Map Maker Beta ...

[rickier65]

One thing I found as I've worked through this.

When You've gone in and created your map using map-maker, then you go in and edit your mask pings (for roads, fields, woods, etc). MAKE sure you dont go back into and reurn mapmaker to "tweak" some things! I did that an my masks were all replaced with the "placeholder".

I think after working on your masks, I'd save copies of them like road.bak or something.

Stridor - this mapmaker is pretty nice - you can tweak things pretty quickly now.

Rick

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Mraah
-- One feature doesn't seem to work properly ... Typing in a new M_Gp0 or Gp1 value doesn't work ---> it resets to previous value.

Stridor,

I'm at work again, can't check this until another 4 hours ... seems I'm the only one having this problem so I'll try again and see what conditions occur. I can type in the values but when it goes to recalculate it doesn't save the new value.

Glad you enjoy it. If the map reporter says it made trees and cows and craters then it bloody well should have! Check again in scenedit.

From memory, I zoomed in all the way with no trees or cows. I forget whether the children were actually in the xml ... I'll check again when I get home. Also, wasn't there a restriction to the scene editor with regards to how many objects it can display? I thought I read something here in the forum about that ... since I've got over 1800 tress I can see why ... might be a memory thing too since I've got the dinosaur rig compared to the rest of you guys .... I dunno.

Oh, one more thing ... I tried my own texture (256x256) and placed it in the mapmaker/textures folder but it didn't load into scene editor (blue screen). Mapmaker had no problem with it ... scene editor did so I suspect it's something in the XML file (I have alot of experience with the xml file errors before [;)])

Also, the textile x,y ... if set to 1,1 it doesn't seem to want to load in scene editor either. ... not too sure.

So, on these notes (I hate to speculate) ... I'll test this again and look at the xml file and let you know later on today.

Thanks, Rob

[rickier65]

I was working with woods layer and decided to see if I could replicate Benparks problem.

I first set up a woods using tree 3. set my vaules, it created around 490=/- trees.

When I loaded into sceneedit. it looked like there were trees in places I didn't put them, but I checked the AImap and they were fine.

So then I went back into MapMaker and deleted the trees3 and then added tree4. clicked on the check mark, built the map and had around 490 +/- trees. But this time went into scene edit and got the bue screen. OK that what BenPark was seeing.

I decided to test the rest tree5, blue screen, tree 1, blue screen, tree 2, blue screen. OK - Did I just get lucky and the only one working is tree3?

So set it back to tree3 ---- Blue screen. So tried saving as new file rather than overwriting existing - still blue screen.

I looked at the Test8Scene.xml to see if it still had some tree 4 stuff kicking around, but didnt find any.

Not sure whats going on. I'm getting ready to start work on a map for another SL conversion. I'll be using your mapmaker for that. Should really simplify the process.

Thanks!
Rick

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Mraah

I'm at work again, can't check this until another 4 hours ... seems I'm the only one having this problem so I'll try again and see what conditions occur. I can type in the values but when it goes to recalculate it doesn't save the new value.

Rob - I was sure I saw this same behavior, but I took a break, and when I came back and tried to replicate it (being a little more delierate this time so I could catch when the problem started) everything worked as expected for the map point eleveations and grey scale.

So I'll be curious if you get this problem again.

Rick

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick


One thing I found as I've worked through this.

When You've gone in and created your map using map-maker, then you go in and edit your mask pings (for roads, fields, woods, etc). MAKE sure you dont go back into and reurn mapmaker to "tweak" some things! I did that an my masks were all replaced with the "placeholder".

I think after working on your masks, I'd save copies of them like road.bak or something.

Stridor - this mapmaker is pretty nice - you can tweak things pretty quickly now.

Rick

That is a good point. The next update will not overwrite the png mask layers if they already exist.

Thanks

S.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Mraah

ORIGINAL: Mraah
-- One feature doesn't seem to work properly ... Typing in a new M_Gp0 or Gp1 value doesn't work ---> it resets to previous value.

Stridor,

I'm at work again, can't check this until another 4 hours ... seems I'm the only one having this problem so I'll try again and see what conditions occur. I can type in the values but when it goes to recalculate it doesn't save the new value.

