Thread Tools
Old December 4, 2000, 18:47   #1
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
bmp2ctp2 program and Alex scenario
Hi,
I'm the guy who made the Alexander scenario that shipped with the game. That scenario still has many problems due to insufficient time for debugging. Scenarios were something that really got working only at the last minute- with just a few weeks left before the game's release, I still couldn't get to turn two of the scenario! Anyways, once I get my free copy of the game, I'm going to work to get rid of all the bugs in the scenario, and properly playbalance it. I suggest no one play it until then.

However, there was one really lucky result in having the scenario part of the game especially broken. When I complained about not having enough time, one solution they came up with was to make a program that converted .bmp files into ctp2 map files. This was because I had the map I wanted for the Alex scenario already planned out as a graphic file.

So this conversion program was made by the Activision team, and a handy thing it is. As far as I know, it still isn't released yet, though. I presume they'll make it part of the first patch, or something like that. I of course have a copy already.

Also, many months ago, when I wanted to work on the Alex scenario but didn't have enough game specs to get started, I started creating a graphic file of most of the Old World, pixelated into CTP2 terrain categories. That graphic file is done, and was the thing I made the Alex map from. I would like to make this available to whomever wants it, to make mapmaking a ton easier.

Let me explain the bmp2ctp2 program and the graphic file I've made a bit better. Here is the readme from the bmp2ctp2 program:

------
Contents...

bmp2ctp2.exe The bitmap conversion tool
readme.txt This readme file
testmap.bmp A sample BMP file
testmap1to1.bmp A sample BMP file for 1 to 1 conversion
ctp2map.act A Photoshop palette file
terrain colors.bmp A BMP file with terrain color to palette index info

BMP to CTP2 Map Converter
-------------------------

Usage - bmp2ctp2.exe [-1]

[-1] - [Optional] Flag for 1 to 1 conversion. The default behavior
is to skip every other horizontal pixel to retain the
proper aspect ratio. 1 to 1 conversion will not skip any
pixels.

- The name of the BMP file to be converted
- The name of the CTP2 map file to be created

Notes - The BMP file must be an 8-bit indexed color bitmap. The color index
maps directly to the terrain type in the map (ie. color 1 = terrain 1,
color2 = terrain 2, etc.) The created ASCII map file can then be
imported into Call to Power 2.

Terrain Types
-------------
1 = Plains
2 = Tundra
3 = Glacier
4 = Grassland
5 = Desert
6 = Swamp
7 = Jungle
8 = Mountain
9 = Hill
10 = Shallow Water
11 = Deep Water
12 = Underwater Volcano
13 = Beach
14 = Continental Shelf
15 = Underwater Canyon
16 = Suboceanic Ridge
17 = Dead Tile
18 = Sand Dunes
19 = Desert Mountain
20 = Polar Hill
21 = Polar Mountain
22 = Forest
23 = Kelp Bed
24 = Coral Reef
------

Now, my comment on the program. It works like a charm, with one exception. You'll note there is no way to convert river data over. I came up with a runaround for that: make all the river squares you want into something unusual, like Polar Mountain, then convert them manually later. Not great, but better than having to completely guess the river valley flows.

Here is an explanation of the graphic file I made. I found on the web a huge map of most of the Old World, complete with terrain and river data. It was based on adjusted Mercator projection (adjusted so the far north and south didn't get so absurdly distorted). The area my map covers is all of Asia, Europe and Africa, except that Africa is cut off below the Congo basin, and a little bit of Asia is cut off beyond the Kamchatka Peninsula. None of Australia makes it on, but all of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands do.

The terrain data was relief data, meaning it shows the differences between places, not the total elevation from sea level.

Then I had the difficult task of adding the vegetation data. Since the map was primarily designed for the Alexander time period, I researched what the world's vegetation was like, then. Basically, what this means is it shows what vegetation was like before people started mucking things up. This is reflected mostly in tons more forests. Europe, for instance, was over 90% forest before people started cutting them down.

So if people want to make scenarios, especially, modern day ones, you'll probably want to change the vegetation a lot.

The map is also quite detailed. It is 3599 pixels by 1865 pixels. That's one big map! Just the island of Sardinia would make a map about 47 by 62 pixels- that would be slightly bigger than CTP2's medium map size category. So I figure there's as much or as little map detail as anyone can want.

