Map-Making Q&A

[thenobodies80]

When you apply an effect on a text on gimp it will lose the text proprieties. But if you create a layer below to apply all the effects, then you'll not lose them.

[theBastard]

thanks. hm, so maybe I will must do all text again...? and how can I rasterize text? or text is rasterized after any effect is apply?

[The Bison King]

Where is the post that contains the magic starting numbers. I know it's around here but I never remember where specifically. I always end up having to lok and look and look each time I need to reference them. Right now I can't find them at all.

[natty dread]

gameplay workshop sticky thread

[The Bison King]

Thank you!

[natty dread]

text is rasterized after any effect is apply?

Yes. Also you can create an empty layer and merge the text layer with it.

[ViperOverLord]

Somebody (I can't remember who), gave me a great site to make maps free of charge. But then my computer had to be overhauled and I didn't keep the website. If anyone can pm me some great sites/programs that are free I'd appreciate that

[natty dread]

Somebody (I can't remember who), gave me a great site to make maps free of charge. But then my computer had to be overhauled and I didn't keep the website. If anyone can pm me some great sites/programs that are free I'd appreciate that

What exactly are you asking for? Graphics software? GIMP is free and is adequate for all mapmaking purposes.

As for maps, you can find all the maps you need on google maps. Get the part you want, screenshot it, rotate/zoom/crop, then trace the borders in GIMP.

[ViperOverLord]

Somebody (I can't remember who), gave me a great site to make maps free of charge. But then my computer had to be overhauled and I didn't keep the website. If anyone can pm me some great sites/programs that are free I'd appreciate that

What exactly are you asking for? Graphics software? GIMP is free and is adequate for all mapmaking purposes.

As for maps, you can find all the maps you need on google maps. Get the part you want, screenshot it, rotate/zoom/crop, then trace the borders in GIMP.

Yea graphics. I'm not a great artist, but I can come up with solid concepts, so something that is geared towards creating graphics for starters. I'll look into GIMP.

[ISN2]

I just checked Feudal War XML file and got a question

http://www.conquerclub.com/maps/Feudal_War.xml

There is no "positions" used, so how when game starts, there is only 6 territory that players start there. Is it because of that all other territories have "neutral" tag except those 6?

And if answer is yes, why when 2 player start the game, only 4 of 6 is used while 6 can be divided to 2 players too?

[natty dread]

In 2 player games, the starting territories are divided to 3 players, but 1 of them is made neutral. This does not apply to starting positions.

[ender516]

I just checked Feudal War XML file and got a question

http://www.conquerclub.com/maps/Feudal_War.xml

There is no "positions" used, so how when game starts, there is only 6 territory that players start there. Is it because of that all other territories have "neutral" tag except those 6?

Right, the neutral tag means that the territory is not put in the pool to be divided among the players. (If it is also marked killer, then that territory will revert to its original neutral state with the original number of troops at the start of the turn of the play who holds it. It will not revert to the original number of troops if someone kills only part of the neutral troops but does not conquer it.)

And if answer is yes, why when 2 player start the game, only 4 of 6 is used while 6 can be divided to 2 players too?

As natty said, a two player game is set up as if there was an imaginary third player whose troops are made neutral.

[ISN2]

natty_dread and ender516, thanks for your answers, I guess I can now figure it out.

Is there any other guide except this one (http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewto ... 66&t=23382) for XMLs? that only explains the codes and their effect, but I want to know all detailed information like question I asked if there is any, more important thing is how game engine parses the XMLs and what are default things such as the divide of territories to 3 on a 2 player map?

[ender516]

There are many references online about XML in general (GIYF, Google is your friend), but since ConquerClub's parser is simplistic, you cannot use neat little tricks like entities to organize your map XML. To be honest, I don't know where things like the answer to your question are written down. I have learned them here and there in the Map Foundry. The good thing is, if you have a question, you already know how to get the answer: ask in here. There are lots of people who are more than happy to show off their knowledge. (It gives us a warm feeling to be helpful and a little buzz of superiority , which of course dissipates when we realize that we are giving away our secrets.... )

[Dukasaur]

Okay, so I've finally made the first steps in my Toronto map. ( , drew the outline of the outer perimeter and the bonus zones)

I'm going to draw all the bonus zones and territories in Inkscape, and then import into Gimp to add colours and textures. I know, it's probably a bad idea in general to work in two different editors, but I'm just a lot more familiar with editing paths with Inkscape so this is where I have to start. I tried before to do paths in Gimp and it defeated me.

