Large map issues

[zalpha]

I've been working on a game that does not require map textures, only a metal map, used for procedural placement of neutral units (planets) against a starry skybox.

My issue is that Mapconv seems to give out on larger maps (32x32 and bigger). Larger than 32x32, it just freaks out and claims that it is trying to open a distorted filename, and that the heightmap should be 1x1.

At 32x32, it merely says that the application requeted the runtime to terminate in an unusual way and to contact the support team.

So far, I tried 32x32, 40x40, and 64x40. The texture map is pure transparency.

Has anyone had any luck with larger maps? What is the maximum size the software can handle?

[Cheesecan]

See the solution suggested in this thread.

[smoth]

I have done 30+ it is too big too heavy on memory and cpu. Imo that large is a waste of time

[Cheesecan]

+1

new mappers want to make the best map evur, and think huge map size is the way.

[smoth]

sad part is people like arturi, behe and myself have raised the visuals bar pretty damn high, I think forb has made ERRY layout possible by now and there just isn't a way to show up and make a best evar without massive gl knowledge or HUGE amounts of work.

[Cheesecan]

You guys put a lot of effort into visuals, sure the bar is higher now. But focus on gameplay is worse. Beherith maps are like old records, played to death and now people want new maps. Your world machine maps look very nice but the gameplay is not ideal for BA.

Make a map that plays well in BA & ZK, not breathtaking but decent looks, and I'm sure people will play it.

[smoth]

Yep. I won't deny that

[Kloot]

At 32x32, it merely says that the application requeted the runtime to terminate in an unusual way and to contact the support team.

So far, I tried 32x32, 40x40, and 64x40. The texture map is pure transparency.

Has anyone had any luck with larger maps? What is the maximum size the software can handle?

You need a 64-bit build of mapconv to reliably compile such large maps.

You need a 64-bit build of Spring to reliably load such large maps.

You need a 64-bit build of whatever operating system you use to be able to run either.

http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26301 (last two pages)
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=23502
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=21143
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=21231

[Neddie]

sad part is people like arturi, behe and myself have raised the visuals bar pretty damn high, I think forb has made ERRY layout possible by now and there just isn't a way to show up and make a best evar without massive gl knowledge or HUGE amounts of work.

Yeah, the visuals arms race really undercut my enthusiasm for mapping. Most of my early maps were textured manually in GIMP or MS Paint, and then when I got L3DT the standards were already advancing far beyond what that application could do.

[Forboding Angel]

I disagree about l3dt. It is perfectly capable of doing very advanced texturing, plus, SSMF is the great equalizer when it comes to modern maps. You can have a really basic texture and make it look amazing with ssmf.

[zalpha]

Well, here was my solution.

I created a flat heightmap, and set the water level to be slightly higher. I set voidwater in the mapinfo.

I created a skybox from Hubble's extreme deep field image (5kx40k pixels. That was fun to work with.)

I created three sizes for each map: 12x12, 16x16, and 24x24.

The textures are used solely for minimap (Working on eliminating the texture altogether and just having a minimap put in independently).

The metalmap is used to generate placement of neutral planets which can be conquered during the game. Each planet can build a drydock, a colony, a base, and a mining facility. They are autoplaced around the planet.

I am working on changing the planet distribution into a modified poisson disk distribution to make them less gridlike. (The game hung if I dropped the placement to smaller than a 256x256 grid)

In the end, it will be a decent 4X game.

[FLOZi]

Sounds really interesting zalpha, I think Space RTS has been under developed on Spring, especially since KingRaptor and KDR_11k stopped working on THIS.

[Google_Frog]

I was able to load and run the 40x40 map Epic. That was years ago with 32 bit everything.