Glad you enjoy it. If the map reporter says it made trees and cows and craters then it bloody well should have! Check again in scenedit.

From memory, I zoomed in all the way with no trees or cows. I forget whether the children were actually in the xml ... I'll check again when I get home. Also, wasn't there a restriction to the scene editor with regards to how many objects it can display? I thought I read something here in the forum about that ... since I've got over 1800 tress I can see why ... might be a memory thing too since I've got the dinosaur rig compared to the rest of you guys .... I dunno.

Oh, one more thing ... I tried my own texture (256x256) and placed it in the mapmaker/textures folder but it didn't load into scene editor (blue screen). Mapmaker had no problem with it ... scene editor did so I suspect it's something in the XML file (I have alot of experience with the xml file errors before [;)])

Also, the textile x,y ... if set to 1,1 it doesn't seem to want to load in scene editor either. ... not too sure.

So, on these notes (I hate to speculate) ... I'll test this again and look at the xml file and let you know later on today.

Thanks, Rob

Until I release documentation on how it is done, don't try and add your own mods for the moment. In time I will tell you all how to do it, but for the moment let us just concentrate on getting the basics going.

S.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Rick



I was working with woods layer and decided to see if I could replicate Benparks problem.

I first set up a woods using tree 3. set my vaules, it created around 490=/- trees.

When I loaded into sceneedit. it looked like there were trees in places I didn't put them, but I checked the AImap and they were fine.

So then I went back into MapMaker and deleted the trees3 and then added tree4. clicked on the check mark, built the map and had around 490 +/- trees. But this time went into scene edit and got the bue screen. OK that what BenPark was seeing.

I decided to test the rest tree5, blue screen, tree 1, blue screen, tree 2, blue screen. OK - Did I just get lucky and the only one working is tree3?

So set it back to tree3 ---- Blue screen. So tried saving as new file rather than overwriting existing - still blue screen.

I looked at the Test8Scene.xml to see if it still had some tree 4 stuff kicking around, but didnt find any.

Not sure whats going on. I'm getting ready to start work on a map for another SL conversion. I'll be using your mapmaker for that. Should really simplify the process.

Thanks!
Rick

I will look into the PCOWS winter trees to see what the problem might be.

[Stridor]

I have fixed the older PCOWS tree problem.

[Biffa]

Nice looking map Ben, btw this little thing will make it easier for you regarding accuracy of the colours for the data map:
 
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1791091
 
 

[Stridor]

To fix the tree issue please go into the Map Maker/Trees folder and rename

Tree1.bmp to Tree01.bmp
Tree2.bmp to Tree02.bmp
Tree3.bmp to Tree03.bmp
Tree4.bmp to Tree04.bmp
Tree5.bmp to Tree05.bmp

Thanks

S.

[Stridor]

Here is a little example of the first brush object SAF_Biffa sent me in action. The MM now supports mods and for biffas sake I will tell you all how it is done so that he can start cranking out some of these little beauties. Unlike trees which have complex 3D geometry, the brush system uses "billboards" which are simple objects which act like old sprites, they always turn to face the camera. This allows you to have 1000s of brushes but at minimal video cost.

The SS would look a hell of a lot better if I had the time to texture it better, i could also have made the brush areas a bit denser, but you get the idea.

To support brushes there is now a new check box in the Tree section of the MM called C:[]. C is for "Is facing camera?" check yes for brushes and unselect for regular trees.

[Stridor]

Ok this is mostly for Biffa, but anyone else who wants to make content for the MM is welcome to comment.

This is for doing trees and brushes only:

Step 1. Make your content as per my previously posted tutorials. If you are going to make billboard brushes which are 4 vertex & 2 faces ensure they face correctly. If they don't they won't appear in the game [:@] because the backface will be showing (or not showing in this instance). If this happens then just flip them prior to export from MS3D or whatever 3D program you are using.

You should produce 3 subtle (or not) variations of the base model, this might be changes in width or height for example 3 brushes all the same model and texture but the first is large, the second smaller and the third tiny. The MM will randomly pick between these variants to give some variety.

Step 2. Make a folder under Mods to house and distribute your work

Eg Mods/SAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes

Step 3. Put all your direct X and dds texture files in there and name your 3 models the same but with _a,_b or _c after the main name.

