Unknown to you netstorm has a secret built in map editor! And it comes with every full version of netstorm It's just hidden. All you have to do is reveal it! To do this follow these steps:
  1.  First start up the dos command that comes with win95 the default location is in the start menu, programs, msdos command.
  2. Once in the dos prompt type edit then enter.
  3. You'll be in a blue screen now type this exactly: mayEditMissions=1
  4.  Now in the menu choose save.
  5. Save the file as user.cfg in c:\ or somewhere else(Remember where you saved it!)
  6.  Now put the file user.cfg in the directory where netstorm is installed in the D file.
  7.  That's it! now when you start netstorm a new button should be on the main menu= EDIT!
You can do several things with the editor
  1.  You can make your own 1 player campaigns!
  2. You can edit your island!!
  3.  Or you can edit the built in campaigns!!!
BE WARNED if you choose to edit your island i suggest you save your fort file to a safe place first!
To edit your island just click on the edit button and choose create new map. Now type the name of your fort file eg:myonlinegame and push enter.
You will than be able to edit your island! but there's a catch!! You can only move the residence to a different place you cannot: make your island bigger, make it that you start with all workshops already built, have more than 1 priest on your island. If you can do any of the above than I don't know how! Because i tried to make my island bigger by placing a larger island in place of my own it worked o.k but when i went to log on with my fort file with the huge island the game crashed! and i lost my fort file!!(Lucky i save my fort file!) Anyway to move the residence jUst right click on it and choose destroy now save your map and start multiplayer when you see your island you'll find that the residence is in a different place! just keep doing this until the residence is in the prefect spot(Out of the way!!) You cannot just delete the residence and play without it Because it's always gonna turn up in a different spot!
To make your own 1 player campaigns follow these steps:
Click the Edit button

•Choose a name for your first map.

•The first screen you get to lets you place islands. Pick one from the bottom and
place it on the map somewhere. These are home islands for the player and
his computer opponents.

You are now editing the your_map_name.fort file, where "your_map_name"
is the name you entered. You can lay down units that you start with or
that the computer players start with.

•Setting ownership of units: If you want to add a unit that player 1
owns, you click on player 1's priest or any of player 1's units first.
That tells NetStorm that any new units you place belong to player 1.
Then, if you want to add units that belong to player 2, you click on one
of player 2's units.

•Changing the state of bridges: Ctrl-Left-click on the bridge.

  Another thing to keep in mind: DON'T TRY TO TEST THE MAP YET. NETSTORM
WILL CRASH. Why is this? Well, each map needs a minimum of two files to
run. One is the .fort file you have been editing. The other is
your_map_name.english that describes how your map operates. When you are
ready to release the map, you will need to also create a
your_map_name.german file for German versions of NetStorm. If you don't
know German, just copy your .english file to the .german file.

 
...***Creating an .english File***...

  .english file format
This file describes how the mission is played. It's broken up into
different sections. I could only find these seven: [Header] [Options]
[A.] [Succeeded] [BadTeamDead] [Failed] [END]

[Header]

  The [Header] section describes the beginning game parameters. It
consists of several lines of text describing a level. The syntax for
these lines is simple: variable = value where variable tells NetStorm
what aspect of the game you want to set, and value is what you want to
set it to. value can be an integer (number) or a string enclosed in
quotes ("). Here are a list of commands. I don't think they are
case-sensitive:

•missionType = "Tutorial" the only value I've used for string is "Tutorial"

•missionNumber = 1 the first mission in the campaign is 1, the second is 2, etc...

•moreGeysers = 1 I'm not sure what this does

•myStartMoney = 5000 How much money does the player start out with?

•myTech = "tech;tech;tech;..." for each tech you list a technology that
the player starts out with. For instance, if you only want him to start
with the Sun Cannon and the Balloons, you'd put: myTech =
"sunCannon;sunBaloon" I'll have a complete list of tech names soon.

•title = "Name of Map" The title of this mission

•ai2Name = "BadGuy" Your enemy's Name

•ai2Tech = "tech;tech;tech" Your enemy's technology. Same
format as myTech

•ai2StartMoney = 5000 Your enemy's starting money

•ai2GeyserAttachments = 2 I'm not sure what this does

•ai2Collectors = 3 I'm not sure what this does, but it may limit the number of golems your
enemy can have out.

•ai2TimeBetweenMoves = 4 The time it takes between
your enemy's moves. Setting it to a lower number makes your enemy play
faster. Obviously this makes the map harder.

•ai2AllyList = "3;4;5" Your
enemy's allies. You can have more than one enemy, and this is a list of
their friends.

•ai2Color = red This is the color of your enemy's priest.
Valid colors are: blue red yellow orange white green purple? cyan? I'm
not sure about the last two colors.

•ai3...... To define more than one enemy, just use the same commands as above but start with ai3

[Options]

I'm not sure what the [Options] section does.

[A.]

The [A.] section describes the current mission in english to the player.
The format is similar to HTML. Download my example map to see some stuff
you can do in this section.

[Succeeded]

The [Succeeded] section describes what happens when you succeed your
mission. Same format as [A.]

[BadTeamDead]

The [BadTeamDead] section seemingly does the same thing as the
[Succeeded] section. You have to include both though. Same format as
[A.]

[Failed]

The [Failed] section describes what happens when you do not succeed your
mission. Same format as [A.]

[END]

The [END] section appears at the very end of your file. Do not type
anything after that point.

You are done.

Once the .english file is complete, your campiagn is done.

See? nothing to it!! well almost!!
Well I know how to edit the residence and make your own maps but I want to know more! If you know how to enlarge your island or do other things to it than let me know below!!
 
 
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