when can we create our own maps?

[Marching Thru Georgia]

I don't know, I've never seen an alpine area so devoid of streams and ponds.

[Davinci]

Marmusman wrote:

So IF someone wanted to build a map of the Wilderness (for example) you could use the Kansas map and add a ton of trees, except at the "new" roads, so they would be defined. Then use the historical view setting to keep everything even more challenging.

Strictly Guessing…here – oh…yeah…I guess that that would be possible, but you will have to bear in mind that adding that many trees to these maps will probably bring your computer to a halt.

The unofficial rumor is that trees take up a large amount of the processing on these maps, so you may run into several problems with the fps.

Now, you can turn down the animation cycles – which will not cause the leaves on the trees to move that much, that might help, or decrease the draw distance, but the map will look empty.

Hey, this game is designed to mod, and to experiment with modding, so the only way that we are going to learn anything, is to do something new!

Good luck with the venture, and if you stumble onto something new feel free to share it with the community!

davinci

[Marmusman]

Davinci,

Yes, it is all about pushing the limits!!

BTW, I cannot locate the file that populates the map with trees, objects, etc. In the "mapname.csv" files, included in the SDK package, it doesn't look like it locates the trees/fences/etc. I only see locations for the big structures, in grid coordinates. I would expect to see a long .csv file with many grid coordinates to locate all these misc objects. Are we wrong stating that the trees can be removed or relocated? Maybe just the tree image can be modified, but not locations?

Thanks.

[Davinci]

First and for-most – Back-up any file that you plan on changing!

I have not tried some of this, so I’m basing this off of the other game!

Look in the Work \ SDK \ Maps folder – to locate the ( mapname.csv ) files.

Now – this game use’s Bmp files to place the terrain on the maps, I have not tried to edit these types of files. This is something new; the other game used tga files to control the terrain.

When you open the mapname.csv file you will see the type of terrain that is called for a certain color. This is how the game knows what terrain to place where.

mapname – is not a real name – but used to state whatever map you are referring to. So if you are talking about the 2_DD_RT map, then the mapname would be 2_DD_RT.csv .

Considering that the maps are not moddable, I’m really not putting to much attention into trying to figure them out, and have started to concentrate on the SDK files.

These files control almost everything about the game, and take years to master!

Note – after the game is more stabilized – Norb will probably have the team working on releasing some more maps, on different battlefields.

I don’t know how you guys get so burnt out on the maps so fast, I have only played on the round-top since the game was released, and will probably still be playing on it for another six months.

davinci

[J Canuck]

Ingles of the 57th wrote:

....... my location in Southern Africa .......

Oooooops!

[Little Powell]

Davinci wrote:

I don’t know how you guys get so burnt out on the maps so fast

No kidding! I've been playing the game for almost 2 years now, and I still find a new barn, house, or wall, or something else every time I play.

[Marmusman]

Davinci,

Thanks.

I have yet to start really even playing the game!! These are the questions that I had before purchasing the game. I bought it last week without ever really asking many questions.

I like the mod-ability of the game, which will hopefully prolong the life of it with a good community (like this.) Like you said, I am sure they will be releasing more maps and/or a map builder eventually.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. My mind tends to think about the limits of programs like this.

[Davinci]

Marmusman wrote:

I like the mod-ability of the game, which will hopefully prolong the life of it with a good community (like this.) Like you said, I am sure they will be releasing more maps and/or a map builder eventually.

A week and already thinking about modding , that is a sign of a great modder in the making!

Just remember to make a back-up copy of the game in another folder, this will help you to have a copy of every file.

Also – if you haven’t done so go ahead and get the Mod folder setup correctly.

Invaluable Tools – Photoshop, Gimp2, Excel, Irfanview Program, and a strong urge to mess up your social life!

But, if you do have any questions, or run into a problem I’ll try to assist you if I can!

davinci

[Ingles of the 57th]

Hi J Canuck

Sorry mate, you got the wrong flag.

I said Southern Africa not South Africa.

I tend to say this because a large proportion of the world's population haven't a clue where Zimbabwe is.

I assure you I am very british, simply retired out here in 1993 when a spell of consultancy came to an end. Got a house here on four acres of steep rocky hillside on which you could re-enact Devil's Den whenever you liked.

This was of course before Mugabe started messing everything up from 2000 onwards.

I guess you get the same problem sometimes when people think you are American !!

best regards,

Geoff Laver

[Marmusman]

Davinci wrote:
Just remember to make a back-up copy of the game in another folder, this will help you to have a copy of every file.

Real modders don't back up, they reinstall after spending hours trying to figure out how to fix what they screwed up!! LOL