MapView (Map5iew? ;D )

[Gr3yHound]

Hey, just thought i might show off my work. Basicly MapView is ready for this (well, not 100%).
Just hoping for a nice format to save to ;D

What you see is the map: Earth_aeric67_180x87_1.1.Civ4WorldBuilderSave rendered in Civ5 Style. I can't remember the Autor.

It's a first guess on how to handle Civ5 maps and give you the opportunity to Convert stuff between Civ4 and Civ5 in a bit.

For those, who don't know: MapView is a Civ4 Scenario Editor.

So let's hope i can create a "one click" conversion tool for you to get your detailed civ4 scenarios into 5.

 

[The_J]

man, but way to early imho.

 

[Herrhals]

cool. Good job. Not, way too early to keep yourself busy

 

[Andrew_Jay]

Nice work.

But how does it do the conversion - just extrapolate the best fit? I'm guessing because I see some funny features around Malaysia, but looks good all in all and especially promising that you can convert a map and only require minimal manual fixing-up.

 

[Gr3yHound]

man, but way to early imho.

cool. Good job. Not, way too early to keep yourself busy

Nice work.

But how does it do the conversion - just extrapolate the best fit? I'm guessing because I see some funny features around Malaysia, but looks good all in all and especially promising that you can convert a map and only require minimal manual fixing-up.

It has 0 logic. It's just the renderer. The underlaying map model is still the one for Civ4. Instead of using squares this renders tiles as honeycombs. For that honeycomb layout every other line has an offset comb-width/2 in at the x-axis. That's why small islands etc. are very fragile.
The only thing that could be considered a conversion is the decision whether to shift odd or even lines.

 

[sophie]

It also looks like there are more tile options in CiV (I believe the screens have shown swamps and multiple types of mountains/hills, yes?). I don't think you'll be able to convert.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I *already* like the looks of this. Hexes suit terrain so much better than squares

 

[Gr3yHound]

It also looks like there are more tile options in CiV (I believe the screens have shown swamps and multiple types of mountains/hills, yes?). I don't think you'll be able to convert.

Yeah of course,
we sure don't know enought to create editors or converters etc. yet. I just thought i could try to render Civ4 maps in a hexagonal way. That's all so far.

I have made some assumptions like a rectangle map model. If the earth is actually round as mentioned in this thread the whole thing will look different and you can't get anything out of this atm.

But nevertheless, i think a lot of people would love if they had some assistance when they try to get their maps from Civ4 to Civ5. The least i can do i try to simulate how a current Civ4 map will "probably" look in Civ5. If i do well, i can even help people to create Civ5 compatible map layouts even before the game is out. That's the idea.

 

[Gr3yHound]

I *already* like the looks of this. Hexes suit terrain so much better than squares

One problem seems to be that you cannot model straight lines anymore. At least if there is no special attribute for tiles to "re-adjust" their boundaries to the neighboring tiles.

When the Civ4 square model allowed you to model a straight coastline upwards, or to the side ... the Civ5 hex model will bring "waves" in the straight line you had before.

I wonder how this will end up.

p.s: did anyone spot and clues on that while looking at the screenshots?

 

[nzk13]

You can really see that hexes allow for much more detail.

 

[Osymandias]

Great work Gr3yHound. I questioned myself how converting my cIV-maps to ciV will be possible. You did a good start, for the rest i think we have to wait at most till the release for the hard facts how ciV maps work.

 

[Quintillus]

Nice quick work. Looks like it's about time to open the Civ5 Creation & Customization forum already!

As for the author, I'd hazard a guess it's aeric67, going by the file name.

 

[Lord Tirian]

One problem seems to be that you cannot model straight lines anymore.

Of course, there's not a lot of straight stuff in real world maps either!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Greizer85]

Imo it looks horrible... Like looking at the world through ether-fumes. (Yes, I realize it's a rough conversion and you could hand-modify it but it would still look bad if no longer horrible.) There must be some option, or someone must make a graphic set that will 'smooth out the edges' so that straight lines are still possible. I only play on world maps (for that special exploitative feeling! ) and I cannot stand it if my Merry Old England looks like a bag of giant raw potatoes air-dropped into the ocean!

 

[hunterai]

That's very impressive, especially considering we know almost next to nothing about Civ V.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Imo it looks horrible... Like looking at the world through ether-fumes. (Yes, I realize it's a rough conversion and you could hand-modify it but it would still look bad if no longer horrible.) There must be some option, or someone must make a graphic set that will 'smooth out the edges' so that straight lines are still possible. I only play on world maps (for that special exploitative feeling! ) and I cannot stand it if my Merry Old England looks like a bag of giant raw potatoes air-dropped into the ocean!

I am guessing they have already paid attention to that. Take a look at the coasts in the screenshots that are already available. e.g.
http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=2774&c=36

EDIT... link was broken.

 

[Greizer85]

I am guessing they have already paid attention to that. Take a look at the coasts in the screenshots that are already available. e.g.
http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=2774&c=36

EDIT... link was broken.

D'oh..! As always, I forgot to pay attention to something obvious. This time it was the little fact that the boxes looked even more horrible in MapView... Judging by that picture there's nothing to worry about indeed, on the contrary!