A Very Simple MM Tutorial

[Stridor]

Ok for those of you out there that may be still struggling with making maps for MM despite Rick's winter template and written instructions; I will compile a step by step instruction list to get you started.

First get MM working. There are many threads already on that topic http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1973903
Second get Rick's WinterTemplateRR1 files and unzip them into the root PCK directory http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1974156

In this tut whenever you see the words PCK in a directory string it implies your install location for PCK.

The default is c:\Matrix Games\Panzer Command Kharkov.

Ok now please start MS paint. This is normally via Start Menu->Programs->Accessories->Paint
Click File->Open browse to the PCK/Media/WinterTemplateRR1 directory and open the terrainmap.bmp

[Stridor]

Once you have your terrainmap loaded into paint this is what you should see.

A color guide which tells you what colors you need to draw on the map to get the landscape you want.

Now PCK terrain maps must be 1000x1000 and the terrainmap in Rick’s template is sized correctly.

Now those numbers following each text key is the Hex color code for the corresponding color. You don’t need to remember these as we are going to use the eyedropper.

Whilst you don’t need to it may be a good idea to make a backup of terrainmap.bmp prior to editing your own version so you can come back to the base color key in the future if you need to.

[Stridor]

Ok what we are going to do now is to use the color key provided to draw over this map.

More sophisticated paint editors allow you to work in layers and do a better job than what I am about to show you. All I want to get across is the concept of drawing your map with the correct colors. If you use the colors not defined by the color key then your map won’t work.

As you learn more about how the MM works with color you will be able to start defining your own color systems, but for right now just stick to the basics.

1. In the tool palette click on the eyedropper tool
2. Next click on a color you want to work with (once you do this the tool turns into the paintbrush tool read to start painting)
3. You may want to change the brush size here
4. Start drawing your map right over the old one!

There are other drawing tools which can help you like the eraser and the paint bucket (which is helpful in filling in large areas). Hopefully these tools are fundamentally basic to you all and don’t need an explanation.

[Stridor]

Ok here is the finished map.

It is totally made up as it is only an example.

I kept it very simple using only roads, fields, snow, light and medium density forest.

Once I was happy with it select File->Save

This will overwrite the existing terrainmap.bmp which is why you may have wanted to create a backup first.

[Stridor]

Now start up the Map Maker.

In the bottom name box type “WinterTemplateRR1” (without the quotes) and press enter or click on the load button.

Special note: The SS is from an upcoming 0.9g map maker beta, your screen may differ slightly.

Now the map may take a few moments to load (30 – 90 seconds depending on your machine speed). While the map is loading please wait and be patient. Do not minimize the map maker or move on to another program during this loading time.

After the map is loaded up you should be treated to an image of the map you just edited in paint.

For the moment ignore everything else about the map maker. Ignore those little blue arrow icons on the map, these are auto gen info icons which Rick has placed and tell the MM about how to generate forests and fields, etc. You don’t need to fiddle with them at this stage. When you use a template to make maps you are accepting the template makers vision on how things should look on a map. Later as you get more experience using map maker you will be able to make your own changes to how the map looks (eg texture colors and forest tree types and densities etc)

[Stridor]

Now type a new map name into the name box so that we don’t overwrite the WinterTemplate files.

To avoid possible complications it is a good idea not to use spaces or other atypical characters in your map names. For the purpose of this tutorial type “MyMap” into the name box and then press the Build button. This will start the build process.

The first time a new map is built can take some time (subsequent builds go much faster). The Status Bar will keep you informed of where in the build process the MM is up to. When the build is complete you will get an information box which gives you some statistics on your map.

In the example above 1559 auto structures were placed (trees and bushes), it took 88.2 seconds to build the map.

Congratulations your very first map has been built and is now fully functional. You could start making scenarios with this map in the scenario editor if you wanted right now.

If you would like to preview your map in 3D before opening it up in the game, then press Yes to the
“Do you wish to view the map in the SceneEditor?”