The only problem is of course, the parts of the world not covered, like the New World. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Since Activision hasn't officially released the Bmp2Ctp2 program, I suppose I shouldn't give it to anyone at this point. But as an example I will make one map of any of the area covered in my map file, if someone has a request for me. Just the one, though.

Harlan is offline  
Old December 5, 2000, 04:00   #2
skorpion59
Prince
 
Local Time: 03:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Posts: 716
Harlan,

Good to hear from you again. I was thinking about the CtP2 beta group last night and wondering where everybody is.

I have a copy of your map I got during the Beta. If you have a newer version, please email it to me.

Last time I checked, the BmP2CtP2 proram was not going to be released to the public. You and I are it. Of course, that is subject to change (especially now).
skorpion59 is offline  
Old December 5, 2000, 10:47   #3
hexagonian
The Courts of Candle'Bre
Emperor
 
hexagonian's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Smemperor
Posts: 3,405
I'd love to have the BMP version of your map, if for nothing else than to have a visual of the type of terrain in ancient Europe. Send to

hexagonia@hotmail.com

Am I correct in assuming that the map can be opened in Photoshop?

My goal is to set up some ancient scenarios. I have a map that I now can work with and edit - but it was tied into current terrain, and some incomplete knowledge of past history, so filling in the data would be nice.

(BTW, your map was very nice)

But more importantly, now I need to figure out how you were able to place cities, units, trade routes, revealed maps with other civs, etc. in the editor without having the file crash and burn.

At this point, all I can do is get settlers sucessfully placed in the editior. It's placing everything else that causes things to go haywire. You need cities to be able to support units, and I can deal with the logistics of that, but placing cities seems to cause a host of goofy stuuf to happen.

Placing prebuilt cities causes the city icon styles to change unexpectedly when I increase the size of the city, and city names do not match up with the player involved (I get Greek city names on the Assyrian manager screens).

I would also like to place some trade routes and have have certain civs already have access to maps from other civs, but do not have a clue how to do that. And I would like to change the timeline.

It would be very nice to have a guide on how to do all these things. I've been able to get info on setting up the directories for a scenario once it's completed, but getting to that point is the real trick now.
hexagonian is offline  
Old December 5, 2000, 16:27   #4
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
Hexagonian and Savant,
I will send you the BMP map, since you're both interested. Skorpion59, I already sent you a copy yesterday, you should have it by now. Maybe you could post an image of it here in this thread. I still don't know how to add images to threads but I know you've done that in the past.

Hexagonian,
About your question on how to do certain scenario things. I'll have to wait on that till I get my copy of the released game and see what is possible now. My ability to do some of the things you mentioned came and went as I got more recent versions of the game. Two steps forward, and one step back- or vice versa. For instance, at one point I could add new cities, but near the end I couldn't, and Activision people were having to do that. Let's hope they're working on things like this for the first patch.

Also, Skorpion, I'm sure I saw somewhere that they were going to release the BMP2CTP2 publically. Where did you hear otherwise? I remember them saying they didn't want to release it as part of the game disk, because they didn't want it officially supported (and have official helplines have to answer questions about it and so on), so they would put it up on their website shortly after.

Oh, and Savant, what's your email?


[This message has been edited by Harlan (edited December 05, 2000).]
Harlan is offline  
Old December 5, 2000, 17:13   #5
OmniGod
Civilization IV CreatorsCiv4 SP Democracy Game
Prince
 
OmniGod's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Welland, ON
Posts: 751
If I could get a copy of the .bmp that would be great Harlan. I'd love if you happened to you know... accidently add.... you know But I have a feeling that you wouldn't allow certain files that are non-support to be sent out to some ctp2 map makers... but I definately would love the bmp...

