Seeking map or need advice on making it

Gandalf Parker · #1 February 6th, 2004, 04:02 PM

I thought maybe there was a problem with an array size on its comparisons. Maybe moving the dots so that not so many appear on the same vertical or horizontal line clears the problem up. That or maybe it prefers them on the same grid-line. I suppose a test might be possible of both gridded capital dots and completely ungridded ones.

Targa · #2 February 6th, 2004, 04:30 PM

Unwise: That's not it, thanks for the suggestion though.

I already tried that, making the map very dark, but it still wouldn't work. That gave me an idea though...which I'm going to test right now. I suspect Gandalf is closer to the truth...brb, will edit with the results. Meanwhile I'm sending the map to JK to look at.

Edit:
OK, I copied the dots to a pure black map and it still locks up, so it's a problem with the placement of the dots. It's not a problem with the edges (like being too close), as I just erased all capitals within about 100 or more pixels of the edges...

Edit+
Alright, it appears to be a coding bug related to where the dots are. Here's what I did: Took the black map with the dots on it and copied only the top half to a new file. That locked up the game. I copied half of the half to a new file, game loaded it fine, so I figure "Aha! The problem is in that other 1/4 of the map...right?" Went back to Photoshop and selected inverse, to copy the opposite half....and Dom loaded it fine! So it took both halves, but not the whole. Looking at the division between the halves reveals that there are not dots even remotely close to the border.

And just to be thorough, I went thru the pic and deleted any capitals that were on the same horizontal or vertical lines, which doesn't help.

On the brighter side: I can now get away from Photoshop and actually play the game!

[ February 06, 2004, 16:13: Message edited by: Targa ]

Targa · #3 February 7th, 2004, 01:49 AM

Being extremely bummed out that the map editor choked on my map, I decided to throw together a small map so I would feel better.

E-mailed to Illwinter, should be appearing there in a day or two. Here's a picture:
http://www.techno-mage.com/~targa/cot.jpg

Desc:

Clash of the Titans
41 provinces, 5 of which are sea.
2 player only. Fixed starting positions. No water races.

I've temporarily put it up for download here:
http://www.techno-mage.com/~targa/cot.zip

If anyone feels like playing it. Enjoy.

Gandalf Parker · #4 February 7th, 2004, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Targa:
E-mailed to Illwinter, should be appearing there in a day or two. Here's a picture:
http://www.techno-mage.com/~targa/cot.jpg

Very nice. Thank you. There does seem to be a desire out there for few-player maps.

Do you want to setup something for a nightly randomizing on the .map file such as the Miirunst map has?

Ive got your blanks running on automatic now. Is that of any use? Should the variables be tweaked? I was thinking that making the .sh files into .txt would be you could view them thru the browser. WOuld that help?

Targa · #5 February 7th, 2004, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Do you want to setup something for a nightly randomizing on the .map file such as the Miirunst map has?

AFAIK Miirunst is a map you can d/l from Illwinter. I've seen you mention this randomizing in a diff thread, but have no clue what you're talking about.

(keep in mind that I've played about a dozen games, all on easy AI and Aran map) Haven't had time for anything else. I don't think I've played once since I started the map.

Quote:

Ive got your blanks running on automatic now. Is that of any use? Should the variables be tweaked? I was thinking that making the .sh files into .txt would be you could view them thru the browser. Would that help?

I can see the .sh files fine. Just had to tell Windows to use Wordpad to open them. I think the way you have it setup is fine the way it is. The only downside is having to load each large pic individually rather than having a thumbnail page, but that's no biggie. Can't do much until JK figures out what's wrong with the map editor. If that turns out to be a huge project for him, then there's no point in starting on other maps.

Although CoT map is working now, the editor choked on it also. I had to remove all the capitals and play around with positioning in order to keep Dom from locking up. Now that I see how time-consuming it is to use the map editor, I'm not even sure I want to do that with large maps.

I may have to pass that burden to a friend of mine.

Buzzbomb · #6 February 7th, 2004, 02:33 AM

Nice work Targa, please dont get discouraged, your making beautiful maps. Why dont ya play some and take a break from map making for a few days, play some games to remember what your making them for. Id hate to see you give up.

Gandalf Parker · #7 February 7th, 2004, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Targa:

quote:
Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Do you want to setup something for a nightly randomizing on the .map file such as the Miirunst map has?

AFAIK Miirunst is a map you can d/l from Illwinter. I've seen you mention this randomizing in a diff thread, but have no clue what you're talking about.

In this directory are two that are nightly randomized..
http://www.techno-mage.com/~dominion/Dominions2/
The Poke_Eye.map uses the eye.tga for a very.. different.. type of game.
The MiirunstX.map uses the Miirsunst.tga for the same type of extreme play. Both are re-rolled every day.

Quote:

The only downside is having to load each large pic individually rather than having a thumbnail page, but that's no biggie.

There is an index image.
http://www.techno-mage.com/~targa/blanks/00_index.jpg
It just isnt in a nice web-page so you can click on one of the images to get to the file. If you look at the index each morning you should get a quick idea if any of the maps seem worthy of grabbing. Every day a new batch.