Post: [Basic Tutorial]The Warcraft Three World Editor
Options
10-04-2010, 01:30 AM
#1
Please do not delete/Close as this guide is not complete and will not be complete for a day or two as the Wc3 Editor is so large and vast. I am still working on this Guide!
The Warcraft 3 World Editor allows you to create maps, as simple as Melee game maps and as complicated as games such as Defense of the Ancients, Tower Defense, and Hero Arenas.
The WC3 Editor comes with three basic editing menus, and two advanced editing menus. We will be looking at three of those five major menus.
The first menu we will look at is the Object Editor (Found with the Helmet symbol at the top of the window). It has the power to edit all basic abilities, units, doodads (WC3 Language for Props), and much more!
The second basic menu we will look at is the campaign editor. This editor allows you to create campaigns (I.E. story modes). Though the campaign editor is heavily reliant on the Trigger Editor (advnaced).
The third menu (advanced menu) is the Trigger Editor. In this you can do anything. You can do simple commands such as make a unit invincible and as complicated things like Custom Abilities and Custom Commands. The Trigger Editor is basically JASS Script (JASS = Blizzard's custom coding language) made easy.
[multipage=The Object Editor]
The Object Editor comes with the power to:
- Edit Units
- Edit Items
- Edit Destrucibles/Doodads
- Edit Abilities
- Edit Upgrades
- Edit Buffs/Effects
Editing Units: The Basics
When using the WC3 Object Editor you are changing the values of a pre made unit/ability/item/doodad/buff. You can never create a unit in WC3 out of nothing, everything you see is based off of a pre made unit.
The Unit Editor
The Unit Editor modifies units and their resptective values such as abilities (Enabling/Disabling) certain abilites, increasing/decreasing base health and base health regeneration, increasing/decreasing base mana and base mana regeneration, increasing/decreasing base attacking damage and attack range. The Unit Editor can also change attack and defense type (I.E. Chaos attack and divine defense).
The image above shows two boxed values. The first is the unit that I was editing. It was a Footman. In the larger box were a few of the many values within the Unit Editor. I can edit the Health of the footman, the regeneration, the mana, the gold awarded when that unit dies, the movement speed, and the level of that unit.
Editing Unit Model and Icon/Using a Custom Model/Icon
One major question many beginners have when using the WC3 editor is how to make a unit, a footman for example, into a hero. You cannot make a normal unit into a hero. You must use a pre set hero and change his model/icon.
The model/icon values are in the picture below.
The image above shows the unit: The Footman. The values to change how a unit looks are shown below.
- Icon - Game Interface
- Icon - Score Interface
- Art - Model File
- Art - Tinting Colors (1/2/3)
- Art - Scaling Value
Icon - Game Interface
This allows you to change the icon of the footman while in game.
Icon - Score Interface
When the game has been completed, this is the value that edits what icon is used at the score interface.
Art - Model File
This allows you to edit what the unit itself will look like in game (I.E. A footman appearing as a dragon).
Art - Tinting Colors (1/2/3)
This allows you to change the tint of the unit you are editing.
If you change each value to zero (max 255 each) then your unit will appear completely black. When each value is at max, the unit will appear as the preset unit before editing.
Art - Scaling Value
This allows you to increase/decrease the pre set units size. (I.E. a Footman appearing as a giant).
To do that, you can set it equal to 5. It means the pre set unit will appear as 5 times larger.
Thus ends the basics of the Unit Editor.
The Ability Editor
The Ability Editor (sub category of the Unit Editor) allows you to edit pre made abilities such as Frost Armor, etc. The editor is very simliar to the Unit Editor in editing icons and models.
For example, if you wanted to make a fireblast appear as a frost nova, you would change the model file of the fireblast to Frost Nova. That way, the fireblast would stun the person, but appear as it was a Frost Nova.
You can also edit values such as Range, Buffs, Stats, and Casting Range.
Editing the above values allows you to increase the range of the effect of the ability (ONLY AOE ABILITIES), change the buff that will appear under your characters health/mana bar, edit the damage and timers such as the debuff timer (I.E. increase the duration of a stun/slow effect), and edit the casting range (how far/close you must be for casting this abiliyt).
As with the unit editor, you cannot create an ability out of thin air. The only exception to this is in the Trigger Editor, which involves advanced knowledge of its uses (We will cover that later in the guide).
The other editors within the Unit Editor are nearly identical to the first two. Make sure you experiment with these editors before
[multipage=The Trigger Editor - Basics]
Foreword: The trigger editor requires precision and a high knowledge of what triggers are and how to use them. If you are a beginner, start with basics such as creating units at a certain region, or making messages to players in the game based off of certain events.
