier to make. The seperate Tagset contains all the basic unit and ball tags needed to make the mesh plugins work, ensuring that the game is consistent from mesh to mesh, as well as decreasing download sizes by about a meg.

The Tagset is the core of Dorfball. It contains all of the tags for the Dorfball units and basic balls, as well as any other support tags. Almost everything you need to make a Dorfball mesh is contained within. However, it is Badlands property--map makers are welcome to break it down and look at it, but it is a plugin that only Badlands will produce and release. A quality Dorfball mesh will use the tags within this Tagset instead of internal tags, and enjoy some benefits from doing so.

Arena meshes are entirely up to the map maker. Do what you want, how you want to do it. Obey the Guidelines at your leisure--we won't force you to, only encourage.

Guidelines

Making a Dorfball mesh can be as much fun as playing it. They tend to be small, simple meshes with a lot of personality, though the sky is the limit. Map makers are free to do what they want, but Badlands encourages them to follow some guidelines. Map makers who do will have their creations endorsed by us and featured on the Official Dorfball page, and are welcome to support from our end. Map makers who do not are still free to create and release their maps, but if we can't vouch for the quality of them, they're on their own.

Anyways, here are the important guidelines.

• Arena plugins must not override tags contained in the Tagset - For example, don't make the units move faster or take more damage by overriding them. The Tagset exists to ensure consistency between maps, so that a player knows what to expect no matter where he is.
• Only give the player Dorfball units - Sure, giving the player a few wights and a mascot trow might be good for chuckles, but Dorfball is a game for Dorfball units. Use any unit you want as spectators or ambient life, but only give the player control over the Dorfball units contained in the Tagset.
• Don't override balls - If you want to make that Ball of Incredibly Violent Dismemberment, you're welcome to, as long as it is not the same color as an existing ball. You're encouraged to stay with the built in ball set, so that a player doesn't encounter anything unexpected. If you do make new balls, be sure that they're distinct and well documented. If they're good enough, we might even ask to include it in a future Tagset.

Additionally, there are a few cosmetic guidelines, to help ensure a consistent gaming experience (yeesh, I sound like a salesperson). These aren't critical, but the more of them you follow, the more likely we are to support you and your map.

• Small Teams - Under ideal conditions, Dorfball is a game where every player controls one or two dwarves. And since Myth maxes out at sixteen players, there should never be too many more dwarves per map than that. Also, Dorfball is usually a team sport, though some free for all practice sessions aren't uncommon...
• Journeyman Referees - While trow make highly amusing refs, if you do have referees on your mesh, use the built in journeymen. They're wise in the rules of Dorfball, and are a familiar sight to players (as well as being hard to kill).
• Map Names - We prefer you pattern and name your Arena after a specific place in the Myth world. That way, at a future date, it may become part of a Dorfball World Circuit... names like "Avon's Grove Arena" or "Stoneheim Stadium" are cool.
• Mesh Names - When naming your actual mesh tag, if the first part of its name is four hundred-something (400, 413, 499, etc.), the mesh will appear with a green name in the map lists, which is the Dorfball standard color. Helps set it apart from other meshes.
• Plugin Names - Yur plugin should have the name structure "Dorfball_YourName_v#", to ensure that PC users don't have problems with it, and so that Dorfball plugins are immediately recognizable. "v#" is the version number... unlike most software, you should number these with whole numbers, not decimal points. Instead of releasing "v1.1", release "v2" so that there is no period in the name, a common sticking point on some platforms.
• Small Plugins - Some people are sick of nine meg plugins that contain a dozen variant meshes and a ton of new graphics. Keep your plugins small and clean, so that a ton of people can grab them in ten minutes and play right away. One mesh per plugin is the way to go... do it right the first time, not over the course of a handful of variant meshes.

The benefits of Tagset compliance go beyond endorsement and support. Badlands will release updated Tagsets in the future, to fix bugs, improve gameplay, and add features. If your map is Tagset compliant, then it will automatically benefit from these changes, without you having to release another version of your map.

How To Basics

Making a Dorfball map is a lot like making any map, except that you'll need to make accommodations for the Tagset. The first thing you'll need is the actual Tagset tags. You can use a utility like Tag Extractor to break down the Dorfball_Tagset plugin itself, or you can download the already extracted Dorfball tags from the Badlands site.

Once you have these tags, you'll need to mix them into your map's local folder. All Dorfball Tagset tags start with "db00", so they're easy to distinguish from other tags. Your tags do not have to have any such prefix, although it might make organization a bit easier.

Once these tags are in your local folder, proceed as you normally would. When it comes time to place your units, use those marked with the "db00" prefix to ensure Tagset compliance (for example, "db00 dwarf (normal)" or any of his kin). Balls may be dispensed in a number of ways, but try to be sure that they are created via the "db00 ball dispenser" projectile group, to ensure that your map complies with the Dorfball Tagset. This way, if we add a ball later on, it will automatically be available on your map.

Finally, before building your final plugins, go through your local folder and remove the Dorfball Tagset tags (remember, they're all marked with "db00"). The plugin you build will not run without the Tagset, but will be compliant.

Feel free to study the techniques used on Badlands maps to see how we accomplish certain effects, in addition to creating some of your own. Dorfball is a fairly loosely regulated sport, as long as the crowds are pleased...

Letting Us Know

When you finish your mesh, and want to show it to the world, drop us a line and give us a chance to take a look at it. We will certainly try to, though no promises...

Do NOT email us the actual map, either. We will download it wherever you have posted it, and take a look at it then. While some of us do have speedy pipes that can handle an emailed map, some of us don't, and having something block our email for a few hours tends to sour us a bit.