Gray-Lensman wrote:Now here exists a golden opportunity to help someone in my new (behind the scenes) way as I intended to all along, but unfortunately that's just not going to happen until the Gray_Lensman (underscore) login is restored so that I can use the PM system with that login. I refuse to use this Gray-Lensman (dash) login for such a purpose.
The idea of keeping me from my old login to prevent further deletions is rather moot and comparable to attempting to close the barn door after the horses have already escaped. Those remaining 483 posts are in locked threads that I couldn't delete even if I wanted to. So, the ball is in AGEOD's court... Do they want to allow me to support (behind the scenes) their game engine by responding to those individuals who ask for information in a polite way as I wanted to all along, or do they want to remain indignant because their lack of moderator forum support for me resulted in such deletion measures? It will be interesting to observe if they can actually overcome their bias in favor of accepting this new way of utilizing my support.
Stwa wrote:[color="Red"][SIZE="4"]YOU'VE GOT MAIL[/size][/color]
Just kidding ...
TheDoctorKing wrote:Yeah, if only. I'm sure he knows exactly how to work this damn thing after all the sweating he did on the AACW map. Oh, well.
Gray_Lensman wrote:I'm using ACW for my answers here, as BOA may or may not have some differences, though I suspect not.
In ACW:
A scenario's preexisting structures are automatically created if the "CityLevel" number is anything other than "0". This column is just to the right of the "CityName" column. If you look at any particular AACW_Setup*.xls" file and bring up the "Cities_Controls" tab, you will see the various City names either in regular print or italicized. (Italicizing was done just for contrast, it doesn't do anything of course to the output files)
If the region's "CityLevel" is greater than "0", then a structure will automatically be created with the cooresponding name from the "CityName" column for that same region and placed on the map at the "Coo0" coordinates referred to above.
The Coo0 coordinates place the initial structure base plate, which you can see once you have ExMap.
The Coo1 coordinates determine the "initial?" placement of the unit(s) when they are put in place on the game map. (I say initial, because if you have more than one, you'll see the addt'l ones at other locations obviously)
The Coo2 coordinates determines the small anchor symbol in ExMap, and probably the small "Harbor/Anchorage" in-game. (I say "Probably", because I have not actually checked this out, being busy with the RR work)
Finally, the Coo3 coordinates determine the placement in-game of the small sprite/icons depicting rail-cuts, frozen rivers, etc.
The reason it is important to use ExMap for "official" work is that it not only generates the coordinates referred to above, it also generates the coordinates to the various border points that determine the exact area of the .bmp files that correspond to that .rgn file. A good example of a mismatch has been posted at this link: http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=7330
In that case, it had a properly edited .rgn file for that region, but the .bmp file used was accidentally from an earlier .rgn definition file resulting in the ugly displacement anomaly.
Eventually, I actually plan to go thru all the ACW regions, one last time in ExMap, to double-check all the default region object placements referred to above, as some of them are placed rather willy-nilly within the various little used regions. Little-used meaning they have no pre-existing structures defined yet. I suspect the Coo0 coordinate in that case would be used for the base location of a newly created depot, etc. though I have not had time to experiment with this yet.
As stated earlier, I haven't figured out how to change those coordinates referred to above within ExMap, itself, though there is probably a way. Instead, going slightly against convention, I have been editing those coordinates using NotePad, then immediately going into ExMap to verify, the change is valid, and regenerating the same output file from ExMap at that point. If one of the developers could point out how to actually change the coordinates of a specific point within ExMap, it would actually be a better way of doing it, and save some back and forth time (entering & exiting the ExMap program and/or actual game, which takes even longer)
BTW, the ExMap program as linked to me, did not have an install program. Instead it is just compressed into a folder named "ExMap". For ACW, I placed this folder within the C:/AGEod's American Civil War/ folder (same level as the "ACW" folder). For BOA or whatever, I would suggest doing the same, just to keep things tidy in case you end up working on more than one game with ExMap and don't want to get confused as to which one is which. Wherever you place it, once placed, you will need to manually go into the main "ExMap" folder file list and edit the "ExMap2.ini" file to tell it where to find it's files. It has it's own ...ACW folder within it, so don't let that confuse you. Generally, it just involves changing the drive letter if necessary and/or the base installation folder name.
Also, before starting, in order to be up to date with the .rgn files, I delete the entire Region folder within ExMap's folder structure, "...ExMap/ACW/GameData/Regions", then copy/paste the cooresponding game ...ACW/GameData/Regions folder back into the ExMap location just deleted. This gives you a base starting point in regard to the latest update information for the game you are working with.
One last item, to generate the output files from ExMap, you use the "Ext. Current Region" button. This generates both the .rgn file and a .bmp of the current selected region using the "Map" you currently have loaded into ExMap. Since the Maps are somewhat dated and may not be up-to-date in some areas. I would suggest you "only" use the "Ext. Current Region"
Both of these files will be placed in the ExMap/ACW/GameData/Regions folder. Yes, this includes the graphic .bmp files just generated. The name will always be the base name, meaning if you have generated a "Winterized" .bmp, you will have to manually rename it to append the "Winter_" to the start of the name. This is rather important to remember because you can't just generate the standard map .bmp file, switch maps and then generate the Winterized .bmp file, as they will overwrite each other.
Hopefully, I have given you enough information to start with. If by chance you discover some short-cuts that save some of the time working with it, I would definitely appreciate the feedback, as it will help speed up my constant and continuing use of it in the RR work.
Regards
Gray_Lensman
Stwa wrote:Yup, but there are plenty of people around here that know how to use the program, but they are either to busy to help, or they want to keep what they know a beeg secret.
For what little I use if for, it works like a champ.
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