PanthaPower
01-13-2003, 14:15
I think this utility from Wellington deserves a seperate post so that more people will read it. The original conversation can be found at
http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin....;t=3822 (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=5;t=3822)
This is a quote from Wellington:
Quote[/b] (Wellington @ Jan. 09 2003,22:12)]Hi Guys,
LukMapMaker is now on the Org's test downloads. It's named "TEST_LukMapMaker_PROVISIONAL_VERSION.zip" and is around 150K. It contains the code/source, the required files and directory structure and a very small (for download considerations) test map called 'Islands'.
You also have to download "TEST_LukMapMaker_GUI_OCX" (22K). I missed this in the original download
IMPORTANT: Please read the "Installation Instructions" 1st. Then read the "FAQ". Then run LukMapMaker on the simple test map ('Islands'http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif. Then read the "Readme". It will make far more sense if you do it this way
This a PROVISIONAL version. I'm currently spending 100% of my free time finishing it so expect another version in a week or two.
Two other (larger) test maps have been uploaded -
- "TEST_LukMapMaker_EXAMPLE_Britain.zip" (500K)
- "TEST_LukMapMaker_EXAMPLE_WestMed.zip" (1.3 Meg)
I STRONGLY recommend you download these 2 examples, include them in the correct folder and run them. They contain better examples of LukMapMaker functionality that is'nt in the 'Islands' example.
Note that LukMapMaker does A LOT of processing and is VERY CPU intensive. Therefore it can take some time to run (depending on how big your campaign map is). On my PC (1600 P4) the example maps take the following times to run -
Islands - 30 seconds
Britain - 3 minutes
WestMed - 9 minutes
I also did a copy of the MTW campaign map and ran LukMapMaker on it. This took 40 minutes You have been warned
Give it a try, see what's it's trying to do and feed any questions/ideas/comments back via the Org.
I have a few more questions regarding this whole area but for now just 1 -
Q1: Can anyone provide me with a document detailing the format of an MTW LBM file (specifically the LukMap's LBM file type format). Ok, I know it's an IFF-type but there are several different LBM formats. If anyone knows this for sure it will save me a lot of time playing around with a Hex editor ... Sigh http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif
Welly.
Wellington,
in one word WOW You must have spend so much time in making all this. Right now I feel a bit overwhelmed about the potential and it seems that weeks of modding time are made useless in just 30 minutes of playing around with your tool. I'm at work right now and I don't have a playing MTW machine here. I also hardly have any spare time in the evenings at the moment but I hope I can find some time soon to test things with my LOTR maptex.
Anyway, here is some feedback on things without testing your results in MTW yet. I will post some more feedback after I tried your utility on my LOTR maptex, implemented your new script files into the startpos and ran a few tests in MTW to check for any errors, flaws, etc.
* About your question about the format of an MTW LBM file, sorry, can't give you any info on that.
* In "Installation Instructions.txt" you refer to the wrong download file in the "Graphics DLL" section. It should be "CSIFT.ZIP".
* I might think that someone wants to make changes (point castle, port, etc postions) to current LBM files and run that through your converter and make the scripts. I'm also thinking of people who want to use a part of the MTW maptex/lukmap as a mod. Not sure how much works this will cause you though.
* The part about making two region part of the "SameRegion" or connecting to regions as a "LandBridge" was not totally clear to me the first time I read your guide and looked into the paramters and examples. It might be a good idea to dedicate two or three more sentences in the FAQ on explainging how this works.
* The Factons and Parameters text file might look a bit dautning for new modders who are just getting into the mod making. It should be fairly easy for you to make a clickable GUI so that the these factions and parameter fields are also auto-created.
http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin....;t=3822 (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=5;t=3822)
This is a quote from Wellington:
Quote[/b] (Wellington @ Jan. 09 2003,22:12)]Hi Guys,
LukMapMaker is now on the Org's test downloads. It's named "TEST_LukMapMaker_PROVISIONAL_VERSION.zip" and is around 150K. It contains the code/source, the required files and directory structure and a very small (for download considerations) test map called 'Islands'.
You also have to download "TEST_LukMapMaker_GUI_OCX" (22K). I missed this in the original download
IMPORTANT: Please read the "Installation Instructions" 1st. Then read the "FAQ". Then run LukMapMaker on the simple test map ('Islands'http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif. Then read the "Readme". It will make far more sense if you do it this way
This a PROVISIONAL version. I'm currently spending 100% of my free time finishing it so expect another version in a week or two.
Two other (larger) test maps have been uploaded -
- "TEST_LukMapMaker_EXAMPLE_Britain.zip" (500K)
- "TEST_LukMapMaker_EXAMPLE_WestMed.zip" (1.3 Meg)
I STRONGLY recommend you download these 2 examples, include them in the correct folder and run them. They contain better examples of LukMapMaker functionality that is'nt in the 'Islands' example.
Note that LukMapMaker does A LOT of processing and is VERY CPU intensive. Therefore it can take some time to run (depending on how big your campaign map is). On my PC (1600 P4) the example maps take the following times to run -
Islands - 30 seconds
Britain - 3 minutes
WestMed - 9 minutes
I also did a copy of the MTW campaign map and ran LukMapMaker on it. This took 40 minutes You have been warned
Give it a try, see what's it's trying to do and feed any questions/ideas/comments back via the Org.
I have a few more questions regarding this whole area but for now just 1 -
Q1: Can anyone provide me with a document detailing the format of an MTW LBM file (specifically the LukMap's LBM file type format). Ok, I know it's an IFF-type but there are several different LBM formats. If anyone knows this for sure it will save me a lot of time playing around with a Hex editor ... Sigh http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif
Welly.
Wellington,
in one word WOW You must have spend so much time in making all this. Right now I feel a bit overwhelmed about the potential and it seems that weeks of modding time are made useless in just 30 minutes of playing around with your tool. I'm at work right now and I don't have a playing MTW machine here. I also hardly have any spare time in the evenings at the moment but I hope I can find some time soon to test things with my LOTR maptex.
Anyway, here is some feedback on things without testing your results in MTW yet. I will post some more feedback after I tried your utility on my LOTR maptex, implemented your new script files into the startpos and ran a few tests in MTW to check for any errors, flaws, etc.
* About your question about the format of an MTW LBM file, sorry, can't give you any info on that.
* In "Installation Instructions.txt" you refer to the wrong download file in the "Graphics DLL" section. It should be "CSIFT.ZIP".
* I might think that someone wants to make changes (point castle, port, etc postions) to current LBM files and run that through your converter and make the scripts. I'm also thinking of people who want to use a part of the MTW maptex/lukmap as a mod. Not sure how much works this will cause you though.
* The part about making two region part of the "SameRegion" or connecting to regions as a "LandBridge" was not totally clear to me the first time I read your guide and looked into the paramters and examples. It might be a good idea to dedicate two or three more sentences in the FAQ on explainging how this works.
* The Factons and Parameters text file might look a bit dautning for new modders who are just getting into the mod making. It should be fairly easy for you to make a clickable GUI so that the these factions and parameter fields are also auto-created.