Current way to make new maps?

[JensLeugengroot]

Hi,

I'm a little nit confused on the actual way and possibilities to make new maps for FPC after version 2.06. In another thread CapnDariwn posted that the maps are no longer made with HexDraw.

For FCRS we did post at one time the HexDraw art used in the Pre 2.0.6 builds of the game. With version 2.0.6, we switched over to using the maps made by William which were not HexDraw based. Currently, there is no way to make maps like ours without using the same tools and content William uses. He does have posts outlining his methods in the Red Storm forum section.

Can anyone tell me what the correct and proper way to do so is?

Thanks!

Jens

[WildCatNL]

Ha Jens,

Both ways work.

You can use HexDraw using the templates provided here. Then you'd paint your maps in HexDraw, scale the map to the right size as described by the Mod guide, scan the map in the Map Values editor, and fix some hex values where necessary. It's straightforward but laborious, and you might need to buy the full HexDraw application as the demo is limited to a small map area.

Alternatively, you can try to master QGis as described by the pinned QGis map creation thread. In QGis, you can use digital elevation data (saving a lot of manual work, compared to HexDraw) and paint roads, waterways, towns, forests, etc. on top. It's more complex, but can be a lot faster, especially when you want to make changes to your map. At the end, you have a bitmap that's great for being scanned by the game, but not as pretty as HexDraw's. To use a pretty map, you can use QGis to clip the same area Google/OpenStreetMap/Bing map, or you can PhotoShop something pretty. Or you try contacting me to render a pretty map for you given the QGis created bitmap.

What map do you have in mind to create?

William

[JensLeugengroot]

Thanks for your reply William. Looks like HexDraw is no longer available from the original Website. But anyway, I didn't recognize that there is the QGis option for making the maps as well and as I wanted to get my head into QGis anyway I think I will give this option a try first.

Jens