Scenario Design
    Story Elements

Part 2: The Background Story

The background story is essentially that short paragraph which players get to read when they are selecting a scenario to play. The background story is very, very important, as it is the first -- and sometimes the last -- thing players will see when picking a scenario to play. The background story is equally important for all types of audiences, though it need not be very long for scenarios intended for less than epic conflicts.

At the Scenario Selection Screen

To those familar with AOW1 editor, you know that this no longer appears at the beginning of the turn when the game starts. If you want something similar to that effect in AOW2, you need to make use of a Start-Up Message event (which will be covered in the following section.)

Type your map background into that text box marked map description in your map settings, as shown above. Try to keep it short, keep it clear and as much as you can, make the map sound as exciting as possible. (No I'm not asking you to lie, so you better make sure your map is worth the weight of your words. :)) Because of the limited size of the map description which you see during scenario selection, be sure that the first paragraph grabs the player's attention.

Note that this map background also appears within the game, if you go to the Options window and select "Objective".

Next, how to include tutorial messages in your scenario, Part 3.