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Thread: How I make my maps.~

  1. #1

    Default How I make my maps.~

    ~oh goddamit, just take note to be patient and never send out too many pms at once ~
    Some people have liked my maps, and that's brought me a great deal of pleasure. Many people have congratulated my skill at making such accurate, large, and aesthetically pleasing works of art, but the truth is that they are not works of art, far from it it in fact. They are the product of research and a hobby of mine called geograhical information systems. By converting freely provided satellite data, i could create maps that, with work, could be used to play Rome: Total War. Much of the process used to be very time consuming, and, in some ways, costly. However, with more work, I have found a good freeware tool and some good data so the process can be undertaken by anyone who wants to. Through this process, it is possible to create a good map like the quality I have shown previously in under an hour. It is a very easy to do and anyone can do it and enjoy it.

    It all begins with a trip to a United States Geological Survey.
    http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevati...0/gtopo30.html
    That website shown above contains GTOP03 data, which is a multinational composite of digital elevation models. This is the raw data that is converted into a tga format that makes this process possible. Download the data into a folder and put all of it in the same folder. Don't unzip the data. The data should be accessed in its zipped format.

    Next, we go to a site that provides a good converter for the tool. It is free and easy to use.
    http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/3dem.html
    This software is nescessary for converting the data into a useable form. Its also the only good way to do it unless you want to pay for software. Download the software. When you open the software, a small box will pop up asking you what you want to acess. Select USGS dem. Explore your computer for the dem files. Drag a box and select all the data. Another screen with a map will pop up and ask you where you want to go. Drag the bottom bar all the way across. That bar specifies the size of the data area. You can open 20 by 20 degrees of data at a time. Then, select a good area. A digital elevation map of the area will then load. The map though will not be on a black to white color scale. Open the color scale box at the top of the screen and select modify scale. Go through the pallete and change the color scale to a black and white. Its a fairly simple process and only requires a little bit of algebra. Modifying the pallette is also important for creating different elevation effects and playing around with it can help create good maps. You will also see an altitude range. The altitude range specifies the altitude of the area and will be reset to the area's range of altitude every time you load data. In order to create a continous map, modify this so its constant for the places you will connect together. After this, close that box and then open the Geo Coordinates pull down and turn the coordinates off. From there go to File and save map image. Save it as any image file you like. After that go to File and load terrain model. Just press ok. You don't need to load the elevation data again since you already selected it. Go through the map process again, except this time choose a different location. Make that location exactly 20 degrees up or down of the original one you had. Repeat much of the process. Once you have some good map images, load them into photoshop. Since you gathered them at exactly 20 degree intervals, they will match up absolutely perfectly in photoshop. Just use the layer system.

    Terrain
    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/LCC/
    The site above will provide a good base terrain map. It comes in two, extremely large portions. Each pixel should be a discrete datum with no anti-aliasing. If you see anti-aliasing, you've downloaded the wrong file. The files are extremely large so a large amount of ram is helpful when using in photo shop. The terrain data was also made from the GOTP03 data, so in ps, the two will match up absolutely perfectly. Absolutely do not be satisfied with anything less than perfection in matching these two hope. Only very small allowances should be made since this data would undoubtedly be larger than the elevation data you got from the previous process. Once everything is properly aligned together, use the terrain data to correct elevation flaws in the elevation data. Use photoshop layers to do this process. Basically, the terrain data has been corrected while the elevation data has some holes in it below sea level (most notably at the caspian.) After this, use the color key from the site to convert the data. The data can also be used in climate formation.

    It must be noted that this data is designed for the modern day, so any good mapper must make allowances as well as make any and all nescessary corrections. Lets not get lazy now! Also, using large versions of these files and THEN downsizing can help make it more accurate. This is especially important in any warping, projection changes, or rotations.

    Projection Changes
    This data comes in a straight mercator format. In order to get the desired projection it must be converted. This can easily be done in the photoshop program. Just remember to use large files and to change them together after they have been aligned and the elevation data corrected. Also, add extra data from aroundt the desired area so it looks more natural if you go over the area you specified. For some of the more extreme projection changes, more work is nescessary. The warp function does not allow you to change multiple files at once. There is an easy way to get around this. It is only data, so it is possible to store it as a single alpha channel. Just convert the terrain data such that no two values have the same Red Green or Blue value and convert the water in the elevation data to 0 0 0 (since that value can't be used anyway for the regular terrain) Store the data as a single file and convert the alpha channels to RBG. Then all you can transform it to your hearts content. Making minor changes, or otherwise very major. After that, it is only a simple matter to seperate the two and reconvert them.

