 High Rock Map |
The Old Ye Bard
Princess
Registration Date: 2006.05.25
Posts: 3,663
Location: Post-Feminism
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If I'm sent a picture of the High Rock height map (with the borders at
least finished), I can start work on a map for High Rock (I'm rather
good at it 
), putting names on, roads, and the approximate placement of
cities/towns (saved as .psd document, with cities on separate layers so
they can be moved around easily when placement becomes more
definitive). It would be exact to Oblivion's style of Map, and it would
fit in nicely, all I need is the word, and I'll be on it, and have it
finished as quick as I've been doing all my other work for the mod 
Cheers,
TOYB
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by The Old Ye Bard: 2008.10.03 12:05.
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2008.10.03 12:04 |
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Gyssar
First Knight
Registration Date: 2006.09.07
Posts: 107
Location: Moscow, Russia
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Thank you for the offer.
As soon as I have the HM finalized, I'll be sure to send a copy of it to you.
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2008.10.03 12:26 |
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Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
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This old one (I think it was made for the previous project) may be of some help to you:
Unfortunately this copy is quite low resolution and the shape of the
Balfiera Isles is completely wrong, as may be some of the layouts of
the cities now that they have been redesigned.
Still, it may be of some use.
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2008.10.03 17:03 |
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Braggi
Seigneur
Registration Date: 2006.09.23
Posts: 287
Location: B.C. Canada
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Let me also chime in on this one TYOB.
I'd like to ask some questions on style, not for criticism but for
inforamtion. I've been hoping that we would have an offer to a proper
map for the mod for a while now. My questions are as follows:
1. What style do you have in mind? For example, I ran up a
temporary map for the province using a topographical interpretation of
the prototype height map back in the summer. Personally, I like the
Oblivion map style used for Cyrodiil and SI, but I'm thinking we should
use whatever looks best and is easiest to use for the mod.
2. Map scaling: specifically, have you created a map to use in
the CS that is accurate before? (I suspect the answer is yes.) I ran
into all sorts of fun getting the prototype map to work before the mod
re-launched, as recorded in a series of posts here. Scroll two thirds down the page to the entry that starts out:
Begin quote:
"Hi DA.
Yes it does help some.
I was actually able to get the errors to stop by reviewing the CS Wiki
tutorial on world creation. The tutorial mentions that you will wind up
with holes in your land after editing, so take down the cell
co-ordinates and check them. Where I had goofed was that the author
meant in the cell view and use the landscape editor (with the brush set
to "soften vertices") to fill in the holes."
End quote
The rest of that entry and several following it detail the problems I
ran into getting the in-game map to track properly with the actual
height map. It was quite a learning experience. I did get the map to
work properly and still have it in place for the prototype lands mass
ESM.
3. Building on the above question, do you know how to get the map accurate for unusual screen resolutions?
I'll be specific here to clarify - right after I got the prototype
landmass ESM finished, my CRT monitor died. I had been running it at a
resolution of 1024x768 for ages. I replaced the CRT with a wide screen
flat panel to make things easier to read (age does mess with my eyes a
touch).
The native rez for this new monitor is 1440x900 and when I next fired
up Oblivion, the automap for SI was cut off along the bottom. Ditto for
the the prototype ESM map as well. (Cyrodiiil was also affected but
because there is so much excess space for that particular map, it only
cut off the tip of one of the southernmost coastal protrusions.) So, It
was then that I realized that the automap display settings may have to
be tailored to your native resolution in the CS. Quite annoying if so -
I have toyed with the idea of re-installing Oblivion ans SI to see if
that will fix the issue. If not, I'll have a lengthy process of trial
and error ahead of me to get the map display settings correct.
That pretty much covers it for my questions. Looking forward to your reply.
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2008.10.03 23:12 |
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Braggi
Seigneur
Registration Date: 2006.09.23
Posts: 287
Location: B.C. Canada
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Actually, it's not impossible to get the map working, per se, but it certainly is a pain in the fundament.
The method I used to get the map working for 1024 x 768 can be used to
size the image properly for an odd resolution. It's just slow and
painstaking. That means to play the mod, I'll have to take the map
image and tweak both the image size for the game and the CS settings to
match it. Once that is done, it should be fine. (Having done it already
for the topo interpretation, I can say that the method works. But it's
darned annoying to do!) Guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and do it
for my personal copy of the mod.
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2008.10.04 00:49 |
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Gyssar
First Knight
Registration Date: 2006.09.07
Posts: 107
Location: Moscow, Russia
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You'll have to toss me into the "people with odd resolutions" group as
well. Widescreen is slowly becoming the default standard across the
globe.
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2008.10.09 15:48 |
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Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
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I guess I'm in the widescreen cohort as well.
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2008.10.09 15:53 |
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nick_op
Baron
Registration Date: 2008.05.02
Posts: 446
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Does the world map not have to be sized to powers of 2? If so, I'd have
thought the whole menus/menus80/menus50 thing would sort out the
resolution issues. |
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2008.10.09 19:39 |
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Braggi
Seigneur
Registration Date: 2006.09.23
Posts: 287
Location: B.C. Canada
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Hi Nick_Op.
