Map Radar FIle

[thefirstoneill]

Hi there
Ive made a mod and am trying to use a different strategic map, the game loads then as it shows the map if crashes. I think it is due to the map radar image. Can anyone tell me what this file is called so I can check it out.

Thanks
as always

[naut]

The "Radar" images are:

MINILUKUP.bif
MINIMAP.bif

The images at the start-up faction selection screen are:

FE_MINIMAP.bif
FE_MINIMAP_LUKUP.bif

[thefirstoneill]

THanks for that, so I am I correct in the following ,IM trying to make a expansion called Nap.

So I if want to use the orginal MTW stategy maps so should I copy the following files

minilukup
MINIMAP
MINIPAN

and rename them as

Nap_minilukup
Nap_MINIMAP
Nap_MINIPAN

Ive made new campagains before but never used the SetMapTexturesSubdir command before (ive used the vikings sub folders for UK based campagains)

But this time I want to use battle maps from the Lordz napoleonic mod so I think I need to make this a proper expansion so have to set the stategic map up

Thanks for the help

[naut]

I'm not sure to be honest, I've never got a map to work. I'll have a look into it if you like.

[thefirstoneill]

hi there
Im using the original map from Medieval, but as Im making an extension I believe I need to make another copy and name if for the expansion. It is the naming convention and which maps to copy that is tripping me up. I looked to see what viking files there are, guessing I could use this as a guide for my own expansion. And Ive made campaigns before so Im comfy with everything except having to to set the map. Everything loads, then I get a brief glimpse of the map, but then if crashes out, no error messages, just closes down. Very strange,
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[naut]

That's the same crash I get with Brittania Divided, but I haven't touched any map files in the current attempt.

[thefirstoneill]

I was thinking it may be the pieces but I have tested themon a working campagn and they are fine

[EatYerGreens]

Judging by the way that the filenames are identical between the MTW maps and the Vikings maps, with the only difference being that the Viking set are tucked away in a subdirectory, which the startpos file then points to, I'd guess that you can forget about renaming them with the "Nap_" prefix.

It's like the game only accepts one set of filenames for these campaign maps.

So, what you will need is a subdirectory called "Nap", put the Lordz version of the campaign maps and mini-maps in there and use the startpos entry in the same manner as the Viking startpos files do.

The hard part will be that your Era file then needs to be populated with DeclareLandRegion:: and DeclareSeaRegion:: statements which exactly match the number of provinces and sea regions in the Lordz custom map.

After that, there's dozens of other entries to make: -

SetRegionUnfloodable::
SetRegionUnquakeable::
SetRegionRebels::
DeclareTradegoods::
SetNeighbours::
SetBorderInfo::
SetOrigin::
SetPort:: (except provinces which can't have one)
SetAttributes::
SetTradableGoods::
SetResources::
SetRegionOwner::


That is a huge amount of information needing attention and careful thought, if being written from scratch.

All in all, it would have been easier to have cloned the Lordz era file and made minor adjustments to suit your mod's needs than to begin with the Vikings file, say, and try to make huge alterations to it, in order to get their maps to work.

Obviously, cloning their era file will make your mod very much "derivative" and easily determined to be so by end users. This would not go down well if you distributed it without obtaining their permission to use their work in this way beforehand.


As for the 3-D battle maps, my knowledge is limited. All I know for certain is that the hundreds of bonus maps I've got from mappack3, despite seemingly outnumbering the number of original maps, never get randomly selected for my campaign battles. So it's as if the game is hard-coded to pick only certain file names.

From that, it follows that the only way to assure those 3rd party maps ever get used is for them to completely substitute the originals, by overwriting them whilst re-using these key filenames. This would make Nap a "total conversion mod", instead of the type which can co-exist with the vanilla campaigns. It's a rather fundamental decision to make, whether to pursue this route, best done at the outset of making your mod.

(This is one of those times where I would welcome being told I'm wrong about something!)

[barocca]

links to stuff about making a new strategic (campaign) map
and/or making a new expansion campaign

add an expansion (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=28477)

working with LMM (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=32230)
READ the documentation that comes with LMM very carefully, (i read the docs for both win98 and winxp versions)
LMM makes all the text files for you IF you do your artwork correctly,

BIG HINT #1 - LOOK at the "Reference" files that LMM USES when it creates the map, you can add all the customised names for your provinces in those files and let lmm do all the hard yards for you

BIG HINT #2 - LOOK at the "reference" files that LMM creates when it makes the map for you,
some of those files can be reused to create extras - like the radar map, AND some of those files will help you track down graphics mistakes made when you did the artwork for the master map file (it's in the documentation)
(i remade the map for samurai warlords some dozen times before i got it 100%)

BIG HINT #3 - once the Map and Mod are "built" by LMM you need to test everything about the map very carefully,
the startpos file has "rules" that we had not yet figured out when Welly left the community,
(Ships appear in the first sea province listed under "setneighbours" for example - which is not always where you have the port "looking")
(just today i had to tweak a port location and a castle location in the startpos file for Samurai Warlords - we are working on the next release)

the repository forum - a few hints and guides in there (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=39)

ALSO check out :why does my mod crash? (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=26908)- it's a big help when looking for reasons (not everything in medieval makes sense)

good luck
Cheers
B.

[barocca]

now here is a little thread about castle maps (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=28719)

but the basic idea is the same


if you want a new map to work in campaign it needs to be named correctly,

look inside the map folders of an unmodded version of medieval and you'll see maps like "flatcoastal08.xxx"

that is map number 08 from a selection of flat coastal maps,


looking through the folders you'll soon get the idea of what is available,
and thus what you need to rename any custom maps you want to appear in the campaign,

(maps need both inf and jjm file or MTW wont display them correctly in all terrain and/or weather types)

hope this helps

Cheers
B.

[thefirstoneill]

Ive managed to sort it, my prob was an error with the files in the textures/campmap/ files, I hadnt loaded an castle flags for the mod. I discovered the error using one of the threads I found on the site for making an expansion.

I was using established maps from the lordz napoleonic mod, so I knew the maps were sound, and avoided needing to manually set up regions etc.

Again thanks to you both for the help, this iste has added so much to my enjoyment of medieval.

May the Lord bring you both good health and many heirs :skull: