I have played Edi's excellent 466 Adventure Faerun map (not 1/5 of the way through on any yet, still learning the strategies for this game).

I keep having this idea every time I think of modding up some D&D related stuff, to do a full map of Faerun. (yes, I know Edi has discussed in detail the difficulties involved with map creation alone...) But I have this old CC2-based "Forgotten Realms Atlas" which, concievably, could be transformed via Gimp/PShop/Whatever, and even borders and such that the game "reads" (apparently? my first map creation attempt had a wad of horrible "neighbor" markers along the top and at 10 or so seemingly random spots around the map) can be turned whatever color with the tools in CC2 (i think?).

I think it even connects Faerun / Zakhara / Kara-Tur correctly.

My idea is basically a full conversion ... proper monsters / troops in proper places. probably 12+ nations for a start ... the most powerful players (Cormyr, Sembia, Thay, The Zhentarim, Mulhorand, Evermeet, Great Rift, Shou Lung, Tuigan Horde, and the Zakharan government are obvious ones to start contemplating... since I am writing this off the cuff, this is not a comprehensive list.. probably Thar, orcs, drow, the Empire of Shade, phaerimm, and giants also deserve representation, and I plan to add stuff from the excellent "Sea of Fallen Stars" for oceanic races)

Feedback on this idea?

Collaboration or assistance on this project would also be incredibly awesome.

Monkeyvich
:D

Edited:
I guess I don't have to say how cool it would be to populate forests with mixes of monsters gleaned from source, and two words: Magic Sites!

Re: Faerun.
 

idea: if you can't even get a map to work (no offence meant just being realistic seeing your post): START SMALLER.

first make a map, then make a nation mod, then try this.. a full conversion.. I've not seen much around (actually I only know of my dom3K mod and I guess you could possibly combine all warhammer mods and have something similar (since the indies could stay then which they couldn't in dom 3 K)

For the rest I can only say: it can be done AND it'll be one hell of a lot of work.. 2 sprites for each unit, then stats..

Since it's closer to the original dom 3 you could probalby use or convert sprites more easy and use vanilla units as templates so that would make it a bit easier.

I love faerun even though I'm not THAT much into it, I love edi's map too.. and I can mod for dom 3 but since I'm already working on the other total conversion I'll not be there to help you out.

I wish you good luck though.

Personally I'd start with warhammer though if that interests you somewhat since there is a map already and there are quite some nations.. combining those and changing the map (ask creator) to have the right indies etc (changing those IS a lot of work and relatively unrewarding since indies are killed of relatively fast and not used much, though you could create great indies of course) could be a good/better start

Re: Faerun.
 

By neighbor markers do you mean independant flags? Or did you just have neighbors that didn't make sense? It's easy to get rid of extra neighbors, just hold control (or shift, one of the two) and click on the province you don't want to have a connection to. If you have independant flags in places they're not supposed to be, it's because provinces are designated by pixel-sized pure white dots on the map and there's a speck of white somewhere you don't want it.

Re: Faerun.
 

hmm that is in the documents :D if he can't get that right (which was what I assumed too) my advice still stands: start smaller :D

Re: Faerun.
 

Which document? I have downloaded a variety of docs and no guide to making maps "function". Can someone point me to this basic reference so I can see what I can do map-wise??

Monkeyvich

Re: Faerun.
 

No offense taken. I just assumed the map .tga/.bmp was just a background onto which you added "where" the province nodes are in the map editor. I threw in an old "central Faerun" map I had for DMing purposes and it was crazy weird in the map editor and I had no idea how to move the nodes about or delete them.

As to Warhammer, I'm strictly a 40K player and have to keep a strict mental regimen to avoid taking a Skaven or Goblin army. I already have Eldar, Space Marines, and Orks.

Monkeyvich

Re: Faerun.
 

In your dominions directory you should have a /doc folder that contains a modding manual and a map editing manual. Those should have all the commands and information you need to do most anything.

Re: Faerun.
 

I could make a fantastic Forgotten Realms map if only the old FR Atlas program (based on CC2) would actually do what it says it should do and copy sections of map at any resolution I want. But no other paint program seems to recognize or accept the data being put on the clipboard.

If anyone has a clue here, please help! :D

Monkeyvich

Re: Faerun.
 

Can you save parts of the map into image files? That might work better than copying.

The map editor has a better chance of guessing the right neighbours when the borders are red, but you'll probably have to check every province manually for mistakes any way, so that's not necessary.
When you get the image out and start adding province centers, put them into a different layer and keep the working files separate from the final .tga or .rgb images (which will lose the layers). This makes the editing much easier.
Try to get all province centers in before you start editing neighbours. The commands for adding or removing provinces don't work, and changing the image file and then going back to map editor may cause you lose all the previous work on the map.

You should probably decide what is the first nation you are going to create, and play Dom3 nations that you think would be similar. You might even want to play a short MP game, but perhaps joining a blitz game on the IRC channel might be better in your case. Blitz games are over in hours, but forum games tend to take much longer, especially with all the diplomacy.

Modding and mapmaking pdfs are in a subfolder called doc, as was said.

Re: Faerun.
 

I don't think that this FR Atlas program is being distributed for free now, so I can't really check, nor would others be able to... but their FAQ states:

Can I export maps?
Yes. You can export maps as a high resolution bitmap. Bitmaps are easily converted into other raster-based images such as GIFs and JPEGs.

So if you export maps, then the GIMP should be able to open the resulting file if you i.e. drag and drop it into it.