Re: Random Map Generator
 

I haven't totally given up on the random map generator... just on helping Targa run it on his Windows box http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

By playing with the -d switch, you can easily have more "uniform" provinces; that is, the brown/green/etc dots won't be so isolated. Easier on the eyes, if you ask me, though the result is still quite bland - anything nicer would clearly need some image processing, which can be done with the Gimp, but I don't have the courage to go through the Gimp documentation to learn how to do this.

I should add a switch to make the random generator output a single color for land, like it does for sea; that would probably make life easier on the "hand" creators, and would not be too much work. But then, I wonder - should I leave terrain in the .map file, or not?

Re: Random Map Generator
 

Any maps done by hand will require using the map editor from the game, so you don't even need a .map file at all.

Re: Random Map Generator
 

Ive been trying to get the maps blurred to be easier on the eye. But I cant get any way to blur while avoiding the white dots and borders. Is there any chance to...
A) write the targa, shell out to a blur command (imagemagick makes blur easy), then re-write the white dots?

or
B) write two copies of each map. The normal one, and then another of JUST the borders and capitals? I could blur the first then merge opague the second one.

In fact Im thinking that a black map with borders and capitals might be desired by some so they can decide what is water and what is land.

Re: Random Map Generator
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The .map file contains the adjacencies between provinces. If you don't have one, you'll have to set all of them yourself.

Re: Random Map Generator
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">All of this should be doable easily in Gimp. Gimp CAN be scripted (there's a -b switch for "run batch", and a -i for "no interface); it's just a matter of learning the right function names http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Random Map Generator
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yep, Ive actually got a little 5-step routine that does it great (thanks to Arralen). Its how I made the example WEvsTHEM example. The scripting code does look fairly simple so I guess I could take a shot at making one and asking for each function one at a time in those forums.

Im also considering washing the image thru a simple format, maybe raw C code image storage, figure out the code for each of the 3 colors I want saved, then using SED to run thru it and replace all that is NOT the 3 colors to black or transparent, then merge it back after the original is blurred.

Re: Random Map Generator
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yep, which is why you have to use the game map editor (when it's fixed http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif ). ie: If making a map by hand and using a land/water "outline" from a randomly generated map, you add such things as mountains by hand, which create choke points, so you'd have to set neighbors by hand. Though now that I think about it, it would probably be a good idea to start with a .map file, then modify the neighbors. Hey....that may be a workaround for the current lockup in the map editor. Give it a .map file so it stops trying to fiddle w/neighbors...gonna go check that out.