Image overlay in map editor?

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Image overlay in map editor? - 12/11/2017 6:58:30 AM

JPJ

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I don't know if this appeals to many but for the kind of small maps I sometimes make for myself I would like the possibility to display a Google map or aerial photograph (= an image file) under the map grid in the Scenario Editor, so that I can see it while I plan and create my map on top of it. I wonder if that is possible?

Ideal would be with a slider to control the transparency of the image to show/hide it through my hex map so that I can compare them overlaid.

I can overlay maps with other maps/pictures/grids on paper and in 3rd party software but would like it if a simple overlay is also possible in the game editor itself while I work on a map there.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/11/2017 7:03:02 PM

Nicholas Bell

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I'll second that suggestion.

What you describe is how the map editor for all John Tiller's games work. Makes it simple. Having to refer to a separate monitor or paper print out of a map with a hexgrid overlaid is a real hassle. Makes me wonder how the folks who made the maps for FITE, Dir 21, Normandy to the Ruhr etc maintained their sanity. My hat is off to them.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/11/2017 8:39:36 PM

Lobster

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That would quite probably require an entire rewrite of the graphics end of the game top to bottom.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 12:39:10 PM

Lobster

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I use ODD for my map making needs.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 3:02:41 PM

JPJ

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Right... thanks for the pointers.
I do it my way too and will look into those.

We have transparent panels in TOAW, and regardless the editor is a bit different still I was dreaming it would be great to show a map image or aerial picture in a transparent panel over (or under) the map editor while I work on my map there...

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 4:43:38 PM

Lobster

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I've wished for something like that forever.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 7:32:18 PM

bde4soldier223

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What is odd?

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 7:46:01 PM

Oberst_Klink

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quote:

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

What is odd?

Opart Design & Debug Utility

By one of the most renown (and beholden!) member of the community - Curt Chambers himself.

Klink, Oberst

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 7:58:36 PM

bde4soldier223

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Thanks

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 8:16:20 PM

Oberst_Klink

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quote:

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

Thanks

I tried to find the link... but well, ole Curt is still around here somewhere ;)

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/12/2017 9:17:44 PM

Nicholas Bell

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ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 12:23:34 AM

bde4soldier223

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would the latlong program, would that work for toaw iv?

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 12:30:11 AM

Lobster

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

After the map has a grid on it I just mark it up in a paint program in a way that's easy for me. Just make a method of marking that is quick and easy for you.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 12:35:04 AM

Lobster

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You can always make changes as you place the terrain on the map.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 1:04:55 AM

JPJ

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quote:

ORIGINAL: bde4soldier223

would the latlong program, would that work for toaw iv?

LatLong technically is a standalone program, not part of TOAW. I am not the author and have not verified its calculations. LatLong's author Bob Cross can confirm such details. (The results it gives should still be valid though if things have not changed since the time it was made, many years ago.)

If you are going to use it with 64 bit Windows 10 and in Excel, then be prepared you may have to do some manual steps to run it in the first place (it's a 16 bit command line program), and to display the results in Excel (you may have to adjust some spacing when you import the data to get things aligned). If you feel comfortable with that then it runs all right.

Also remember LatLong does not make all areas and distances perfectly consistent, but helps to make a reasonably good map for situations it is intended for; again, see the author's posts for some considerations,

about LatLong:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2231136

about map projections:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2231107 (especially posts #3, #4, #6)

And a related question recently in the forum:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4396191

< Message edited by JPJ -- 12/13/2017 1:19:12 AM >

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 1:45:44 AM

Raindem

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Thank you for the kind words about ODD. Yes, it will lay a hexgrid over a bitmap, help you create a event list, create and edit an OOB, even help with plotting objectives. But all that was under TOAW III. The program relied on the csv dump files that TOAW created. When it worked, it would interface quite well with TOAW and you could design practically an entire scenario outside of TOAW (except for the map) and import it. ODD would even execute a "dry run" of your events to alert you to potential problems.

I say "when it worked" because each time TOAW was updated it seemed that the dump files changed a little bit. And it only takes a small error to throw off the whole file and turn it into jibberish. I haven't updated ODD in a few years and certainly haven't tested it with TOAW 4. I would be surprised if it still worked. The bottom line is... USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

That being said, it is still useful for laying a grid over a map. But that just gives you a reference to copy from. You still have to make the map in the TOAW editor.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 2:01:24 AM

bde4soldier223

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thanks jpj

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 4:35:25 AM

Nicholas Bell

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

ODD is nice for scaling, but not having the hexgrid numbered hurts.

Here's the link:
ODD

After the map has a grid on it I just mark it up in a paint program in a way that's easy for me. Just make a method of marking that is quick and easy for you.

Oh yeah, I get that. I've just ended up numbering the hex grid.

Ahh, I see you are working on a map around Kiev, which coincidentally is the same area I am working on. Is this part of a larger project, or are you working on a specific scenario. I ask, because was going to do a scenario depicting the liberation of Kiev and the counterattack of the 48th PzK in Nov-Dec 43. If you're on it, by chance, I'll change focus to something else.