I'm not certain how to answer your question, mainly because I developed
the in-game map via trial and error. I know there are some basic
principles to how that map works, but I was never able to locate any
place that states what those might be. So, I did the best I could "by
guess and by gosh".
Would you be willing to expand on the powers of 2 idea? I'll likely
need the information to get the map sized correctly on the new HM, so
any additional knowledge, even just tidbits or scraps, would be very
welcome.
Thanks!
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2008.10.09 21:06 |
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Lady Nerevar
Marquise
Registration Date: 2006.01.04
Posts: 1,362
Location: Not in hiding anymore
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all dds files have to be powers of 2. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256,
512, 1024, 2048, 4096, etc. afair, maps are usually really huge
squares, with part of the area left black and cut off by CS settings.
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2008.10.09 21:10 |
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nick_op
Baron
Registration Date: 2008.05.02
Posts: 446
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As Lady N explained, each dimension of the image file has to be a power
of two. I think 2048x2048 is the limit with this, I know some texture
replacers used 4096x4096, but I'm pretty sure Oblivion won't render
that, so it renders the next biggest mip map. I might have to run a
test to find out.
The reason that textures need to be sized to powers of two is that
hardware acceleration on video cards can render them very efficiently.
If you use an odd texture size (e.g. 200x300) it would not display
correctly as it would be resized to 256x256 for hardware acceleration.
The menus/menus80/menus50 is the method used for dealing with the UI at different resolutions.
- You normal sized texture goes in textures\menus.
- You then resize the image to 80%, but keep the texture size the same
for the menus80 folder. The texture will be the same size as the one in
the 'menus' folder, but the actual image would only take up the top
left 80% of the texture, the rest would be blank.
- menus50 requires the texture to have half the height and wisth of the one in the 'menus' folder.
Here's an example. Your map texture might be 1024x1024. That would go in textures\menus.
You then scale the size of the image in your 2d program to take up the
top left 819x819 of the file, but the texture size would remain at
1024x1024. This goes in menus80.
You then take the original texture and change it's size to 512x512, that goes in menus50.
I hope I've explained this clearly enough, I tend to be a bit long winded. Let me know if you want a visual example.
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2008.10.09 22:29 |
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Braggi
Seigneur
Registration Date: 2006.09.23
Posts: 287
Location: B.C. Canada
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Lady N and Nick_Op:
Thank you both for the clarification. I remembered about the map sizing
once I read what each of you had posted. The in-game map that I cooked
up for the prototype height map was a of the 2048 pixel variety.
Nick_Op:
I welcome the depth of detail in your explanation - no apology required
whatsoever! This is exactly the kind of depth-of-information I was
seeking when I tackled the in-game map the first time around back in
the summer.
Let me reply to this step by step for clarity:
1. The menus/menus80/menus50 is the method used for dealing with the UI at different resolutions.
I learned about the three directories you mentioned through examining
the assets of various vanilla map mods, so I am with you so far. This
was also when I got and learned the use of the .dds converter I am
currently using as well.
2. - Your normal sized texture goes in textures\menus.
That makes sense and I learned it by trial-and-error (and the occasional mumble-grumble in consternation as I went.)
3. - You then resize the image to 80%, but keep the texture size
the same for the menus80 folder. The texture will be the same size as
the one in the 'menus' folder, but the actual image would only take up
the top left 80% of the texture, the rest would be blank.
Aaaahhh... now this is pay dirt. (Thank you very much!) I knew
something like this applied, but didn't know the exact percentages to
play with for the dimensions. Had I known this sooner, I could have
avoided a large amount of frustration.
As it was, I eventually took the map I had, replaced it with a numbered
grid, went into the game and pinpointed where the grid was cut off by
the character menu. I then resized the map to match that. (I am
thinking that by combining that technique with the information you have
given here, I may well be able to get the map sized correctly for
wide-screen.)
4. - menus50 requires the texture to have half the height and width of the one in the 'menus' folder.
Once again, this could have saved me much hair-tearing. I know it now, though and I thank you once more.
5. Here's an example. Your map texture might be 1024x1024. That
would go in textures\menus. You then scale the size of the image in
your 2d program to take up the top left 819x819 of the file, but the
texture size would remain at 1024x1024. This goes in menus80. You then
take the original texture and change it's size to 512x512, that goes in
menus50. I hope I've explained this clearly enough, I tend to be a bit
long winded. Let me know if you want a visual example.
You have done an excellent job of explaining this. I believe I can
visualize the process clearly based on what you have written and the
experience I had previously. If I run into any snags in the future, may
I P.M. you to get any clarifications or examples needed?
Once again, thanks very much!
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2008.10.10 00:17 |
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nick_op
Baron
Registration Date: 2008.05.02
Posts: 446
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| quote: |
Originally posted by Braggi
You have done an excellent job of explaining this. I believe I can
visualize the process clearly based on what you have written and the
experience I had previously. If I run into any snags in the future, may
I P.M. you to get any clarifications or examples needed?
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Feel free to PM me if you'd like further clarifications.
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2008.10.10 12:43 |
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High Rock Map
