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Skullz's Projects And Betas

Discussion in 'Projects' started by skullz613, Aug 30, 2014.

  1. Kurtis Edwards

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    I had a hunch that was the case. I mean, why would you guys purposely do that to peeps. hahaha
     
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  2. ronrn

    ronrn Governor

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    If you get a spare moment, would you mind taking a look at this thread?
    Cities XXL Map Editor ...Q/A
    comment #13
     
  3. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    Today is the day I have thrown myself into the new XXL Map Editor. I have started to practice using an existing map I have done as I will not need to do to much to it. I just need to learn the process first before I launch myself into the finer details of the editor.
    I hope I can sort out the Google layer also so it can show just as well as it does in the XL maps.
     
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  4. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    Well I've been mucking around with the XXL Map Editor all day and found to make a map is pretty simple. Apart from when I tested the test building and somehow it saves in the config of the map then causes an error in game because it does not exist, grrrrrr......
    Getting one with a Google layer on it is a bit of a mission. I think I'm on the right path though.
    XXLMapGM.jpg

    Hopefully it will work but is a long winded mission to get it where is is now like the above screenshot.
     
  5. ronrn

    ronrn Governor

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    Excellent. So much better than any of my overlay results.:cool:
    Hope you let us in on the process.
    Did you use the landscaping tools to form the terrain or import an R32 or 8bit?
     
  6. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    It was trial and error then a bit of guess work. I first mucked around with importing a r32 output from world machine that I had already done as a XL map. I had to think about where the colormap ends up in the old editor and realized it had to be in the land file produced by it.
    I loaded the .land file and ended up with the Google overlay showing.

    The issue I first had was that the r32 file and google overlay were backwards because XL flips the map so that's why we do them backwards.
    I rebuilt the r32 file around the correct way and flipped the colormap. I then loaded the saved mep file (old Map Editor save format) for the old XL map and loaded the new r32 file and colormap (all the other files, layers etc... were still OK). I changed the height of the land again and made it semi high but I don't think I needed to. I then saved the file structure so I could get the land file.
    I then imported the updated r32 file from world machine and the new land file into the new editor. I adjusted the land height then tried the water. That is how far I got but I'm not 100% sure on what the new editor will do once the map is saved.

    Does the map have to be backwards like we do in the old editor?
    I have not seen any thing in the new editor documentation to say that the map gets flipped once in game.

    I did not test the first test map I made. XXL crashed because the test building got saved in the settings somewhere. I need to start again tomorrow.

    I have noticed that the instructions on Steam have extra things that have not been done in the latest XXL maps in the resource area.
    I unpacked one of yours and noticed you used the old lua file setup. Even Monty used the older method. I have not seen anyone talk about the new lua scripts and the new slot files. No one has questioned what focus have told us to do and what we are doing with those files.
     
  7. ronrn

    ronrn Governor

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    The colormap, or heightmap as I like to call it, has to be rotated 180 degrees in order for the map and shadows to have proper orientation in the game.

    Those instructions were confusing to me. I kinda assumed that they were just generic copies of instructions from the XL map making process, and just took from them what I could.

    So, if I understand correctly, the overlay above was accomplished by using an existing XL map .land file?
     
  8. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    Yes that's what I did. Did not think it would work but got a nice surprise.

    I will check out that rotation thing. Think I read about that somewhere in the forums.
     
  9. ronrn

    ronrn Governor

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    You may have seen it here:
    Cities XXL Map Editor ...Q/A

    There are a few more tips there.
    I've been trying to motivate some conversations and spark some interest there too.
    I guess there aren't many folks interested in making maps.
     
  10. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    I think the map process is a bit too much for some members. If you have played around with modding stuff before it's a bit easier to understand. When I first started making XL maps I had no idea what I was doing at first. Funky helped me a lot thankfully.

    I had a look through the XXL and XL unpacked data but did not find much regarding those numbers at the end of each line in the lua file. Some are repeated though across different maps. Somewhere in the data could be a reference to them, we will just have to keep looking.
     
  11. ronrn

    ronrn Governor

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    Placing a map overlay on a "layer" image in the \data\gfx\landscape\layers results in that resources game shade/color washing out the overlay map. I thought if these shades/colors could be modified an overly would show clearly.
    Anyways, I thought it might be possible that these numbers could govern the shade/color of these resource overlays.
    p.s. Using a map as a texture in the map editor gives poor results also. At a 1 tile setting the map kinda dissapears. At a 2 or more tile setting, the map shows clearly, but of course, a tiled map is useless.
     
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  12. luis diogo

    luis diogo Elite

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    That map is looking amazing. Good Luck. Hope you manage to make it alive.
     
  13. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    I have updated the patch XLN_nicko_skl_farmOrchard_No_Buildings_No_Road to 1.3
    I was checking my log and found I had missed the layout files. The patch still worked but was filling up the log with errors.
    See this post.
    Skullz's Projects And Betas
     
  14. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    And another one I made a boo boo with.
    XXL_Monty_SKL_Ind_Farms is now 1.1
    Yip the layout files were missing from this one as well. See the following link.
    Skullz's Projects And Betas
     
  15. Kurtis Edwards

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    Can I make a request? I would really love an empty plaza 'lawn' of the livestock area as forest w/out trees, the wooded forest area w/out trees, and the wooded forest area dry w/out trees.

    Are there already matches that I am overlooking? It would be really helpful to have these when trying to shade in different densities of forest to make realistic areas.
     
  16. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    I did one for the livestock area as I use it all the time for my grass areas. Its just the grass texture and no trees.
    Plazas - Livestock Farm Filler
    Not sure if it shows in the XXL menu though.
    As for the other two you are after, I don't think I have made plazas using the textures from the normal and dry wooded forests. I will see how I go today and if I get time I will see what I can come up with.
     
  17. Kurtis Edwards

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    No, the farm filler doesn't show up in XXL. I do have that mod in my folder, though. Thanks for taking a look at what you can make w/the other requests. Hopefully, this camera fix works. I really, really do not want to go back to the ginormous trees from 'Lex total greenery package.' Plus, I like a smaller plaza menu...
     
  18. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    I have not forgotten about your request. I've been busy with other projects and life but will look at the plazas this week.
     
  19. Kurtis Edwards

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    Awesome, dude. Thanks.
     
  20. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    As asked by @Sacha (who has been hounding just about every modder here) I have possibly updated the metro and busline mod for XXL.
    I have not tested it and can't at the moment so if anyone's game enough to test, let me know if it works.
     

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