Copying Units and Gamemodes from Another Map

It is often an easy process to copy units or entire gamemodes from one map to another. This guide will explain how to export CPACKs so that any custom elements in that CPACK can be imported on different levels.

Exporting a CPACK

1. Open the Map that has the custom content you want to copy.
   
2. Enable edit mode; by default the keybind is SHIFT+E, if that doesn't work look in your controls for the 'Edit Map' keybind.
   
3. There should now be a green Editor button in the very bottom right of your screen, click it to open the Mission Editor. If the button is not there, try hitting your Edit Map keybind again.
   
4. Go to the mods tab of the Mission Editor menu is a button labelled Open CPACK Manager, this will open a new menu that will take up the majority of the screen.
   
5. Select the CPACK you want to copy. To select a CPACK, look at the top left of this menu for a drop down menu to the right of the text CPACK.
   
6. Click the Export button at the top to save the currently selected CPACK to a file on your computer.
   
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all CPACKs you want to export.

Importing a CPACK

1. Go to the map you want to add the saved CPACK(s) to.
   
2. Open the CPACK Manager using the same process as when you exported the CPACK. These are steps 2 through 4 of Exporting a CPACK.
   
3. Now click the Import button and select the CPACK you want to import.
   
4. Repeat step 3 for all CPACKs you want to import.

Important Notes

Exporting and Importing a CPACK is no guarantee that it will work how you think it will. Some CPACKs are coded under certain assumptions about other map elements; if those elements are missing or different, the CPACK might not work as intended. If the CPACK is not working as you intend, you will either need to troubleshoot it yourself or get someone else to troubleshoot it. The most common issues are:

• CPACKs can depend on certain map elements, game rules or the existence of a unit on the map. Two such examples are that PAC maps assume the existence of a blank ADA message named 'Display' and FPS maps require the Suit Upgrader unit is placed on the map if you want to upgrade.
  
• CPACKs can rely on the map creator to input map details, such as coordinates or unit IDs.
  
• CPACKs can depend on each other, especially those that were designed to be additions to other CPACKs.

If the custom content in the CPACK included custom units, they can be placed from the mods tab of the mission editor.

Maps in Colonies cannot be updated and it is not uncommon for bugs to be found in early versions of CPACKs and fixed for later versions. For CPACKs that exist in multiple maps, try to find the most recent map that has that CPACK as that is the one most likely to be up to date.