Newfoundland Map - Request

[Aquarius]

Hi all. I am new to RTIII, and would love to have a Newfoundland Railway (aka Terra Transport/ Newfie Bullet) option for RTIII. I have a mac and am unable to create a map. Would someone be willing to create one for me? I would greatly appreciate it , and be willing to give a donation through paypal for your efforts. Many thanks :)

[Wolverine@MSU]

What do you mean by "unable to create a map". Does that mean the "Editor" function built into RT3 doesn't work? Or is it the other map creation thing (outside of RT3) that doesn't work? If it's the latter, there are other ways to create a heightmap that can be imported into the Editor to make a basemap from which to develop a scenario.

[Aquarius]

THe editor works in my RT3, but the heightmap function doesn't. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hawk]

Are you talking about the RRT3 Map Builder?
If so, what problems are you having?

[Aquarius]

Heightmap function does not work in my mac version of RTIII

[Hawk]

Ahh! I can't help with that.

[Gumboots]

Ok, so you need someone to create a blank .gmp of Newfoundland, so you can then add details in your editor? That shouldn't be hard. Can you specify the exact area you want to cover?

[Aquarius]

yes that is exactly right. i need someone to create a blank gmp map of Newfoundland so i can add details in editor. I would like to cover the entire island of Newfoundland, along with some of southern Labrador, so a link can be created. i'd like this to be a very large map so i can also include the many smaller branch lines and towns/cities. i hope this helps.

Many thanks :)

[Wolverine@MSU]

So are you saying you can't import a heightmap through the Editor or you just can't make a heightmap?

[Aquarius]

i have no idea how to make a height map, or the next step of importing a height map (once completed). i need guidance here. and again, the height map option in my mac version of RTIII is not available. thanks.

[Wolverine@MSU]

Here are a couple made from Microdem. There are two versions, the first with a height modifier value of 1, a mountaintop modifier of 1 and a smoothness modifier of 1. The second has Height modifier of 2, mountaintop modifier of 1 and a smoothness modifier of 1. I can make others if these are not suitable.

I've also attached the heightmap in case you want to try to import it (Newfoundland2.zip). Put the unzipped .tga file in the Data/GrayscaleMaps folder. To import the map, start RT3, and from the Main Menu, select "Extras", then "Editor", then "New Map", then "From Heightmap", navigate to the /Data/GrayscaleMaps folder (if it isn't already there) and choose the Newfoundland1.tga file. Then you'll get to select the modifiers and you may want to try different combinations to get what you want. Once you have the "base map", save it and then go to work adding cities, painting, etc. Be sure to save the newer versions with different names so you can always go back to the original base map if you need to. Of course if the "From Heightmap" function isn't working you'll have to use one of the already imported ones, or ask what you'ld like and I can do it.

Good luck.

[Hawk]

Be sure to save the newer versions with different names so you can always go back to the original base map if you need to.

To add a little to what Wolvy said, repeated saves with the same name can cause terrain paint degradation. It's generally suggested to save with a new name, such as Newfouldlnad01, Newfoundland02, etc, or whatever name style your prefer.

[RulerofRails]

And to add to that, I prefer to go backwards with saves such as start at 099 Newfoundland, then 098 Newfoundland, etc.. This way, you can have the latest version always at the top of your save/load lists. Saves a few precious seconds each time. When I am finished working on something, I will use File Explorer to put all the back-ups somewhere else and cull the useless ones as well as re-name the finished file. Best of luck with your map!

PS. If you weren't aware, there is a thread about Mac issues here: viewtopic.php?f=82&t=1895&hilit=mac.

[Hawk]

You can also add an exclamation mark at the beginning of the name to place it at the top of the selection list. Using RoR's example: !099 Newfoundland

[Aquarius]

thanks for your help on this. i will take the gmp file and start editing :)

[Gumboots]

Be sure to save the newer versions with different names so you can always go back to the original base map if you need to.

To add a little to what Wolvy said, repeated saves with the same name can cause terrain paint degradation. It's generally suggested to save with a new name, such as Newfouldlnad01, Newfoundland02, etc, or whatever name style your prefer.

Makes no difference in the testing I did. A lossy algorithm is a lossy algorithm.

[RulerofRails]

I have seen some evidence of file size getting smaller as people work on their maps. Adding back the fresh bmp info with the hex editor definitely increases the file size of all files to which I have done it. That said, I have only done this to maps that are obviously degraded.

The issue with saving with the same name has been said to only apply to some. Whether that's hardware, OS, or software related, who knows? Because making a map is such a lot of effort, I would recommend doing it just to be "safe" to protect your hard work. I would test saving with the same name first when fooling around to see if it matters for you. In any case, if you save with the same name all the time you wont have any backups, so in practice everyone will want to do this at least some of the time regardless.

I just tried a really quick test where I didn't make any changes to the map. I couldn't get any reduction in file size to happen. If I added an event, saved the map, loaded that save, and then deleted the event again, the resulting file is still exactly the same size. Maybe the result would be different if I had made a larger change, I don't know. I'm also using an exe properly patched for blurry textures with 32-bit Win7. Those things may make a difference.

In theory, degradation would only come about in a full load/save cycle. The lower quality would have to be "loaded" and then the formula would get less information to work with and hence output an even smaller file. If the game remains open and in memory, a formula should give the same result whether you have saved 100 copies in a time period, or only one, as long as you have the map open. Therefore, I'm suspecting that it may be an issue of how long the game is open and some strange interactions with graphics cards. This would seem in line with some of the other bugs like blurry textures. Also taking into account your report of patched-up degradation reappearing over time as the game is running. But, that's a speculative theory.