How To World Build: The Official Guide

[Banzboyz77]

Warning: What you are about to witness is what may be, the longest guide you encounter in your life. It will be very in-depth, video instructed almost the whole way through, and will provide you with the best basic understanding of the task of World Building. This means that before posting a comment asking for help, please do watch/read over the guide several times to ensure you understand what is taking place.

Thank you

This guide only applies to a 3.3.5a version of World of Warcraft. Some parts of this guide may work for patches lower than 3.3.5a, but at the current moment none of this guide supports clients patched higher than 3.3.5a.

All the files required for each video will be posted in the video description on youtube. They will all be uploaded to Filebeam and the only file not posted in all videos will be Noggit, as the download can be found in the Obtaining Noggit section of the guide.​

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World Building is an art and like any other art, should not be rushed. You shouldn't try to make a zone just to make a zone as fast as you can. Just like any other artwork: sharp transitions between colors are never nice, same size trees and lines upon lines of the same building are never appealing, and mountains made from a splotched texture on the ground that is simply raised in specific or sometimes even random locations is not artistic. The beauty of World Building is that unlike Da Vinci and Picaso, you don't have to start from the top if you mess up. Save, save, and save again. Utilize your ability to save before making each mountain in a mountain range because every landscape visual matters. That is how you make a masterpiece.

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Noggit is currently in stage SDL 1.2. Thanks to Steff, a lot of new and useful features are being added in the latest version that is to hit downloading sites soon. Until then, here is the latest Noggit:

​

Download​

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Every program designed for World Building is bugged. There's no way to get around that fact. The best thing you can do is to identify and avoid the specific situations in which these bugs occur. They are quite easy to identify because most of the time your map might change to 1 texture and you can't change it back or something along those lines. It usually isn't a minor problem. Some basic bugs to know are:

• Noggit: Force closes usually if your camera sinks through the terrain or if you get to low to the ground on custom maps. Save often.
• Taliis: Corrupts adts if you have more than one saved within a session. After saving an Adt in Taliis, close the program and reopen it to edit another adt. This error does not occur on dbcs so feel free to edit and save those.

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World of Warcraft is based on files formatted as MPQs, or as we know them, Patches. If you locate your wow directory, you can find these files in the Data folder, and further in inside the EnUS or EnGB folder (depending on your region ). There are 2 possible ways to set up your work station for editing Wow.

The first is making an MPQ and placing it in the Data folder.
The second being making a folder and placing .MPQ at the end of the name of the folder.

There's an advantage and disadvantage to each setup:
MPQ File:

• Easy to move in and out of the Data folder in case you don't need it there at the moment.
• Takes up less space on a hard drive.
• Requires you to open the MPQ in an MPQ editing program before you can start editing it.
• Easy distribution

MPQ Folder:

• Can easily modify the content in the folder without the need to extract out of an MPQ editing program and inserting it back into the MPQ once done editing.
• Requires more space than the MPQ file.
• Need to place content in an MPQ file before distributing.
• Can play on client with the MPQ folder in the Data folder and Wow will still show the content of the MPQ folder.

These were just some short description of what these methods have , in the videos below I will explain in depth how these advantages and disadvantages effect a user of the method and how to set them up.

​

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For Noggit to run properly, we will need to configure it's settings and change some values to direct Noggit to your World of Warcraft client and to tell it where to save your work. I will demonstrate several methods of configuring Noggit, leaving you to decide which method you like best.

To make your life easier, I will also show you how to connect a Model Viewer, so you can view a model in ModelViewer, and with a click of a button, import the model into Noggit.

​

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To start out with Noggit, you need to understand and get familiar with the basic keys of operating Noggit, as they can not be changed. After a few times of using Noggit, you grow accustom to them. Here is a video to show you how to operate Noggit and some explanations on the tools that come with the program.

Custom Maps have various implementation differences depending on the core you are using. Here are some implementation tips for the various cores:

• Trinity: All you need to do is copy the Maps.dbc file and place it in the Dbcs Folder in the Trinity Core folder. Overwrite if it asks to. Restart Worldserver.exe for the server to re-read the dbcs and identify the configured file.

If you know any tips on how to implement a custom map onto any cores not listed above, send me a detailed description of how to do so and I will post it up above.

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Basic Terrain shaping is in the technique. Everyone is unique, with their own style and their own methods. Some people like to shape the terrain first, and then texture, others like to texture and then shape. All depends on what works best for you. Here are some basics about shaping your terrain to your liking.

