My struggles with the editor, lol

[LadyCrimson]

After much hair-pulling I finally realized that the reason changes in the editor wouldn't save is because when I save a scenario under a new name, it not only doesn't create blend and xml files, it doesn't create a .sco or .cs file. So I had to rename some of those from another scenario to my testmap name so I had the five files, and now it seems to work. Feeling mildly content with myself despite my having to use the spacebar trick to get past the little loading "boops", I proceeded to try to edit the map a bit to find out how it worked etc. Thought I'd share.

1 - Yes! I managed to place trading posts instead of them doing nothing or crashing when I said "Add"!
2 - Yes! I figured out which building was a tree, and placed a few pits and such! Although, there's something wrong with the horizon...maybe that's just in the editor...

Time to load up the test map and see what what happens/if it looks proper in-game!

3 - No! A win screen at the start! Augh! Ok, fine...at least it saved the 1,000,000 population goal when it never did before - I hit "Keep Playing" just to check it out...
4 - No! Why are the sand pits not ringed with those wood borders??
5 - Noooo!! The horizon is still messed up. Why won't the distance scenery draw? wtf is that?

ARGH. This is so much fun. NOT. Well...maybe... :D

[LadyCrimson]

*waves fist in the air*

Yessss....it works. Migration point, trade/resources, Northern climate, no more instant-win screen, all that. Now I just need to figure out why I get the boop error when it's loading and why the horizon isn't drawing properly and do terrain more pretty.

The "boop" says it can't find scripts.mapname....but if you press the spacebar it loads and plays anyway.

[Agamemnus]

I guess you need to create a script file manually or maybe somehow the basic script file name is there but has a different name.

[Pi-Xerxes]

As for the horizon, do you know you must select an "Apron" sized correct for your scenario in the editor.

The apron size is what wraps around your map. They must also fit your map size too.

Oh yes, have fun with the editor. You can do everything that the devs did, but it will take you alot of trial and error to slug through it!;)

The .sco file is only for multiplayer. You do not really need it.
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Is your horizon problem that it is so dark in color??

I see that you have the default apron, which has the river connection transistion -it is black just like the default map is. Tyr another and 'SET' the Apron.

[LadyCrimson]

Well, I thought I'd changed the apron because I chose NE...didn't realize there were more under a dropdown list. Silly me. That solves that issue. Haven't dug around the files for a missing/incorrect name reference yet to see if that's the boop problem. Does the Apron actually tell the game what weather pattern to use or is that in a script file?

The biggest trouble I'm having currently is that every time I paint the ground, after about 2-10 minutes the editor crashes, and when I re-load the map, it's reverted back to it's virgin original look/terrain, regardless if I saved the map in progress just beforehand. This seems to mean I'd have to paint a tiny bit, save, exit the game, re-start the game, etc. That would take forever. I can place sprites all day long and paint elevation and it doesn't crash - just the color-paint tool. :mad:

[LadyCrimson]

Well I give up for now. I was trying to alter Roma to a Northern look and increase it's viability for a high-population goal - which I can do in the basic sense for my own personal consumption with more arable and flat terrain etc, but since I can't paint without crashing, it's going to look really odd - ie when I raise the land under the river that blue stripe is still there. I also can't seem to rotate the apron so the water horizons of the apron are in different places. So I'm left with a map that works, but is ground-cover bizarre and currently has traders coming onto the map through a big rock. :cool:

1 - My new Roma entrance, with the trade boat entrance in a new location and a river that no longer cuts the map into two pieces; there's land on either side of it. You can see the raised land is blue, so the minimap still looks like the whole river is there....
2 - the apron horizon has water by the marble, so I made a small lake to make it look less weird.
3 - I can't figure out how to slope the ground, so any new lowering of elevation I do has these jagged edges from non-sloped angle drop offs. You can place things on them just fine; it's just ugly. (I also can't figure out how to delete road in the editor, or rotate that "pretty road" tile they use for the road tile at the edge of the map - maybe that info is somewhere, I haven't looked too hard for it today)

Until someone writes a decent guide and the editor doesn't crash on me, I can't do much else. :(

[Pi-Xerxes]

3 - I can't figure out how to slope the ground, so any new lowering of elevation I do has these jagged edges from non-sloped angle drop offs. You can place things on them just fine; it's just ugly. (I also can't figure out how to delete road in the editor, or rotate that "pretty road" tile they use for the road tile at the edge of the map - maybe that info is somewhere, I haven't looked too hard for it today)

You can make a sloped angle ground terrian very easy. Go to the Elevation Tab. That is where you set the height. Of the four slider controls, the third one is the angle of slope, that is how you can make a nice smooth transistion. I believe this information is also in the Editor Guide thread.

I never have figured out how to remove the roads either. DELETE does not work on it as other unit objects.

the ' button will let you rotate the map in the editor. As I understand.

As for me when making a Blend texture, it will also crash. I must save often on big maps. I think it has to do how the texture size are mis matched (your computer runs out of memory). I guess that is why they suggest to convert the DDS files into TGA and manipulate resize then convert back.

