Download Map Maker 0.9x

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Rick

If I recall this is actually the way Stridor had his very first map making tutorial (before MapMaker). ie a rectangular water plain that was wide enough to span the river. I can still recall how much time it took me to get even part way through. indidividaully editing mesh pts on the wall terrain - getting totally lost, and always having one of thw walls go invisible!

Yes ... that was a way to do, via a mesh editor, like MS3D.

And to just pile on, I was wondering myself if there was anyway to model a dam, with high lake level behind the dam, and the river below. It isn't very likely at the 1 km scale, but might be as map scale increases.

The only way to model this is by my example above ---> The ability to adjust the height of the water table (water.x) peicemeal like you adjust the terrain height (terrain.x).

Though for me, automating even if only partially, the force template creation would be higher on my list of wants. I have an idea that very few folks are going to go that extra step and create force templates for their new maps.

Agreed ... This is more of a priority, if he's got the time.

Rob

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Rick

Though for me, automating even if only partially, the force template creation would be higher on my list of wants. I have an idea that very few folks are going to go that extra step and create force templates for their new maps.

Hmmm .... I was thinking and I don't know how far Stridor's thought is on the idea ... but ...

Perhaps his AUTOGEN code (using specific placement rules) can assign unit's or drop units onto the map by just using the AI Map colors.

You know, instead of trees or structures it places units :

1. INFANTRY = woods, buildings, ruins
2. GUNS = woods, ruins
3. TRANSPORT = clear,mud,road,brush, etc ... maybe even a specific woods, like light woods.
4. TANKS = same as transport.

I mean, when I make a template (as a smelly human) I use the rules above as a starting block.

Hmmm,

Rob

EDIT NOTE : We can experiment with this now .... AUTOGEN the destroyed units, infantry, T-34, etc .... hmmmm.
EDIT NOTE #2 : Just pretend they are alive and it's dropping them for position information (x,z location), like in the XML.

[Stridor]

Rob on your multi level water idea ...

I could do it the quick and easy (but limited) way or the hard (but comprehsive) way.

I don't want to do it the hard way [:D] as it a feature which would be very very rarely used I think.

This would be the most I could offer.

A button on the main UI which you click and it pops up a dialog where you enter 5 numbers

1. The map coordinates of the top left and bottom right of the new water "area" (note you can get these easily from the status bar)
2. The depth of the water at the centroid of the water plane.

This would allow a single water plane of a fixed size above the water "table" and only one (you couldn't have multiple damns on your map for example).

Also this second water plane would be textured the same as the water table.

Even this would be a big job.

As Rick said I would rather work on an auto template system.

Regards

S.

[Mraah]

Ok .... not a big deal ... like I said, it's a "would be nice" kinda geez-wiz golly thing.

Considering folks are now into MS3D and Fragmotion the subject is mute [:)].

Rob

[Stridor]

Rob, I am in the process of doing something for you [:D] You can now have unlimited water levels

[Stridor]

To be clear there are some caveats. As multi-level water is something which is not going to be often needed I feel these are reasonable.

You can now add water to the map via the structures button. You simply select the "water" structure and then define its length and width (in meters) these build a water rectangle which you can then place anywhere on the map and then "sink" to the water depth you want. The water structure is generated on the fly, its texture properties are taken from the general "water" texture define. You can rotate this water rectangle like you would any other structure.

The pros to this system are that it is easy to implement, fast to compile and not a burden on the fps.

The downside is that autogen structures can still be generated inside the water (these would have to be removed in post processing) and whilst you can select to have MM autodraw water on the AI map for you it won't be as nice as how it does it for the "real" water table. So in other words if you are going to use this system to place multi level water (or water above the terrain), then you will need to do some post processing work but I think that is a worthwhile compromise.

Regards

S.

[RyanCrierie]

Is it possible for map maker to have a "rebuild" feature similar to the way it places cutouts for buildings on the terrain map; in which it takes a look at selected foxholes, like my 3D foxholes; and then re-generates the terrain mesh with depressions where the foxholes are placed to get that 3D effect?

Basically, it would take a look at the terrain map it generated with foxhole/trench color cutouts, then regenerate the terrain mesh and lower the areas covered by the foxhole/trench color by a user selectable amount (0.5 to 1 meters).

[Stridor]

Ryan,

Ok I have had a thought about this issue and I think I can do something about it. It will require some slight mods to the models which "cut-out" the terrain landscape.

Because you are making new models you can easily incorporate these changes into them. The prexisitng game models (like trenches/foxholes/etc) someone will have to fix up with fM or MS3D. It won't take much to fix them just a little "skirt".

I will add a new option to MM to allow it to "cut-out" a rectangle in the ground terrain which is slightly smaller than the bound box for the foxhole or trench etc. This means that all objects which are going to "cut-out" the terrain need to be on a rectangular base (like a figurine on a square base). The cutout element itself can be any shape but it must lie inside its rectangular base. Now this base will need to be larger than the cutout element by some amount (probably 20%). Hopefully this SS will shed some light on the idea.

[Stridor]

This is the effect I am talking about

[Stridor]

Adding all these new features has slowed RC releases down a bit but RC3 is shaping up to be the best one yet.

