Official Guide to What's Changed with UMMs in v1.0

This guide covers changes to downloading, hosting, and creating UMMs in version 1.0 of AA:PG.

Overview

We've made some changes to User Made Maps in v1.0:

• Maps are no longer "cooked". The "cook" option for now just compresses the map, making it quicker to upload/download. We may add more functionality to it in the future.
  
• We've added full UMM download support to the in-game server browser.
  
• Under-the-hood, we've switched to using Steam's "UGC" (User Generated Content) API for managing Workshop Content

Here's what all of this means for you...

What's Changed: For Clients

Delete and Unsubscribe From Old Content

If you have old UMMs, when you launch the game you'll get a popup asking if you'd like to delete them and unsubscribe from them in Steam.

Server Browser Support

The in-game server browser now supports UMMs.

Servers in the list will appear red if they're actively running a map that you don't have.

When you try to join a server that has UMMs, a popup will appear listing all Workshop Items that are on the server that you haven't subscribed to. Clicking "OK" will subscribe to and start downloading the Items in Steam. When the download finishes, you'll join the server.





Steam manages Workshop files, and will automatically keep subscribed Items up-to-date, or delete them when you unsubscribe.

What's Changed: For Servers

Where to Find Workshop Content On the Client

To upload Workshop files to your server, you'll need to know where they live on your client. Steam now manages Workshop files, and it stores them under:

<Steam install dir>\steamapps\workshop\content\203290\...

Each Workshop Item gets its own subfolder with the name of the Item's Id.

On the server, all UMM files should continue to be uploaded to:

AAGame\CookedPC\UserMadeMaps

.Metadata Files

You'll need to upload both the ".umap" and the ".metadata" file for each map to your server. The server now uses the .metadata files to tell clients what maps to subscribe to before connecting.

Other notes

You shouldn't have any problems mixing UMMs with official maps. Just make sure that your UMM query port is unblocked and forwarding correctly. By default, this is the game port + 1.

What's Changed: For Map Creators

Moving existing maps

Important: Your maps now need to be saved in their own individual subfolders.

By default, your UMMs are saved under:

C:\<Your User>\Documents\My Games\America's Army Proving Grounds\AAGame\Unpublished\CookedPC\Maps\MissionEditor\Saves\...

Before you re-publish your maps, you'll need to move each of them into their own subfolders. The name of the subfolder isn't important, but each should contain only one ".umap". You can move your preview images as well, or just delete them.

Additionally, in rare circumstances you may need to create a .metadata file for your map (see "Metadata Files" below).

Improvements to Map Creation

There are some big improvements for map makers in v1.0:

• Maps should no longer have to be republished every time we release a small update to the game.
  
• Maps sizes no longer have to be under 100MB. The new Steam UGC API has no filesize limit.

Friendly Camo Color Scheme

Level designers can choose the color scheme for friendly camo on their map to match the environment they're creating.

Map "Searing"

We've introduced a new process called "searing" that stores compiled shaders used by the map right inside of the published map file.

This option is enabled by default in the "Publish" window. The process is highly recommended, as clients and servers will not have to compile shaders the first time they load seared maps

Metadata Files

When you publish your map, a ".metadata" is created alongside it, and automatically uploaded with it. This file makes map management easier on servers and clients. You shouldn't have to modify this file under normal circumstances.

For pre-1.0 maps, if you've renamed an Item in the Workshop and the saved .umap name doesn't match, you may need to create a .metadata file in the folder with your map. Create the file, open it in a text editor, and add the following:

PublishFileId=<Your Item Id>

(You can find your Item Id by looking at the URL of your Item in the Steam Workshop: .../sharedfiles/filedetails/?id= <This is your Item Id>)

Other Notes

If you have trouble building lighting, you may need to add Binaries\SwarmAgent.exe or Binaries\SwarmCoordinator.exe to your firewall exceptions. Worst-case, try turning your firewall off.