[Stridor]

After pressing yes, in a few moments your map will load into the Koios tool known as SceneEdit (SE).

It may take a few moments. You know your map has loaded correctly if the background remains grey (and not blue) and the side bar with the map elements appears (the mouse will reappear also).

Now SE is not very user friendly!

Even when your map has loaded you won’t actually see it on screen in the beginning because SE places the bottom left corner of the map off the top right corner of the screen!

To pan around maps in SE you left click and drag the screen. So if you left click and drag from the top right down to the bottom left of the screen your map will appear.

[Stridor]

Here is how the map looks in SE appropriately framed. Not too bad!

Here is a list of quick controls for the SE:

1. To pan the map left click and drag
2. To tilt the map hold down the shift key and then left clock and drag
3. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out
4. To rotate the map use the keypad “4” and “6” keys

Well that is it. You have just made your first PCK map.

Go ahead and make a scenario for it if you like!

If you want to learn more about the full power options of MM then please see the main tutorial which can be found here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1893360

Regards

S.

[Mad Russian]

Where do you find the list of colors that relate to all the colors you have in your tutorial map?

Obviously MM works on a finite set of colors that mean SOMETHING to MM.

Where is that list to be found?

Good Hunting.

MR

ORIGINAL:  Stridor

And here is the finished map with all the terrain elements which were identified on the original map now drawn in. I had about 9 layers in total (grass, tress, water, fields, etc, etc) some of which can be seen in the Layers box.

Notice that the final layer is called "Background" and is at the bottom and colored pure white. The original map is turned off at this stage.

Now it doesn't matter what you call your layers or what colors you use. Just make sure they make sense to you. Soon we are going to turn this cartoon into a real PCK map. The only limitation is that the map must be 1000x1000 pixels and you can use up to 64 individual terrain colors.

Just for reference it tool me about 90 minutes to draw up the base terrain map.

Save your map as a bitmap. You will be asked if you want to flatten (collapse all the layers) the bitmap. Select yes.

It is probably worth saving the map in paint.NET's native file format (*.pdn), so you can get back to working with your layers if you need to make any adjustments in the future.

[Stridor]

MR,

If you are using a premade template (like Rick's WinterTemplate) then the colors are defined in the template.

If you want to do your own maps from scratch you can pick whatever colors you want to use (up to 64 different colors).

These colors are then mapped to the in-game colors via the mapping function control which is described on the last post of my master map tutorial. To get to this control you will need to scroll the map control ui (the left control bar in the MM) to bring it into view. Do this by left clicking and dragging on the control bar (on an area not associated with a control).

The advatange of doing things this way is that it allows you a lot of freedom with laying down texture layers and setting autogens which are associated with map colors.

Note this is an advanced feature. The template makers will have already set this up for you.

[rickier65]

MR,

If you look in the PC:K manuals directory in the Map Editing Addendum, p. 12 (last page). You will find the listing of the base set of colors that PC:K uses. MM also knows these colors. While Stridor has incorporated a lot of flexiibilty to allow the use of more colors for texturing purposes, you can if you want, stick to using the basic colors on page 12.

The colors in the template were just a sub set of the basic colors listed in the Addendum.

As Stridor said, you can use other colors in MM then map them to the basic set (this allows you to get two different texture looks both associated with clear terrain for example).

But to start with I think you might be better served using the basic color set.

Just my opinion, of course.

Rick

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: Rick

MR,

If you look in the PC:K manuals directory in the Map Editing Addendum, p. 12 (last page). You will find the listing of the base set of colors that PC:K uses. MM also knows these colors. While Stridor has incorporated a lot of flexiibilty to allow the use of more colors for texturing purposes, you can if you want, stick to using the basic colors on page 12.

The colors in the template were just a sub set of the basic colors listed in the Addendum.

As Stridor said, you can use other colors in MM then map them to the basic set (this allows you to get two different texture looks both associated with clear terrain for example).

