Mapmaking in Elemental

Can't wait

A little thing I don't like : the "un-smoothness" of the zoom/unzoom.

Things I like : it remembers me the time when I mapped for starcraft. All those triggers to create a story ...

And last but not least : the transition with the cloth map. It's just excellent. The more I play the game, I more I say to myself that I will probably play the game in "only cloth-map" for some time. I find it to be more informative than with flashy graphics (even if I like them)

Looks cool!

Can't wait to play around with it!

viex - keep in mind I'm videoing it running inside the debugger.

It's really fun to see the game and mod tools slowly coming together.

@frogboy: oh ! ok I didn't know that (maybe you said it in the video, but my english skills aren't high enough to completly understand spoken english)

One other thing I hope that will be enhanced : the look of rivers. At the moment they just seem like some thing thrown upon the map, not blending with it.

That looks cool! Man, you sure love teasing us about the graphic's engine! I want Beta 3!

I'm sure I'll spend much more time down at the 3D level in Elemental than I do in GC2, but like Vieuxchat the cloth map is still likely to be my 'normal' view of the game because I'm a giant-map junkie.

Which makes me want to beg shamelessly for some cloth map art to call out things as important-seeming as an active volcano (or are they are just eye candy unless they are raised magically to destroy existing improvements?).

Agreed with this one.

The editor looks cool and simple to use.

I sure hope I will be able to mod a map generator! On that note. However you end up doing rivers, make sure you allow individual rivers to flow together. Even if you guys don't know exactly what you will do with river junctions, just put them in. I promise that as soon as modding time rolls around, I'll make it worth your efforts! You will be glad you did it! I have a really nice algorithm for making a nice looking river network. I'd like to have a use for it in Elemental.

Yes this is early but its looking good. I love to mess around with map editors!

I have good memories of map editing in Age of Empire 2, Starcraft, Mechcommander 2, and Rise of Nations. Then playing with them with friends online or lan.

But with lots of map editors theres always something small missing that drove me mad like Age Empires 2 stock you couldn't change population but yes they did fix that with The Conquorers expansion, and a few other things. I can't remember them right now... But you get my point.

Another thing that I think will greatly benefit the maps is to allow for an L-System type functionaliy for map tiles, so that every forest tile is not a complete clone of all the others. So instead of modding a new single model for a map feature, you would have an editable system of rules for placing models randomly or procedurally in some way.

For example, taking a tree model and scaling it slightly while placing it in randomly accross the forest tile would look more natural and blend better with adjacent forest tiles. Or instead of using a 'graveyard' tile for every graveyard, let the L-System arrange the headstones differently so that each one on the map is unique. 

Don't you have an undo button?  Slip-ups like deleting that "goody hut" are surprisingly common, and the lack of an undo button can be incredibly frustrating if you accidentally wiped out a swath of hand-crafted terrain rather than one little tile.

Undo is indeed a nessesary feature from personal experince in these types of programs. (and sometimes in game lol)

That looks awesome. I can't wait to start cranking out good miltiplayer maps. Back in the day I would work on maps for hours for Age of Empires and Age of Wonders. With everything the Elemental map editor can do I won't have any problem at all making a map of Krynn from Dragonlance either .

Oh, the name of the continent you played on in Ultima 3 was indeed Sosaria. Good memory.

I do not like making maps. Just don't have the patience for it. What I do like though is to play the maps the others make. This editor looks way cool and I am sure people will love to make me some maps

Keep up the good work!

What's the potential here for making 'story based' single player maps? I used to like to mess around with the HoMM map editors to create missions where there was an overarching storyline rather than a sandbox map. You know, things like "Quest for the Golden McGuffin" or "Yet Another Amnesiac Orphan who's also the Chosen One". (Hey I didn't say the actual plotlines were creative.)

Please pay special attention to cephalo's suggestions.  His Civ map function is amazing, by far the best I have ever seen  It is so good that it dramatically enhances the game.  Cephalo knows his stuff.

Oh? Which map function is his?

Tile randomization, it would seem.

As for the video, good stuff. But as always, a glimps of the actual engine makes me crave more.

I also enjoy map creation. It is nice to read that someone else here did some map making with the MechCommander game.

Given that the 64-bit issue has been resolved, thus "grossly huge maps" will be available,  it would be very nice to have a "drag and select area" feature in order to paint vast areas with the same texture feature tile(s).

Being able to create your own Tiles sounds like a blast and could add some serious personalities traits to an indivduals maps.

Tridus,

Cephalos developed the PerfectWorld map function.  You have to download it from his site which is easy and safe.  I believe that you can google it to find it, or send him a PM.  He was very helpful.

I guess this is the latest: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=310891

Those screenshots look very impressive, particularly the second non-world map one with the long branching river.

graphics don't look like much yet.

LOL here was the quote I wished...forget it