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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> The Operational Art of War IV >> Mods and Scenarios >> Editing

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Editing - 4/13/2020 10:49:16 PM

William the Silent

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If I want to edit map tiles, how does it work with the Graphic Override folder?

There is the MAIN GAME folder (under Program Files) and there is the MY GAMES folder (under Documents). Both have the same files, but the ones under MY GAMES are empty, but contain my scenario's created with the Game Editor.

If I want to create a scenario, how can I use my self created map tiles if I work with the game editor.

Which Graphic Override folder do I use and what tile folders do I have to put in there?
I cannot find any instruction on that.

Post #: 1

RE: Editing - 4/13/2020 11:05:44 PM

Shadrach

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From: Oslo, Norway
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Use the one under Documents. You should never touch any files under the Program Files folder. Copy the files you want to change there, then start editing them.
If you want map tiles to apply to just one scenario, make a sub-folder under Graphics Override with the same name of the scenario.

The editor just uses the same files.

Tip: You can use Ctrl+R in the game to reload graphics

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Post #: 2

RE: Editing - 4/13/2020 11:15:26 PM

William the Silent

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Do you have to use the files of every zoom level to make it work.
I want to try out one zoom level first to see what happens

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Post #: 3

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 12:11:50 AM

William the Silent

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I used Paint to change one tile. Problem is, anytime I do a "save file" the transparen color is changed and the tile shows up with white surroundings in the map editor.
I guess Paint doesn't have the right color representation for PNG.

If I save into PNG-file I get the message that transparent colors will be lost.

< Message edited by William the Silent -- 4/14/2020 1:04:33 AM >

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Post #: 4

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 3:23:21 AM

sPzAbt653

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From: east coast, usa
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You can do one zoom level at a time.

PNG and Paint have transparency. Maybe some more details or screenshots and I can help because so far I don't know what the issue is.

< Message edited by sPzAbt653 -- 4/14/2020 3:24:49 AM >

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Post #: 5

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 3:25:19 AM

larryfulkerson

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My experience has been that MSPaint doesn't handle PNG images correctly. I use a different graphics package to do PNG's.

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Post #: 6

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 6:02:01 AM

cathar1244

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quote:

ORIGINAL: William the Silent

I used Paint to change one tile. Problem is, anytime I do a "save file" the transparen color is changed and the tile shows up with white surroundings in the map editor.
I guess Paint doesn't have the right color representation for PNG.

If I save into PNG-file I get the message that transparent colors will be lost.

I had to use Paint3D on my Win10 system to get around the transparency issue. I know exactly what you're talking about. My old Neopaint program will save to .png but also gets the transparency wrong.

Cheers

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Post #: 7

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 8:56:44 AM

sPzAbt653

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From: east coast, usa
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Oh right, I forgot I use Paint.Net, maybe that is why.

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Post #: 8

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 9:15:12 AM

Shadrach

Posts: 727
Joined: 10/16/2001
From: Oslo, Norway
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Yeah, definitely don't use MS Paint. It's a terrible tool for this task. No transparency, no layers etc.

Paint.net is probably the easiest real image editor to learn, and it's really powerful:
https://www.getpaint.net/

I use GIMP, more similar to Photoshop, but a steeper learning curve:
https://www.gimp.org/

Paint 3D is included in Win10, and it's a big improvement over Paint (doesn't take much) but I don't like the simplistic UI.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/paint-3d/9nblggh5fv99

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Post #: 9

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 1:10:19 PM

William the Silent

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I tried it in Paint3D and it worked.
Thanks so much guys for all that info. I appreciate that a lot.

Paint3D has the "rotate picture" feature. That's actually a really nice addition.

Now I can use, for example, the Cultivated Tile folder to create different stronghold pictures for the 0.25km/hex maps. Like Castles, monasteries, farms, or famous buildings, etc.(80 per tile file)
Can even create buildings or area's that stretch out over more then one 0.25km hex by linking up the right pictures created in the tiles. Just like in board games.
Keep clicking till the right picture shows up in the game editor.

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< Message edited by William the Silent -- 4/14/2020 1:38:22 PM >

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Post #: 10

RE: Editing - 4/14/2020 3:29:16 PM

cathar1244

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Looks nice.

Don't forget to consider terrain effects for combat.

For the buildings, for example, if you wanted them to have a particular effect, you could 'shop around' the terrain effects for the various terrain tiles and used those as the "base tile" to host your buildings.

Say you find the jungle terrain has the combat effects you want (probably not, but as an example). Then you could make your building tiles and save them with the appropriate file names for jungle terrain. Taking care, of course, not to overwrite your original terrain tiles in the master graphics directory.