Warning: This is my style and in no way, do you have to shape terrain like this. After a while you can develop your own technique.

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There are 2 possible ways to texture terrain: Hand Texturing and Alpha Texturing. The way you texture your terrain is completely up to you. All I am here to do is to present you with all the possible methods. Each have their advantages and disadvantages that factor into the quality of the project you are doing and it's your job to identify which areas of World Building you specialize in and which ones you can.... cut corners on.

Hand texturing is a must for all World Builders. You may not specialize in it, but you need to know it. If you desire to not rely strictly on Alpha Texturing, then you may want to learn Hand Texturing. This video will teach you which settings to use to get the most Blizzard accurate World Builds.

Alpha Texturing is the method of using a seamingless image to texture the ground. This is a method used by Blizzard in World of Warcraft Vanilla, and it is a method you can use to texture a large area in a short amount of time.

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To help improve your terrain creating technique and hand texturing, I am willing to provide various videos on how to shape different terrain land features. The videos will be categorized by the experienced needed for each terrain feature. Some videos may be beyond your experience level but don't be afraid to try them, that's how you will improve. If you stick to the Beginners category and never try an Intermediate video, you will never gain new knowledge.

 

[Banzboyz77]

Scroll to the bottom of the table now, and you will see a cloned Kalimdor column. Change the number of the first row to be 1 greater than the last. The last number in my table was 728, so my number for the column is 729. Then click anywhere on the table. This will ensure the change is saved but wherever you click, it won't select that table. No concern of ours.

Now click the option: Strings. Type in: ( Your Continent's Name) at the top of the type box. Click the green plus sign. Afterward, click on any other option to change tables, and click back on Strings. This updates the table with the latest changes, and now at the bottom of the table should be your typed in continent name, along with a number in the row in front of it. This is the number representing your continent's name. Copy it down as you can't highlight or copy it.

Head back into the Table option. Scroll down to your row. The first row should now read the number you entered before. Mine was 729. Click where ever you see the words: Kalimdor. A number will pop up instead of the words.

Change the numbers to the numbers you were given in the Strings option. Once you click anywhere else on the table, the numbers should change into the name of your continent. Do this for both rows that say: Kalimdor.

Now you can save the Map.dbc. Just use the Save As and overwrite the old file.

Head back into your Wow Directory and make a folder called: DBFilesClient. Place the Map.Dbc file in the DBFilesClient folder. Once you open up Noggit, a new continent will appear on the menu.

Now we need to test out the continent, so copy the DbcFilesClient and the World folders from your wow directory and then open the folder: Data.


Make a new folder in Data, called: Patch-9.MPQ, replace 9 with any letter a-z or any number 4-9.


Open Patch-9.MPQ and paste DbcFilesClient and World in it.


Now open up noggit and click on your map. Now here comes the part that confused me for almost a year. The coordinates in noggit aren't 100% accurate. They are but they aren't. In the lower left hand corner, it will say Server Coords: x: Something y:Something z:Something and then Client Coords: x:Something y:Something z: Something.

Only take the parts you need. You take the server coords x and y and flip them.

My Coordinates are:
X:-2821.26
Y: 853.275
Z: 15.7159

Now open Wow, use the world porting command for your core. Type in the coords, the map id being the number in the first column of Map.dbc. And then, your home!

~How To Shape Terrain~​

To shape terrain, you need to familiarize yourself with the tools of Noggit. They were in the "How to Operate Noggit" section of this guide but lets just refresh them in our minds:

• Raise And Lower [Raises or Lowers the terrain in the option you set it to, options are Flat, Smooth, or Linear.]
• Flatten And Blur [Has 3 options to Flatten, Smooth, or Linear the terrain.]
• 3D Paint [Helps you paint the terrain while in 3D mode, to go to the 2D Paint Tool hit U]
• Holes [Puts holes in the terrain in cause a building has a basement and the terrain is interfering.]

Here are the descriptions of the options on each tool once again:

• Brush Radius [Sets the radius of how far out the land is raised or lowered from where you click.]
• Brush Speed [Sets how fast the terrain lowers or raises.]

~Flatten And Blur Tool

• Brush Radius [Sets the radius of how far out the land is leveled from where you click.]
• Brush Speed [Sets how fast the terrain levels.]

~3D Paint Tool

• Brush Hardness [Sets the opacity of the brush when you click to paint the terrain.]
• Brush Radius [Sets how far out the brush paints the terrain from the center of where you clicked.]
• Brush Pressure [ Sets how fast the terrain paints till it reachs the max paint in that area. This option differs from hardness as hardness only paints to that certain value, not all the way.]