So anyway, some advice, if anyone has some. Do I need to make every territory a separate object, or can I just import a complete spiderwork? I know the bonus zone layer and the territory layer need to be separate, but can the complete territory boundary spiderwork be all one for the whole map, or does it need to be seperate for each bonus zone? And finally, can I stroke the paths in Inkscape before importing, or should I just leave them unstroked for now?

[natty dread]

I haven't really looked into it much, but from what I know, you can open SVG:s in GIMP as either paths or bitmap files (where GIMP automatically renders the SVG for you).

If you stroke the lines in Inkscape and import the SVG as a path, the strokes won't be imported. If you import them as a bitmap they are, but you won't get the benefits of editable vectors.

When you import the SVG as paths, it seems to make each object into a separate path in GIMP.

[ender516]

A Toronto map, you say? Looking forward to it! I had some thoughts for one a long way back, but I have never fought my way through the graphics editors far enough to produce anything worthwhile. I will try to look in on your work.

[Dukasaur]

A Toronto map, you say? Looking forward to it! I had some thoughts for one a long way back, but I have never fought my way through the graphics editors far enough to produce anything worthwhile. I will try to look in on your work.

I do hope I don't let you down. My previous attempts at this led to nothing.

[Victor Sullivan]

A Toronto map, you say? Looking forward to it! I had some thoughts for one a long way back, but I have never fought my way through the graphics editors far enough to produce anything worthwhile. I will try to look in on your work.

I do hope I don't let you down. My previous attempts at this led to nothing.

You can do it!

-Sully

[UnicornCan115]

This is a question regarding the objectives and killer neutrals. Is it possible to have an objective and a killer neutral on the same territory? Does the code processor process killer neutrals or objectives first?

Nevermind, I found what what to do to replace this.

[DiM]

is there any way to reduce the psd file size, aside from merging layers?

my laptop is beginning to show it's age and it needs almost 6 minutes to open my psd file and whenever i move several layers at once it's a real adventure as it lags like hell and sometimes even freezes for several minutes.

so right now i basically have to keep the layer number to the bare minimum if i want to be able to work.
for example on my latest map each icon has 22 layers. if i put those layers in a separate group then multiply the groups and place them all over the map i'll end up with 528 layers just for the icons and my laptop will just crash and burn. so instead i keep those icons in a separate psd file with all the layers so i can edit them, and on the actual map i use the merged versions of those icons. so now i have just 24 layers with icons instead of 528.
this allows me to work without worrying the laptop might freeze and erase all my work. but the trouble starts whenever i have to make a modification because i have to open the icons psd, make the modification. save it, merge the icon group again, save that separately,open the map psd, import the merged icon and replace it in the exact position where the original icon was. this takes a lot of time unfortunatelly.

so does anybody have a better solution? (aside from upgrading the laptop)

[RjBeals]

instead of merging, you can try to use place smart objects from the file>place menu. It may not reduce file size though - not sure. .

[DiM]

LOL it actually makes it larger.


with 4 icons at 22 layers each i have 12.328 MB
with those 4 icons merged into 4 layers i have 12.206MB
with a single smart object for all 4 icons i have 12.398MB, probably more if i use 1 smart object for each icon.

wow, i really didn't expect that...

PS: also this method i'm using is very risky as a single mistake can do irreparable damage. i accidentally merged the icons with full layers in my back-up psd and even saved the file. luckily this was done while i had the full layer icons in the main map to test its size and i managed to recover them from there and place them back in the back-up psd.

[natty dread]

Get a new computer

Sorry I can't help you. Maybe try GIMP? It might run a bit smoother than PS on your computer.

[RjBeals]

sorry - but an icon with 22 layers is super inefficient.