Is it possible to take the source graphic elements and use them directly, without using the map editor?
I don't think so. We can get the art to the tiles, but it's the map editor that stitches the tiles together in a seamless fashion. I wouldn't want to do that manually.
(Plus the art is likely specific to its 3D representation... bump maps, etc...)
If I understand what we want, it's:
* Terrain tiles that have no perspective to them, meaning that we are "looking" straight down at them,
* However the cities should have an isometric view to them (because looking at cities/castles straight down is ugly)
That's what AoW did, from what I can tell. *This* we might be able to do manually. Use the map editor from a "looking straight down" viewpoint, but then manually photoshop the cities onto the map. Thoughts?