You can do it as I did without the conversion, but you can only go slow and save alot, reload...save...reload... yeah, "I feel your pain"- Bill Clinton. :(

The biggest trouble I'm having currently is that every time I paint the ground, after about 2-10 minutes the editor crashes, and when I re-load the map, it's reverted back to it's virgin original look/terrain, regardless if I saved the map in progress just beforehand. This seems to mean I'd have to paint a tiny bit, save, exit the game, re-start the game, etc. That would take forever. I can place sprites all day long and paint elevation and it doesn't crash - just the color-paint tool.

I should say, I had that problem until I figured out how to save the texture properly. :) You must rename the default _blend files to the map you are going to work on. I posted alot of 'how -to' under Painting Tiles thread and others, trying to help out Kuplo. Take a look and see if it helps. Follow the instructions exactly and you should get what I have. Try a small map first. Little at a time until you master the monster of an editor.

http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/showpost.php?p=131662&postcount=4

Haven't dug around the files for a missing/incorrect name reference yet to see if that's the boop problem. Does the Apron actually tell the game what weather pattern to use or is that in a script file?

I do not know what a boop error is, unless you mean one of the files are not loading. Make sure all files, including any renamed files, have the same 'map name' inside all references if you are using other scenarios files for convience. IE Cupua rename to Gaul, script references to old map must match the original .cs and .xml internal text and other file names. I hope that makes sense.

Apron has no affect on weather pattern (that is set by the master Tool.cs script which runs always invisible in the background..and it can be changed also if you are daring :cool: )

[LadyCrimson]

Yeah, I finally got around to looking at Kuplo's pdf, which explained the terrain thing. Very helpful. I haven't mastered it yet but at least I can make land edges not look like unzipped zippers now. :D

I found the 'boop' error cause - lol, sorry for calling it that. It was a 'can't find a scripts' type of reference error that was bypassable by using the spacebar to exit past it and keep on working - I posted on it in Kuplo's long editor thread when I found the solution.

Having read the Kuplo's thread, I did rename the default blend files in one early test map, but with Roma I renamed the Roma_blend files instead of the default_blend ones. Was that a mistake? I figured in order to keep Roma's original look I had to do that instead of use the default_blend one, or I'd get that big brown river default thing instead of Roma's.

With the first try on a test map using renamed default_blend files, I was able to 'paint' for about 20-30 minutes before it would freeze/crash. With my revised version of Roma using it's renamed files, it now freezes the absolute second I try to paint.

Weather - darn. I really like the NE weather pattern. I don't know how daring I am - it's more like, how technically proficient I am... lol

Edit: Fark; 1st edit re: size reset deleted...figured it out I think.

[JadeDragon]

LadyC, I feel your pain. I was about where you are before I decided to take a break from the editor. It just makes my head hurt. ;) JD

[Bagarius]

I never have figured out how to remove the roads either. DELETE does not work on it as other unit objects.
I discovered how to delete roads in the editor:

Shift-click

i.e. hold the Shift-key pressed and click on the piece of road you would like to have removed...
(you have to be on the Road Tab)

[Pi-Xerxes]

:D So simple. I thought I tried all combos.

Did you know the ` key will rotate the map in the editor?

[Bagarius]

Yes, I saw it in your post above. Maybe somebody should start and collect all this usefull information in one document :rolleyes:

With patch 1.2 you can now choose between the two types of roads and place plaza's!

[Robertus]

Has any one experienced that the editor freezes when you push the "Paint Ground"-button? Cause thats what happen me all the time :(

[Kuplo]

Yes I also used to have this problem. My unorthodox solution was to quit using Windows XP and start using Windows Media center edition (since I had a dual boot system) and the problem went away.

But now my system is new (new mainboard, new hard drive) and only running Windows XP, and the game freshly installed and patched and the problem is not here, so ..... I have no idea why my old install of win XP could have caused this.

Anyway, you might want to try the usual stuff like updated video drivers or might even need to rollback the vid drivers to an earlier release.

[Robertus]

Yes I also used to have this problem. My unorthodox solution was to quit using Windows XP and start using Windows Media center edition (since I had a dual boot system) and the problem went away.

But now my system is new (new mainboard, new hard drive) and only running Windows XP, and the game freshly installed and patched and the problem is not here, so ..... I have no idea why my old install of win XP could have caused this.

Anyway, you might want to try the usual stuff like updated video drivers or might even need to rollback the vid drivers to an earlier release.

Might try this out! But it shouldn't have anything with the gfx to do, i suspect just poor programming :(

[LadyCrimson]

(sorry if this is already known or something...I've been away...)
Apron has no affect on weather pattern (that is set by the master Tool.cs script which runs always invisible in the background..and it can be changed also if you are daring )

I meant to mention this a long time ago but...

It's possible I'm wrong, but I believe the "apron" does affect the weather effects. I altered Roma to make a testing/goof-off map and made it a northern apron - as a result, it occasionally snows (attachment). It never snowed in the original Roma for me, but who knows.

Anyway, I didn't change anything in the Tool.cs script, just the apron selection in the editor and maybe in the XML file, if there was a line that defined it there. Sorry, don't remember, I did this a while ago.

I don't know if it actually affects things like fire-chance percentages etc. or just the visuals.