Author Topic: Map editors (BuGs?!?)  (Read 7849 times)

Offline Eddy-B

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« on: November 19, 2004, 12:33:15 PM »
Hi all,

i've got 3 map editors now, "Outpost2 Editor.exe", "OP2Mapper.exe" and "OP2Maped.exe"

they all have some kind of draw-back or bugs::
OP2Mapper seems to draw the map incorrectly, but uses grid which is very helpful - and it doesn't show a mini-map, which we're all so used to, i mean: i am !

Outpost2 Editor (by Kramy) is quite nice with a mini-map -which does not redraw correctly when opening a second (new) map that is smaller than the one before.

OP2maped .. hmm.. i don't even know where to begin...


Then finally, there is reVOLver.... uhm, i don't know about you, but mine doesn't go to any other drive than C: and my OP is on F: ... so i find myself doing my mapping on C: and then copying then VOL back to F:

Are any of the authors willing to update their "products" .. resolve some of the bugs/features..

NOT that i want to put your work down, it's great work, specially Kramy's !  (thumbsup)  
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Offline PlayingOutpost0-24

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2004, 01:24:43 PM »
lol if ya read through the whole section you can discover what new functions the next version WILL include
Great news for OP2 fans... OP3 in progress.
Official Site
Outpost 3: A New Power progress
OP3:NP Discussion

Progress in OP3:NP[/size][/font]
PLANNING[|||||||||-]
GRAPHICS [||||------]
SOUNDS [|---------]
MAP DESIGNING [|||||-----]
CODING [----------]
Going slowly... Very slow.

Offline Eddy-B

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2004, 02:03:26 PM »
Quote
lol if ya read through the whole section you can discover what new functions the next version WILL include
:wacko: you know how many messages i've read since i found this site yesterday ? .. lol

anyway; i've stumbled on something else, and im quite sure i cannot find it in the programming forum {grr.. DEL-key doesn't work here.. only BACKSPACE}

I've been trying to set tech level to the basic level used with colony games: agridome, comm.center, con.fact, etc..
but all i can get is tech level 3, which also includes offspring enhancements (nursery) and research training programs (university).  Any thoughts on this ?
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Offline BlackBox

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2004, 02:55:50 PM »
Thanks for telling us.

Btw, the OP2Mapper.exe does draw the map correctly (except for a few tiles). (Use version 1.9.2) I wrote that one. It IS usable but it was kind of a rush job so as you can see, not the nicest. The current version I'm on (2.0.1) has those display problems solved. (However, it can't read or write maps yet. :P ) This is the map editor that we all here endorse as "the editor."

Kramy's editor.. I would lean away from that, it seems to not handle the edges of the map correctly. (Also, it doesn't seem to save 100% OP2 compatible maps all the time.. i've had a few times where a map that it saved crashed OP2 or caused game initialization to fail).

Op2maped.... I'm wondering where you got that? it's not available publicly anymore (as far as I know, at least not from us)
It's extremely slow and yes, doesn't... erm... quite work. It was a work in progress and released too early.

Edit: We do know about the reVOLver problems. A new VOL explorer is in the works (actually, it can extract files correctly, but is still too buggy to use.. also considering the fact that it doesn't repack files exactly the way it's supposed to... yet).

Regarding the tech levels, have a look at MULTITEK.TXT, EDENTEK.TXT or PLY_TEK.TXT in sheets.vol with a normal text editor (eg. Notepad). Each BEGIN_TECH line signals the start of a tech topic. (If the file is all strange binary characters, you need to update your copy of OP2).

There is a string in quotes, which is the display name of the tech as it appears in the list. After that there should be a 5 digit number.

The first two digits correspond to the tech level of the research, and the last 3 letters uniquely identify that research within the tech level. (There can't be any number collisions)
So, if you look at the first two digits you can identify all techs that are in a certain techlevel.

If you are creating a colony game, you can simply use the eden or plymouth tech tree by specifying the EDENTEK.TXT or PLY_TEK.TXT for the TechtreeName.

For a multiplayer game (or for any game), if the settings are not to your liking, you can make a copy of a techtree and change things as much as you want. (Just make sure you don't use a tech number twice)

Save the file as your own name with a .TXT on the end, and put it in your OP2 dir. Set the DLL's TechtreeName to the name of this text file, and your DLL will load this file. Whatever you do, please don't repack a changed file into the sheets, because it will modify your game, and either throw it out of sync with others in multiplayer, or make it totally incompatible (due to checksum change).
« Last Edit: November 19, 2004, 03:07:35 PM by op2hacker »

Offline Eddy-B

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2004, 03:45:10 PM »
Quote
If you are creating a colony game, you can simply use the eden or plymouth tech tree by specifying the EDENTEK.TXT or PLY_TEK.TXT for the TechtreeName.

Well, as i found out, (by using wordpad on the txt-files), the one i was using (PLY_TEK.TXT) for my "Mission 1" has this thing about not having to research university and nursery, you just get the "for free" in the campaing missions.

So, when i started using MULTITEK.TXT it made sense again :)
thanx for the explaining op2hacker !
Quote
Op2maped.... I'm wondering where you got that?
 .. i don't even remember, i've been surfing for "outpost 2 editor" on altavista, and it just popped up somewhere....
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Offline TH300

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2004, 03:47:12 PM »
I guess, he got op2maped here.
It's at least where I have it from (a few years ago and it does really not work, crashes when loading maps)
But -  thx to op2hacker - there is a better and working editor, now.

Offline BlackBox

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Map editors (BuGs?!?)
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2004, 07:17:40 PM »
lol... wow. to be honest I was thinking of the ancient map editor by martynd, it worked a little better than that. (but it still took ~5 min to load a map)

cheers, I was looking for low_zl's editor (I needed to get the source) recently and you pop up with the url (lol).

yea, regarding tech files, I intend to post a little howto sometime soon.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2004, 07:25:44 PM by op2hacker »