Any News on New Map Format?

Any News on New Map Format?

Discuss maps & map creation - from concept to execution to the ever elusive release.

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aGorm
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Any News on New Map Format?

Post by aGorm »

Hay, anyone like SY or Buggi got any news on how the New map tools and format are coming along?? I'm super intrested to know. How far has anyone got with it? Or has no-one got anywere (in which case why NOT!)

aGorm
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aGorm
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Post by aGorm »

hay... someone get some info on this...

aGrom
colorblind
Spring Developer
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Post by colorblind »

You can check the CVS if you like: http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/s ... ortby=date

About a week ago Isokron posted a new mapconv for the nearly finished new map format. But no map changes have been made to the /rts branch so far ...
In short: I too don't have a clue what progress has been made. Perhaps one of the SY will be willing to give us some information.
SJ
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Post by SJ »

The new map format is more or less finished although i havent commited it yet since it will break all old maps.
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Tim Blokdijk
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Post by Tim Blokdijk »

Hope the new map format has some good inprovements!
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munch
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Breaking old maps

Post by munch »

SJ wrote:The new map format is more or less finished although i havent commited it yet since it will break all old maps.
Hang on a sec are you saying the engine won't support both old and new map formats? If so will there be a converter to convert old map format maps to new map format maps?

TIA

Munch
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FLOZi
MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
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Post by FLOZi »

Does the NMF work in the same way or is it entirely different?
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aGorm
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Post by aGorm »

Ah, Ok. Will they compile off the same files though... so i can just re-complie my old ones?

Can you also tell us what is included extra?

thanks

aGorm
SJ
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Post by SJ »

The two main new things that will be visible to map creators is that you can now share textures between maps to reduce file sizes and there is now a terrain type concept. Terrain types currently controls 5 variables: hardness(modify how much terrain is affected by explosios etc ), tankspeed, kbotspeed, hoverspeed and shipspeed (the speeds is multipliers applied after consideration have been taken of slopes etc). But since they are defined in the smd file it will be easy to bind more variables to terrain types later.

Also there is some internal changes to make it easier to avoid breaking the map format in the future when new stuff is added.

The maps are created in the exactly same way using mapconv and soon i guess Buggis version of it. So it should just be to recompile them if you have saved the source images.
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aGorm
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Post by aGorm »

Cool, do you know if you changed the way height map data was stored to make the file size smaller? (I seem to remember somthing like that)

And are there still going to be no feature support??

aGorm
Warlord Zsinj
Imperial Winter Developer
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Post by Warlord Zsinj »

Frankly I don't think breaking all the maps is such a bad thing.

All the good maps which have had time and effort put into them will be converted to the new format, and we will, by virtue of "survival of the fittest" lose the ones which were rather average, and only released in the general excitement of the arrival of Spring.

I call it... Spring Cleaning! :P
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aGorm
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Post by aGorm »

I agree... Also, it means I'll be able to twek up all my maps to make them that bit better.

Another thing will the NMF let you go above 500 height without erroring and making that nastly hole in the ground effect.

aGorm
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munch
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Post by munch »

Warlord Zsinj wrote:Frankly I don't think breaking all the maps is such a bad thing.

All the good maps which have had time and effort put into them will be converted to the new format, and we will, by virtue of "survival of the fittest" lose the ones which were rather average, and only released in the general excitement of the arrival of Spring.

I call it... Spring Cleaning! :P
LOL =) The only problem is...

It's taken me (and presumably other dialup users too) literally weeks to d/l all the maps I currently have...

Good to hear that the new format is fairly future proof though - nice one SJ =)

Munch
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aGorm
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Post by aGorm »

Ahh, but u'll only have to re-download the ones you like. Not the ones that turned out crap...

aGorm
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munch
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Post by munch »

aGorm wrote:Ahh, but u'll only have to re-download the ones you like. Not the ones that turned out crap...

aGorm
LOL - just yours then eh? (just kidding) Actually I find I need as many as possible because otherwise what happens is this:

I go into a battleroom and they have a map that some of the players don't have (including me). The other guys d/l it there and then, and I say "it'll be done in an hour", and I miss out on getting a game.

This was less of a problem with 0.50 because I could host games back then, so I could pick the maps myself, but since 0.51 came out I've been unable to host games - it all looks OK until the actual game starts - I arrive in the game but nobody else does =(

Munch
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Gabba
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Post by Gabba »

SJ wrote:and there is now a terrain type concept. Terrain types currently controls 5 variables: hardness(modify how much terrain is affected by explosios etc ), tankspeed, kbotspeed, hoverspeed and shipspeed (the speeds is multipliers applied after consideration have been taken of slopes etc). But since they are defined in the smd file it will be easy to bind more variables to terrain types later.
That's great news! Thanks SJ and all the team. :-)
Warlord Zsinj
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Post by Warlord Zsinj »

I'm on 56k. As soon as I heard there were going to be a new map format, I stopped downloading them.
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zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
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Post by zwzsg »

Isn't it possible to support two maps format?

Althought many map are really low quality, it would be a shame to have all the 65 maps suddenly become unuseable, and I guess people who put lots of time and effort into maps will get sick, while people who do poor quick mapping will just continue to make low quality maps. (No names here, believe what you want.)

Could you quickly had someting so the map maker have more control over what terrain is passable and what is no? I'd like to make 45° ramps passable, and other part impassable, and I'd like deep crater made ingame not to become impassable?
Last edited by zwzsg on 15 Jul 2005, 17:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Min3mat
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Post by Min3mat »

"I'd like to make 45° ramps passable, and other part impassable"
make it 46 degrees then! 8)

and I'd like deep crater made ingame not to become impassable?
wtf...you want adeep crater to be passable??? make the sides not greater than 45 degrees then!!! :? just make it very big :S
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zwzsg
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Post by zwzsg »

I mean the craters created by explosions. Before, craters would slow down units, but not stop them, and it was good. Now, if you shoot at an immobile tank, the crater below it quickly reach it a deepness which makes the tank trapped, unable to move, and that is bad.

Someone once fired a few shots in front of my gantry, and the coming out krogoth would get trapped and jam the factory. It's just way too easy to trap heavy units in craters right now, and the battlefront becomes too easily impassable.
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