Thanks
Omni
OmniGod is offline  
Old December 5, 2000, 18:11   #6
MarkG
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
from our ctp2 chat
quote:

[MarkG] ok, what about the map conversion utility we had heard off?
[DWhite] The map conversion untility mention was a simple tool that converted bmps to our text map import format.
[DWhite] It's really basic and will be made available online after release.
[mrogre] We support an import/export format that's very similar to CTP1's, as well as an expanded format. I have a BMP->import format converter, and I want to post the format of the other file so that other people can write programs to export to it, but I'm not planning on doing that latter program myself.

http://apolyton.net/misc/chat/ctp2/ctp2gold_1.shtml
 
Old December 6, 2000, 01:11   #7
skorpion59
Prince
 
Local Time: 03:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Posts: 716
Harlan,
Yeah, I got the file. I posted before checking my email. I will spend a couple days playing with the latest versions. And, yes, rivers will be included in the map converter program but that is sill a couple weeks away. You will also be able to specify the heights you want to be hills and mountains during the conversion process. The second set of treatments I went through put me way behind.

Markos,
I'll buy it. Public comment in an open forum with a date later than I had. Sounds good.

OK, here you go.....
NOTE: Do NOT call Activision for support on this. If you need help, email me or post on the forums here at Apolyton.
NOTE: This pgm creates a TEXT map which must be imported through the chat window.

Harlan's Map:


BmP2CtP2 Indexed Color Palette:



Downloads:
BmP2CtP2 Pgm & Palettes(44k)

Harlan's Map(390k)

I have sent the program to Dan/Markos to post in the DB. The .act file is the indexed color palette for Adobe Photoshop while the .pal file is the indexed color palette for JASC Paint Shop Pro.

Edit: Had to cut back on the size of the gif files.

[This message has been edited by skorpion59 (edited December 06, 2000).]
skorpion59 is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 01:46   #8
Savant
Warlord
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: The Mountain Empire
Posts: 185
Hey Harlan! Thanks for the info on the Alexander Scenario. I do see where you could have balanced it better with more time. I hadn't realized you were so rushed to get it out. I think it is a nice extra-added to the game BTW and an inspiration for other scenario makers despite the bugs or whatever.

Anyway, please let us get access to the BMP map? I think that map is awesome. You put some serious work into detailing that geography and that is a good portion of any scenario's success.

BTW tell your boss you did very good with the time you had and I look forward to downloading your revision!

------------------
'Blood will run'
Savant is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 10:32   #9
hexagonian
The Courts of Candle'Bre
Emperor
 
hexagonian's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Smemperor
Posts: 3,405
Thanks!! Just what I was looking for.

The map looks good, and will come in very handy for correct terrain tile placement.
hexagonian is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 11:08   #10
Fluffygreycat
Settler
 
Local Time: 09:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Andover MA USA
Posts: 21
This map is beautiful, sir.

Judging from an earlier post, if downloaded and loaded as a CTP map directly, this would be hundreds of times larger than a standard map. Did I understand that correctly?

If so, is there any way you can think of to "shrink" the file during the conversion process to make it come out as something closer to a standard map size [or maybe something only larger than the CTP2 Gigantic map by a single order of magnitude]?

Is that what the "usage" line is in the converter? In which direction do you need to adjust the -1 to make the map shrink?
Fluffygreycat is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 11:33   #11
Locutus
Apolytoners Hall of FameCiv4 SP Democracy GameCiv4 InterSite DG: Apolyton TeamBtS Tri-LeagueC4BtSDG TemplarsC4WDG Team ApolytonCivilization IV CreatorsCTP2 Source Code ProjectPolyCast Team
Deity
 
Locutus's Avatar
 
Local Time: 11:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: De Hel van Enschede
Posts: 11,702
Hmm, it's a great map, but it would be incorrect to state that it's an accurate map of 300 BC, at least as far as the Netherlands goes. Half of what is the Netherlands today was part of the 'Waddensea' (not sure what the official English name is) 2000 years ago (and would still be today if it wasn't for our Deltaworks and dykes and everything). This map shows the shape of the Netherlands as it was no more than 50 years ago, not 2300 years ago, most of what is shown as forest should be shallows or whatever. On the whole scale of that huge map it's just a detail, but still...
Locutus is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 12:05   #12
Savant
Warlord
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: The Mountain Empire
Posts: 185
This map is gorgeous! Now, how can someone who wishes to use a portion of it in a scenario do so?

Do I open it in CTP2 and then copy and paste a section into a new map and then save that? Like for instance, if I wanted to make a scenario of Spain during the reconquista, do I:

1. open the full map into CTP2
2. use the map utilities in the editor to select the iberian peninsula
3. wipe the original map
4. paste the selected iberian portion into the blank map
5. save the map.

Is that right?

