How to modify borders on an existing map

Cernel

@davor-pavlić said in How to modify borders on an existing map:

@thedog

My main goal would be to move TT borders yes, however i don't think i would change any ownerships (atleast not for now), just readjust the existing TT lines.

If you could provide some guide if it exists on how do that or where i can learn that i would really appreciate it, after all i wouldn't only do it for myself but for the community too of course.

Thanks for replying!

If you are just redrawing borders (neither adding nor removing any zones) and are fine with trashing the relief tiles and possibly other graphic content, what you want to do is actually very simple: all you need to do should normally be (in this sequence)

getting the base map image by running the Tile Image Reconstructor,
redrawing the base map image with an image editor (like GIMP),
running the Center Picker with the new base map image unless all centres are still good enough for you (This is actually never strictly necessary, but having the centre at least within the zone is good for the visual and helpful when running the Polygon Grabber.),
running the Polygon Grabber with the new base map image,
running the Automatic Placement Finder with the new base map image,
deleting all images in the "baseTiles" folder and
running the Tile Image Breaker on the new base map image saving the created file into the "baseTiles" folder.

If you want to do more, things will likely get much more complex.

Cernel

If the map has a "reliefTiles" folder, delete it unless it is fine after you've redrawn the borders (which is unlikely). Firstly simply start the map which you have modified as I've described and see for yourself if the map is better for you with or without "Show Map Details". If it is better without, delete the folder, otherwise do not.

Davor Pavlić

@cernel @TheDog

Regarding the Tile Image Reconstructor, i open it up and it tells me to choose a folder where the tile images are located, should i navigate to some specific folder, or is a default destination good (c:\Program Files\TripleA)? I guess i need to choose the tiles for the specific map, but im sure where to navigate.
Next step is saving an image png and then entering an image's width and height in pixels, how do i find out the exact dimensions of the map i want to modify?

Thanks for the help, im not sure how many questions i'll have, im a complete noob to map making

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
copy this into your file manager, the %username% is a DOS command to substitute your userid into the path, assuming you did a default install.

C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps

the file manger path to iron wars baseTiles is
C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\map\baseTiles

the file manger path to iron wars reliefTiles is
C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\map\reliefTiles

The map dimensions are held in the map.properties file held here
C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\map
They are
map.width=12001
map.height=5239

You will have hundreds of questions just keep going.

ps. TripleA cannot understand %username%, this must be replaced the real users name.

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

I've found where the baseTiles are, however it doesn't show anything in downloaded maps when i use Tile Reconstructor. I have loads of stuff downloaded in downloadedmaps but the TripleA Tile Reconstructor shows the folder as blank and i can't choose anything.

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
Make a copy of the original iron_war as we will be over-writing the it.

where it says
C:\Program Files\TripleA

overwrite that text with
C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\map\baseTiles
EDIT: where %username% is replaced by the real user name

then press Enter
then save the file to your desktop, so you know where is, then cut/paste to here, so outside of the map folder
C:\Users\%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

Okay i think i got it, assuming that the png is supposed to be all just empty black.

What is the next step? Editing the png in GIMP/Photoshop?

TheDog

@davor-pavlić said in How to modify borders on an existing map:

What is the next step? Editing the png in GIMP/Photoshop?

Yes, put it on white background and it should show the TT outlines and have a blue sea TT colour.

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

Hmm, i don't have anything on the map, i probably messed up when i copied original iron_war, maybe it's because its zipped? Should i unzip everything?

So to recap everything i did :
-Made a copy of iron_war in DownloadedMaps, still zipped
-Opened the tile Reconstructor and navigated to the files of the copied iron_war
-Saved a png to desktop, and copy pasted it to the copied iron_war folder
-Opened a png and it was empty, nothing on it.

TheDog

@Davor-Pavlić
Are you using 2.6 ?
As I have just tried using 2.6 and it fails.

However using 2.5 and it works as intended.

Davor Pavlić

@thedog i am using 2.5.2

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
Yes unzip everything and remove the zip from the downloads folder.

Keep trying the reconstruction, but if you get bored, here is the file you are after.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lD24jpT1jdBuCAJRafjvnm4W4BJ_riWi/view?usp=sharing

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

Alright ill unzip it, didn't know i had to.

That's enough for today, ill use this thread to spam questions as i go on. Thanks for the amount of help, appreciate it

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
I think I have resolved the issue.
In TripleA map tools you cannot use the variable %username% as your username, you must change this to your real username.

I will amend my posts when you confirm this for later readers.

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

I think you are right. Whenever i copied your entire destination with variable %username% the png was empty. I decided to just abandon experimenting with that for now and just used your png file that you provided.

I have also played a bit with the png and came up with these borders for 1939 so far.

No zone is deleted or added, the TT number is the same, only the borders were changed to include full Poland, Albania and Yugoslavia. I guess 'Croatia' zone would have to be renamed to Yugoslavia in future, but that's not what ill focus on right now.

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
As you will realise the relief TT now do not match the changed baseTiles.

You could try and reconstruct the reliefTiles with your new information.

If you have Illustrator or Inkscape
https://inkscape.org/release/inkscape-1.2.1/
That is software with layers and vectors you can quickly see the difference and work out what to change in GIMP/Photoshop.

When the graphics are done, then you have to sort out the code like in Cernels post.
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3337/how-to-modify-borders-on-an-existing-map/9?page=1
That is Centers, Polygons, Place(ment).

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

I've downloaded Inkscape and opened my modified map.png. How do i reconstruct relief tiles from here?

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
Same method as for the baseTiles

the file manager path to iron wars reliefTiles is
C:\Users%username%\triplea\downloadedMaps\iron_war\map\reliefTiles

TripleA path is as above but your actual username

Then load into Inkscape or maybe GIMP if it supports layers.

If you are using Inkscape, this might be use, if you have not seen it
https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/3318/easier-map-making-with-inkscape-reusable-art-assets

Davor Pavlić

@thedog

Alright, so let me make sure i understand.

So what i need to do is open the blank map in Inkscape and trace the reliefTiles over the blank map?

I'm not very sure how that is done exactly, im kind of overwhelmed by the whole reliefTile thing lol

I understand what you mean by layers but im confused how to do that, im not familiar with inkscape.

TheDog

@davor-pavlić
For your purposes Inkscape is just a viewer, it is much more, but its a quick method for seeing the changes you have made.

baseTiles are required for TripleA to play the game.
reliefTiles are not needed by TripleA, but they look good on the human eye and they sit visually on top of the baseTiles.

Lets assume you have done the baseTiles correctly, you then need to change the reliefTiles.
To see the changes in game you would have to

make the changes on the reliefTiles
break the big png into smaller tiles,
load TripleA
load the game
check the changes
repeat until correct

.
Using Inkscape as a viewer

make the changes on the reliefTiles
Load the big relief png on top of the big baseTiles png
check the changes
repeat until correct

So the Inkscape cycle is a lot shorter and quicker.
Then you just once;

break the big png into smaller tiles,
load TripleA
load the game
check the changes

Does this make sense?