Download Map Maker 0.9x

[rickier65]

Ryan,

I beleive thats the resolution avaialbe in that part of the country.

You will probably want to go into the height map sculting tools and do some work on it.

Rick

[RyanCrierie]

Ryan,

I beleive thats the resolution avaialbe in that part of the country.

um, SRTM data of CONUS (which is where I set my map, my own backyard) is at 30m data levels.

[Stridor]

Ryan,

MM uses the SRTMv4 world wide data which has been cleaned up from earlier. This is 3 second 90m res. At 1km x1km you will need to set the smooth options and press them a couple of times to smooth the 90m "steps" in the data.

This is becuase SRTM data of the areas we want to fight in is at that res. Whilst it will support North American 1sec arc SRTM v1 and v2 data, you will need to get that data yourself from the NASA server. Any maps you try to import from the states will be at the v4 standard of 3 sec arc.

When v4 (or above) includes higher res data then MM will pick up on that, unitl now you are stuck at 90m. As a tip you can always import a 3kmx3km map and then "compress" it down to 1kmx1km to give you the 30m res you desire. Whilst it will look good it won't be realistic, if that is an issue. Otherwise you can take the base 90m res and then use the HM sculpt tools to add new detail as required (from other sources such as ground photos, etc)

Regards

S.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: benpark

Two more for the wish list (that may be in already):


-Placeable trees that can be autocoded as light trees/obstruction etc. (maybe this can be done as setting an individual tree as such in the drop down menu)

-It would be great to have the MM import info from the SE such as yaw and axis changes. I have tried to sink a telephone pole into the ground as a "sign", but lose it every time I load into the MM. This can be saved for last, but it might be nice to have the MM "remember" these changes.

You can place a tree and set it as an obstruction in the version you have. I will add brush/light forrest/heavy forrest as an option for the next build if it helps. This means that you can either draw and area which defines a terrain type for which autogen will then fill with objects *OR* place objects on the map and MM will draw the area in for you. You can have it both ways.

What gets updated between SE and MM is:
X,Y& yaw (+ isfacing camera, alpha, has height)

Z is not, pitch and roll are not.

If you select normalize then pitch and roll are calculated and Z is always recalculated depending on terrain changes.

So to answer your question, I think it best to make those very final map changes last [;)] At least for the time being.

Regards

S.

[RyanCrierie]

Still a bit confused by the heightmap bitmaps; why are the ones generated by Map Maker from Google maps 14 x 11?
 
Shouldn't they be 11 x 11, since we're generating a square area; and at that scale, you get 90m~ per pixel....

[RyanCrierie]

Hitting smooth a couple times in MM doesn't work. What I find DOES work is going into Paint Shop Pro, opening up the height map, pixel resizing it to 11 x 11; then resizing it again to 64 x 64, and then applying a gaussian blur of 2.0.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

Still a bit confused by the heightmap bitmaps; why are the ones generated by Map Maker from Google maps 14 x 11?

Shouldn't they be 11 x 11, since we're generating a square area; and at that scale, you get 90m~ per pixel....

On the ball hey!

There of course is a very good reason for this.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

Hitting smooth a couple times in MM doesn't work. What I find DOES work is going into Paint Shop Pro, opening up the height map, pixel resizing it to 11 x 11; then resizing it again to 64 x 64, and then applying a gaussian blur of 2.0.

DON"T do that!

The best thing to do is this.
Get your map.

On the sculpt tool bar click on the "BIG" drop and "BIG circle".

Eg MAKE LARGE CHANGES and SELECT BRUSH SIZE 5

By default MM sculpt tools are set to only make small changes to the HM, so you need to crank these up to see the effect.

Then press the Smooth button twice. It will look much better and you won't loose X axis info for lats above the equator.

To convince you that all is working as intended make a map centered on the equator. Then make a map at lat +55. And then check out the heightmap sizes. The world globe is not a flat 2D plane.

[RyanCrierie]

Ah I see. I'm just very used to square maps.

EDIT: This information should be in the manual for mapmaker btw.

[Stridor]

Ben, I have added Brush, Light Woods and Heavy Woods as object (building) types for individual map placement draws for the next build [;)]

[Stridor]

Ryan,

Do this it is pretty cool.

Go somewhere which has interesting topology. Perhaps something with water? Then select a 5000m map. Now import a heightmap and click the google button to toggle between the 2 images. I am still amazed that we have the technology to do this! When we get higher res DEM data (which hopefully won't be that far away) then it will be even better.

[benpark]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

Ben, I have added Brush, Light Woods and Heavy Woods as object (building) types for individual map placement draws for the next build [;)]

Grand. "Obstruction" probably covered it, but variety in choice leads to interesting things.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie

Ah I see. I'm just very used to square maps.

EDIT: This information should be in the manual for mapmaker btw.

Ryan - I agree. I'm working on a manual, and learning the new features as I go. These question help me to know what should be in manual (though I suspect I'll ).

It's interesting that Stridor can program new features so much faster than I can even understand them and then describe them in writing.

Rick

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

Here is a new test version 0.9y

Hopefully it should:

1. Fix Rick's timing issue (if it doesn't I can increase the delay for the next build)

I'm still getting the error msg, but not as often now. It may also be related to memory on my system. It doesn't appear others are experiencing it, so I wouldn't expend to much effort on it.

Thanks
Rick

[Stridor]

Rick,

I will increase the timings a little more ok.

[RyanCrierie]

How do you use templates, eg. use such and such texture set to this blur, and randomly generate these trees on specific colors of an AI Map?

[Stridor]

Ryan,

You can use the winter template Rick kindly provided here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1974156

or if you want to read the tutorial on how to setup MM on your own without a template you can find that here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1893360

Both are slighly out of date with 0.9y but the guts of how they work will still apply.

Regards

S.

[benpark]

I'll throw up the first map that I've made with the new MM. I've done some work on the textures in PSD in order to draw things like the roads and paths. I will probably do some re-adjustment of some of the tree and bush placement in the SE. Other than that, everything done in the MM. It is a MASSIVE improvement in making map making easier and more realistic to the terrain being mapped.

The map is of the Seelow Heights, just south of Seelow. It depicts the very small village of Ludwigslust. I have changed very little (leaving out the "Waldstrasse" for example) from the Google image. Houses are based on what is there now vs. what I imagine was in 1945. I added one house on the top of the heights because I felt like it.

Download:

http://www.myfileupload.net/download.ph ... a3473a098e

Terrain map vs the Google Earth image (the resize got a little odd, but you get the picture...).

[Stridor]

Ben,

Not only does your map look amazing, it also looks as though it would be a very interesting map to play on. Your finished version should go out with the next PCK patch (perhaps Erik could make a RBG template). From some angles (like looking down the village road and up the hill) it makes PCK look far better than I have ever seen it before! To think it is also realistic in both terrain elevation and texture!

It is just astounding to think you could make this in just 2 days with the new tools [&o]

Rob made a raised trench model which may be of some benefit? Nice use of battlefield wreckage, thought about some craters?

Regards

S.

P.S. I guess in the next update to MM I will have to make the MM auto-generate a RBG template so that we can start playing on some of these maps without waiting for scenario designers to start making scenarios for them. Now that would be something! It would also be a lot of work!

[RyanCrierie]

Excellent work Mr Stridor. You can even randomly generate houses or structures using a preset color, and Map Maker will automatically cut out the structures as RED. [X(]