Merci

------------------
'Blood will run'
Savant is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 12:26   #13
Colonel Kraken
PtWDG Legoland
Warlord
 
Colonel Kraken's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Posts: 296
Hello Harlan,

I just wanted to let you know, that despite what many other people have said about your Alexander scenario, I thought it was great. It's fun, interesting, has great events, a great story line, and wonderful scenario specific modifications (e.g. only build certain units in certain cities).

Although there may be a few minor things to work out, you did a wonderful job and are to be commended.

Good Work!

(Are you the one who gave us the WWII units in CTP1? If so, those are great! Thanks.)

[This message has been edited by Colonel Kraken (edited December 06, 2000).]
Colonel Kraken is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 16:56   #14
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
Hi,
Of course there are ways to shrink and clip out parts of the map. That's what I did to make the Alexander map. The best way to do so is probably using PaintShopPro. I normally use PhotoShop for graphics, but PhotoShop seems to only want to save .bmp files as 24 bit, and the BMP2CTP2 program demands that they be in 8 bit. This is the trickiest thing that may make the program not work for you- make sure its in 8 bit format. Since PaintShopPro is a free download (for a trial period, at least), everyone should be able to use it.

A couple words of warning on the map. One: all rivers are displayed as Polar Mountain terrain type currently. Then one has to take these and convert them by hand to grassland (or whatever is the dominant terrain type around) and then paint river on top. Also, the Tundra type is currently actually Glacier as far as I know, because I was having trouble with getting the right shade of grey to work with the conversion program when it came to Tundra.

Also, if anyone is interested, I have a version of the map saved in .psd format, but its very large (about 2 MB, I think). This version is useful because the river data is saved in a seperate layer. So, if you're good at graphical manipulation, you can thin out or widen the river data (if you were making a very detailed map, such as Sardinia only, you'd want to thin out the river data, so a river came across as only a couple of pixels across, instead of 5 or 6 pixels wide. If you were making a map of a large area, you might want to widen the river data, to make sure enough of the rivers came through). The .psd version of the program as has data saved as Forested Hill and Taiga, in the hopes that someday we’ll be able to change some of the terrain graphics.

Anyways, to be a bit clearer to Savant, no, that isn't how you would do it if you wanted a map of the Iberian Peninsula. Instead, you would do all of your manipulation in PaintShopPro (or some such program).

1. Use that program to copy out just the Iberian Peninsula, and save it as a separate file.

2. Resize this new file to be as big or small as you want. Keep in mind that the conversion program will automatically double the horizontal dimension to make the dimensions appear correct within CTP2 (unless you use the -1 command when using the program). So if you make the Iberian Peninsula file 50 pixels by 50 pixels, it will become 50 by 100 squares in CTP2.

3. Make sure the file is saved as 8 bit, and uses the correct palatte. The easiest way to get this right is copy and paste into a preexisting file that has the right palatte and bit number already (such as the file testmap.bmp that comes with the program).

4. Now convert using the BMP2CTP2 map program.

5. Open this from within CTP2.
Harlan is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 17:12   #15
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
Oh,
Regarding Locutus' comment about the Netherlands. Since this map was made originally for the Alexander scenario, I focused on that part of the world especially (Med to India). Other parts I didn't put in the same amount of time. So for instance, far northern Siberia, I didn't slave over exactly where every bit of Tundra or Swamp was, and I certainly didn't look to see if the Tundra line was different several thousands of years ago. So the Netherlands falls somewhat in between- I cared, but didn't pursue it too deeply.

And Colonel Kraken,
Glad you like the scenario, but I promise it will be even better once I'm really finished with it. If you have any bugs to report, or info that could help with playbalancing, please let me know. And yeah, I'm the same guy who did the WW2 units in CTP1.
Harlan is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 18:37   #16
Savant
Warlord
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: The Mountain Empire
Posts: 185
OK. I just read your thorough description of the procedure Harlan. Now, may I take some aspirin and do a few shooters to kill this pain? :*

Me thinks my Ph.D. is in some unrelated area to computer graphics. Me thincks my head will hert moar if I tri to figer this out.

Better leave it to the chefs I say while I go and bus tables!



