How I make my maps. ~ BDH

[makanyane]

hungarian, you might have more luck getting answer to new problem if you post a new thread describing what you have done and your current problem in this forum:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=275
which is for M2TW (you're in a RTW based thread at the moment).
Whilst mapping for both games is similar the dreaded 'unspecified error' is peculiar to M2TW

[Ravenblade]

Just started making a brand new map (and also my first map) and the link for the base terrain map given doesnt appear to be working for me
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/LCC/
EDIT: Link working now

Also is there any guides which give a step by step walk through for making a totally brand new map? I cant find anything which goes step by step through the process of making a new map to getting it into the game. Think once id get a map in game Myrddraal's Mapping Essentials covers most of the rest

Thanks

[MasterOfNone]

The first site listed hangs and fails when trying to download, but if you search around you'll see a link to a mirror site in Japan which does not have that problem.

Also, as the above poster mentions, the last link (to the terrain maps) does not work. I cannot seem to find a mirror or alternative. Has anyone else? Thx.

[Immortal]

You seem to know how to map great. I was wondering if you could make a map for my mod. PM me if your interested. And if you want to know more about my mod go to.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...13#post2723513

[Clovis I]

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.

Which file? where is it?

[Miraj]

The high res images you can download on the right hand side of the site.


Btw, everyone should rep the OP - his method is the bomb! I used it to make BC's map

[Clovis I]

Can you have a turtorial for using Photo shop with this and the terrains, cause I don't understand how to use!

[A.P]

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.

Do you have to order the data from this sight or is there another way?

[daxter]

order?

well I guess you just click on the areas to download

you don`t need them all
I`m still loking at the tutorial

you should start a new thread

[Starvin Marvin]

HI when i use 3dem program i select my file then i press open at the bottom it says reading GOTP3 file then it does nothing and just asks me t select the file again.

[atraps]

HI when i use 3dem program i select my file then i press open at the bottom it says reading GOTP3 file then it does nothing and just asks me t select the file again.

This is because you selected an area outside of the tile you downloaded. If you select an area between 2 tiles you need to download both tiles and load the second tile when it asks you for it.

For example,

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You cant select this area,

When you only have this tile.

Yea it took me awhile to understand this step too, and im completely lost with the terrain step.

BDH, your mapping tutorial is one of the best, but its a bit hard to understand, maybe you can make a new one that explains more clearly and step by step.

If your still around...

[♔Charles the Bold♔]

Thanks for the tutorial BDH. but i can't seem to work out how to use the tif files,:hmmm::hmmm: are they supposed to open in windows pictures viewer please help me 'cause i'm kindof a noob.

[JohanRegus]

Good post.

[Göteborgare]

Anyone care to update this guide?
The NASA link doesnt work, i am getting a 404.

*edit*

And in the 3dem program, is it possible to pic a map from directly above?
It is kinda useless otherwise.

[SiamWarrior]

~oh goddamit, just take note to be patient and never send out too many pms at once :laughing: ~
~and for a more interesting read http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialect...hp%3Ft%3D39035 ~
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 :laughing:

Could'nt you load the map into the TIME Trivium Map Editor once you have all the data you need together in one folder ?

[Odoaker]

Hello, to bdh.

I like learning mapping. But your second link in your tutorial seems to be dead: http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/3dem.html The server is closed, since a very while.
Please help me, by learning mapping! Where I can find this program now, or where do I find an appropriate not muddled tutorial, for learning mapping?
Hope, you will help me.

Greetings by your community member
Odoaker

[Ramashan]

Personally, and this may not be how this tutorial works, but all you need is a graphic editing program of some sort. I prefer Photoshop because its a program I am comfortable with, but most use a free program called Gimp. It works just as well and will allow you to do mapping.

The best thing to do when learning mapping is just try to get a simple one color heights, one color ground type, one color climates, limited regions, and no features map to load up.

[Odoaker]

Thank you a lot, Ramashan!

At first, if I was unpolite to bdh, I will say sorry! This was not my intention!
Yes, Gimp do I know and work a little while with it. So during the last days I have already used Gimp since I read your post just now.
But I started learning mapping with modding a map for a knew mod, I like to develop. Okay, I know it's presumptious to learn it by this way! Because I know nothing about modding, beside manipulating the dscr_strat.txt
But I like it instead. Learning by doing is the device, by Myrddraal's tutorial: "Making a new campaign map." All things gone well.
But I've a question there: When I like to edit some coastlines at an existing map, I get a problem: How to match one new coastline by the different files, that they all have exact the identical edited coastline? When I edit it by map_regions.tga do I have the same by map_heights.tga and map_ground_types.tga? If yes, how to do so?

[Odoaker]

Ah, maybe I've found a mapping tutorial, which might has the answer of my question. I will create the map files new...

[Ramashan]

I'm not familiar at all with how Gimp works, so, you'll have to figure out your own way. But, how I approach it, is to have a separate layer for each file; ground types, climate, heights, and regions; in one document. This way I can simply adjust the opacity and use one layer as a reference for the next.

SO, if you want to match up coastlines. you build your continent and water on the heights layer, then select all the blue(water) click on your layer for the regions, select the appropriate water color for this file, and fill. Now, you have a regions and heights that's exactly the same. Then do the same for the ground types layer.

You just have to remember that when you save out the layers, you have to resize the map_regions to the proper size.

Sorry to spam up this thread with an alternative technique.