Random Map Generator

Gandalf Parker · #1 February 6th, 2004, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NTJedi:

quote:
Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Please do because that map will be gone tomorrow. Any paint program will do.

Any suggestions??... any paint programs which may have sample pictures I can use??

Even the free program with Windows can be used. Get Irfanview or some other program that can take images in/out of the TGA format.

GIMP is a free paint program but more powerful than most people can get used to (kindof like Dominions). The Devs use it and the iconic images (trees mountains etc) are easier to get from them for use in gimp. It also can generate beautiful random maps if you want to go thru the work of adding provinces and such to it.

If any of the random maps from my site catch your eye be sure to download the zip. A fresh 30 are made every day so the one that sparks a thought like "that sea looks like a dragon" will be gone tomorrow.

PhilD · #2 February 6th, 2004, 10:50 PM

I haven't totally given up on the random map generator... just on helping Targa run it on his Windows box

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?

Targa · #3 February 6th, 2004, 11:01 PM

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.

Gandalf Parker · #4 February 6th, 2004, 11:05 PM

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.

PhilD · #5 February 7th, 2004, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Targa:
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.

The .map file contains the adjacencies between provinces. If you don't have one, you'll have to set all of them yourself.

PhilD · #6 February 7th, 2004, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
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.

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

Gandalf Parker · #7 February 7th, 2004, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhilD:
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

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.