Random and meandering thoughts

[Unhappy]

So how many threads can I start in here? Oh well.

I've noticed that in the map editor when creating the underlying map for the game that it is 'squished' on the vertical axis (well both actually but more so on the vertical). In other words, if you create a custom map and then export the bitmap, the bitmap will look enlongated (vertically). I suppose this is not particularly troublesome unless you are trying to create a quite accurate map.

I've found that a work around for this is to create the underlying map in sort of the reverse order advised in the manual.

So I found a map (again - on the internet) of the area I was interested in. Save the map image. Presuming that (in CAW) the hexes roughly represent 20 miles across and down (somebody mentioned this in some other thread), and that the underlying map is 84 hexes wide by 72 high (the default), then the map covers a region about 1680 miles by 1440 miles. Maybe the hexes are 20 nautical miles across in which case my calculation is slightly understated. A nautical mile ~ 1.15 miles so the region would be 1932 miles by 1656 miles...WOW! That's a bigger difference than I thought. Anyway - close enough for horseshoes and hand-grenades. Trim your map image acquired from the internet (or wherever) to get a region that represents about 1680 by 1440 miles.

Now then...the map that the player will see in the game is part of a resource file (part of the scenario resource file). More precisely, there are two maps the player can see - one with hexes and one without. They are surfaces and are named sur[scenario name]map and sur[scenario name]maphexes. These maps are exactly 1097 pixels by 1089 pixels (for the default size of 84 x 72 hexes).

Therefore, you need to scale your map image (up or down) so that it is exactly 1097 by 1089. You will likely need to do some trimming because the chances you can scale it to precisely these dimensions seems pretty remote.

Save the file because it is easy to make a mess of this procedure.

Next you need to overlay the map with the 84 x 72 hex grid used in the game. Where did I get this hex grid? Don't ask - but if anybody wants a copy let me know and I will email you the file.

Now you should have a map of the region you want to create in the Map Editor overlayed with the hex grid. Use this map as a guide to creating the underlying game map. Note that it will look squished in the Map Editor but rest assured that the map overlay that the user will see will look 'right.' You can confirm this by clicking the 'Save Map As Bitmap' button and looking at the result.

My other random observations/questions on this topic are:

1. At present the Hexes Width and Hexes Height fields appear to be locked - so that only maps using the default values of 84 by 72 hexes can be created - is this correct?

2. Are there any naming conventions that must be followed in order to get custom maps to work?

Oh! I tried to attach a couple images to demonstrate what I mean but the files are too darn big.