------------------
'Blood will run'
Savant is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 21:03   #17
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
Savant,
Nobody has taken me up on my offer to make an example map from the .bmp map image I made. So if you have some map you want but you can't bother with the converting, let me know. Make sure to include the dimensions you'd want, too.
Harlan is offline  
Old December 6, 2000, 23:17   #18
ThaddeusAlexander
Prince
 
ThaddeusAlexander's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Toronto, Canada (Canada's TRUE capitol :))
Posts: 309
I'm sorry about this, maybe i'm blind to the obvious, I don't know...I cannot get the program to work. How exactly do I convert and .bmp file? When I try to open the program, all i get is a quick flash of a black window that is probably (as far as I can make out) a DOS window. I unzipped everything correctly, but it just doesn't seem to want to work for me.

I'd love it if you could help me out...thanks
Good Gaming
Alex
ThaddeusAlexander is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 00:07   #19
Fluffygreycat
Settler
 
Local Time: 09:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Andover MA USA
Posts: 21
Thaddeus - I seem to have the same problem.

Is it a file pathway thing? Do we have to create a .bmp file with a certain pathway relative to the map utility first? Is this program creating a .txt file that we have to move to the CTP maps folder?

Sorry to be such an ignoramus. But I downloaded the map [and downloaded PaintshopPro and now have a scaled-down version of this map at 600*300] and I'm just concerned that I may have this file in a place where the DOS file can't find it. You aren't given the opportunity to select a source file or a destination file while the program is running; like the man said, you just see the flash of the black screen.
Fluffygreycat is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 00:08   #20
OmniGod
Civilization IV CreatorsCiv4 SP Democracy Game
Prince
 
OmniGod's Avatar
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Welland, ON
Posts: 751
Here's a thought Alex... maybe you have to use it in DOS?? I think somewhere in the readme file it tells you the commands required and that generally happens in DOS...

quote:


BMP to CTP2 Map Converter
-------------------------

Usage - bmp2ctp2.exe [-1] input.bmp output.txt

[-1] - [Optional] Flag for 1 to 1 conversion. The default behavior
is to skip every other horizontal pixel to retain the
proper aspect ratio. 1 to 1 conversion will not skip any
pixels.

input.bmp - Required The name of the BMP file to be converted
output.txt - Required The name of the CTP2 map file to be created


Just a thought...

And the resultant file minus .txt is the map... at least that's my understanding... do I win a prize Harlan?

Omni - apparently a 3599x1865 is too big for CTP

??? What is the maximum size, Harlan?
[This message has been edited by OmniGod (edited December 06, 2000).]
OmniGod is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 06:29   #21
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
I guess the official readme.txt is pretty much useless, now that I take a closer look at it. Here's the missing pieces, as far as I know.

- Start up DOS.
- Have the BMP file you're made in the same directory as the BMP2CTP2 .exe file.
- Have the DOS prompt line be that directory as well.
- Type: bmp2ctp2.exe [-1] input.bmp output.txt (with input.bmp and output.txt being the names you gave of the files.
- Start up CTP2
- In the chat window box, type in: /importmap output.txt
- The map should now be replaced with the map you've made

I may be forgetting something here, its been a while since I've done it (Don, any thing else?)

It may look hard, but really isn't. Takes a couple minutes, maximum.

You may also have to change the line in Const.txt saying how big each of the four map sizes are if your map is different from one of those map sizes. We had to do that in alpha and beta stages of the game, but maybe its something they were going to fix, I don't know.

PS- I have no idea how large too large is, but I'll bet good money someone out there is gonna find out soon.
Harlan is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 09:53   #22
Savant
Warlord
 
Local Time: 04:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: The Mountain Empire
Posts: 185
If you have the time and are willing, I'm grateful Harlan. It would be a great thing for me to have a map that accurately renders the mediteranean basin. I hope that such a map would also be popular for basing a variety of scenarios.

I guess the map specs would be large to gigantic to provide good detail of island and coastal features.

The map would include the following borders and be a flat map version.

North: Oslo Norway/St Petersburg so that all of Denmark and the baltic nations could be included. This would also include Ireland and Scotland, and a fair portion of Sweden. Specifically this would be 60 degrees Latitude North.

South: Sinai peninsula so that all of the Med coast of Africa is shown as far as Morocco and to the Persian Gulf. This would correspond to roughly 30 degrees Latitude North.

