Warlords Map Editors

The game Warlords by default only provides for one specific map. There are neither random map generation features (like for Warlords 2), nor any alternative maps for the stock game. But the stock map, however can be edited by a number of map editors. Here is a short description for some of them.

Note: All of them are 16 bit DOS programs, meaning they cannot be run under modern Windows any longer. Unless you work with an older Windows 32 bit version or an actual DOS running machine/VM, you need DOSBox or a similar means, to get them to work. (But since Warlords itself is also strictly DOS, you most likely already have a solution for that particular problem.)

Also make sure you have backups of your Warlords files, before using any of the below tools.

The Warlords Editor by Andrei Volkov, or in short wled, is a user friendly map editor. Its main advantage is that it also updates the strategic map when making changes to the tactical map elements. However, wled has one major drawback: It only works with a very specific Warlords version/.exe, that is provided at Darklord's Lair – Warlords Archives. If you use an unaltered stock Warlords game, the editor will most likely not work with it.

You can get wled at https://sombre-sleep.com/warlords/warlords1_downloads.

Open the editor by running wled.exe. Select Environment from the File menu (or use the CTRL + E shortcut).

In the opening dialog navigate to the game's executable (usually it's wl210.exe):

Select Read Rescue in the File menu (or press F2):

In the Read Rescue File dialog, navigate to the map file:

Select Make Game in the File menu (or press SHIFT + F3):

The editor will notify you that game files will be overwritten. Click Continue if you want to proceed with that:

Wait for the update process to complete. Close the editor and start the game.

The Warlords Terrain Editor of William Winton, or short wledit, is another option to edit Warlords maps. Again, you can find it here for download: https://sombre-sleep.com/warlords/warlords1_downloads.

It is a hard to use map editor, best used by F-keys. Its main disadvantage is, that it does not update the strategic map when altering the tactical map elements. Therefore it is not recommended to use it for editing.

Extract the editor into some folder. While it is not necessary to place it inside the Warlords game folder, it has the advantage that navigating to the map files in order to start the editor is considerably less of a hassle. So recommendation is to extract it into the Warlods game folder.

For editing the wledit.exe editor is used. But you don't need to launch the editor itself in order to load new maps, because it has a dedicated launcher. But it doesn't make things easier, because maps are scattered across several files.

Run wledita.exe, provide the location of all the required map files (1-6). Pressing the number key will ask for the corresponding file.

When done, select the option 7 (All file names are correct):

The game will check on the files you provided. If everything went fine, the confirmation will be shown, and wledit will ask for the function you want to use. Select option 1 (Create strategic map) to save the map:

Then you'll be presented with this confirmation screen, where the strategic map shall be saved to (by default that is wl_strat.pck):

Just press ENTER. The launcher will ask you to specify the graphics adapter you intend to use the game with:

Unless you intend to use the game with the more limited graphics experience (EGA), press V and close the launcher.

Start the game using wl.exe. Enjoy your new map:

• Darklord's Lair – Warlords Archives

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