The Scenario editor asks for a location to save a map and ignores it...

[dee@earlsoft.co.uk]

When saving a scenario, it shows the standard file save dialog (Windows Vista), and then completly discards the location chosen.

It looks like it is using just the filename component and saving it into: C:\Users\Dee Earley\AppData\Roaming\0ad\cache\mods\public\maps\scenarios\

I have no problem with it being put there, but the dialog should either default to that location (It defaulted to my documents and I couldn't find where they should be put) or just allow a name part to be entered.

The former is a preferred choice as it means the user can save scenarios wherever they want as backups, to email, etc.

[historic_bruno]

Atlas file handling is a bit strange and unintuitive. The engine (map reader + writer, simulation, etc) uses a VFS that Atlas doesn't have access to because it's a separate component. Atlas has the file handling provided by the OS. So right now it picks the easiest possible solution: ignore the user's chosen path and let the engine's VFS sort it out, hoping the map is in the mods/... directory. Which of course is a problem if you try to load or save a map outside that directory.

At best it's confusing and misleading.

Some possible solutions (in a personal order of preference)

1. Load/save a temporary map in the mods/ directory when the user wants it somewhere else, e.g. the desktop. Atlas would be responsible for copying the map back and forth as necessary.

2. Instead of a standard file picker dialog, use a custom restricted form which only shows the maps/scenarios/* directory. The user could create folders there for organization purposes.

3. Don't show directories at all in the "file picker" and instead just let a file name be entered. Atlas would take care of all the details.

[Philip Taylor]

I think this is just one component of the larger issue of mod support in Atlas, which is currently entirely missing and needs to be designed. (I think it probably ought to hide the concept of map files entirely, and instead provide the concept of mods which are shared as .zip files and can contain lots of data associated with a map (.pmp, .xml, special entity templates, translation strings, etc).)

[historic_bruno]

Closing as duplicate of #889.

[ben]

In 13938:

Implements skirmish maps, based on patch by sanderd17, fixes #1198. Skirmish maps are like scenarios, except the player can choose their civ during match setup. To create a skirmish map: place some skirmish entities for each player in Atlas (see templates/skirmish/* for examples), uncheck the player's civ in Atlas' player panel if desired, and save in the maps/skirmishes directory. The map will appear in match setup under the "Skirmish" match type.
Implements custom, VFS-based map load/save dialogs for Atlas (replaces broken native file dialogs), fixes #631, #889.
Fixes map loading/saving to handle arbitrary subdirectories for better organization.
Adds default settings to Atlas player panel, fixes #1872. Each setting now has a checkbox to choose whether it should be saved with the map (avoids writing lots of useless default data for each map).
Adds map preview setting to Atlas, refs #1745.
Cleans up and simplifies some duplicate code.
Fixes optional serialization performance test.