Download Map Maker 0.9x

[rickier65]

Got the > 32 colors again this afternoon. Followed the new prompt to try again to load and it came in with no problem!

Thanks - this will save a lot of time!

Rick

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick

Got the > 32 colors again this afternoon. Followed the new prompt to try again to load and it came in with no problem!

Thanks - this will save a lot of time!

Rick

That's good.

How is your startup error going? Has increasing the delay helped at all?

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

How is your startup error going? Has increasing the delay helped at all?

It's hard to quantify. Still getting it regularly. And the internet site it's trying to open is actually the Map Maker app. on my C: drive. I decided to put a warning msg in guide in case others experience it. I think the most I've had to retry to start it was 3 times with the z build.

Rick

(I've had the > 32 colors msg probably 6 times this afternoon so the retry option there is really paying off for me!)

[benpark]

I'm not seeing the underlying data for the new models after entering the info in the resources.xml.

An example is:

<resource id="streetlamp.dds" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/streetlamp.dds" />
<resource id="streetlamp" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/streetlamp.x" /> boundbox=" -0.09;-0.00;-0.09,0.44;1.84;0.09" />

The text is wrapped around (it's two lines of text), but that's the gist of it. The models are all loading in the SE, and no errors in MM load up.

I don't need to add this info anywhere but the resources.xml in my mod sub-folder (with the models) do I?

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: benpark

I'm not seeing the underlying data for the new models after entering the info in the resources.xml.

An example is:

<resource id="streetlamp.dds" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/streetlamp.dds" />
<resource id="streetlamp" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/streetlamp.x" /> boundbox=" -0.09;-0.00;-0.09,0.44;1.84;0.09" />

The text is wrapped around (it's two lines of text), but that's the gist of it. The models are all loading in the SE, and no errors in MM load up.

I don't need to add this info anywhere but the resources.xml in my mod sub-folder (with the models) do I?

ben your xml appears mangled, the last line shoud read

<resource id="streetlamp" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/streetlamp.x" boundbox=" -0.09;-0.00;-0.09,0.44;1.84;0.09" />

If it still doesn't work after this send me the model

Regards

S.

[benpark]

Yep, that's done the trick.

Nice things, eyes. Good to have another pair now that I've worn mine out.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: benpark

Yep, that's done the trick.

Nice things, eyes. Good to have another pair now that I've worn mine out.

Only too happy to help someone who is helping the community.

You modding work is not only outstanding [&o] but also prolific [&o][&o][&o]!

Regards

S.

[RyanCrierie]

How do you switch between the terrain map and the height map?

[benpark]

Ryan, hold down "Shift" while using the scroll wheel.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

How do you switch between the terrain map and the height map?

The latest version of MM also shifts to heightmap mode by pressing one of the HM sculpting tools. Adjust, filter, lock etc.

Switch back to terrain by clicking Navi.

Rick

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

How do you switch between the terrain map and the height map?

The latest version of MM also shifts to heightmap mode by pressing one of the HM sculpting tools. Adjust, filter, lock etc.

Switch back to terrain by clicking Navi.

Rick

Yes by holding shift and rolling the mouse wheel you can set the "opacity" of the heightmap as shown through the terrain map. From 0 to 100%. Use this so that you can see enough terrain elements when sculpting your map. The MM remembers this when you switch modes (between navi = terrain map and the HM tools) so that it will always take you back to what you want.

Remember that Navi mode allows you to add new objects, see how the terrain map looks and pan & zoom arround. The other modes are really designed for HM editing (you can still zoom and pan, but the pan you need to use the middle mouse button as the left and right mouse buttons will HM sculpt in this case).

Also remember if your start MM with the /hires switch then the heightmap is doubled in size to allow for much finer sculpting work (eg embankments / trenches)

Thanks to Rick I have added two new features to the next MM (v1.0).

The first is to remove a bug with "clear" (pure white pixel) terrain.
The second is to allow unlinking or nulling out the color assignment for both textures and autogen objects.

In the case of tetxures this will have the ability to add a "whole map" texture (which covers everything below it) eg snow or sand. You can then set the transparency (but not the blur makes no sense as it doesn't have a mask if it is the whole map). So use this option to turn a summer map into a winter map by adding a whole layer of snow for example.

In the case of autogen structures, unliniking the color will mean the autogen gets applied across the whole map (think craters or debris).

Regards

S.

EDIT: Texture Example

Typical Summer

1. Base Terrain Layer = "Dirt" (the base terrain layer covers the whole map and is always transparency 100% = 1.0)
2. Added Grass layer texture with mask (areas masked out will have the base "Dirt" showing through). I want the grass to appear "dirtier" than the actual texture is so I set the transparency to 0.5 so that the base terrain dirt shows through 50%. As the grass areas are indistinct I set the blur to 2.0
3. Added paved road layer texture with mask. As the road has a hard edge and the base terrain dirt doesn't show through a asphalt road I set the blur to 0.5 and the transparency to 2.0 (remember that blur and transparency are linked if you set a large blur you may need to set the transparency > 1.0 - you will need to experiment a little here, there is a forumla which relates the two but I won't bore you)

Now I want to turn that into a winter map

So I add

4. Snow texture with unlinked color (ie no mask). I then set the transparency to 0.5 so that it gives ~ 50% snow cover.

Great but imagine if now a snow plow comes along and clears snow off the paved road ... no problem just rearrange the textures so that :

1. Base
2. Grass
4. Snow
3. Road

and there you go, the road is now clear of snow.