But to start with I think you might be better served using the basic color set.

Just my opinion, of course.

Rick

That's fine but the template doesn't add buildings.

I have to figure out how to add them next and then some height. One step at a time......

Good Hunting.

MR

[Stridor]

Part II - How to add stuff to your map.

This tut will explain how you can add things to your map. In MM anything you add to your map (as a model which sits on the terrain) is called a "structure". Structures can by anything, cows, trees, tractors, houses, rubble, haystacks, etc. Structures can be added in a singular fashion whereby you essentially pick what you want and plonk them on the map (like a house for example). These are called fixed structures as they never change, there is always one of them and they always stay where you put them. Structures can also be added in a way in which you tell MM to make multiple copies of the structure. These are called autogen structures and can be used to quickly make an entire forest or a rubble pile, even a whole village very quickly.

For this tut however I will be concentrating on fixed structures (like houses).

Continuing from my earlier tut in this thread I went back to my terrainmap and added the color code for some structures (red color 255,0,0). I made a little village of 6 red squares opposite the street. These I will turn into houses.

Now click on the "Browse Structures" Button (shown) and you will be taken to an open structure dialog box. Note how there are a list of subdirectories here which detail the types of structures which you can add. I should add here that it is VERY useful to use the VIEWS control in these dialogs to set the view to be in the best mode whilst browsing your structure. At this stage I have set the VIEWS mode to LIST. Once you have set this view control it will remember your last setting (for each level of the directory hierarchy) so you won't need to keep setting it every time you open the browse structures dialog.

[Stridor]

Now I selected the “Small Structures” directory. This is where most of the smaller houses reside. Feel free to pursue all the subdirs found here as they each have interesting things in them. Hopefully they have been grouped into appropriate directory headings that you can follow.

As MM evolves and new structure models are added there may be a regrouping of some of these headings, but that is off into the future for now. How you actually select structures will not change in the future.

Ok with “Small Structures” selected I set my VIEWS control to display as LARGE ICONS. The reason I did this is so that I get a little thumbnail picture of what the structure will actually look like (rather than just a text desc). You may also want to select EXTRA LARGE ICONS if your eyesight is poor or you want a more magnified view. At this stage scroll to the bottom of the list to see what is on offer. Because I am using Rick’s Winter Template I want to add a winter house so double click on the “barn01_a” icon (the very first structure).

[Stridor]

Now you should see that the “barn01_a” structure has been selected into the structure box. You can left click and drag the little model to rotate it in 3D to make sure that it is exactly what you want.

Now at the moment you haven’t added the barn to your map just selected it ready for adding. You still need to give MM some more information before you add it.

To start you need to give your barn a unique name. This is done in the Name box. You can type in a name which is meaningful to you (eg “Famer_Joes_Barn”) or if you press the “Name” button the MM will automatically assign a random name for you based on the underlying structures name (if you can’t be bothered typing a name).

Next you need to select what type of structure it is. This you do from the Building Type dropdown list.

The options are:

None (use this if you don’t want infantry to mount this building for example your structure is a TREE)
Foxhole/Trench (speak for themselves)
Light / Squad # / # Stories (eg "Light / 1 / 1" implies this is a one story building that holds one squad)
Heavy / Squad # / # Stories (as for Light)

Everything else in the structures control I set exactly as shown inside the RED box I have drawn. This is important as they are advanced features which we will get to at a later time.

So ensure alpha = 1, All the H/N/B check boxes are cleared the Autogen dens = 0 and the Autogen dropdown box is set to 0 as well.

[Stridor]

Ok with the barn still selected in the Structure Selection Box I selected it as a

“Light / 1 / 1” (light building cover / 1 squad / 1 story) structure.

Now as a little speed up tip I move the mouse cursor over the map where I wanted to place the barn (first red square of my little village) and then I shift left clicked to place the barn. This has the effect of placing the barn on the map (displayed as a solid Blue Square with arrow) auto naming it (notice the name MM has chosen “barn01_a_471683”) as well as associating a terrain color with it (in this case red, but this is an advanced feature which don’t need to explain just yet).

