TC2M > SOWGB map converter

[voltigeur]

this is great Davinci!!

I have got to the end of your steps above successfully.


cheers!

[Davinci]

I have got to the end of your steps above successfully.
cheers!

Great!

Once you have opened the PR6-Program - and viewing the Map.

Hold-down the - Right Mouse Button to Pan the camera.

W - forward
S - backwards
A - left
D - right
Spacebar - up
Shift - down

These control the camera and allow you to examine the field.

Step 2 - We will remove the Gettysburg Graphics and Install the CedarMt Graphics.

Should return in roughly ten hours from now!

davinci

[Davinci]

voltigeur - All of this might NOT work the First-Time - since I have never really done it this way, but we will see.

From the TC2M - Copy the "CedarMt.lsl" file from that game into the PR6 \ directory.

Once there - Open the LibEdit window and drag the CedarMt.lsl file into it.

Highlight All of the Files

Click - Action
Click - Remove Files
Click - File and then Exit

The "CedarMt.lsl" file should now be 1kb in size. This is the location that will hold all of the Map Files to go into the game once complete.

From the TC2M - Copy the CedarMt.tga file onto the Desktop.

Open it with PaintNet - Rotate it 90 degress Clockwise - then Save it as CedarMt.bmp

Basically - the previous game used a ( tga ) file - this game uses a ( bmp ) file.

While on the Desktop - Right Click on empty space - Select - New \ Folder - Name it Maps.

You can then place the "CedarMt.bmp" file that you just created into the Maps folder.

The Maps contain roughly ( Four Main ) folders - three to go.

EDIT Post - Correction - The CedarMt.lsl file from the previous game doesn't work with this version of the PR6. A work around is to use another Map from SOWGB - remove all of the files and name it "CedarMt"

SO, use this file below - Copy it into the PR6 directory - it will overwrite the previous one.

The attachment CedarMt.rar is no longer available

davinci

[Davinci]

voltigeur - Working Prototype in game, but it needs a lot of work!

The attachment 2_2018-06-01.jpg is no longer available

The attachment 1_2018-06-01.jpg is no longer available

The Jump-Map - is slightly off, I usually play with a large Map that doesn't cover several miles to the North or the South.

It makes the units appear to March onto the map. Forgot how to correct the problem at the moment.

davinci

[voltigeur]

Thankyou DaVinci, I will have a go at the above tomorrow and let you know

Cheers!

[Davinci]

Making the ( RGB ) files from the ( CedarMt.bmp ) file.

The "CedarMt.bmp" file is 2048x2048, so for a easy conversion the RGB files will also be this size.

This will help with aligning them properly by matching the coordinates.

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NOTE : "RebBugler" - Also uses the "Paintnet-Program" to make the excellent flags for the game.

Any questions on how the Paintnet Program works that you don't understand should be directed to him.
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( Making the RGB Files )

Create a new JPG file with the size of 2048x2048 called RGB1 : Mode is RGB - NOT Grayscale :

Use the "Rectangular Tool" to draw a border around the entire file and Color it Black or 0-0-0

Use the ( Zoom ) keys to zoom all the way into the file, not sure of the exact steps with Paintnet.

Copy the "CedarMt.bmp" to the Desktop and Open it also. Zoom all the way in and locate the Road-System
at the top left-hand of the Map. Coordinates X 41 - Y 0 - This is Grayscale Color 140.

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NOTE : Use the ( Eyedropper tool ) to hover over the different colors to see the difference. This tool is going to be important.
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There should also be a ( Feather ) option that should to be set at ( 0px ). This will only pick one exact color.

NOTE : The Road-System is designed to be two-colors. There is a inner ( 1px ) and outer color ( 1px or 2px ) color.

To move the whole road-system it is easier to make the entire road system the same grayscale color.

Magic-Wand - the inner ( color 135 ) and change it to color ( 140 ). There are multiple different colors used for the roads on this ( bmp ) file, so each one has to be converted to grayscale-color ( 140 ).

A List of road-colors that need to be change to grayscale color ( 140 ).
115, 125, 130, 145, 150, and 165.

Now use the magic-wand to Select color 140 from the bmp file and Copy and Paste it to the RGB1 file.

Double Check to make sure that the coordinates are the same on both files.

The attachment Example1.jpg is no longer available

Highlight the color 140 on the RGB1 file - Select it and change it to color Red. (255-0-0)

While it is highlighted - Stroke it with (1px) outside with the color Green. (0-255-0)

The Red - will be the road texture that you choose.
The Green - will be the outside shoulder of the road.

The RGB1 file should look like the Example bolow.

The attachment Example3.jpg is no longer available

Select the River \ Stream from the (bmp) grayscale color (10) and change it to grayscale color (20).