With this new function you will be able to play with these textures and masks to get pretty much any effect you want.

Regards

S.

[rickier65]

Stridor,

I think in one of the versions, the drop down list for transparency changed to list numbers all the way up to 6, ie, it looks like drop down list for blur.

Rick

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick


Stridor,

I think in one of the versions, the drop down list for transparency changed to list numbers all the way up to 6, ie, it looks like drop down list for blur.

Rick

No that is correct, although you probably rarely ever never use a 6.0 multiplier.

I will try to explain why blur and transparency are linked.

Imaging a sharply defined red circle on a pure white map. It has a transparency multiplier 1.0 (pure)

Now imaginge that you blurred the map by some amount say 10%. Then the edge of the circle will be merged with the white by 10%. If you kept bluring more and more eventually the center of the circle would take on some of the white color as well In other words it wouldn't be pure red. In the game this would mean that the center of the texture circle would start showing textures underneath. Now you may not want that so by turning the transparency multipler up to say 2.0 then you can prevent that.

In general you leave your transparency at 1.0 and then add blur as you choose. Review the build. If the blur is not enough increase. If the density of the texture is not enough then increase transparency.

I should have (and I think I will change it too) called it opacity multipler!

Think like this: increasing blur causes and texture to become more spread out and more transparent.
Increasing the opacity mulitpler makes the texture denser, less transparent.

I hope that helps

Regards

S.

[rickier65]

I see. I need to put that explanation in the Guide!

Thanks!

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

The first is to remove a bug with "clear" (pure white pixel) terrain.
The second is to allow unlinking or nulling out the color assignment for both textures and autogen objects.

In the case of autogen structures, unliniking the color will mean the autogen gets applied across the whole map (think craters or debris).

Stridor,

In the case of Autogen option above, is there a check to make sure they arent put inside blocked terrain (like buildings). Or should we put in the min delta distance, and make this the last autogen. Will minimum delta keep it away from fixed strucutres?

I didn't want cows inside buildings.

Thanks
Rick

[benpark]

I've got an issue with a map that seems to have lost it's terrain AI coding data and I cannot get it to color pick any longer. When I checked the AI map in the SE, the models were still coded, but the rest of the map was black.

Uploaded here:

http://www.myfileupload.net/download.ph ... aefb64982a

EDIT: Just loaded again, and I was able to redo the terrain by the eyedropper method.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick

ORIGINAL: Stridor

The first is to remove a bug with "clear" (pure white pixel) terrain.
The second is to allow unlinking or nulling out the color assignment for both textures and autogen objects.

In the case of autogen structures, unliniking the color will mean the autogen gets applied across the whole map (think craters or debris).

Stridor,

In the case of Autogen option above, is there a check to make sure they arent put inside blocked terrain (like buildings). Or should we put in the min delta distance, and make this the last autogen. Will minimum delta keep it away from fixed strucutres?

I didn't want cows inside buildings.

Thanks
Rick

Yes you set the min delta to a value so that things don't get overwritten.

Eg cows

Set min delta to 5 meters, that means that no cow (center) will appear within that many meters of the center point of any prior placed object.

Min delta is meaningless for fixed placed strutures (ie dens = 0), as in that case it is up to you to place objects where you want them.

Regards

S.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: benpark

I've got an issue with a map that seems to have lost it's terrain AI coding data and I cannot get it to color pick any longer. When I checked the AI map in the SE, the models were still coded, but the rest of the map was black.

Uploaded here:

http://www.myfileupload.net/download.ph ... aefb64982a

EDIT: Just loaded again, and I was able to redo the terrain by the eyedropper method.

Ben,

Beats me, I just loaded up your map, pressed build and then got this:

(Remember if you ever get out of sync to shift-click the build button, but I don't think that was your problem here, don't know what went wrong)

[Mraah]

Stridor,

Would it be possible for MM to have an option that adds extra meters to the underlying terrain bound box?

I notice that it does a wonderfull job bounding the terrain underneath but an extra meter or two may be needed otherwise the models will be clipping the corners.

thanks,
Rob

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Mraah

Stridor,

Would it be possible for MM to have an option that adds extra meters to the underlying terrain bound box?

I notice that it does a wonderfull job bounding the terrain underneath but an extra meter or two may be needed otherwise the models will be clipping the corners.

thanks,
Rob

I haven't yet seen obvious clipping. I find the bounding boxes to probably be too large at any rate, becuase any roof top or tree canopy overhang tends to ex. them. If I increase the bound by too much infantry won't be able to mount structures. I think I might leave it. The is a whole lot of *other* clipping going on anyway!!!!!

On the topic of MM I hope to release a new v1.0 RC shortly.

Changelog from 0.9z:

1. Bug fixes in very odd circumstances
2. Better handling of > 32 color issues
3. Better UI feedback about what MM is doing when crunching the numbers
4. Removed "white" terrain color issue (white terrain is now treated the same as every other terrain color)
5. Added the ability to clear a terrain color association for both the textures and autogen (so now you can autogen everywhere and make a whole map texture overlay)
6. Fixes IE6 Google map startup issue which Rick (and other IE6 users) were having
7. Fixed HM import issues where some maps would come out as all one height (ie all one color). This was due to a HM scaling issue which is now fixed. This also improves the quality of all imported height maps!
8. Simplied terrain import filter options


Regards

S.