If you are familiar with my scenario editor then MM works the same way as placing platoons. The structures get placed in the structure list which you can click on to select. Can also click and drag on a structure from the map to move it to a different spot later on. There is also a direction carat which you can click and drag to change the direction the structure is facing. Nominally a structure faces according to the little blue arrow (ie the arrow tip is the Front of the barn), for some structures this isn’t always true (in which case after a preview map build you can always change their facing to what you want). Also like the scenario editor if you make a change to the details of structure once placed please click on the little “Tick” button to update those changes. If you want to delete a selected structure then click the little “X” button.

[Stridor]

Here is a little tip when working with structures.

If you move the mouse over the area you want to focus your attention on, you can roll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out for a better view. The SS below shows a zoomed in view of the barn we just placed. In zoomed in view you get little images of your structures so you can better see how your map is panning out. Just like the zoomed out view you can click and drag on structure icons to drag them around, change direction etc.

If you want to pan the whole map whilst in zoomed in mode then click and hold the middle mouse button (not over an icon, on an empty part of the map) and drag the map around. Roll the mouse wheel back to zoom out.

[Stridor]

Ok I zoomed back out. I rotated the barn to face the road and I built my map.

In reality you wouldn’t rebuild your map every time you made one small change in MM, but rather make a new build after you have done some significant amount of work, otherwise your cumulative build times would become very large. But for the purposes of this tut we will build the map and see what the MM has done for use.

Note how the build report states that we now have 1 fixed structure exported (this is our little barn)

[Stridor]

Here is a view from SE (remember how to navigate in SE, the instructiosn were given in post #8 of this thread). Our little barn is correctly facing the road. If it wasn’t we would need to go back into MM and make a rotation change as required. In general most models face correctly, but some don’t because of numerous historical (PCK development) reasons. It is not a big deal to rotate them as needed.

[Stridor]

A note abour PCK colors and building types.

PCK has a fixed set of color defines which indicate terrain types to the game engine. This color guide can be found in the game pdf documentation as previously indicated by Rick.

MM knows all about the PCK colors. It has some added flexibility in allowing the ability to add your own color types and then map then to the corresponding PCK terrain colors (this is an advanced topic - the templates will already have this defined for you).

Setting the colors correctly on the map is vitally important. RED (255,0,0) is defined as impassable in the game. This means that no unit may "move" through an area colored red (infantry can mount structures in red areas however). If you don't define a red area under a house for example then whilst your infantry can still mount it, vehicles can drive through them [X(]. For this reason (because structures can be multi- or oddly shaped), you may need to "touch up" red map areas in SE as the very very last thing you do before finishing off your map (more on that later). Whilst it is not strictly necessary to do this, you will get a better quality map in the long run (unless of course you want tanks to drive through your houses [;)]). I will talk about how to get your red impassable colors just right in a later tutorial. For now it won't affect your map making or playtesting.

Another point worth making here is that when you assign a building type to a structure you place, the structure itself needs to have built in support for that building type. For example if you defined a TREE as LIGHT / 2 / 2 and then try and mount infantry in the tree it won't work in the game because no tree structures currently have mount points defined in their 3D model. Complicating this not all houses support fully 2 squads of infantry either. There was no naming convention for this when Koios were developing PCK so for the moment all one can do is steer clear from adding building types which support 2 full squads unless you know for sure that they do (or test it yourself in the game). As more models get added to the library from 3rd party modders, we will develop a naming system so that you can tell from the name of the structure itself just what type of squad mounting support it has.

You will know if the model doesn't support mount points as you have defined in the game, if you try and mount a squad onto something which is defined in the building type as mountable (eg squad number > 0) and the game "throws" that squad off the board (techically at the map origin 0,0,0) then you will know that game structure (model) doesn't support what you tried to define and you will need to make a change.