Your sample looks terrific.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 8:10:34 AM

Oberst_Klink

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What scale for the Fire Brigade '43 project? 5km/hex or 2.5/hex? I also made preparations to basically recreate the game Fire Brigade from Panther Games that actually covered the 2nd Battle of Kiev!

Klink, Oberst

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< Message edited by Oberst_Klink -- 12/13/2017 8:21:08 AM >

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 9:27:40 PM

Nicholas Bell

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Oberst_Klink
What scale for the Fire Brigade '43 project? 5km/hex or 2.5/hex? I also made preparations to basically recreate the game Fire Brigade from Panther Games that actually covered the 2nd Battle of Kiev!
Klink, Oberst

Hah! Seems like a popular battle.

I am working with 5 km. I did a campaign disk for HPS Tigers on the Prowl focusing on Kampfgruppe Peiper back in the mid-1990's and still have my original research and a Soviet paper map I purchased used to make the maps. Plus Jack Radey did the boardgame "Bold Stroke" published by Spearhead games in the late 90s - lots of good OOB data there along with Sharp, Nafsinger and usual websites...

But there's no point in doing this if you or Lobster are already on it.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/13/2017 10:27:21 PM

Lobster

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Barbarossa at 2.5km, regiment/battalion/company.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/14/2017 1:24:50 PM

Oberst_Klink

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Nicholas Bell

quote:

ORIGINAL: Oberst_Klink
What scale for the Fire Brigade '43 project? 5km/hex or 2.5/hex? I also made preparations to basically recreate the game Fire Brigade from Panther Games that actually covered the 2nd Battle of Kiev!
Klink, Oberst

Hah! Seems like a popular battle.

I am working with 5 km. I did a campaign disk for HPS Tigers on the Prowl focusing on Kampfgruppe Peiper back in the mid-1990's and still have my original research and a Soviet paper map I purchased used to make the maps. Plus Jack Radey did the boardgame "Bold Stroke" published by Spearhead games in the late 90s - lots of good OOB data there along with Sharp, Nafsinger and usual websites...

But there's no point in doing this if you or Lobster are already on it.

Nick

if you still got the map 5km/hex in TOAW III or IV format, mind if I could use it (mentioning of course that you provided it!)?

Drop me a line,

Klink, Oberst

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 12/30/2017 2:40:02 PM

Dagfinn

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EDIT: Solved problem myself

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< Message edited by Dagfinn -- 12/30/2017 3:01:16 PM >

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 2/13/2018 7:58:14 PM

Crossroads

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quote:

ORIGINAL: larrybush

sPzAbt653 turned me on to Hexthingy a program that uses Google Earth Pro (down-loadable) to create hex grid overlays!

Works fairly well.

http://www.desperationmorale.com/play-aids/#contributors-section

Have you managed to get the Hexthingy 1.2 working on the latest Google Earth Pro (I've got v7.3.1.4507 32-bit)?

I am having no luck with it, seems all I can get done is a huge grid that goes around the globe, instead of the 10x10km 1km hex test thing I am trying.

Any tutorials out there for it?

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 9/5/2018 6:42:48 PM

andy77

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Please help .
I tried to create hex grid overlay using programs Hexthingy and ODD ,but nothing happened.I ask colleagues to help -to put working versions of the programs in Detail and explain their work.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 9/5/2018 10:59:20 PM

Lobster

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quote:

ORIGINAL: andy77

Please help .
I tried to create hex grid overlay using programs Hexthingy and ODD ,but nothing happened.I ask colleagues to help -to put working versions of the programs in Detail and explain their work.

ODD: Convert the map to .bmp format. Open ODD/Map Tool. Click Import. Select .bmp map file from directory. Click on scaling tool bar button (the little hex icon at the top).

Now go to the bottom and click Set Scale. Move mouse cursor to map where it will turn into a cross hair. Go to a place where you know the distance between two points. Click on first point and hold down the mouse button. Move to second point and release the mouse button. In the first box to the right of Set Scale a number appears. It is the number of pixels between the two points. In the box to the right on that enter the number of kilometers between the two points. So now the two boxes should say something like 315 pixels = 10 kilometers.

Now go to the box that says 0__._ and enter your map scale. Say you want a 10km per hex map so that should say 010.0 for that scale. Click Draw Grid. So now the grid is made.

Go to top and click Export. Give the map a name at the save window. Click save. Wait a minute so it writes to file and you are done.

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RE: Image overlay in map editor? - 9/6/2018 2:57:59 AM

sPzAbt653

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quote:

Have you managed to get the Hexthingy 1.2 working on the latest Google Earth Pro

I missed this when you posted it, but Hexthingy stopped working with later versions of Google long ago. I use the version pictured below. If you can't find it, I can probably get it to you. Note that when I opened it to get this screen shot, I got a message that this version of Google Earth will stop working soon