East: Would include the Caucasus mountains, all of Mesopotiamia and most of Western Persia. Specifically, this amounts to 50 degrees Longitude East. Something shy of this is good too, say 40 degrees but would cut out Persia and most of Mesopotamia and might limit it's use for ancient and more contemporary scenarios. The 50 degree version would probably be most useful for a wider set of scenarios.

West: Should include Portugal and Ireland, so this would correspond to roughly 10 degrees longitude West. A map that extends to 15 degrees would probably be better for WWI and WW2 scenarios as that would include some portion of the Atlantic for submarine warfare and the like. But for ancient and medieval scen's, the 10 degree limit would ve perfect. Either setting is great.

If this is do-able, let me know. I think it would be a frequently used map for purposes of historical scenarios. I think your terrain features as they currently stand are great and can be modified by individual scenario makers as they see fit based on the era - ancient, modern, etc. Personally, I'd like the Dutch to keep a foothold in Europe, so I would let them keep their reclaimed land even in 300 AD.



------------------
'Blood will run'
Savant is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 11:36   #23
skorpion59
Prince
 
Local Time: 03:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Posts: 716
A couple additional items:
1)When you start CtP2 to import the map into it, you must create a map the same size as the map you plan on importing.
2)The import map must be located in the [CtP2]\ctp2_program\ctp directory.


For example, if your input map is 70x140, you must start CtP2 with the standard Gigantic map size.

If your map is a custom size, you must specify this in the [CTP2]\ctp2_data\default\gamedata\const.txt file before starting CtP2. Say your map is 150x300. Change MAP_SIZE_GIGANTIC 70 140 2 to MAP_SIZE_GIGANTIC 150 300 2. Now start CtP2 with the Gigantic map size.

Once CtP2 is started, go into the Editor(cheat menu). Turn Fog of War off then clear the map(terrain and units). Wait a couple minutes for all the settlers to die off. Then hit the apostrophe key to bring up the Chat Window. Click on the Chat Window and type "/importmap mapname.ext"(minus the quotes). Mapname.ext is the name of your input map, it can be anything and doesn't even require an extension. When you see the map in the main window, click outside the Chat Window and hit apostrophe to close the Chat Window. Turn on Fog of War and then turn it back off and you now will also see the map in the miniwindow. Create your map scenario.

Helpful hints:
When you type "/importmap mapname.ext", 1 of 3 things will happen. 1)The map will show up in the main window, this is what you want. 2)No map and it says 'George Washington says (whatever you typed into the window)'. This means you typed the /importmap command wrong. Try it again and make sure it is forward slash. 3)No map and nothing happens. You typed the map name wrong, the map is not in the correct directory or most likely, the map size does not correspond to the current CtP2 map size.

To find out the size of an input map, open it with Notepad Plus (highly recommended but any text editor will work). The first line is the map size. NOTE: While this looks like a normal text file, it isn't. So don't change any of the comma-delimited fields.

Watch your map sizes carefully while manipulating and converting them. A 70x140 map is actually 70x70 tiles in CtP2 (thus the reason for having the -1 switch in the BmP2CtP2 program).

If I think of other Tips, I'll post them.
If you are having problems, email me or post here.
skorpion59 is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 11:40   #24
Nsae Comp
Chieftain
 
Nsae Comp's Avatar
 
Local Time: 10:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Atlantis, Bermuda
Posts: 54
Harlan can you send me the worldtest1.bmp as ctp2 map file, because in the readme there is no expaination how to make the bmp into a ctp2 mape file.

Or can you explain me how i can make the bmp with the bmptoctp2.exe into a ctp2 map file.

Thanks for any help i can get!



My e-mail is : NComp@gmx.net

------------------
Keep Smile and keep cleare in your head.
Everyone is its fate - and its environment - blacksmith
[This message has been edited by Nsae Comp (edited December 07, 2000).]
Nsae Comp is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 18:53   #25
skorpion59
Prince
 
Local Time: 03:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Posts: 716
Nsae,

Looks like our posts crossed in transit. I believe you should have all the info you need now. If not, let me know what part you are still having problems with.

If others are having problems understanding, converting, etc, please speak up. This is second nature to me so I might leave out key areas which need explained better.

Now who was writing all the Mod Guides....

