Importing Map Graphics

[blackcloud6]

I discovered this awesome feature of the new Flashpoint Campaign: Southern Storm game. You can have the Staff function import the scenario graphics to your map, then you can put the map in Clipboard and paste it int MS Paint. Then you can draw graphics on the black and white map in Paint, save it as a JPEG, then open it in the Windows Phot viewer, save it clipboard and then import it back into the game map and your graphics will show up on the game map.

Now, I did mine in a light blue and they look fine on the BW map but come up faded on the game map. But that is not a bad thing as on the game map, they will then not overwhelm the actual map terrain graphics. You can always keep the BW map open to refer to your graphics.

This helps greatly in planning your operation and remembering what you intended to do as the game progresses. This is something I always wanted to do in the previous Flashpoint Campaign games.

[CapnDarwin]

Go into the Options menu and drop the map saturation level a tick or two to help your graphics pop more.

[IronMikeGolf]

I used that feature in making my AAR for "A Final Push". Some tips when you export and add your own graphics.

1. Avoid "Grayscale-ish" colors. By that, I mean R:G:B values that fall in a narrow overall range of 5. For "black" I use R:G:B of 0:0:8. It's not pure black, but it looks it. Anything meeting the grayscale criteria gets converted to transparent when imported.
2. Other colors, use high brightness and high saturation.
3. Use a "Bold" or "Black" font for text. Probably in the 36-48 point range. My blue labels are 36 point and they are at the edge of readability (mea culpa, I was in a rush).
4. Use a paint program that does layers. Save it in the layered format and then flatten and save as a different file for import (copy to clipboard from the paint program for import). I have learned to put each element (arrow, each label, areas, etc.) in individual layers. I use paint dot net and "reopening an image file and editing" usually means "erase some stuff and re-do it". Hard to do in a flattened file with things that are overlapped (example, axis of advance arrow crossing a minefield or some sort of area graphic).

[taijeronv]

Another program to consider for the overlay image is Inkscape or Illustrator. Working with vectors is much easier than pixels (paint program). Some paint programs allow you to do both.

The workflow is a bit different, but it may be easier for some people. Here's a quick sample. I'm still working on my workflow but right as of now it's no different than my COA sketch workflow that I use in my real job.

I need to tweak the colors a bit, but for the most part, Inkscape works great.

[blackcloud6]

but for the most part, Inkscape works great.

I'll check it out. Thanks.

[WildCatNL]

I discovered this awesome feature of the new Flashpoint Campaign: Southern Storm game. You can have the Staff function import the scenario graphics to your map, then you can put the map in Clipboard and paste it int MS Paint. Then you can draw graphics on the black and white map in Paint, save it as a JPEG, then open it in the Windows Phot viewer, save it clipboard and then import it back into the game map and your graphics will show up on the game map.

Another couple of tips:
- if can find your way in the (free) Paint.NET, it allows you to do all of this without saving. So, in the game, Staff, Copy the Map to the Clipboard. In Paint.NET, use Edit, Paste into New Image. Next, in Paint.NET draw your graphics (in bold colors). Finally, in Paint.NET, use Edit, Select All, followed by Edit, Copy Merged. And in the game, Staff, Import from Clipboard.
- the 'User' button in the bottom bar toggles visibility of your mission graphics
- when the mission graphics are enabled, they are also displayed in the TOC.Ops Map Overlay

William

[taijeronv]

Here's a COA I did for Tutorial 1. Although my COA did not secure the bridges immediately, I achieved the objective. I wanted to attrit the enemy a bit before I secured them, so I decided to let them bang their heads against my battle positions. By the end of the battle Red had 19 "runners" out of 156, 82 had fallen out, and 55 had been destroyed.

This is what the overlay looks like in Inkscape.

[CapnDarwin]

Planning is a wonderful thing. Nice op graphics.

[blackcloud6]

Once you have the overlay done in Inkscape, how do you get it back into the game?

[IronMikeGolf]

Copy the overlay image to the clipboard.

In FCSS, do Staff/Import Mission Graphics from Clipboard

Once you do that, you can toggle your overlay on/off from the Staff menu.

[taijeronv]

The technique I use for Inkscape is the same that others have described, except you don't have to merge layers.

You export a layer as jpg opens it in photo viewer right click copy then import it into Flashpoint.

Inkscape gives you the option of exporting in different ways. I use the "Page" tab to export, simply turn off your map layer, the one you imported from FP, then export the page as a png.

