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I've been playing around with overlay maps and other zone-related features of Command and I wanted to share a few observations.

1. Overlay maps, unless you're already knowledgeable about the software you have to use to add reference coordinates, can be a real pain. I could probably learn how to do it, but I am not sure I want to invest the time.

2. It is possible to create your own world file for an overlay map, and this can be faster than using something like QGIS, but you do need to have pretty exact coordinates for the world file. Admittedly, these are not super hard to track down, but I suspect for most people it will involve some trial and error.

3. I was never able to figure out how to just add an image and then move it around and match it up with the world map visually. If that is still possible, I would be grateful to anyone who can share details.

4. On the bright side...if all you want to do is create fictional borders, you don't need a map overlay. You can create a very narrow zone (it's supposed to be a line, but it has to be an area) and make it relatively opaque and give it the yellow color that matches the borders on the main world map (or a different color to indicate it is a disputed border, etc.) An example is given below. It's a bit rough; I would re-do it and make it smoother, etc. if I was going to use in an actual scenario, but I think it's a viable option for people.

Now, obviously, people who actually know how to use GIS software will probably be shaking their heads at all this, but I found the learning curve with things like QGIS a little steep and was hoping to find some workarounds. In any event, I wanted to share the information for anyone who might need it. Enjoy!

Mgellis wrote: Fri Aug 29, 2025 2:27 am I've been playing around with overlay maps and other zone-related features of Command and I wanted to share a few observations.

1. Overlay maps, unless you're already knowledgeable about the software you have to use to add reference coordinates, can be a real pain. I could probably learn how to do it, but I am not sure I want to invest the time.

2. It is possible to create your own world file for an overlay map, and this can be faster than using something like QGIS, but you do need to have pretty exact coordinates for the world file. Admittedly, these are not super hard to track down, but I suspect for most people it will involve some trial and error.

3. I was never able to figure out how to just add an image and then move it around and match it up with the world map visually. If that is still possible, I would be grateful to anyone who can share details.

4. On the bright side...if all you want to do is create fictional borders, you don't need a map overlay. You can create a very narrow zone (it's supposed to be a line, but it has to be an area) and make it relatively opaque and give it the yellow color that matches the borders on the main world map (or a different color to indicate it is a disputed border, etc.) An example is given below. It's a bit rough; I would re-do it and make it smoother, etc. if I was going to use in an actual scenario, but I think it's a viable option for people.

Now, obviously, people who actually know how to use GIS software will probably be shaking their heads at all this, but I found the learning curve with things like QGIS a little steep and was hoping to find some workarounds. In any event, I wanted to share the information for anyone who might need it. Enjoy!

1) Time is fleeting. I know its easy to get sucked in trying to figure something out in CMO. I have found GMAP to be pretty easy to make a quick imagery overlay though. The big drawback is the imagery is dated. I get it some folks might waste time using old imagery.

2) I've played around with this a little bit and get weird results. I think someone would need a lot of patience for the amount of trail and error this might take to good a good result. But, if a user can figure it out it could be a good workaround.

3) A standalone tool that could reference an image to a map would be really useful. It can be done in QGIS with a plugin (Freehand Raster Georeferencer). But again you're stuck having to use QGIS so a non-starter for most. I've never used it so I will I have to give a try. It would nice if there were a simpler free tool available to do that. I searched a little and couldn't find any.

4) Using zones to create borders is a nice idea. First thing I thought of was East and West Germany for a Cold War Scenario. It might be useful if there was a separate border layer in CMO available to represent the Cold War years. Maybe it could be a selectable item similar to how a user can select the database or a selectable layer under View. Scenario designers might like that. In lieu of that, creating borders with a zone seems be an interesting workaround.

I'm not shaking my head. I very much agree that learning QGIS, ArcPro or any GIS software can be a tough slog. I've been working with GIS software for a lot years so I'm lucky when it comes to using custom overlays. Like CMO, there are many features to explore and learn in a good GIS package. When you only want to use a couple of features, to include georeferencing, it's easy to get frustrated trying to learn it. The workarounds can be valuable by helping to simplify things.

--Thanks for sharing your experiences. Cheers.

Found this video for georeferencing a pic in Google Earth Pro.

Not easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3rHzgqlp9g

This high contrast pic by MT anderson is good to practice.

I didn't know there is a georeferencing feature in GE Pro and I have been using it for years. Learn something new everyday.

I don't think we can add a georeferenced image from GE Pro into CMO (or is there a way to do that?). I only see .kmz files as an option for saving the image. Using the image in GE you can get coordinates to precisely place ships or facilities into a CMO scenario. In this case, position the Admiral Nakhimov right where it needs to be. That can be useful. Thanks for pointing out this GE feature.

Oh, I see.

So you need to transform kmz to a world file format, and for that you need QGIS anyway?


Edit:

Found this software by Thad Kerosky.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0n5worgj ... r57tt9&e=1


Transforms kml into world file and CMO will load it

Nice find.

Did you it get from GitHub?
https://github.com/zer0infinity/WorldFileTool.git

Still some steps to go through along with Google Earth Pro but, easier than using QGIS.

No, just googled for transform kmz into world file and this was one of the links.

https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions ... 3174#93174

Quote:
4) First thing I thought of was East and West Germany for a Cold War Scenario. It might be useful if there was a separate border layer in CMO available to represent the Cold War years. Maybe it could be a selectable item similar to how a user can select the database or a selectable layer under View. Scenario designers might like that. In lieu of that, creating borders with a zone seems be an interesting workaround.

The great thing of CMO is, that if you set the scenario time in CMO to this era, automatically the border between East- and West-Germany will appear.
Saves you time

Blast33 wrote: Sun Aug 31, 2025 7:44 am Quote:
The great thing of CMO is, that if you set the scenario time in CMO to this era, automatically the border between East- and West-Germany will appear.
Saves you time

I had no idea. It's in the manual too. My bad.

Borders and Coastline. Enables and disables the yellow border and coastlines layer. The border and
coastline layer is modified by year and reflects most border changes in the world during and after the
Cold War. Yugoslavia and the USSR break into their successor states after 1991, while Germany
reunifies.

That really is a great feature. I should have checked. Thank you for pointing that out.