Eg

Mods/SAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_a.x
Mods/SAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_b.x
Mods/SAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_c.x
Mods/SAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01.dds

Note that the main name is Reed01 the _a,_b,_c suffix denotes model variations as explained above.

Step 4. create a resource.xml file in the same directory as your models and edit the symbolic links, like this

<resources>
<resource id="Reed01_a" filename="Mods/DAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_a.x" />
<resource id="Reed01_b" filename="Mods/DAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_b.x" />
<resource id="Reed01_c" filename="Mods/DAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01_c.x" />
<resource id="Reed01.dds" filename="Mods/DAF_Biffa/SAFs_brushes/Reed01.dds" />
</resources>

Step 5. Create a bitmap image of your work and call it by its main root name

Eg Reed01.bmp

It should be 24 bit color 256x256 bitmap image. Put this bitmap in Map Maker/Trees. This bitmap helps users see what type of tree or brush they will exporting with their maps before map generation.

Step 6. Distribute your work

Step 7. Start map maker and then select the new tree or brush. If it is a billboard brush rememeber to check the C:[] checkbox.

Step 8. Build your new map and enjoy!

Here is a SS showing a tree variation for the _a,_b,_c suffix


Regards

S.

[Biffa]

Bullrushes are mainly on very shallow water but&nbsp;we get the idea.
&nbsp;
Varying the size kind of works but the shape still remains the same unless it's a 3d shape like the trees where you can rotate them to get a difference, but ofc these aren't so&nbsp;the very explainatory&nbsp;tree diagram above isn't really the best way to go for billboard brushes.
&nbsp;
There's two types of grass in the tester pack Stridor, but I'll be doing some more.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: SAF_Biffa

Bullrushes are mainly on very shallow water but we get the idea.

Varying the size kind of works but the shape still remains the same unless it's a 3d shape like the trees where you can rotate them to get a difference, but ofc these aren't so the very explainatory tree diagram above isn't really the best way to go for billboard brushes.

There's two types of grass in the tester pack Stridor, but I'll be doing some more.

Things you could do

Change size
Change aspect ratio
Flip texture horizontal

There you go a b and c.

It really doesn't matter, you could make them all the same if you like (there just won't be any variability).

The bullrushes were just the first conv. I did. Hopefully I have documented enough to allow you to do some more excellent work [;)]

[RyanCrierie]

How do you add trees? I've painted the colors onto the AI Map, but I don't get any trees at all [&:]

[RyanCrierie]

Nevermind I solved th eproblem by setting density to 9999.

Hm, you know what would be great brush objects? Sunflowers and Wheat Stalks. [:D]

[Biffa]

Wheat Stalks done days ago! As a brush object though one thought I had is to make them like a wall texture aka in a rectangle that doesn't hinder movement, then you could plant rows and ofc walk through them.

Pond lillys are a puzzler though, how does the billboard effect work for those? [&:]

Sunflowers coming up.

[benpark]

Things are have progressed with ample help from the folks here:



I'm ready to place my objects after a few more tweaks to the ground masks.

As for the buildings, I've seen in the other maps that the red zone below can go a bit beyond the model. How much leeway does one have as to the precise placement of buildings within the zones? Also, is there a pixel size guide for particular building models?

[Redleg]

benpark - a fine start to your map - looks like a good place to fight.

In looking at most all of the maps, the red area is pretty forgiving. The buildings I have moved, I've tried to have a just enough red showing to ensure that the red is larger than the building by a little. Technique described is with the one pixel at at time method in Scen Edit. Zoom in very close and eyeball the building. Move the building to the side a bit. Paint the red a bit larger than the building move the building on to the red area and as a last step, trim off the excess. Seems to work good for me using scen edit. Very boring and tedious if there is a lot of buildings to do. Dunno if this will help much.

[rickier65]

Benpark,

On some of the building I've done, you want to make sure the red extends for the whole building, but not too far. ie. 1 to 2 pixels gets you withing couple of meters. I think some of the maps show more red thatn this, but I like to use bldgs for Infantry cover, so I like to be able to get close to bldgs, without having to enter.

As previous poster said, zoom in close, and I also use the top down view to avoid perspective problems.


Rick