Staredit Network

I've been making lots of maps lately... And now i'm trying to test em all. But once I load it to B.NET. I close all slots. exept one. People join, dl the map, leave. They don't nothing. I'm suposing they're gonna steal it. Obviously. Some even are like, thanks for the map, leave and some even say before leaving ya thanks for the map you suck are whatever.... That's 100% gonna be map steal. And i'm geting tired of that. Is there a way to stop it!? Like make so so other ppl can't open the file?

its called map protection. the counter to map protection is called OSMAP. there is no publicly available counter to OSMAP. map protection - 0, OSMAP - 1

ps, test maps in private games and with friends... simple solution to your problem.

Ok, do you have a program you can rely me to for Map Protection? It could at least help at least despite the counter. It could protect against some stealers.
(When the map is actually done)

I doubt people join a game on a new map and are willing to steal it right from the start. How could they know if the map is even worth stealing Oo
I sometimes do similar things; join a game and get the dl, then leave. Then I take a look on the map on my own. Most maps on bnet are really badly made for beginners, so if you ant to know how the map is, it might be a good thing to get out how it works before.

No map protectors work on OSMAP. It does so the only way to protect the map is to make it unable to open in Starcraft. Your best securance against it would be to add a note somewhere on your map, preferably in the briefing, that if someone edits your map, please keep your name.

You are a little too confident in OSMap. It is NOT working on every protector.

I don't know where to get that protector yet, but I know that there already is one that is OSMap-safe. Some korean pro-mappers use it.
OSMap is, simply said, trash.

I'm not really sure this belongs in here but to the point.

1) Some people just don't want to play, and they realize that after they join.
2) Not everybody who does that has the ability to steal a map, finished or not.
3) If you know you've made it, then that's all that matters.
4) Why would you host on public anyways... private if you don't want people to join, or even better -- instead of wasting time closing slots, just press go.
5) I always join "need tester" or "please join" because it is usually amateurs testing maps and i like to offer them help with map making.

So really the issue here is you taking careless precautions to stop them getting in the game, getting the map and editing the map -- not the public joining the game.

ADDITION:


What OSMAP can be used for, and what OSMAP was intended for, are actually very contrasting. The idea of OSMAP was to improve the map making community by allowing others to view your map and gain knowledge from it -- and for the most part that's all i've actually seen it be used for. However of course some people are pathetic and use it to steal maps, so all though it can't be justified because of it's potential to steal maps, you have no right to say it is trash.

If OSMap was intended to be used for helping map makers by allowing them to view the map, then why the heck does it need to unprotect the map?

You see, I am programming an editor at the moment. My code for loading maps is actually better than OSMap's. I have yet to find a map that would not be loaded properly in my editor.
BUT: I will not release an unprotector. When a map is protected, most features in my Editor get disabled and you will only be able to VIEW the map. Of course you can copy the map from that, but it would be a hell of a lot of work to do, since you won't be able to copy/paste as well.

So, the intention can be as great as you want; the way you do it is important.

tru.dat, OSMAP could of made it so you could view the map not edit it, but unless your editor can completly stop them stealing the map after unprotecting it, it's not all that different from OSMAP.

There is a difference between unprotecting (= restoring sections that are needed in SE and fixing "broken" ones) and displaying the available data. My editor won't unprotect.
Of course you CAN copy the map, but you would have to copy 1000s of lines of text WITHOUT copy/paste. Wish you a lot of fun.
If one manages to unprotect a map with the help of my editor, he would have done MUCH faster using a simple hex-editor.

okay then, congratulations on your new editor -- hope it all goes well?

Yep, going well so far
But it's hell of a lot of work...

Not that many pubbies have OSMAP. Just protect it with uberation for public tests... but really, just do private tests if it bugs you that much.

Yay for the millionth map protection discussion?

> Splash.