Improvements of RC3 over RC2:

1. Map Labels are now 100% emissive so can be seen under any lighting conditions
2. The default terrain texture is applied to your map if no texture processing is required (this means that all your old maps will still look the same if you want)
3. Making lighting changes in Scene Edit is probably the best way to do them as you can see at a glance what effect they will have on your map. Now any ligthting changes you make in Scene Edit can be imported back into MM with the import button.
4. Talking of importing from SE, this happens MUCH faster now.
5. A brand new completely reogranized Map Maker Structure and Texture menu makes finding things a snap (Thanks Ben!!! [&o])
6. New map textures (65!) and new map objects (over 400 total now!)
7. A Massive lighting and normal cleanup of all the map placeable objects. These include objects from the stock game. This means that you can fight your maps under all types of lighting conditions now and everything works as it should. Note: This doesn't apply to vehicles or infantry (men) yet.
8. MM knows what version each saved file was made with so if you try and build an "older" map with a newer MM you won't need to remember to do a complete rebuild as MM will do it for you.
9. The main control pane UI now has a slim scroll bar to give you visual feedback when the UI scrolls
10. Fixed single color terrainmap bug (Thanks Rick!)
11. Improved guide (Thanks Rick again!!! [&o])
12. X/Y coordinate display now more precise, Height above sea level is shown (H) and now depth of water (D) is shown
13. A "complete" build removes all old/tmp/working files from the map directory so you are left with a lean and clean map dir. Remember to do this prior to distributing your map (a complete build should be the last thing you do)
14. Support now for multiple water levels!
15. Support for trench/foxhole/dugout structures which "cut" into the terrain. These will need new models (or mods to old ones) to really take advantage of this new system (Thanks Ryan!)
16. In total you will save over 100MB of disk space with this new MM RC3 c/w RC2

Regards

S.

[RyanCrierie]

So how do you create bound boxes?

[benpark]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

13. A "complete" build removes all old/tmp/working files from the map directory so you are left with a lean and clean map dir. Remember to do this prior to distributing your map (a complete build should be the last thing you do)

That's quite a list!

Regarding the #13 above- for very precise things like fences, I do the fine tuning in the SE. If I do the "complete" build as per above, won't these little changes be lost? Or are they saved exactly where I placed them in the SE?

THANK YOU!![&o]

[rickier65]

Ben,

If I'm not mistaken, after you've done your fine tuning, if you import the SE changes back into MM, then they actually become part of the MM build after that.

Rick

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick

Ben,

If I'm not mistaken, after you've done your fine tuning, if you import the SE changes back into MM, then they actually become part of the MM build after that.

Rick

Yes Rick is correct.

At any stage during development of your map in map maker, after you have built it and are viewing it in SE, make any adjustments you like in SE. Save the map. Then in MM press the import button. This will update all the changes you made in SE! You can import lighting as well now.

The only thing you can't import is an autogen structure as they change for each build, but for things you place by hand like fences etc, this is a really neat feature.

Regards

S.

[benpark]

Yes, I have used the import from SE function many times.

On one of the last maps I was doing the fences were not as I remember placing them after the re-import. Now my "remembering" doesn't really count for...anything. I'll look at it again when I get done with my busy week.

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

Rob, I am in the process of doing something for you [:D] You can now have unlimited water levels

Stridor,

Thanks for taking a moment to add this feature !

When RC3 is released, I'll fiddle around with it.

Rob

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

So how do you create bound boxes?

Ryan,

Go back to page 6 of this thread, post #176 ... Stridor explains it.

I'll repost it here :

ORIGINAL: Stridor

Ben,

This is what you do.

Export your model from MS3D as you normally would do as a final .X file.

Then select File->New, Tools->Direct X Mesh tools... Search for the .X file you just saved and then reimport it back into MS3D. This is important as it imports the model back in game scale units which is what MM and PCK use for bounding box info.

Now select Tools->Show Model Statistics...

I have a screen shot of what comes up using your very own Pharmacy building.

The numbers you want are shown in red.

your resource xml for this whole model would then become:

Code: Select all

 <resources>
   <resource id="Pharmacy" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/Pharmacy.x" boundbox=" -3.01;0.000;-1.97,3.0;3.41;1.99" />
   <resource id="Pharmacy.dds" filename="Mods/Benpark/Urban_Factory/Pharmacy.dds" />
 </resources>
 

MM will then be able to read the bounding box info on startup.

Please be very careful with your use of ";" and ","

The format is

"x0;z0;y0 , x1;z1;y1"

Hope that helps you. Much better to do it that way than with Konvix!

Regards

S.

[RyanCrierie]

Hey, is it possible for MM to automatically create blank texture layers for each specific unique color on the map? I'm playing with RC3, and I see the buttons for the AI Map at bottom...which got me to thinking about autogen of texture layers which you can then modify...

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

Hey, is it possible for MM to automatically create blank texture layers for each specific unique color on the map? I'm playing with RC3, and I see the buttons for the AI Map at bottom...which got me to thinking about autogen of texture layers which you can then modify...

Ryan,

Read Rick's excellent manual which is found in the manuals directory. I think you can find MM can do what you want right now.


EDIT:

This thread is getting too long and unweildy, so consider it closed in as much as I won't be responding to any further posts in this thread. If you want help with RC3 please start another thread.

Regards

S.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

Hey, is it possible for MM to automatically create blank texture layers for each specific unique color on the map? I'm playing with RC3, and I see the buttons for the AI Map at bottom...which got me to thinking about autogen of texture layers which you can then modify...

Ryan,

Not exactly sure what you're getting at. But if you go down to the mapping section of MM where you map Terrain map colors to AI colors, you can get some of what you are asking for. If you map the color to a AI terrain type, then build your map, in the Map directory you'll find masks for each of the terrain types, so you might look and see if that does what you want.

I've thought about trying to put together a template for some of the more common colors, but I don't really think that would work too well. But maybe I'll play around with it a little.

Rick