There are three major categories of requirements in the Wc3 Trigger editor. Those are:
- Icon - Events
- Icon - Conditions
- Art - Actions
Events - The Start
Events are the starts of all triggers. The most basic event is the Map Initilization. Map Initilization means that the trigger will begin right when the map is created. Though some triggers cannot run on Map Initilization.
An example:
Lets say you want to display a message to all players stating "Hello". You would want to create this. Pay attention only to events for now, as Conditions and actions will come later on this page.
I will use this example for the rest of the basics of triggers.
The image above shows the highlighted event. This event is when 10 seconds of game time have passed AFTER map initilization. Once the 10 seconds have passed, the trigger will be triggered, and it will run through the conditions, then exceute the actions, which in this case are to display the message to all players "HELLO".
Triggers can also run off of specific game text. For exaxmple, if you were to type "hello" exactly after setting up a trigger with the event of Specific Text, you could have an action that will for example, automatically win the game, or it can display the message hello to all players.
Conditions - The Requirements
Conditions in WC3 are the requirements for an action to occur. Once the condition is met, the action will occur.
For example, if you want to create an area that will kill any unit that enters it but this trigger will only apply to player one.
The event: The unit enters (a region) [A region = the region where the killzone will be. You must make this with the minitool editor]
The Condition: Owner of Triggering Unit = player 1
The Action: Kill triggering unit
The image above shows the event, a unit entering TEST REGION. It shows the condition, which is the owner of the triggering unit is equal to player 1, and shows the action, which is kill the triggering unit.
Because of the condition, the unit that enters the area will ONLY die if its owner is player 1.
The Effect - Actions
So we have reviewed events and conditions. Actions are the effects of what happens after the conditions (if any are met).
Actions are quite easy, but there are many of them.
Actions can perform various tasks, such as things as simple as creating a unit at a specific location to being as complicated as creating a Multiboard (Explained later).
Some actions are If/Then/Else actions. My example will be creating a unit at a certain location if a unit is still alive. So if TEST UNIT is alive, then every 30 seconds a TEST UNIT2 will be created, if not, a TEST UNIT3 Will be created every 30 seconds.
Test Unit = Footman
Test Unit 2 = Rifleman
Test Unit 3 = Knight
The above image shows that every 30 seconds if the Footman 0021 is still alive, then 1 footman at TEST REGION will be created for Player 1. If the Footman 0021 is dead, then 1 Knight will be created at TEST REGION instead.
[multipage=The Scenario Menu]
The Scenario menu allows you to edit the map and player properties.
- Map Description
- Map Options
- Map Size
- Map Loading Screen
- Map Prefrences
- Player Properties
- Ally Priorities
- Force Properties
- Techtree Properties
- Ability Properties
- Upgrade Properties
Map Description
The Map Description menu allows you to edit the name, description, and number of suggested players. This is all cosmetic, as it will not effect your map itself, just give the players who download it an easier time of understanding it.
Map Options
The Map Options menu allows you to show/hide the minimap in the preloading screen, show areas that are hidden (partially), and other cosmetic options such as weather and fog.
Map Size
The map size allows you to expand your map into the limited area. This is not suggested, as the limited area allows you to show more of a natural view, and when taken away makes your map look very unplanned.
Map Loading Screen
This allows you to edit the loading screen. Some maps come with customized loading screens, while others come with the default loading screen.
Map Preferences
This allows you to display the sky and fix the time of day (I.E. always have the time of day at midnight).
Player Properties
Player properties allow you to edit the names of players, who controls the players (I.E. Human/AI) and if the player has a fixed spawn location.
NOTE: These only apply if you check off the Fixed Player Settings in the Forces menu.
Ally Priorities
Edits the priorities of allies to a certain player. (I.E. Player One is more of an ally to player 2 then player 3 is).
Force Properties
Allows you to organize the players into forced teams. Meaning you can create a Team 1 (with 4 players) a Team 2 with 4 players...and a Team 3 with 2 players for example...instead of having a free for all in the regular game.
Techtree Properties
Allows you to edit the order and requirements for research and certain unit. This can also be done in the Unit Editor.
Ability Properites
Allows you to edit the requirements to learn an ability for a specific unit. This can also be done in the Unit Editor.
Upgrade Properties
Allows you to edit the requirements for certain upgrades. This can be done in the Unit Editor.
[multipage=The Trigger Editor - Advanced/Usable Trigger Examples]
Under Construction. Compiling a list of triggers and advanced facts about triggers.
Will add them tonight.
Copyright © 2026, NextGenUpdate.
All Rights Reserved.