My next project will be to create my own OPORD brief using a COA sketch which is nothing more than the graphic overlay without an underlying map, a task org, and a five-paragraph OPORD written in less than 30 mins.

[taijeronv]

Planning is a wonderful thing. Nice op graphics.

Doing COA sketches is part of my day job, although we mostly deal with battalions and brigades. These aren't the best graphic control measures, but I wanted to keep it simple and realistic. I think next time I will draw the next higher echelon's OPAREA. In this scenario, that would be a squadron. I depicted that with the troop boundaries but with the squadron OPAREA, I can tell a better "story" as to what the other units would be doing.

One nearly impossible thing is preventing units from shooting across a boundary or assigning "sectors" in an engagement area. Of course, it's not a showstopper, and most players won't care about such things.

[blackcloud6]

Thanks. I ended up figuring out that you have to save the Inkscape image and then open it in Image Viewer as I did with MS Paint.

I also tried Paint.Net. It works well too and has the added benefit of being able to copy directly to Clipboard as stated above, thus skipping the whole saving to jpg or png step.

As to unit boundaries, the player is the one to keep units from crossing boundaries as he is driving the units.

[blackcloud6]

One other thing. What are you doing to you colors to keep them from fading when you import back into the game?

[IronMikeGolf]

I discovered this by accident while doing the AAR thread. My workflow is:

1. Export map to clipboard
2. Past into new image in Paint.Net. THis puts the grayscale map in the Background layer
3. Crop image to selection
4. Add new layer
5. Draw
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as desired
7. Remove background layer. So you have op graphics on a transparent background.
8. Copy everything remaining to the clipboard
9. In game, import from clipboard

Having the grayscale map along with graphics causes a decrease in opacity of the overlay, on top of the hard-coded opacity setting. I need to have a discussion with William on this. And a deeper discussion of overlays in general. I think we are going to end up doing some exploration with Players on what's really useful in this to the community.

Personally, I do put gen up some critical gfx and play the scen with them enabled.

[IronMikeGolf]

"One nearly impossible thing is preventing units from shooting across a boundary or assigning "sectors" in an engagement area. Of course, it's not a showstopper, and most players won't care about such things."

That's because we've not (yet) implemented any sort of control measures for the human players. We sort of have a bit of that for the computer player with the Battle Plan mechanics, but that largely limited to route/axis level control.

We did start down this path some time ago before coming up with Battle Plans. It's very complicated, more so than we expected. Battle Plans was a simpler solution to the problem of making a smarter computer player than that in RS.

Another thing to consider is which control measures to implement. You mentioned sectors. That's a special case of inclusion/exclusion areas. So, you can add NAI, TAI, EA, time boxed RF and FFA. And the other "beyond this line" sorts of things like FCL.

Oh, PLs. Yes, PLs. Throw in BPs (Battle Positions, not Battle Plans). These are needed for synching multiple groups of units to cooperate (in an Attack, a Defense in Depth, and a Delay), but there is a raft of infrastructure to define and build to support those. There's a lot I like about doing this, but it's a big lift.

[WildCatNL]

One other thing. What are you doing to you colors to keep them from fading when you import back into the game?

The game deliberately displays the mission graphics in a semi-translucent layer. If it wouldn't, all imported graphics would obscure parts of the underlying map, or every player would need to be skilled at image editing with layers and per layer transparency settings (as you clearly are).

To improve visibility of the imported graphics, go as high contrast as you can.

I'm guessing the next question is to have player control over 'mission graphics transparency'...

William

[taijeronv]

As to unit boundaries, the player is the one to keep units from crossing boundaries as he is driving the units.

Yes that's true and in real life, they would also be responsible for not shooting across a boundary but there's no way to control that in-game, at least not yet.

[blackcloud6]

That's because we've not (yet) implemented any sort of control measures for the human players.

I don't think you need to go there. it should be up to the player to follow or modify his own plan. The graphic control measures need to be used as they are in real life, to tell me how and where to implement the plan. The play is doing so.

[blackcloud6]

The game deliberately displays the mission graphics in a semi-translucent layer. If it wouldn't, all imported graphics would obscure parts of the underlying map, or every player would need to be skilled at image editing with layers and per layer transparency settings (as you clearly are).

To improve visibility of the imported graphics, go as high contrast as you can.

Roger that, I suspected it as such. They are OK as they are... maybe a tad darker would be OK. But I determined if I need to see the graphics better, I can tone down the map to do so and then go back up when I play.