Cheers

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Post #: 11

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 12:24:12 AM

Lobster

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If you want mouse over to display the correct tile name make a copy of EnglishGameText.xml and change the name of the copy to the exact name of your scenario. WaterlooGameText.xml for instance. Then put it into the Graphics Override location where your modified graphics reside.

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Post #: 12

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 7:12:02 AM

cathar1244

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Thanks. I have never seen that mentioned before.

Cheers

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Post #: 13

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 11:50:54 AM

William the Silent

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Thanks Lobster

Pretty soon all the TOAW design secrets will be revealed

I played around with different tile sets to see what is a good tile to use. Some have higher priority on the map. So town tiles go over the rest.
Many tiles are created to link up with other tiles. Not very usable for a 1 tile representation then.
So the single town tile is usable.
Or maybe the Winter tile. The entrenchment tile can have 2 pictures dependent on entrenchment level.
I'll figure it out.

But I'm wondering what the secrets are of the Miscellaneous Tiles file. Are there any spare tiles for future use to the right in that file?

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< Message edited by William the Silent -- 4/15/2020 12:20:24 PM >

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Post #: 14

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 12:41:36 PM

Lobster

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Some people prefer whole hex tiles. So you can propagate one tile over the whole sheet or make many different tiles but not worry about how they tie into one another. The ability to design your own graphics is one of the things that's really nice about this game.

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Post #: 15

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 1:19:50 PM

William the Silent

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Nice graphics there.
Indeed TOAW seems to be very moddable.
I got to this already in a short time.

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Post #: 16

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 2:48:26 PM

Shadrach

Posts: 727
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From: Oslo, Norway
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That looks really good! Nicely done

quote:

But I'm wondering what the secrets are of the Miscellaneous Tiles file. Are there any spare tiles for future use to the right in that file?

Yes, I've been wondering about these as well...

_____________________________

OUW (Order of the Upgrade Wars)

There are folks out there with way too much time on their hands.
- Norm Koger

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Post #: 17

RE: Editing - 4/15/2020 3:16:45 PM

Lobster

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At the most I would say there are 7 blank tiles on the Misc. I suppose you could find out what numbers are assigned to them by trial and error. Might take a bit of time but if you can determine the numbers assigned to the two exclusion zone tiles and the two entrenchment tiles you should be on your way. I believe the game uses all of the clear tiles. But you could mark them and see how it uses them. You could even use them for other graphics but their effect on things like combat and movement would be very limited.

The only thing I've ever used for other purposes was the Jungle terrain. I wanted something that would be wooded swamp but keep an effect for combat and movement when winter arrived and everything froze over but there were still forests and difficult terrain hence a repurposed Jungle tile called Wooded Swamp. The guys who made FitE2 incorporated this into their scenario and called it taiga. Eventually we should have a terrain that is included for that. Some day.

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Post #: 18

RE: Editing - 4/16/2020 3:52:27 PM

William the Silent

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That CRTL-R is the greatest gift for editing the graphics.

I am working on my (maybe too) massive

Waterloo Campaign at 0.25km/hex.
What I needed on the map was the Walled Farms and Chateau's as strongholds, that exist(ed) in so many places in Europe.
They were used in plenty of battles of the time to stop/delay the advance of the enemy.

So I decided to use the entrenchment tiles: walled farm starts at entrenchment level 34 and Chateau at 67.
I don't know what tile is used for entrenchment lower then 34.

I finished the H-level tiles. Used the left side so most road can be used over the tile. Didn't rotate, because it blurs the picture.
TOAW uses the shadow on the other side I found out

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< Message edited by William the Silent -- 4/16/2020 4:03:22 PM >

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Post #: 19

RE: Editing - 4/18/2020 12:52:55 AM

76mm

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Lobster, which mod is that? I like it!

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RE: Editing - 4/18/2020 3:36:02 AM

Lobster

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Never liked how TOAW did the trees. Prefer the full hex look so I made my own and doctored the old TOAWIII rivers a bit since the ones in IV are pathetic. So it's stuff from III, stuff from IV, things I made and things I doctored up a bit plus the wooded swamps that I made from Jungle tiles. A big mash up really.

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Post #: 21

RE: Editing - 4/18/2020 6:56:14 AM

cathar1244

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quote:

The only thing I've ever used for other purposes was the Jungle terrain.

I'm tinkering with a scenario and using your gametext tip to identify polder (soft ground but not really swamp).

So I copied the mud tiles and renamed them as rocky. This gives me a terrain tile that looks like mud, imposes some movement penalties, but doesn't affect combat (if I understand the terrain effects). And the game identifies it as "polder" :-)

Cheers

< Message edited by cathar1244 -- 4/18/2020 3:12:19 PM >

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Post #: 22

RE: Editing - 4/18/2020 2:31:28 PM

76mm

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