    This is the basics of employing freeware and standard modding tools (Photoshop) to create a good base for a RTW map. After this though, hard modding work is needed, much still needs to be done by hand. Creative thought is also nescessary in overcoming many of the hardcoded obstacles that can thwart some use of these materials, espesially when creating a map that spans large distances. Good luck using these materials. They are fun to experiment with and, if implemented correctly, they really do pay off. Some mods use the same or similiar technique, try and spot them if you can

    Sincerely,
    BDH

    In a final note, there are a few more tricks, but you can figure them out on your own
    and be sure to mention me when you make maps
    Last edited by BDH; 08-16-2006 at 00:58.

  2. #2

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    update- example images - probably should have done this in the beginning









  3. #3
    CeltiberoRamiroI Member Monkwarrior's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Thanks for this very interesting information.
    I'm really thinking in doing a new campaign map, as you can see here:

    I find quite easy to make map_heights and map_terrain. In fact, with the information in the map it is also possible to make map_features (rivers and so on), but I have still doubts about map_roughness.
    Did you make experiments with it?
    Did you use the same map_heights but with "black sea"?
    In fact, is it useful for anything?

    Thanks again.

  4. #4

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Quote Originally Posted by Monkwarrior
    Thanks for this very interesting information.
    I'm really thinking in doing a new campaign map, as you can see here:

    I find quite easy to make map_heights and map_terrain. In fact, with the information in the map it is also possible to make map_features (rivers and so on), but I have still doubts about map_roughness.
    Did you make experiments with it?
    Did you use the same map_heights but with "black sea"?
    In fact, is it useful for anything?

    Thanks again.
    Using the heights with the black sea is generally the thing to do, but I try to make it look more like the map_roughness that exists in the original. Nobody really knows what it does though.

  5. #5
    Shaidar Haran Senior Member SAM Site Champion Myrddraal's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Really good stuff. Thanks BDH

  6. #6
    Harbinger of... saliva Member alpaca's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    I think the first link is broken, it should say:
    http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevati...0/gtopo30.html

    Great guide

  7. #7
    IW Director, MA Mapper Member Ilsamir Lord's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    I can't understand why CA didn't do something like this to begin with! Google Earth is an example of how this technique could have been utilised by CA. We could have had perfectly accurate representations of the campaign map, which, when used to generate battlemaps, would have remained accurately scaled and proportioned! Grrr . This leads me to ask: How do the battlemaps turn out using this technique?
    Last edited by Ilsamir Lord; 12-13-2005 at 06:55.
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  8. #8

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    The mountains turn out very accurate but there is litte change in many areas. If you want the battlemap to turn out like real life, you need to make a 1021x1021 map of a small area, otherwise the resolution isn't high enough (at least for a rtw to real life comparison)
    Also, you need to make another change. CA cheated a tad and gave the map different gradients so even flat lands will have some curve. One can get around that my turning off the gradients in geography.txt

  9. #9
    Back in style Member Lentonius's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    can you get or download any of these maps you make?
    Hey, Im back

  10. #10
    Harbinger of... saliva Member alpaca's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Oh, BDH, do you know what the latitude parameter means in descr_terrain.txt?
    This would probably be related to the projection used, wouldn't it?

    And I think that CA used something similar, at least for the height file. It has the same file format as another radar topography satellite project...

  11. #11

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Quote Originally Posted by alpaca
    Oh, BDH, do you know what the latitude parameter means in descr_terrain.txt?
    This would probably be related to the projection used, wouldn't it?

    And I think that CA used something similar, at least for the height file. It has the same file format as another radar topography satellite project...
    i know of the parameter, i don't know what it does but I do know what it specifies
    this pic should help explain

    basically, what they did was specify 4 points. The nothern points are on the same latitude and the southern points are on the same latitude. The left points are on the same longitude and the right points are on the same longitude. Why then isn't there a specifier for longitude then if that has something to do with it? Well, in order to make their projection, they drew a STRAIGHT line (as it would be perceived form space) across the points that have the same latitude. Thats how they made their map projection. The longitude lines had nothing to do with it since they were used as normal for the width of the map.

