Tutorial:CreateMaps(Fnordia et al)

2005-06-23T07:03:10Z

69.110.54.207: I've got your back.

'''Original by aGorm'''



== The Idea ==

First of all you need an idea. There is no point (OK, there is some point for test purposes) in making a map just like another one that already exists. You need to think of certain things before you make your map.
# Is this map idea different, not just a copy of someone else's?
# Does my map idea give each player a fair share of the cover and high ground?
# Is my map idea possible to make?
# Is it possible with the amount of time I'm willing to spend?

If you answered yes to the above, then you are 25% of the way towards making your map!

You should probably doodle it on a piece of paper to act as a guide later.

== The Tools ==

With your idea hopefully sketched out, it's time to get the tools to make the map! (You can skip this if you already have them.)

I'm going to suggest (nay, insist!) you use the [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=861 Buggi SHARP MAP] program, because it does everything the command-line version does and more. And it's easy for people to understand.

You will also need some image editing software. Favorites are Photoshop, the [http://www.gimp.org/ GIMP], And Paintshop Pro.
The GIMP, however, is the only one that's free!
(I'm going to have to assume you know how to use the program you choose. If you can't there are loads of tutorials on the net.)

You may also want to check out [http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/ Terragen] for rendering terrain. But as you have to pay to render anything of a good size, I won't mention it other than here.

Another tool for rendering terrain is the freeware tool [http://www.delphigl.de/projects/terrtexgen/eng_index.html TerrTexGen]. "It generates a terraintexture on the base of a grayscale heightmap und uses five surfacetextures that are distributed over the heightmap."

== Prepering your map ==

This is the fun part! And also, often, the longest part.

For a Map you will need several different things:
# a texture map
# a height map
# a metal map

They all have certain needs! Read this bit carfully!

All maps are based on a texture image. This image's width and height must be an exact multiple of 1024 pixels. So, for instance, you can have a "4096 by 8192" image, but not a "4096 by 4608" image, as 4608 does not divide by 1024. It, like all three maps, must be saved as a 24 bit BMP.

It may look like whatever you want! Find a texture (preferably one that you can tile seamlessly) and fill your texture map with it. You could, for instance, fill the whole image with a sand texture. This would make your whole world look like sand. You could then deside to add a few patches of grass to it by finding a suitable grass texture and adding it on in patches. So you'd have a map that was mostly sand with a few patches of green.

Next is the height map. This must be exactly a quarter of the size of the texture map '''+ 1 pixel!''' For instance, if the dimensions of your texture map are "4096 by 8192", divide 4096 and 8192 each by 4 and add one to the result of each. The result for this example would be "1025 by 2049". The height map is a black and white BMP. Only use black and white, no colour!

White ares are the tops of mountains; black areas are the sea floor or the bottom of valleys. The shades of grey between are the different heights between! When you draw your heightmap, make sure the white blends into the black with greys. I suggest you use the blur tool. If you have a white splodge in a patch of black you will have a very tall pillar that won't look natural at all!

Finally, you need a metal map. This is the same size as the height map, a quarter of the size of the texture map '''+ 1 pixel.''' On this one you paint down red (in verying degrees) to represent metal. So a red spot that is RGB(50,0,0) will provide about a 5th of the metal patch of red RGB(255,0,0) will give.

On this map you can also place green pixels. Each green pixel will create 1 geothermal vent. If you put down a green splodge you will get a cluster of geo vents! Only place 1 pixel.

Ensure you have all three saved as 24 bit BMPs and you're ready to convert it all to a map!

== Sharp Map ==

Here's a easy run down of what to do.
First, (you guessed it) open Sharp Map.
This brings you a window with several fields that need filling, a few option boxes and two sliders. Fill in the top fields as required. (Click browse, locate the texture map, and click OK. Repeat for the height map and metal map.)

Type in a figure for MAX HEIGHT and MIN HEIGHT. The MAX HEIGHT should not exceed 500. Higher numbers can cause errors. If your minimum height is a negative number then you will have water on your map. Sea level is, naturally enough, at 0. To the right of these boxes is a grey level calculator. This will tell you aproximatly the level of grey on your height map that is under water and above water. The grey is described by it's RGB values.

