How to Create and Post a Map with MTA

Hello, today I will be introducing how to create and post a map. Hopefully this tutorial will help many people as I've seen many threads request help on this particular topic while browsing the forums.

Step 1: Downloading and Installing MTA
Firstly, you will need to download and install Multi Theft Auto. MTA is a similar mod for San Andreas to SA-MP; which features a terrifically programmed Map Editor: what we will be using for creating our map.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION HERE!

Step 2: Opening the Map Editor
Now you have installed MTA, open it up. Once MTA has fully loaded, you should be on the Main Menu. Click on Map Editor.

Step 3: Reading the Tutorial
Once the Map Editor has loaded up, a window should appear prompting you to read the Tutorial. I would 100% recommend you to read it as it contains some very useful information on the basic features and controls on the editor.

Step 4: Start Mapping!
Once you've read the whole tutorial and you know the basic stuff, it's time to start mapping!

Step 5: Placing Spawnpoints
Open MTA Map Editor again and load your map. Click on the Definitions icon at the top of the screen and select deathmatch from the left menu and click Add. It should now be moved onto the right menu; hit OK. Now go to the menu on the bottom-left corner and scroll once on your mousewheel. The 4 icons should be replaced with an icon with a black figure on it. This is a spawnpoint placer. Click on it and place the spawnpoint just like any normal object. Once you have placed all of the spawnpoints, you will need to note down their (#) numbers (i.e. which numbers are for which team). We will need this information later so make sure you have them noted somewhere.

Step 5: Taking Screenshots
To significantly increase the chances of your map being added to the server, you will need to take some screenshots for your map submission thread on the forums. To take a screenshot on MTA, press the F12 key on your keyboard. Take plenty of screenshots all round your map - the more, the better. Make sure you include the main map features on at least one of the screenshots.

Step 6: Creating Your Map Submission Thread
Now it's time to create your map submission thread. Click on the link below the start your thread.

POST YOUR MAP SUBMISSION THREAD HERE!

Copy the template from the link below and paste it onto the new thread.

TEMPLATE HERE!

Step 7: Filling in the Template
Now that you've entered in your template, you may be wondering what you write in some of the fields. Don't worry though, we've got you covered!

Name of the Map Maker
Just enter in your in-game name.

Name of the Map
Enter the name of the map you have made.

Map Code
To access the code, you will need to go into the MTA directory files. But how can you access it? It is very tricky to find, but you are very lucky that we have given you the directory location below.


 * XP: C:\Program Files\MTA San Andreas\server\mods\deathmatch\resources
 * Vista: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\MTA San Andreas\server\mods\deathmatch\resources

Once you are in the resources folder, scroll down until you find your map folder. Open the folder and there should be two files: [your map].map and meta.xml. Right click the .map file then select: Open With... &gt; Choose Program... &gt; Notepad (from the list). Before you click OK, tick the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file box then hit OK. The file should now open with Notepad with the map code. But the catch is that this is the code for MTA only, so we will need to use a useful website called convertFFS to convert our code so it will work with SA-MP. Highlight the entire code then visit convertFFS.

In the options, fiddle about with them until they match: Convert MTA 1.0 Map into SA-MP CreateObject - and leave the rest alone. Go ahead and click on Continue... and a text box should appear. Just paste the code in here and click convert my objects! The code should be different now; this is SA-MP's own map format. Now highlight the converted code and paste it onto your thread where is says: paste code here.

How Many Objects are in the Map?
The simpliest way is to open MTA Map Editor and load your map. Then click on the Current Elements icon on the top menu and filter it on the drop down menu to Objects only. Now scroll down the list and count how many objects are on your map.

Vehicles you want added
Just write down what vehicles you want to be on your map in which locations.

What team names do you want
Simple. Just enter in what you want your teams to be called.

What spawnpoints do you want
This is one of the most difficult parts in posting your map. Remember the spawnpoints we placed earlier? Well we need to use the co-ordinates they plotted. To access the co-ordinates, we will need to access the .map file as before (click here if you've forgotten). Once you have your .map file opened up on Notepad, scroll down until you find something similar to:
 * &lt;spawnpoint id="spawnpoint (#)"...

Do you remember the spawnpoint (#) numbers you noted down previously? The spawnpoint co-ordinates are on the long list next to the example. TIP: On the top drop down menu, go to Format and make sure Word Wrap is NOT ticked. This will make it a lot easier when trying to fetch the co-ordinates.

So now we have the co-ordinates, but where are they? Look along the list until you find: posX="########" posY="########" posZ="########" rotX="0" rotY="0" rotZ="########". There are the spawnpoint co-ordinates. On the thread, you will need to lay them out as: [posX], [posY], [posZ], [rotZ]. Remember to match the correct co-ordinates to the correct teams.

What skins do you want
You can see the full skin list on Weedarr's SA-MP Wiki. Just enter the skin IDs that you desire for each team.

NOTE: The skin list has over 250 images, so be patient because it may take a while to load.

Screenshots
Remember the screenshots we took earlier? Well now it's time to upload them. To access your screenshots, search for this folder:


 * XP: C:\Program Files\MTA San Andreas\screenshots
 * Vista: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\MTA San Andreas\screenshots

Delete all unnecessary and similar screenshots until you are left with about 5-10, showing all main areas of the map (team bases, main fighting grounds etc.). Now we need to upload them, so they are ready for posting. I would recommend you to use ImageShack to upload your screenshots because you can bulk upload with it. To upload, click on Browse... and then navigate your way into the screenshots folder as shown above and select your desired screenshots (then select multiple screenshots, use Ctrl+Click to select your images). Once you have finished selecting, hit OK. If you have more than 10 screenshots for uploading, it may take quite a long time. Once they have finished uploading, you should be redirected to a page containing all of your uploaded images. Look down the sidebar on the right until you see the Web Player link. Copy this link and paste it on your thread.

Conclusion
So that should be your map posted! I wish you the very best of luck that your map gets added.