IWATS Requirements

First and foremost, if you want to create battles and missions, you must have passed the appropriate Mission Creation course at the Imperial Academy, as well as this course. There currently are Mission Creation courses for the flying platforms (TIE Fighter, X-wing, X-wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-wing Alliance), as well as for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. If you wish to create for another platform, this requirement obviously doesn't apply, although you will still need to have passed this course.

The Emperor's Hammer

Because we are the Emperor's Hammer, your custom battle/mission must in some way involve the Emperor's Hammer. But, you can stretch this as far as you want, and it's not that hard to create a mission and somehow link it to the Emperor's Hammer. There are a lot of aspects to the Emperor's Hammer, so the options are limitless. You can use the TIE Corps, Dark Brotherhood, Hammer's Fist, Directorate, Intelligence Division, or even long-closed subgroups like the Bounty Hunter's Guild, HCI, or long-closed ships and squadrons.

Language

As you may notice when you walk through our websites, and play custom missions, everything is in English. This is not because we are all English (or native speakers), but simply because it is the language that we all understand: your mission, the briefings, plotlines, text files, etc must all be in English. Of course that doesn't mean you can't make up your own race with their own language that we do not yet understand, but that language won't be used everywhere... And while we're on the subject of language anyway, the used language must be acceptable for all ages. This covers topics as well as choice of words. This also applies of course to the objective of your mission...

Briefings and Radio Messages

Briefings and radio messages make or break a mission. The briefings before the mission are used to explain to the player what the objective is. Animated briefings are also required (note that if you do not supply one, the Tactical Office may request you add one first, or do it themselves...) They spruce up the mission and make it look that much more professional. Radio messages should be used wisely, as each game has its own limits for them (see the mission creation courses for specifics). You can twist a mission's plot to surprise the user, or break a waiting time.

Custom battles in the Emperor's Hammer feature at least 4 missions. If you can't stretch your idea to fit 4 missions without making it repetitive or dull or boring, then you always have the free missions.

Alpha Testing

Most importantly: you should ALWAYS have tested your own missions. Not only to make sure everything works, all craft do what they are supposed to do, and you didn't mess up any arrival conditions, waypoints, craft orders, craft limit problems or whatnot, but also to filter out spelling errors, and to basically see if the mission is enjoyable to play. If you don't even enjoy it, would you really expect someone else to? When you upload your battle or mission to the Tactical Office, you must include in the .ZIP file the pilotfile you used to test the battle. This at least guarantees that the battle is finishable.

Custom Craft Patches

The Emperor's Hammer's Science Office has produced a large number of custom craft patches that you can optionally use in your battles. However, always keep in mind there will always be people who have problems with using patches, and so will not be able to fly your missions. However, the Tactical Office will not reject a battle simply because it uses patches. Well, unless you decide to use like a dozen of them...

Mission Length

Missions shouldn't last forever. Not only because we also have other things to do, but also because there are only so many things you can put into a mission before it becomes repetitive and boring. A rough guideline is that missions in a battle should last between 4 and 12 minutes, with free missions being slightly longer. In exceptional cases, missions can be longer, but be very careful with this. Especially if the only reason is having to kill off a few more dozen enemies, or having to endlessly wait for craft to do something. Waiting in general is a very bad thing. I have seen missions where the action is finished after 7 minutes (yay) and then you have to wait another 25 minutes for endless waves of cargo ships to pass through. Note that these times indicate a length to complete the mission, that is, the PRIMARY goals. secondary or bonus goals can take longer, but don't go crazy here either. No one wants to spend an hour on a mission to complete bonus goals for a high score.

Submission Requirements

Most importantly: when you submit a battle or mission, your .ZIP archive MUST contain the following files:

• the mission files
• the readme.txt (with information on the mission/battle, its creator, patches, and installation instructions)
• the battle file (for TIE Fighter, this is BATTLE1.LFD, for XvT and BoP it's IMPERIAL.LST and for XWA it's MISSION.LST)
• your pilotfile.

Optionally, you can also include

• a file with a detailed plotline. this can be txt, word format, or pdf
• custom wav files

Please note that .WAV files used must be at 11 kHz, 8-bit, mono (or less).

Recently, the Science Office began a major project regarding the custom ship patches. For TIE, XvT and BoP, the EHSP and all patches were reworked. This makes the installation process a lot easier.

The Text Files

For every battle or mission you submit, you must include a readme file. This readme file contains information about the battle, its creator, installation instructions, and the MANDATORY LucasArts Disclaimer. Battles without a readme file will be rejected, and the creator will be requested to resubmit the battle with the file included. Readme files use the same basic format (files not following the format may be edited by the Tactical Office to fit the format). An example is printed below:

Title               : Fleet Commander's Birthday Gift
Author              : TAC-PROF/FA Dempsey/CS-3/SSSD Sovereign (#12519)
                      dempsey@slayersrealm.com
Platform            : TIE Fighter
Number of missions  : 1
Medal               : N/A


Required patches
-----------------
* EHSP for TIE Fighter (http://sco.emperorshammer.net/patch/tie/EHSP-TIE.zip)
* Azzameen Family Base (http://sco.emperorshammer.net/patch/tie/AZZ-TIE.zip)


Installation instructions
--------------------------

1] Install the Azzameen family Base patch with the Super XP installer or according to its instructions
2] Double click the .EHM file, the EH Battle Launcher will install the battle
3] Press the TIE Fighter button on the EHBL to start the game
4] Create a new player and play Battle 1 Mission 1


Introduction
-------------
The Fleet Commander's birthday is coming up, and the VSD Sinister is at the highest state of alert. We're 
desperate to find a suitable gift! Fortunately, we have some intel on where we might be able to acquire said 
gift...


DISCLAIMER
===========
THESE LEVELS ARE NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, ELEMENTS TM & (c) 
LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY.

Recently, the Tactical Office changed the requirements of a separate patches.txt file for battles needing custom ship patches. The information will now be stored in the readme file. This makes the information easier to access, since the readme file is opened by the EHBL when double-clicking on the .EHM file. If you submit a battle to the Tactical Office with the information only in a patches.txt file, the information will be copied to the readme file and the patches.txt will be deleted prior to release.

The above format applies to all platforms the Emperor's Hammer accepts. Please note that installation instructions will be different for each platform. The flying platforms use the EHBL which does most of the work for you through the .EHM file format, but other platforms require explicit instructions on where to put which files.

Lastly

You cannot go about and create an FCHG battle. FCHG battles are released only when the Tactical Office has held an FCHG Mission Creation Competition, or by specific request of the Tactical Office. Combined Arms Battles (CAB) involve more than one of the Emperor's Hammer subgroups, and if you plan to create one, your storyline must be approved by the Tactical Officer before you begin creation.

Submitting Your Missions

When your mission is complete, and you have finished testing your battle, you are ready to submit it to the Tactical Officer. Make sure all the required files are there, create a .ZIP file, and find the Custom Battle Submission Form on the Tactical Office website or simply follow this link. When completed, you will receive an automated email from the TAC database (usually within minutes) confirming receipt of your battle.

If for some reason the form returns an error, or you do not get your confirmation email, you can send the .ZIP file to the Tactical Officer via email, including all the information in your e-mail that is also required on the form.