Matrix Games Forums

Hi guys,

I know this may have been covered but I had no success in finding anything related to it.
Well here goes it!

I am wanting to be able to make my own maps, for fun just to start with but if I am good at it I would like to try some historical maps. I have tried to do it but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do ( as you can tell I'm honest when it comes to admiting I have no clue) and I was hoping if someone out there could give me a basic run down on what to do........

You dont need to go into details, I'll stumble through and I am quite willing to ask more questions, I dont believe in stupid questions[:)]

Thanks guys.

I've been doing a couple of things. One is loading a map into Paint Shop Pro, calculating hexes per pixel, and then drawing lines between different points and noted the length of the lines in pixels. PSP even calculates this for you.

I also have a TOAW utility that, with a bit of modification, allows you to superimpose hexgrids on maps at the appropriate scale.

You can check out this thread if you want more details:

http://spwaw.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2647

Cheers .....

But heres some questions so basic you probably would want to kick me.

How can I just do a basic map, how do I work the tools etc etc and what do I need in order to make maps, does it all come with the editor?

ORIGINAL: Muzrub

How can I just do a basic map, how do I work the tools etc etc and what do I need in order to make maps, does it all come with the editor?

The editor is basically just a GUI for all of the different terrain tiles that you put together to make a map. If you want to just do a map, the easiest thing to do would be to just play around, clicking here and there and finding out what the various buttons do.

If you want to recreate an actual location, you'll need a source to work from. Here's a good start:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html

Hi I've been doing alot of clicking without much success........

Is there a basic guide?

Muzrub, have you checked Wild Bill's scenario and map making guides from 'SPWaW thread hall of fame' forum? They are kinda hard to read these days as some forum upgrade has played hell with paragraphs but they are still worth reading.

Voriax

Thanks mate..........


I'll have a look right now!

Be prepared for questions though[:)]

Hi,

I had a look and I have started messing about, placing fields and stuff.
But when I place a building its surrounded by blue, should this happen or it an error?
Also when I try to place a rice field or a hedge I get access violations.....

Is there a way around this?

cheers

I just tried and hedges work okay for me and neither are buildings surrounded by blue. You are using spwaw 8.2 without any modifications?

Voriax

Yeah 8.2

I suppose there are patches for 8.2?

I picked up a book from Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago that should interest a lot of people. It is the "U.S. Army Atlas of the European Theater in World War II". I found it as a bargain book and just picked it up to look through it. Imagine my surprise when I found 1:50,000 scale map reprints inside. There is even a very small scale (something like 1:1000 scale map) of Fort Driant outside Metz in it. With a little patience a person could build a lot of very good Western Europe maps with this book as a reference. I have not found a better map reference than this book for Western Europe.

ORIGINAL: Muzrub

Hi,

I had a look and I have started messing about, placing fields and stuff.
But when I place a building its surrounded by blue, should this happen or it an error?
Also when I try to place a rice field or a hedge I get access violations.....

Is there a way around this?

cheers

Muzrub, I see you´re messing around with Freds Map editor. [X(] It´s not easy to start making maps with it, but I suggest you download the file from the URL in my signature below. It´s named "FredsMapEdit.zip" and contains a file in Word format. For basic info on how to use Freds Map Editor, go to Chlanda folder (sub folder of your SWAW root directory) and check out "WaW_Map.htm" as well as "Readme067.txt" which contains additional important info that you should not miss!

With all that stuff you should be well supplied for some time, but....

..I rather suspect you found Fred Chlanda´s "World at War Map Editor" in your Windows --> Programs start menu, "Steel Panthers..." section? Take note, this is a very special editor normally not necessary to start your own Steel Panthers maps! Instead, to find the standard editor start up the Steel Panthers game (Standard Start), choose your game play style (SOLITAIRE for now), hit the "EDITOR" button, got to MAP section and hit the "Edit" button. Now you´re in the ingame editor and this is the place where maps are normally be made and the tutorials are refering to. As said, the external "World at War Map Editor" should only be used when you mastered the editor inbuilt into the game!

You should be on the right path now...[:)]

Harry