Map making driving me mad

[Bwian]

I am trying ( without much success ) to make a campaign map that will work in game!

So far, I have only managed to make something which causes an instant CTD when you select a faction in the campaign selection and go to fire it up.

show_err doesn't kick in, and I have absolutely no idea what might be causing it.

Heres what I have done so far:

Made up a new cam[aign sub-folder, and checked that worked OK

Drew a new 'regions' tga.

Changed the descr_regions and descr_regions_name_and_settlement_lookup text files to match.

Then, I modified descr_strat to take out all the provinces I am no longer using. Ultimately, I will replace all the names with new ones, but I am using stock RTW names for now.

Rome and Latium still exist.

I am only using a small number of factions, and have completely removed references to the ones I am not wanting. I left in Slave and Senate.

The rivers and fords tga has been blacked out completely so I had no rivers where I didn't want them, and I have made sure no resources are sitting outside of proper faction lands.

descr_mercenary text has been amended to remove non-existant regions too.

I have run it through the TIME editor, and I don't get any error messages ( well...not now anyway!! )

With no troubleshooting info, I just don't know where to start!

[blindfaithnogod]

take alook at this.https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=50452
in the second post down. there is a campaign map template. this is what i use to get started.

[Bwian]

The campaign map template file seems to have gone

There are some clues that might help me to get started, so I will read the whole thing through and compare it to what I have got so far. Just wish SOMETHING would give an error message to tell me where I was going wrong ...

[Meneldil]

I had the same issue a few hours ago. I solved it by editing the descr_terrain txt file.

[Atheist_Peace]

From reading your post, two issues are apparent.

1)You do not mention any of the other tga's, did you even edit the rest of them to match the map_regions? (meaning, the map_ground_types, map_heights, etc...) If not then this is certainly one of the causes of the CTD, im sure you can find a tutorial in the Scriptorium that can help you with this.

2) You say you "removed" all references to the factions you arent using, im not sure what you mean by this, but you certainly couldve caused a huge error by deleting something that you shouldnt have.

If you didnt mess up those two things then id say you should just go over all the related text files and tga's and make sure everything is in order.

[Bwian]

To clarify AP:

The map_regions tga has been completely re-done.
map_heights is all flat black, with only the water sections in the water 'blue'
map_features is all black. No rivers at all
I left the others as they were.

As far as removing the factions go, I removed them from descr_strat only. They were deleted from the 'playable actions' bit at the top, plus I removed all the towns / people / armies section from that file.

Additionally, if anyone has a copy of the 'map template' that they could mail me, I would be really grateful! Let me know and I can pm you the mail address to send it

[asilv]

Campaign map template from Tosa's server.

[Bwian]

I think I must be cursed today......Tosa's site is giving me a 502 error

I will try again tomorrow, but for now, I think I will just have to go off anf get blind drunk and forget all about RTW until I wake up tomorrow.....

[Atheist_Peace]

Its not you, that link is broken...

[asilv]

It worked when I posted it, now the whole server seems to be down. Maybe too many people are trying to dowload bi demo or something...
3D downloads seems to have same file too, it should work...
If it still doesn't work for some strange reason pm me and i'll e-mail it tomorrow morning.

[Bwian]

3Ddownloads did the trick!

Thanks for the help guys....this looks like EXACTLY what I need to get me on the right track. The very cut-down text files should simplify matters no end. Now I can start VERY simple and add things in one at a time, rather than trying to cut out large chunks from the stock files and never really know what is causing a CTD.

Looks like the wife won;t be seeing much of me tomorrow ;)

[Meneldil]

Bwian, have you tried editing descr_terrain ? If the dimensions entries are not the same as your region map size, it will ctd before loading the campaign.

[Bwian]

The map size is fine...I didn't change it at all. I am going to make use of the map template file, and work back from the simplest case. I will let you guys know how I get on.

This is about the only bit of RTW modding I haven't been able to get right, and I won't let it beat me! If I can manage animations, I can do maps! Now...back to work

[Bwian]

Hooray for the mapping template!

Thanks to this, I have got to the root of my problem. Or, actually, problems.

On one side, I had some errors in the code, which using the minimalist approach of the kit, I was able to eliminate.

On the other side, I had some bad things happening with my map tga due to some poor choices in the Photoshop Options. There was a bit of colour 'blurring' happening as a result of saving with wrong options which I thought I had set correctly. I opened up the map in the kit, saved it, and what worked before now caused a CTD. I messed around with the options and got a version that I had saved in working order. THEN I re-applied my changes to create the map I had originally, and now it works!

Still lots of work to do, since I turned all the ground to sea, and have yet to find out if I have enough land to do the business. Also, I think the regions I have are now a little on the small side. The map co-ords might need a bit of alteration. Currently the map is 255x156. I might make it a little shorter, and longer. I am assuming there is no problem with the actual sizes..... If there isn't, I will crop some areas od sea top and bottom, and then scale up some.

Anyway....I now have something that looks roughly right and WORKS!

[Bwian]

Awwww..crap.

The map works..sort of, but it hasn't got enough land-mass to work properly in RTW. In order to make it work, I had to add a LOAD of extra 'dummy' land.

One thing I wondered though....

presumably, it isn't a question of how much land I have...or how much sea...but it looks like the ratio that matters. I am guessing this since very big and very small maps are possible.

Anybody know what the magic ratio is ?

[Atheist_Peace]

Im not sure, but may i ask what map you are trying to make?

[Bwian]

Sure...it's just a 'test piece' really, before I have a go at making Hyborea for my Conan project.

After the news that Sengoku Jidai was going to be ditching the SP campaign, I thought I would have a go at making a map of Japan for some pseudo Shogun mucking about I wasn't going to bother makign new units, but instead wanted to just try and make a map I could use. Sadly...the islands are a BAD layout for the purpose. It's long, banana shaped...and awkward to fit onto a 'rectangle' of map without having a whole pile of sea. It gets worse if you try to include Hokkaido....which I haven't.

I am going to have to trim down the edging a lot and re-shape the northern end a little and see if that helps. I may be able to swing it if I am very careful...but only trial and error will confirm if I can achieve a realistic mix.

If that works, then there are one or 2 other maps I want to do...

First off...Hyperborea. Lovely and simple....lots of land...very little need for blocks of sea....Nice.

Second....I want to do the Elric map. Melnibone as the Senate...