To shape terrain, here are the basic commands based on the tools you are using:

~Raise And Lower
Shift+Left Click: Raise
Ctrl+Left Click: Lower

~Flatten And Blur
Shift+Left Click: Shape the terrain around the the selected area
Ctrl+Left Click:Shape the terrain around the the unselected area

~3D Paint
Shift+Left Click: Paint the terrain in the selected area


Here are some videos on how to shape terrain. I'll be posting more as I make them. I believe when it comes to something this complicated, simply writing it out won't give you the idea of how to do it. Watching it and asking questions on the video is the best method for this type of section in a guide:

Basic Terrain Shaping
Basic Mountain Shaping

~How To Make Custom Objects~​

For this part of the tutorial,we require the use of Modit:

Modit

Ok so your edit requires you to recolor an object but you don't want to effect the rest of the objects in the world just like it. Here's how you make custom m2s and wmos.

First, find an object you like. Do not look for if it will just be recolored easy, look for the shape of the object. You can always add a real custom skin if you want like making a wooden bench metallic, or a picture have it's own photo of a real person instead of a game drawing. These all can be done with this tutorial. I will be making a custom banner for the admins on my server. This is the object I picked:

You will need to find your object in Modit and when you find it, go to File, Export. Then hit Export All, and then Export All to Png. You will have all the files you need in the Export folder in the Bin folder where Modit.exe is located.


Next you need to recolor it in a photo editing program (Adobe photoshop recommended.)


Your object may have more than one texture. It is important to only change the treepaths of the texture you change to make less work for yourself, if you change all the textures, you have to change all the treepaths. Open HdX and hit File, then Open. Find the file in the Export folder that has a file format of .m2 or .wmo, if you are doing an wmo, open the one that does not have a 001 or 000 on it, just .wmo. A bunch of coding will come up, click Ctrl+F and type in the box .blp then find. This is important. This program is not a normal notepad, it types over the letters and whatever you do, do not hit Backspace, or delete, or enter. This will mess up your file, not your computer, but your file. This is what you will see:

Rename it to the exact amount of letters in the original length. My new path is:

Now highlight the new red path to the .blp and paste it in a wordpad or notepad. Now save the file in HdX and close the program.*

Next we need to rename the existing blp to the new name if you gave it a new one. My blp was renamed from:

DALARAN_BANNERWALL_01.BLP to ADMINS_BANNERWALL_01.BLP

So i renamed my .blp file to ADMINS_BANNERWALL_01.BLP. Do not make any spelling mistakes, is best if you copy the ending from the notepad and paste it in the file rename box.

Next we need to rename our .m2 and .skin files so the client doesn't mix them up with the originals. I will rename mine from*
dalaran_bannerwall_01.m2 to Adminbanner_01.m2*
and*
dalaran_bannerwall_0100.skin to Adminbanner_0100.skin. The Skin and m2 files need to be named the same.

Now to put them all in the path we stated in HdX.

Open your Wow directory and make a folder in it called World if there isn't one already from Noggit. Now you have to follow your treepath, mine is:*
WORLD\CUSTOM\GMISLAND\ADMINBANNERS\

So I'll make the folder Custom in World, and Gmisland in Custom, and then Adminbanners in Gmisland. Then I place all my files: my m2, my skin, and my blp in the Adminbanners folder.

Take the treepath of your new object and open the file: Import.txt in the Noggit folder. Paste your treepath in there. Mine is:

World\Custom\Gmisland\Adminbanners\Adminbanner_01.m2

If the object if white, it is ok. The object will still appear properly in-game. Noggit just can't read it for some reason, the client will. My object looks like this:

To have it show up in-game, you need to put both the changed adt you saved the object on and the object m2, blp and .skin in a .Mpq file.*

~How To Add Objects~​

We want to add objects to our terrain, so we need their treepaths. Treepaths are the folders in which the object is in. First, we need Modit, a wow model viewer for 3.3.5a with working wmos and m2 model previews.

Modit

Go ahead and open up noggit and when it loads, click on the little plus by the World.

The items are seperated into zones, and races. Generic holds all the items for the various races, so if your looking for human banners, they will be under

World\Generic\Human\Passive doodads\Banner​

If your looking for a type of tree, like stranglethorn, it will be under the zone's continent and then the zones name. So it would be

World\Azeroth\stranglethorn\passivedoodads\trees​

Then you take the file name, mine being Bootybaytree01.m2, and you add it to the end of your treepath so your final treepath is

World\Azeroth\stranglethorn\passivedoodads\trees\bootybaytree01.m2​

Now open the folder to Noggit 3.279 and open the file Import.txt. Paste your treepath in the file. You can add in multiple items at once, just press enter after each treepath. Once you've pasted in the treepath, save the file then open noggit and open your map.

On the top, you will see Assist, click on it. Make sure you point your camera at an angle toward the ground because the object will spawn right behind the button your about to press. Now click on From Text. There is your object!

Make sure after each use, to clear the import.txt file of all text as you don't want to be deleteing objects to get to the ones you want in noggit.

 

[Banzboyz77]

~How To Add Different Water Heights~​

First we will need this program: Watertool (Thanks to Modcraft's Gretchin)

Next we need get an adt we want to have water. I will use my Build above for a demo.

We need to go into noggit, find your adt and hit U to go into 3d paint mode. Next you will need fraps to screenshot the image: Fraps

Once you open Fraps up, check what button you need to press to take a screen shot. A 2 digit number should show in Yellow writing if fraps is connected to Noggit. Next we need our screenshot. Go to the tool bar and hit: View. Then Checkmark: Lines. Screenshot it and it turns out like this:

Make sure to get the whole green square. That is your adt. Now lets go into the water tool. Extract it out of the rar file and open it. A box will come up. Hit Open and find your adt file in the wow directory.

I am going to make a slime puddle right need the enterance. If you want darker water, change the opacity to about 70-80 as it gives pretty dark water itself. I will set the flag to Slime and height to 44.000. You can number the red squares in a program like Photoshop if you like, I didn't. I need to start from the bottom and count 9 over, then go up and place slime in squares 10,11,12, then go over one and place them in 11 and 12.

I got this result:

Then hit go. It will save it for you and you can close it, put it in a patch and look at the results ingame.

~How To Port Cataclysm Objects~​

[Warning: In order to proceed you need a Cataclysm Wow installed. Beta/Alpha versions won't work with this guide.]

Ok, so your build requires the need of some more.... appealing objects. I got you covered. Download and Install 010Editor and from this links below:

010 Editor
Wow Model Viewer

Open up the model viewer and find a model you would like to use. I will be using this Troll Arch:

Once you find the model you want, hit File, at the upper left hand corner of your screen. From the drop menu click, Export Textures.


Once you have a window pop up, click Export All. Now click on the little blue arrow to get a drop down menu.


Any .blp files require you to recreate a treepath. The treepaths I have to recreate are these...


Dungeons\Textures\Wood\BM_TROLL_SUPPORTS01.BLP
Dungeons\Textures\Wood\BM_TROLL_WOODPLANKS01.BLP
Dungeons\Textures\Trim\BM_TROLL_TRIM01.BLP
Dungeons\Textures\Roof\BM_TROLL_KOTOSKIN01.BLP

Head into your Wow directory and start recreating your treepaths. Here's a picture example of how I did mine:





Now open up 010 Editor. At the top left corner, click File, then Open File. Open up the .m2 file of your object.

Next your click Templates, and then Open Template. Open up the template in the 010 Templates folder called: M2Template1.

Now click Templates, and hit Run Template. I little window will open up underneath the coding window. Click the little plus by struct m2_file.

Now double click the value column of the column called uint Version. Change 272 to 264. Click on any other column to save the change.

Scroll down till you see uint nTexUnits. Change it's value column from 0 to 1. Then copy uint ofsTransLookup's value and paste it into uint ofsTexUnits's value by pressing ctrl+v. Once you've done that. Save the file by clicking File, and then Save.

Recreate the .m2s and skins treepath just like you did with the .blps. Follow the guide: How to Place Objects, up above, using the treepath of the ported m2.

(Note: To see the object ingame, you need to take all the treepaths and files and place them into a patch.)

~How To Create Ground Doodads~​

First, let's start with what we need:

Ground Doodad Tools

First, we need to create some ground doodads. Open up Ladik Mpq Editor and open the mpq: Patch-enUS-3.Mpq. On the side bar, click on DBFilesClient. Locate and extract these 2 dbcs:

GroundEffectDoodad.dbc
GroundEffectTexture.dbc

Next, lets open Taliis. Open the file: GroundEffectDoodad.dbc. Minimize Taliis and open Modit.

