Author Topic: The Big New Maps Cooperation  (Read 12930 times)

Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #15: July 25, 2011, 12:06:57 PM »
urgh it is going to take awhile for me to learn this  :o I think maybe we should add a bit of realistic climate factors? Like how deserts would form along 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south or jungles located within 20 N and 20 S?

Don't make this complicated.

TG2 can use what's called an "image map". Or simply put: You paint in some drawing problem the rough areas where you want a desert to be, and tell it to use desert shaders/colours in that area.

Yes, you could also set up some kind of complicated node network to procedurally define the area based on characteristics, but that's way too complicated. And drawing them gives you more control over placement.



Enough talk. Where are my volunteers? Who wants to help out, and where?

Darksun

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #16: July 25, 2011, 04:31:10 PM »
Have we investigated City Engine?

Imagine each city being built like this:

http://www.procedural.com/cityengine/examples/medieval-town.html

Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #17: July 25, 2011, 05:44:32 PM »
Have we investigated City Engine?

While CityEngine is impressive, it also starts at about $500. Plus don't get fooled by the nice videos, you still have to do a lot of work yourself.

Nosferatus

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #18: July 27, 2011, 09:55:29 AM »
I also have like eleven left hands if it comes to this kind of graphical designs.
I don't even know what some of the terms are.
But there are other things we can do.

I am spreading the word amongst people who i know done a very good job in making there own modells and graphics for a modification of the total war serie, like here: http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?137000-battlemaster-s-Map-Project

If you know any other good modifications, seek out there forums and lets start harassing them!
Formerly playing the Nosferatus and Bhrantan Family.
Currently playing the Polytus Family in: Gotland, Madina, Astrum, Outer Tilog

Solari

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #19: July 27, 2011, 03:19:12 PM »
Tom, how do you envision that players will see or interact with different parts of this system?  Are they going to be clicking on buildings, etc.  A lot of the bullet points in your original post are more easily addressed with some defined parameters and a little brainstorming. :)

Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #20: July 27, 2011, 10:55:00 PM »
Solari, at this point, all I care for is the map. Once that is done, a lot of opportunities open up. But at this point, talking about them would only distract from the primary task.

So what I'm looking for is exactly what I described, and all questions in addition to that have to wait until we have this new map.

Daycryn

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #21: July 27, 2011, 11:46:24 PM »
I have good familiarity with Google Sketchup and would love to help out, but I don't know how much worth my contribution might be. But making little 3d models of ordinary villages, cities, farmland and such is something I experimented a lot with when I was distracted by the "worldbuilding" phase of my novel-writing instead of the actual writing. (I eventually gave up the concept and moved to straight 2-dimensional art for my map.)

Looking at Mighty Empires, it'd be pretty easy to make some low-poly representations similar to those villages and towns. I imagine you'd want a number of variations on basic forms. Would you want these to represent the cities and towns from the cities and townsland regions, or would you want to scatter little "villages" all over the place (since they would be in reality) as well?
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egamma

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #22: July 28, 2011, 01:34:50 AM »
I think it would depend on region type. Cities would be the great fortified city, stronghold would be a great castle with a village grown up outside the main gate, townsland would be a suburbia. rural would have villages like you suggested, and badlands probably tent camps.

Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #23: July 28, 2011, 11:17:19 AM »
I have good familiarity with Google Sketchup and would love to help out, but I don't know how much worth my contribution might be. But making little 3d models of ordinary villages, cities, farmland and such is something I experimented a lot with when I was distracted by the "worldbuilding" phase of my novel-writing instead of the actual writing. (I eventually gave up the concept and moved to straight 2-dimensional art for my map.)

Looking at Mighty Empires, it'd be pretty easy to make some low-poly representations similar to those villages and towns. I imagine you'd want a number of variations on basic forms. Would you want these to represent the cities and towns from the cities and townsland regions, or would you want to scatter little "villages" all over the place (since they would be in reality) as well?

Now that sounds really promising. Yes, please!

I can help out with textures if you need them, I own a copy of FilterForge.


My main concern are towns/cities and strongholds. For starters, a single stronghold model and two or three city models (a town, a small city, a large city) would be sufficient.

For the villages, they're optional. We're on a world-map level, so realistically they wouldn't even be visible. I'm thinking about representing rural regions with the typical fields scattered around rather than village models.

Daycryn

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #24: August 02, 2011, 05:35:43 AM »
I'll get some models for review up by next Monday.
(If I don't, it's because I'm overloading myself as usual and couldn't get to it and probably shouldn't be counted on as a reliable, and I apologize in advance for that contingency. )
Lokenth, Warrior of Arcaea, former Adventurer
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Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #25: August 08, 2011, 10:08:41 AM »
*bump* :-)

Fury

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #26: August 12, 2011, 08:25:25 PM »
If I'm on the right track with my last map contest posting then I probably can contribute here as well. Not sure where to begin here though.  :)

If by 'writing shaders' it means trying out the settings to see what will create nice terrain, yeah I can do that.

loren

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #27: August 19, 2011, 05:21:09 AM »
Yes, but it does procedural (perlin, etc.) terrains - no really good way to "design" your map.

I disagree Tom.  You can import a bitmap into Terragen as a heightmap.  A grayscaled image uses the brightness to say how high something is.  I played around some with the old-SM maps and got the outlines done for all of the islands.  I didn't put much effort into it, just wanted to see if it could be done.


Tom

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Re: The Big New Maps Cooperation
« Reply #28: August 30, 2011, 09:01:46 AM »
So, did this just stop or is someone still working on it?