Can I make my own map?

Conqora FAQ · updated 2026-10-16

The editor

Open Map editor from the main menu.

• Paint land, water, mountains and rivers with brushes of any size.
• Place nations where AI countries should start.
• Name the map and give it a description.
• Test it in single player.
• Publish when you're happy.

Community maps

Published maps are reviewed (to keep spam and offensive maps out) and then appear under Community maps in the main menu, where players can:

• Search and sort by newest or most played.
• Like maps.
• Play them in single player or open a lobby on them.

The editor shows each of your maps' play counter.

What makes a good map

• Chokepoints: straits, isthmuses and passes create front lines.
• Rivers: boats follow them inland, giving landlocked areas a navy.
• Islands: reward ports and warships.
• Balanced starts: every nation should have a reasonable amount of land around it.
• A size that fits the player count: a 30-player map needs space.

Ideas

Your home country in detail, a fantasy continent, a historical map, a giant archipelago, a 1v1 duel map. The best community maps get played thousands of times.

More: maps guide.

Making your first map, step by step

1. Decide the player count first. A 1v1 duel map, a lobby map for eight friends and a 30-player map need very different amounts of land. Everything else follows from this.
2. Block out the big shapes. Paint water first, then the main land masses with a large brush. Don't add detail yet.
3. Add mountains and rivers. Use mountains to shape passes and borders, and rivers to give inland areas a route for boats. Boats follow rivers, so a long river is effectively a coast deep in the interior.
4. Place nations. Spread them so each has a fair amount of land around it. Clusters of nations make for early border wars; sparse ones give a slower, building-heavy opening.
5. Name and describe the map. A clear name and a sentence about how it plays help people pick it from Community maps.
6. Test in single player. Play a full match. Press P to pause and look around, and hold Space for the terrain view to check that mountains and rivers read clearly.
7. Fix and test again. Most maps need two or three rounds of changes.
8. Publish. After review the map appears under Community maps.

Design tips that make maps play well

Give every start a fair chance

Look at each nation's surroundings: how much free land, how much coast, how close the neighbours are. One start with a huge empty plain and another boxed in by mountains is a map people play once.

Build in a few clear chokepoints

Straits, isthmuses and mountain passes create front lines. A single Defense Post makes land within 30 tiles five times harder to take, so a narrow pass becomes a real fortress. Two or three of these per region are plenty; too many and the map stalls.

Use water on purpose

• Islands reward players who build ports and warships, and are exposed to carriers and nukes.
• Long coasts make trade ships worth more, because their payout grows with the distance travelled.
• An inland sea in the middle, like the Black Sea map, turns naval control into the central fight.

Think about nukes

Atom Bombs hit an inner radius of 12 tiles and outer 30; Hydrogen Bombs 80 and 100. On a very small map a single Hydrogen Bomb can cover a whole player. That's fine for a chaos map, but for a long strategic map leave enough room that one nuke hurts without ending the game. Lobbies can also run with the no nukes modifier.

Match size to player count

Too much land and players never meet; too little and the match is over before anyone builds a port. Test with the number of players you designed for, using nations to fill the seats.

Map ideas by type

Getting your map played

Good names and a clear description matter, but the best promotion is playing it. Open a lobby on your map with friends, share it with your clan, and ask players to like it. The editor shows the play counter so you can see which maps catch on.

More questions

How do I see if people are playing my map?

The editor shows each of your maps' play counter, and players can like maps in Community maps.

Why isn't my map in Community maps yet?

Published maps are reviewed first to keep spam and offensive maps out. It appears once the review is done.

Can I play my map with friends?

Yes. Community maps can be chosen in single player or in a private lobby. See playing with friends.

Can I use my map in ranked?

Ranked uses its own fixed set of small maps. Community maps are for single player and lobbies. More in the maps guide.

Related questions

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More answers in the Conqora FAQ and the guides. Updated 2026-10-16.