RT2 scenarios -> RT3?

[ctclark1]

Longtime lurker here, longer-time RT2 & RT3 player, first time poster here.

As a change of pace, I went back to RT2 for a short time tonight, wanting to play some of the maps there, in particular America After The Flood. I've become too accustomed to RT3's mechanics and building, and can't bring myself to deal with the RT2 mechanics anymore. But I appreciate and miss some of the scenarios. Google has shown hints that at one time there was a way to dump RT2 scenarios or base maps and then pull them into RT3, but I can't find any real answers on it or whether it was just a failed experiment?

If there was a way to just get the base map over, I'd even consider trying to replicate the scenario by hand, but I'm definitely no good at building maps.

[Gumboots]

I can see it being possible to get the height map information out of an RT2 map, and transfer that to RT3. Offhand I don't know where RT2 stores the height information, but if you can find that out then the transfer should be easy enough (I know here it goes in an RT3 map).

As for transferring the rest: probably possible in theory, if you had the right scripts, but I have no idea how you would do it.

[ctclark1]

Here's the map file. Dropbox might get confused because of the MP2 file extension, but looking at it in Notepad++, it appears to contain at least the scenario events, and a ton of unreadable characters, but it's possible NP++ is trying to convert HEX to ANSI text.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ehyclfiv3q8rs ... d.MP2?dl=0

If there's any way to convert at least the heightmap info to RT3 I'd be up for spending the time to move the scenario info by hand if needed, since I'd guess the way RT2 and RT3 store and parse scenario info is probably very different and probably somewhat incompatible due to the differences in the core system. Also if moving the heightmap isn't super complicated (if you can tell me how to do it?) I'd be willing to try it for some of the other RT2 maps myself and share them.

[Gumboots]

I took a quick look in a hex editor. Some of the briefing text would be easy enough to copy/paste. Height map would be easier to find if you knew some key details, or if you can find out from someone else. The mob over at The Terminal are the RT2 diehards these days, and one of them might have mapped out what goes where in its game files. If they know some key markers for heights and (possibly) textures that would be useful.

What I know about height map data in RT3 can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3708&p=47674#p47683

What we know about map textures can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=65&t=4064&p=47678#p47594

[RulerofRails]

Most maps in RT2, from memory are based on real-world areas. I'm not sure you will find anybody willing/able to hack these files. It's not really something people would be trying to do in working with that game. Building maps, and how to edit/paint/etc., yes. But reverse engineering not so much. Broadly speaking RT3 is a lot easier to customize/mod than RT2. Idk, if that applies here or not.

I would suggest trying to re-create the map with new height data for that area. To get the flooding you can bucket fill a lake below a certain elevation. For a "higher quality" result you could also use map wide height reduction in order to move everything on the map lower until you can set the flooding as ocean.

Note: One difference between RT2 and RT3 economies is that in RT3 all buildings function. In RT2 those are stagnant until you make a rail connection. There is no consequence if resources are spammed on the map. In fact it's common practice for RT2 builders to spam resources. Perhaps this could be called a "safe-guard" against RNG abnormalities, but it spoils a bit the realism for me. Because all buildings in RT3 contribute to the economy, spamming resources will make a glut everywhere, and the entire economy can come to a standstill. RT3 maps must be quite finely balanced. This takes time, skill, and effort.

I wish you success in this endeavor. I also enjoyed the flooded america map. It was particularly a good map to verse the AI. In RT3 the world is more complex, but the AI logic didn't seem to improve much.

[Gumboots]

For a "higher quality" result you could also use map wide height reduction in order to move everything on the map lower until you can set the flooding as ocean.

This is quite easy to do, by adjusting the height scale in the .dbf. As long as you have the DEM height map for the area and you know the depth you want it flooded to, you can dial in any chosen amount of sea level rise before exporting to a .BMP. The RT3 editor will then automatically make the ocean at the correct height and with the correct graphics.

You could work it the other way too, providing you had the relevant bathymetry data, and make something like an ice age map with continental shelves exposed.