    What it specifies in game i am not sure, but my guess is that it has something to do with the tilt of the map. If you look to the edges, you can see that it is tilted.

    As for the hgt file, to the best of my knowledge CA just ripped them off :)

  12. #12
    Harbinger of... saliva Member alpaca's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Well I know what latitude is, of course I wanted to know what it does in-game.
    Still, it's interesting that it can be found in the descr file...

    I'd also like to know what the fractal setting does...

    That stuff suggests imo that CA used some external map- (or at least height-)creation mechanism, but who knows...

  13. #13

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    I think changes to descr_geography won't work as it wont regenerate the db file. I've tried many times to make this happen, but I didn't get it to work. Have you got it to work?


    The Fourth Age: Total War - Map Manager, Editor and Coder

  14. #14

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Honestly, most of what I have is just speculation on some of this more experimental stuff.

  15. #15

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Quote Originally Posted by Tittils
    I think changes to descr_geography won't work as it wont regenerate the db file. I've tried many times to make this happen, but I didn't get it to work. Have you got it to work?
    the relationship could be one whereby if the db file is delete it defers to the txt (like it was with vanilla rtw for the tga and the hgt)

  16. #16

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    I think that the problem was that it didn't read from the descr_geography.txt file. Creating new climates and editing the existing ones in descr_geography.txt would have been a great improvement for many mods.


    The Fourth Age: Total War - Map Manager, Editor and Coder

  17. #17

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Quote Originally Posted by Tittils
    I think that the problem was that it didn't read from the descr_geography.txt file. Creating new climates and editing the existing ones in descr_geography.txt would have been a great improvement for many mods.
    if the db is removed, it reeds from the txt just fine
    https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a...hh/japanb3.jpg
    thats an example of what can be done, as well as go wrong

  18. #18

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Yes, that's exactly what happens to me too. A white and purple map doesn't look good;)


    The Fourth Age: Total War - Map Manager, Editor and Coder

  19. #19
    Harbinger of... saliva Member alpaca's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Is this for Tron: Total War :D

  20. #20

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Is this for Tron: Total War :D
    maybe....
    Yes, that's exactly what happens to me too. A white and purple map doesn't look good;)
    Well then, I guess we just have to be very very careful with editing the files!

  21. #21

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Hey BDH I have two questions: Can we download your great maps, 2nd : can mods ask you to make maps for them, I guess making maps , for you, is as easy as peeing under a tree, but for people like me as hard as shiting down metal under a huge falling tree, back to the subject: will you make maps for mods who request them?

  22. #22

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Quote Originally Posted by killerxguy
    Hey BDH I have two questions: Can we download your great maps, 2nd : can mods ask you to make maps for them, I guess making maps , for you, is as easy as peeing under a tree, but for people like me as hard as shiting down metal under a huge falling tree, back to the subject: will you make maps for mods who request them?
    I'm afraid that there aren't any available to download. I atually made an entire series of maps for RTR, but they weren't coded and remained uncompleted. There are a couple of maps I made out there somewheres being coded and perfected right now. Really, its very easily done ever since I released this tutorial. Anybody with half a whit and photoshop can import digital elevation models into RTW now.
    I'm afraid I can't really make maps for people these days, but like I said, anyone can do it if they read and are willing to learn. After that its just a matter of coding it the map.

  23. #23

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Hi!

    Im totally new at moding, but today i decided that i start my own mod ( just for fun firstly and to learn some things :D ).

    I followed this tutorial to place where i must paste trrain map on elevation map. Nad now what i must do????
    Starting new mod

    CLAVSTRA ALPIVM IVLIARVM


    Member of this excelent mod - check it out!

    RTR: Ancient Empires - more historical -> better

  24. #24

    Default Re: How I make my maps.~



    Here is my first map
    Starting new mod

    CLAVSTRA ALPIVM IVLIARVM


    Member of this excelent mod - check it out!

    RTR: Ancient Empires - more historical -> better

  25. #25
    Honorary Argentinian Senior Member Gyroball Champion, Karts Champion Caius's Avatar
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    Default Re: How I make my maps.~

    Nice guide, BDH.
    I'm making a map for Inca:Total War and i downloaded all the files.
    Now, I downloaded the Terrain files and opened with 3dem and I have an error:
    Not a GeoTiff DEM file.What this error means?
    PLEASE
    Last edited by Caius; 11-07-2006 at 23:49.




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