Image overlay in map editor?

[JPJ]

I don't know if this appeals to many but for the kind of small maps I sometimes make for myself I would like the possibility to display a Google map or aerial photograph (= an image file) under the map grid in the Scenario Editor, so that I can see it while I plan and create my map on top of it. I wonder if that is possible?

Ideal would be with a slider to control the transparency of the image to show/hide it through my hex map so that I can compare them overlaid.

I can overlay maps with other maps/pictures/grids on paper and in 3rd party software but would like it if a simple overlay is also possible in the game editor itself while I work on a map there.

[Nicholas Bell]

I'll second that suggestion.

What you describe is how the map editor for all John Tiller's games work. Makes it simple. Having to refer to a separate monitor or paper print out of a map with a hexgrid overlaid is a real hassle. Makes me wonder how the folks who made the maps for FITE, Dir 21, Normandy to the Ruhr etc maintained their sanity. My hat is off to them.

[Lobster]

That would quite probably require an entire rewrite of the graphics end of the game top to bottom.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[Lobster]

I use ODD for my map making needs.

[JPJ]

Right... thanks for the pointers.
I do it my way too and will look into those.

We have transparent panels in TOAW, and regardless the editor is a bit different still I was dreaming it would be great to show a map image or aerial picture in a transparent panel over (or under) the map editor while I work on my map there...

[Lobster]

I've wished for something like that forever. [;)]

[bde4soldier223]

What is odd?

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

What is odd?

Opart Design & Debug Utility

By one of the most renown (and beholden!) member of the community - Curt Chambers himself.

Klink, Oberst

[bde4soldier223]

Thanks

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

Thanks

I tried to find the link... but well, ole Curt is still around here somewhere

Klink, Oberst

[Nicholas Bell]

ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

[bde4soldier223]

would the latlong program, would that work for toaw iv?

[Lobster]

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

After the map has a grid on it I just mark it up in a paint program in a way that's easy for me. Just make a method of marking that is quick and easy for you.

[Lobster]

You can always make changes as you place the terrain on the map.

[JPJ]

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

would the latlong program, would that work for toaw iv?

LatLong technically is a standalone program, not part of TOAW. I am not the author and have not verified its calculations. LatLong's author Bob Cross can confirm such details. (The results it gives should still be valid though if things have not changed since the time it was made, many years ago.)

If you are going to use it with 64 bit Windows 10 and in Excel, then be prepared you may have to do some manual steps to run it in the first place (it's a 16 bit command line program), and to display the results in Excel (you may have to adjust some spacing when you import the data to get things aligned). If you feel comfortable with that then it runs all right.

Also remember LatLong does not make all areas and distances perfectly consistent, but helps to make a reasonably good map for situations it is intended for; again, see the author's posts for some considerations,

about LatLong:
tm.asp?m=2231136

about map projections:
tm.asp?m=2231107 (especially posts #3, #4, #6)

And a related question recently in the forum:
tm.asp?m=4396191

[Raindem]

Thank you for the kind words about ODD. Yes, it will lay a hexgrid over a bitmap, help you create a event list, create and edit an OOB, even help with plotting objectives. But all that was under TOAW III. The program relied on the csv dump files that TOAW created. When it worked, it would interface quite well with TOAW and you could design practically an entire scenario outside of TOAW (except for the map) and import it. ODD would even execute a "dry run" of your events to alert you to potential problems.

I say "when it worked" because each time TOAW was updated it seemed that the dump files changed a little bit. And it only takes a small error to throw off the whole file and turn it into jibberish. I haven't updated ODD in a few years and certainly haven't tested it with TOAW 4. I would be surprised if it still worked. The bottom line is... USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

That being said, it is still useful for laying a grid over a map. But that just gives you a reference to copy from. You still have to make the map in the TOAW editor.

[bde4soldier223]

thanks jpj

[Nicholas Bell]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

After the map has a grid on it I just mark it up in a paint program in a way that's easy for me. Just make a method of marking that is quick and easy for you.

Oh yeah, I get that. I've just ended up numbering the hex grid.

Ahh, I see you are working on a map around Kiev, which coincidentally is the same area I am working on. Is this part of a larger project, or are you working on a specific scenario. I ask, because was going to do a scenario depicting the liberation of Kiev and the counterattack of the 48th PzK in Nov-Dec 43. If you're on it, by chance, I'll change focus to something else.

Your sample looks terrific.

[Oberst_Klink]

What scale for the Fire Brigade '43 project? 5km/hex or 2.5/hex? I also made preparations to basically recreate the game Fire Brigade from Panther Games that actually covered the 2nd Battle of Kiev!

Klink, Oberst