Click on the little plus by: World, then the plus by Nodxt, and after that on the plus by Detail. A list of doodads will show up. Decide on which ones you want. You can have a maximum of 4 per texture. I'll be using the Mulgra04.m2. So once you have the m2s you wish to use, close out of Modit and bring up Taliis again. Double-click GroundEffectDoodad.dbc on the sidebar and then click on Strings.

At the top there is a bar for you to type, delete everything from it and type in your m2's name. When you type it, exchange m2 for mdx. Afterward click the little green plus to add it to the bottom of the scroll list. Do this for every doodad m2 you have.


Now scroll to the bottom of the list and copy the numbers to each m2 you have accordingly.

Now click on Table on the sidebar ( first one). Right click on any of the entries that come up in the middle window and click Clone selected Row. Scroll to the bottom of the list and there, replace the first column with a number 1 greater than the last.

If the last column above your column says 798, place 799 in your column.

Now double-click the table that has the mdx/mdl names in it on your column. Change the numbers that have now appeared to the numbers which you had to write down from the Strings. When you click off your column by clicking anywhere else on the screen, the name will automaticly change to the name of your m2.

Copy the numbers from the first column in your row's and save GroundEffectDoodad.dbc and open up GroundEffectTexture.dbc. Clone a row and scroll to the bottom of the list. Change the first column to a number greater than the last, just like in GroundEffectDoodad.dbc.


Replace the EffectDooodad ( some number) with the first row numbers of your doodads from GroundEffectDoodad.dbc. Every other row besides the Amount row will remain untouched. Now change the amount accordingly based on the diagrams shown below. The higher the number, the closer together the chunks are and the more doodads there are.
0

1

2

4

8

16

24

48

128

Once you have that edited, save GroundEffectTexture.dbc. Pick the adts you want to add doodads to and run them through the groundeffectadder.exe by dragging and droping the adt on the exe and place the according values from GroundEffectTexture.dbc in the textures.


Now run every adt you just ran through the groundeffectadder.exe, through the ground_doodads_reloader.exe. Everytime you edit the texture in an adt and your doodads are off or a little misplaced, run them through the reloader to ,well, reload the adt and re-place the doodads in their appropriate textures.

 

[nepsu]

So nice guide
Wowowow!

 

[The5thelement]

Great work! +rep

And congratulations on Tutorial Scribe!

 

[memlock]

much to look over and run through, thanks, looking forward to working with this.

 

[Banzboyz77]

much to look over and run through, thanks, looking forward to working with this.

I am 100% positive you will be able to make a new continent now. Just follow my guide to the letter. I had The5thElement be my test dummy and it worked for him.

 

[Dreamzone]

Nice one

 

[Sander]

Good & Detailed

 

[Nonsense]

By any chance do you know how to convert, Cata Items like Weapons and Armor to Wotlk? also nice guide. +REP

 

[Banzboyz77]

By any chance do you know how to convert, Cata Items like Weapons and Armor to Wotlk? also nice guide. +REP

Yep, I can add it in. I only have gotten some armor to work. Not all.

 

[Nonsense]

Well, can you tell me how or make a tutorial that would be great. Tier 11 DK armor is badass.

 

[Banzboyz77]

Well, can you tell me how or make a tutorial that would be great. Tier 11 DK armor is badass.

Sure I can. It will have to be tomorrow however, its getting late here.

 

[Nonsense]

No problem.. if you could include the DK tier 11 set... That would be cool. <3

 

[memlock]

I am 100% positive you will be able to make a new continent now. Just follow my guide to the letter. I had The5thElement be my test dummy and it worked for him.

You are 100% correct

really wasnt compiled by craigy109 just using the configs from his repack, OH well..........
Thanks for working configs then......

 

[Banzboyz77]

You are 100% correct

really wasnt compiled by craigy109 just using the configs from his repack, OH well..........
Thanks for working configs then......

Sweet, I finally have proof! Ty Memlock

 

[Minilano]

The guide is awesome, very detailed and smooth.

 

[aoro]

Really nice guide, Bump

 

[Warfrost-Wow]

Got a problem here when i create the folder patch-9.mpq and past the files inside it and run the wow.exe it give me this error.

Do you know how to fixe it? i already tray all.

Best Regards Warfrost-Wow

 

[Banzboyz77]

Got a problem here when i create the folder patch-9.mpq and past the files inside it and run the wow.exe it give me this error.

Do you know how to fixe it? i already tray all.

Best Regards Warfrost-Wow

The Map.dbc you got is from an older version, so you extracted your Map.dbc from the wrong mpq. Try taking it from patch-enUS-3.MPQ instead