Map Protecting And Programs

[Marcdk]

Hey guys Here is a guide on how to protect your maps from noobs who just want to steal all your triggers and all your work, i hope this guide helps you out, and i hope you understand it all
Its found at: Warcraft III World Editor, Warcraft III Map Making Tutorials, Warcraft III Scripting, Warcraft III Maps - World-Editor-Tutorials.thehelper.net
--------------------------------------------------

>About map protectors
>Pros and cons about map protection
>Types of map protection
>Available protectors

About map protectors


The general idea of a map protector is to damage a map file so it can no longer be loaded into World Editor. World Editor uses a lot of files and headers that Warcraft III does not, so you can safely delete them and still play the map. On another note, the necessary information for Warcraft III will always be there, and can be accessed by people who are knowledgeable about map protectors. Still though, a map protector will render your map useless to the average person.

Pros and Cons about map protection
PRO: Protecting a map keeps people online from making changes in their favor and re-releasing the map. Some people have been known to open maps and seriously rig the game in their favor. Often times, its been a hero with some insane skill.

PRO: Protecting a map keeps people from editing your map, and claiming it as their own. Currently on battlenet, there many mauls and DOTA maps that all look the same with different authors. Protecting a map will help against that.

PRO: Many of the map protectors available make the overall file size smaller. This is good for battlenet downloads, or hosting a map on one of the download sites.

CON: No matter how well you protect a map, there are people who can open it. The bottom line is, if Warcraft can read the map, anyone can if they know how. As there are map protectors available for download, so are scripts for unprotecting them. Even if you delete the GUI (graphical user interface) triggers from a map, the JASS format triggers are still there.

CON: Other people cannot learn from your map, thus hindering map development.

CON: People sometimes lose their original map, or save over it with the protected map.

Types of map protection
Corrupting the header of the maps database.
Deleting the GUI triggers from a map.
Deleting the camera, sounds and region data for World Editor from a map.
Hiding the maps script file inside the database.

Available Protectors

Wc3 Map Optimizer comments - Wc3campaigns
This is a newer map optimizer created and updated by Vexorian. Download it from the thread in the forum in this link.

http://www.world-editor-tutorials.th...avylock2.8.zip
Latest version of Heavy Locker, downloaded from WC3Campaigns forums.

http://www.world-editor-tutorials.th...avylock2.8.zip
Many users are having trouble with the latest version of Heavy Locker, so this may work better for you.

ExtProtect - Index of /
Frequently updated to follow latest TFT versions.

For Macs: since you won't be able to use these programs, try opening up your map using MPQ2K and deleting the war3map.wtg file. This will delete your "viewable" triggers, so no one can see them if they open your map up in the editor. The triggers are safely stored elsewhere, so the map will still be playable.

Enjoy!