[This message has been edited by skorpion59 (edited December 07, 2000).]
skorpion59 is offline  
Old December 7, 2000, 21:23   #26
Fluffygreycat
Settler
 
Local Time: 09:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Andover MA USA
Posts: 21
OK, the program works.

I have been able to resize 80% of the core area of the map down to 672*336, and have been able to import that map to CTP2.

Anything smaller than that becomes too "smashed" to show any detail [unless you are just going to cut out a section of the map, like the Mediterranean or the Far East, to craft your scenario].

Thank you very much for all of your assistance.

The only strange thing is that most of Northern Europe [I assume the forested parts] came out as kelp beds. Probably the colors are very close. No biggie - a nice outline of the coast of France and Germany in kelp was easy enough to tile over!
Fluffygreycat is offline  
Old December 8, 2000, 03:16   #27
Nsae Comp
Chieftain
 
Nsae Comp's Avatar
 
Local Time: 10:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Atlantis, Bermuda
Posts: 54
skorpion59
My problem is:
I can't start the bmptoctp2.exe, when i start the program it only pop's up shortly and then it is gone again.
Do you know what could be the reason why that is?

:|


------------------
Keep Smile and keep cleare in your head.
Everyone is its fate - and its environment - blacksmith
Nsae Comp is offline  
Old December 8, 2000, 04:40   #28
skorpion59
Prince
 
Local Time: 03:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Posts: 716
Yep, you are trying to run it in Windows which won't work (probably clicking on the exe from explorer).

This is a DOS program and has to be run from a DOS Prompt. There are many ways to get to the DOS Prompt. The 2 easiest (to expain) are Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt or Start, Run and then type in 'DosPrmpt.pif'.

Start would mean the Start Menu (hit ctrl-esc to open it). Once it is open, you will see both the Run and Programs entries.
skorpion59 is offline  
Old December 8, 2000, 05:36   #29
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
I've been mucking aroud with map making this evening, in hopes of making a map as per Savant's request. I learned that indeed, the forest of my map now is actually kelp bed. I figured out why, too. Apparently, Activision changed the terrain types slightly between last I checked and when the game was released. And good thing, too! A few colors play musical chairs (switch colors), leaving the last color, what was Coral Reef, now something called Special! Check it out in the Terrain.txt file: there are now two terrain types at the end of the file called Special1 and Special2.

I'm not at all sure what they are, but they're very welcome. When I tried painting terrain with the old Coral Reef color, something exactly the same as Grassland appears instead, but it has its own characteristics and stats, which you can change by editing the Terrain.txt file. Ditto for Special2, but I'm not sure what the right color for that is if you want to import it. According to the text file, Special2 currently looks like Desert. Can one change what these look like by changing the Tileset Index line of the Terrain.txt file? Hmm.

This creates some interesting possibilities for mods and so forth- a little bit of flexibility until when or if they allow one to change the terrain graphics willy nilly (Mr. Ogre has promised to do that when his plate of work cleared up). For instance, one could have good Grassland and not so good, just like in Civ2.
Harlan is offline  
Old December 8, 2000, 06:27   #30
Harlan
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
 
Local Time: 01:55
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 1,053
Savant,
I now have your map for you. However, I still don't have your email, so I can't send it to you- let me know what that is.

It may not be exactly what you requested, because I wanted to make a map that would exactly correspond with the gigantic size (70 by 140). This meant it had to be square, so I had to include all of Scandinavia and not so much Atlantic Ocean. However, the map is in a very rough state (you need to convert the rivers, connect the dots on where rivers didn't come through too well, and tidy things up generally) so if you want it some other way let me know. It should only take me an extra 10 minutes of so to pop another one out having a different cut on Europe, now that I've gone this far. (The main difficulty is to make sure just the right amount of river comes through for the proper scale- I have a way of widening or narrowing them before I convert to CTP2 format).

By the way, Fluffygreycat, for the conversion process, Forest is now completely black. Swamp is also a slightly different shade. I'll post an improved terrain color guide once I know them all, but it will take some investigating to figure out what the colors are for the two I don't know: Dead Tile and Special2.
Harlan is offline  
 

Bookmarks

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:55.


Design by Vjacheslav Trushkin, color scheme by ColorizeIt!.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Apolyton Civilization Site | Copyright © The Apolyton Team