Is there a guide or overview on how to make a map?

[elmokki]

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

I have no idea how to delete a neighbor relationship, except manually.

Control + Left Click

[Jack_Trowell]

If you want to check if your map file is correct, you can use my online tool at http://dominions.realites.org/map_randomizer/

Juste uncheck the randomize options so the script doen't try to change any province, and if there are any unrecognized command, they will be listed.

Moreover, the script will output a cleaned map file, with all infos grouped by provinces, and add comments about each provinces terrain types.

The tool has not been updated for a while, so there might be some new commands from last patches still not recognized, but it shouldn't be too hard to update

I had also started working on a map editor (see the beta http://dominions.realites.org/map_editor/) but both projects have been put on hold for a while.

[Gandalf Parker]

Some notes which might be of interest:

The "wrappable" command only affects how a map is displayed. It tells the game to wrap the image when scrolling. Unfortunately there is no X Y options on that command so there is no way to make it act correct for proper global maps. But its the #neighbor commands that make it work.

You can use ParadoxHarbringers map gen to create a wrappable map, then touch it up with some artwork and sprites. It does support XY on the wrap commands if you want to make a globally correct map.

I would recommend not using the Scendario command at this time. It does not do what its meant to do IMHO. Also the #computerplayer command is semi-broken. It works for server games but not for local games.

[Aezeal]

that jack trowell thingie I need to check out.. having a note on terrain types etc could be nice

[Jazzepi]

Does anyone have a good idea on how to remove provinces? I went to remove some provinces from a map, so I erased the white dot at the center of two of the provinces, and just joined them up together by creating a new white dot in the center of the two.

I did not edit the map file, however, and then I opened up the map in the map editor. All the province connections are crazy now. I was hoping there would only be a few problems restricted to a select number of provinces, but the entire map is basically borked.

So is there a better way to go about removing a province from a map that has already been created?

Jazzepi

[sevenwarlocks]

Originally Posted by Jazzepi

Does anyone have a good idea on how to remove provinces?
Jazzepi

No - but I lost a lot of time to this problem on my last map. The Map Editor seems to have a built-in function to allow you to remove a province, but I have tried using it several times, and it has never once worked.

Try doing things in this order:

1) Make your map using a graphics program - as long as you can save the output as a .tga file. It is also greatly advantageous to use a program that allows the use of layers.

2) Make SURE you have your map the way you like it before you go on.

3) Change all the white in your map to something else - it can be indistinuishable from white, it just cannot be the color 255-255-255.

4) Place a 1 by 1 white dot in the center of all your provinces.

5) Save as a .tga file in your Dominions 3/maps folder

6) Open the Map Editor and Select "New Map". The Editor will ask you what file to open - enter the name of the map you saved above.

7) When you save your work in the map editor, it creates a .map file in the Dominions 3/maps folder. The .map file and the .tga file are both necessary parts of your map, so keep them together.

8) Add province names - save your map - and a back-up copy.

9) Add province characteristics - save your map - and a back-up copy.

10) When everything else is right, add neighbors and save your map. This is because neighbors are the easiest thing to mess up.

P.S.

If you must remove a province... you may be out of luck - unless you can add a province as well. This happened to me when I had already added names and neighbors for 260 provinces and I realized that I had accidently placed 2 white dots instead of one, and the map editor had interpreted this as being two provinces. (Be careful about this.)

The editor assigns a number to each province by scanning line by line from the bottom up, so my workaround was to draw another province on my map, delete the extra white dot, and add a new white dot over my new province - on the exact same horizantal line as the white dot I deleted.

When I reloaded the map editor, my new province had the same province number as the one I had deleted, so none of the other provinces were messed up at all.

[Aezeal]

yes that sort of stuff will kill your map.

I have got no easy solution. I've had this multiple times (every map I work on except the last one which I didn't work on... Rdonj got the only good map .tga I ever made right in one go.)
I usually copy whatever I need/think I can use from that file and then just load it in the editor again and set connections and landtypes again.

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive been meaning to try this (I dont use the Map Editor much) but Johan says that you can create a bare-bones .map file and allow the editor to fill in neighbors.

Changing the map border color to something with red in it is supposed to help that function. So MAYBE if you make a backup copy of the map image and file, change the borders to pure red in the image, delete the neighbors in the file, and load it into the map editor then it will renumber the provinces and make intelligent guesses on neighbors for you. Im sure it wont be perfect and would still need editing. But it might be closer than what you have now.

If it works for you, please post about the steps and the results.

[LDiCesare]

Does anyone have any advice on how to create good wrap around maps? Like, what process should you follow so that it wraps nicely?

Personally I think that's topology, and making a big hole in the middle of the map so it looks like a donut makes it a wrap around map so you don't have to bother about sides. All you really want is to get rid of corners.

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Ive been meaning to try this (I dont use the Map Editor much) but Johan says that you can create a bare-bones .map file and allow the editor to fill in neighbors.

Changing the map border color to something with red in it is supposed to help that function. So MAYBE if you make a backup copy of the map image and file, change the borders to pure red in the image, delete the neighbors in the file, and load it into the map editor then it will renumber the provinces and make intelligent guesses on neighbors for you. Im sure it wont be perfect and would still need editing. But it might be closer than what you have now.

If it works for you, please post about the steps and the results.

As far as I understood, the process looks for all white pixels and if there's more than one red region line in between, it thinks they aren't neighbours, which removes false neighbours.
How it decides to actually find neighbours (or remove non neighbours) without the red lines I have no idea.

I think when making a map, using something way bigger than a white pixel to identify your provinces is very helpful should you ever want to move them around. Just put that thing in a separate layer that you'll never render, and the white pixels in yet another layer that will get rendered.

[Ballbarian]

Jazzepi,

See this thread:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showt...281#post673281