This will help to locate it when it is transferred over to the RGB1 file.

Copy and Paste the River \ Stream - over to the RGB1 file - check the coordinates to make sure that they match exactly.

NOTE : Sometimes during the Copy and Paste the Layer will not align-exactly. Zoom in and drag it to the correct coordinates.

Select the River \ Stream ( 20 ) and - Stroke it ( 1px ) outside with the color Green. this is the riverbank.

The attachment Example4.jpg is no longer available

Before going forward and Saving this as RGB1 - which means that the Layers might need to be merged, Save it in the format that will keep the Layers in place. Photoshop uses a ( psd ) file. Not sure which format that you would use. This helps to go back and retrieve the Layers.

Once Saved in the other format - merge the layers and Save as RGB1.

Next will be the RGB2 file.

davinci

[Davinci]

( RGB2 )

Open the RGB1 file that was created earier.

Rename it ( RGB2 )

Select the Background and change the color to Blue (0-0-255)

The attachment 5.png is no longer available

Select the Red and then the Green and change them to Color (0-0-0)

Select the Grayscale Color (20) the Stream - and change it to Color ( 0-0-0 ) also.

The file should now only be only two colors - Blue and Black.

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Moving the Field textures :

Open the CedarMt.bmp file - use the ( Eyedropper Tool ) to locate color 190 on the bmp.

Change all of the Fields on the bmp to color ( 190 )

Once they are all highlighted - Select them - Copy and Paste to RGB2. - Align the coordinates correctly.

Select the fields on RGB2 (190) and Color it Green ( 0-255-0 ).

Stroke the Green with (1px) Red on the outside. This is the outer field.

The attachment 7.png is no longer available

This will create the main Ground-Texture - the Field-Texture, and the outer field-texture.

RGB3 - Next:

davinci

[Davinci]

( RGB3 )

Open the RGB2 and Save it as RGB3

Open the CedarMt.bmp file.

( Trees ) : Wooded Area

The trees are defined on the (BMP) as color's 40 and 35

Select the grayscale color (35) on the bmp and change it to grayscale color (40).

Copy and Paste Grayscale color (40) to the RGB3 file.

The attachment Example8.jpg is no longer available

NOTE : The Problem here is that it only calls for a single color which means that the whole area will be
the same Graphic-texture.

Sometimes this doesn't look particular good, by only uses a single texture.

First ( Merge All of the Layers )

Select the Black ( Roads - Streams ) and Stroke it (1px) Red (outside).

The attachment Example9.jpg is no longer available

Select the Blue area and color it Black.

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Select the Green area and color it Black.

Select the Gray area and color it Greeen.

Then use the Rectangular Tool and color in some dots like the example below on the color Green.

The attachment Example11.jpg is no longer available

Once you have enough dots in place, use the Lasso-Tool to circle a large area and apply on the green.

It doesn't really matter how it looks, it's purpose is to breakup the terrain a bit.

Once completed, Merge all of the Layers into one.

Save as RGB3.

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Re-Open RGB2 - Copy the ( Grayscale Color 40 ) from the ( bmp ) and Paste it to RGB2.

Select it - Change its Color to ( 10-10-10 ) which is basically Black.

This will define the tree area better.
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Create a new file 1280x1280 and name it RGB4.

Make the Background Black 0-0-0.

RGB4 Next.....Which is the ( Stream Area ) and also to break-up the Main Ground area a bit.

davinci

[Davinci]

( RGB4 )

Re-Open ( RGB1 ) File that still has the layers that haven't been merged. Mine is ( RGB1.psd )

I used a random set of different patterns to apply to the background to break-up the terrain. (Optional ).

The attachment Randompatterns.rar is no longer available

Select the Background and Apply - it will not overwrite anything esle on the map.

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Merge All of the Layers:

Select the Green ( 0-255-0 ) and change it to Black ( 0-0-0 )

Select the Red ( 255-0-0 ) and change it to Black ( 0-0-0 )

Select the Stream color ( 20-20-20 ) and change it to Red ( 255-0-0 )

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Zoom in and Select one of the lighter shades of the Blue and color it Green ( 0-255-0 )

The attachment Example14.jpg is no longer available

Save as RGB4.

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Re-Open the RGB2

Copy the Blue and the Green from RGB4 to RGB2 and color them ( 10-10-10 ).

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RGB2 - Should resemble the picture below. Save it - All RGB files are almost complete.

The attachment Example15.jpg is no longer available

Copy All of the RGB files into the PR6 \ CedarMt folder.

Next will be to assign the Textures to the RGB colors in PRStudio - to complete this part of the map.

davinci

[Martin James]

Terrific stuff, Davinci. Always such a helpful modder

Kind regards

Martin