Then adjust the tree and grass sliders. If you have a green map then I suggest you lower the tree slider, otherwise the map will be covered!

Finally, you need to decide if you need to tick the inverse height map box or not. If you drew the height map by hand so that if you overlayed your height map over the texture the hills would line up with the hills, etc. then you will need to tick the box.
This is because the image is read ''backwards'', so its expecting the image to be upside-down. Ticking the check box makes it flip the image the way it wants it before conversion.
If you exported your texture and height maps from Terragen, then you do not need to tick this box, as Terragen exports it upside-down already.
If you were crazy and drew it upside-down, then you don't need to tick it either.

When you have completed all this click Create Map!
This can take some time for a larger map, so start off with a small one.

== Making your map work ==

This is the final push. Once Sharp map has finshed it will spit out a .sm2 file. This needs to be copyed to the MAPS folder in Spring. But you still need one more thing: an .smd file. Basically, this file tells the game things like the maximum metal, the light colours, the clouds, etc. (All the bits you were thinking that you hadn't done yet!)

I would suggest you copy the .smd of another map and fiddle with the settings until you get what you want. Look at all the .smd's so you can get a jist of what each option does. Make sure both the .sm2 and .smd have the same file name then start up Spring (not the client!) in [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/FAQ#People_talk_about_.27Single_Player.27._How_do_I_start_a_single_player_game.3F single-player mode] and run the commanders script. Choose your map and away you go!

I can only hope this is helpful!

Yours... '''aGorm'''

Map reviews

2005-06-23T06:49:12Z

69.110.54.207: Fixed a lot more errors...

Anybody please feel free to add reviews to this section, or add to existing ones - latest reviews first.

If you don't understand how to edit this PM aGorm!

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== Bionica v3.1 (FINAL) ==

by aGorm

===Looks===
That map looks (don't be fooled by the minimap!) really good. The central island is especially nice; the texture used is perfect. It is slightly stylized (like TA maps) not a real world... The metal around the edge actually looks pretty damn good too, as you don't notice the sea join at all. It gives it the feel of being on an island, without being on one. Other maps that come to the edge look bad because it seems abrupt. This avoids that problem because it's meant to be.
One gripe that stops this from getting 9/10: there are ramps, and they are necessary, but they spoil the look. However it's still is very good.

8/10

===Playability===
The start positions are wrong. This is annoying. Also everyone will need to make them the same to play.
However it clearly has lots of potential for a good game once started. All the players would have to fight around and destroy there neighbours on land, and use air and sea to get the others, which could lead to all sorts of cool suprise attacks and so forth. The island in the middle, containing extra metal and great radar coverage, is a good place to get.
Only one real problem: there is not much room for a base around the outside. If you started there, you'd be at a disadvantage.

7/10

Want the map? Get It here: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=1032 ]

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== Lava Highground 2 - v1.0 ==

by aGorm

=== Looks ===
The map looks, at first sight, pretty good. The texture is maybe a little repetitive, but it's different. The ambiance is good (i.e. sky effects and lighting). In "normal mode" it all looks fine! Just nothing special...

However... The metal map is like somthing out of a funky light show. It's just green dots on the ground! They obviously meant to represent metal patches, but the time was not taken to add then onto the surface map. If they would have, I would forgive them but as they are--well they do look a bit off.

7/10

=== Playability ===
Here it scores above average... It's a simple concept, everything works well (as you'd hope in a second version...) No problems, except how easy it is to defend... Should 2 popup turrets and 4 imolators really be able to take down 100 mavericks? Not really... However the terrain does give that sort of great advantage to the defender; but a good attacker will be able to work around this!

Its biggest problem here is just size... It's tiny really. Had it been a little bigger I'd have said 8/10, but it has dropped to 6/10.

Want the map? Get It here:
http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=1011

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Spring - User contributions [en]

Tutorial:CreateMaps(Fnordia et al)

Map reviews