Tips of Map Making

[Schulz]

I've been away for a long time and want to learn the current state of map making.

• Is there any practical limit for map lengths? Like, does it become buggy or laggy after exceeding a certain pixel limit?

• To make more room for unit placements, is it better to enlarge the map or shrink the unit size and make players zoom in?

• Are 48px images at 100% zoom still optimal?

• Can AI make relief tiles now?

• Any interesting features or conveniences added in recent years regarding map making?

[TheDog]

@Schulz

Is there any practical limit for map lengths? Like, does it become buggy or laggy after exceeding a certain pixel limit?

see here
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/699/terra-firma-1939/19
He say 22,000 x 9,000.
....1941 Global Command Decision is 16816 x 8085 Black_Elk said that was about the limit of his PC, IIRC with 16GB, at the time of making the map. So yes laggy greater than this. At some point he used Inkscape for the baseTiles, see here
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3318/easier-map-making-with-inkscape-reusable-art-assets
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Are 48px images at 100% zoom still optimal?

No, I would say 72x54px unit images at 100% is optimal
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Can AI make relief tiles now?

Dont know.
.

Any interesting features or conveniences added in recent years regarding map making?

isAI is new xml function are you familiar its function?
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[Schulz]

@TheDog said:

isAI is new xml function are you familiar its function?

I'm not familiar with it yet.

How do we know 72x54px is the best? Is it because this is the maximum size for a unit image? I tend to prefer square dimensions though, but I guess 54x54 is also good then?

[TheDog]

@Schulz
In simple terms isAI, in effect is a one liner of xml, that tests for an an AI player and that lets the map maker use triggers to enhance the human players experience.
The player does not have to select/tick any boxes but just play, yay.

Search for isAI in 1941 Global Command Decision.xml for its usage.

To see 72x54px in use, checkout 1888A Steam and Steel and judge for yourself.
It allows a lot of graphical latitude, ship, aircraft, tanks and infantry all look good in this rectangle, just my humble opinion.

Yes 54x54px would work. But 1941 Global Command Decision flags have true aspect ratio dimensions and just look the business.

Also some of the ship icons in 1941 GCD are 92x54px, these look awesome, thanks Frostion.

[Schulz]

@TheDog

Thank you for your helps.

I mean, is there any difference between going with 48px and then zooming in on the map vs going with 54px and then zooming out? Because zoomed-out 54px looks better than zoomed-in 48px?

I'm very impressed with 1941 Global Command Decision. How good is the AI in this map? I used to know it wasn't very good and couldn't recognize even some basic rules beyond simple rule sets. I'm especially wondering about its handling of upkeep, terrain, and diplomacy.

[beelee]

@Schulz

Hi Schultz

I suggest the larger size. This from Elk's UHD map with mostly Frostion units at 52 or 54. I can't remember. Zoom is at 60 so you can still see a good chunk of the map itself

Here zoom at 100

[TheDog]

@schulz

I mean, is there any difference between going with 48px and then zooming in on the map vs going with 54px and then zooming out? Because zoomed-out 54px looks better than zoomed-in 48px?

Politicians answer. My logic goes like this, 2 & 4K screens have lots of pixels and as tech advances they will have more, this means that the standard 48x48px unit gets smaller and smaller on these screens, so now we need to draw the biggest unit icons we can and this is 54px high, width can be lots, lets say up to 96px wide.
Another current hard parameter is 200% zoom.

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How good is the AI in this map?

I will make an outrageous claim and say its the best AI you will play against. but I would say that wouldn't I.
This map is written for solo play, Black_Elk & I spent ages play testing against the AI.
The forum for GCD has 1.8 million views, so players must think its worth looking at.

Also I like to think I know how the AI works, if that's possible, see here
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3743/how-to-make-a-map-ai-friendly

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handling of upkeep

Resources are calculated at the being of the players turn, thanks to wc_sumpton. This means losses and gains of TT/SZ and no of units is all done at the start of the players turn.

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handling of terrain & weather

It all appears to work as intended, play it and judge for yourself.

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diplomacy

Has not changed, its all still random, so 1941 GCD does not have any politics, its all scripted. However for FFA maps 1888A has "get impending winners", a set of triggers that forces the AI players to take a step closer to war/fighting the impending winners.