WZ not loading addtional maps into game - using version 4.3.5

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

Following the really cool addition of the map DB, I proceeded to DL the tarball containing all files from there ( lets say the 2player repo ) and build an RPM package to do a simple installer, allowing adding extra maps with ease.

Using Linux OS - RPM based.

Now, I first read the FAQs and either maps need adding to one of two places:

~.local/share/warzone2100/maps/
/usr/share/warzone2100/maps/

For whatever reason, no matter what combination I try the files will not load ( meaning, none show up in the menu GUI )

I've used just a zip command to zip the files into a .wz format, both all or just 1 map file and not zipping whatsoever.
" zip -r 2c-AValley.wz 2c-AValley/ "
Given they are only 17MB in total. Permissions look fine.

When inspecting contents of mp.wz file:
multiplay/maps/2c-urbanchasm/

Does this prefix of 2c- needed for all maps? How specific is this prefix use in filtering on player counts?
As by default the contents of the 2p repo has no such prefix used for all the maps, they are just the straight up names
i.e. "Battle-of-Rivals"

I am assuming it is something dead simple...

For reference is this repo, where I cannot seem to submit an issue to -> https://github.com/Warzone2100/maps-2p/

[past-due]

Each map should be individually packaged as a .wz file. These are the assets listed on every GitHub Release (example: https://github.com/Warzone2100/maps-2p/releases), and also served from the maps database site (https://maps.wz2100.net), which are carefully constructed in a reproducible way. I’d suggest using those instead of trying to zip them yourself.

(If you try to zip them yourself, it’s easy to do so in a way where the hash won’t match the generated, reproducible .wz file. This has a number of negative impacts, including ending up with lots of duplicates if playing online versus people who have downloaded the officially-packaged maps, since they won’t match.)

If for some reason you want to download every single map and install them all at once (which we don’t recommend currently - not only are there UI issues but there are performance issues), you can use gh release download to quickly download all of the assets from a GitHub Release.

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

"Each map should be individually packaged as a .wz file" - interestingly, the default game install has a file "mp.wz" and this contains all the default maps inside.

Yes the files hosted on the map DB are in the native .wz format.

Ok, agreed on not touching zip myself.
The contents of the uploaded .zip and .tar.gz for the git hosted maps-2p releases contain all the files without using the .wz format. Can that be changed to have them all included natively matching to .wz please?

Ok I have noted the potential for UI and performance issues. I did wonder if that would be case haha.

You may expect that only more users are likely to start adding many maps so the chances of UI and performance issues being raised are likely to increase.

Perhaps also worth adding into a readme file or some notice about that within those git repos, just in case to avoid any surprises by end users of the game when installing a bunch.

[past-due]

The contents of the uploaded .zip and .tar.gz for the git hosted maps-2p releases contain all the files without using the .wz format. Can that be changed to have them all included natively matching to .wz please?

Unfortunately it can’t be changed, as those are auto-generated by GitHub itself. (Hence why lots of projects package their own assets, and strongly encourage using them instead.)

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

Perhaps following this, as each of the map repos includes all submitted vetted maps and the assets between those versions fluctuates so much (40 vs 100+ vs 3) that the next stage can be to provide a pre-bundled set of maps as a map pack from what has been uploaded (or subset) where each of these can be done in some kind of periodic cycle and even sub-filtered whether than by name i.e. NTW maps, or via the use of wzmaplib to set some conditions for a bundle of similar maps.

Then for end users this means it'll be easier to well, not have to do as 1 by 1 maps.

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

Last thing to mention is on user map versioning, as seen on the map DB these 4 are present:

HighGround2-V1
HighGround_cor
HighGround_cor1
HighGround_cor2

Each one is almost identical, but I am aware the names must be different upon submission.
Would be good to have way of versioning the maps, that users may be able to make in place changes and commit differences.

In this specific case "HighGround_cor2" looks to be the intended final design.

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

Some maps come with a README file, some not.
This is useful to include too as an extra check prior to DB entry.

[Chewbakka-Wakka]

Odd, even when using Warzone 2100 >= 4.3 and taking a specific map as the native .wz file direct from the asset and dropping it to the correct locations, the game menu will not display it...
Perhaps a set of simple and specific instructions may be added onto each map repo README file?