MM Map Editor

[Simon Landmine]

I understand that there's a new Map Editor being worked on. Is there any possibility of adding elevations of greater than level 9 or less than level -5? While a height variation of only 90m (if I've got my maths right) on a single classic mapsheet is plausible, it makes it a bit harder to build convincingly 'mountainous' terrain on a bigger 32x34 or 64x68 map. (I appreciate that there may be programming reasons why this might not be possible, in which case ... fair enough!)

EDIT: Higher and lower elevations can be entered manually in the elevation box, but that the U and D buttons only go up to 9 and down to -5. Maps with elevations outside that range seem to validate OK, though - is that correct? So it would appear that the limits are in the adjustment buttons, rather than the elevation range.

(Also, out of curiosity, are there any more terrain types in the works?)

[Windchild]

The limits at Levels 9 and -5 are the hardcoded limits in the board editor for elevation.
I will test increasing it to see what happens, but I cannot guarantee anything in that regards.

As for the new Map Editor GUI and related changes, they are coming soon^TM, code is being tested.

[Simon Landmine]

The limits at Levels 9 and -5 are the hardcoded limits in the board editor for elevation.
I will test increasing it to see what happens, but I cannot guarantee anything in that regards.

Well, a bit of experimentation suggested that, while the U and D buttons limit at 9 and -5, it's possible to manually enter a value into the text box next to the buttons which is outside that range - and it's then reflected on the map (viewing in isometric view was especially interesting with a hex at elevation 30 in the middle of the map), and the Validate button reports no errors, so it would appear that the hardcoded limits are only on the buttons, and not a limit on the map renderer.

I don't know if there need to be limits to prevent any issues with LOS or range calculations elsewhere in the code.

(It's been a while since I've done UAT, sorry!)

As for the new Map Editor GUI and related changes, they are coming soon^TM, code is being tested.

[grin] Yep, you mentioned. I'll be interested to see it - even though it means a re-training experience for me!

[Windchild]

That's exactly why I said I will test to a T. I'm worried about surprise interactions with aerospace units in particular, but we shall see.

[Simon Landmine]

That's exactly why I said I will test to a T. I'm worried about surprise interactions with aerospace units in particular, but we shall see.

Thanks for that mental image! SPAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGG, and the Shilone goes down.

Actually (and I've not tested this yet, because I need to sleep), but does the map editor apply the building height limits from TacOps? If not, it might be possible to stack a skyscraper on a level 9 hill, which might also result in similar issues.

That said, do ASF altitude levels interact with the elevation levels on the map at all? My understanding was that they were above the highest elevation possible, even at their lowest non-landed level. But I've not done much with ASF yet, so weird interactions could well happen.

[yukamichi]

Aeros on the "ground" hex row have a ceiling of 17km, so they could be considered to be flying anywhere from nape of the earth up to...(busts out calculator)...102,000 ground-scale elevation levels. By the rules, aeros flying on ground maps ignore all terrain. Aero altitude level 0 is always ground (that is to say, landing or crashing), regardless of the elevation level of underlying terrain

Though I appreciate that rulebook also says that the real altitude numbers are only there for hypothetical purposes and you can totally imagine that your fighters are zipping through canyons like that scene in Independence Day if you think that makes it cooler (it does make it cooler, btw) :D

[NickAragua]

RE: Aircraft and terrain

Aerospace units and conventional fighters do not interact at all with terrain on ground maps in MegaMek. However, on "low altitude" (aka atmospheric) maps, they do - which is especially disappointing when your aerospace fighter levels out at altitude one then crashes into a height two woods.

[Simon Landmine]

That's where each hex on the 'low altitude'/atmospheric map represents an entire mapsheet, isn't it? Having height two woods on that does sound somewhat out of scale with the woods on the ground sheets.

Also, galling.

[Hammer]

@Simon Landmine,

Mini- Thread Hi-jack.  Had this question put to me thought you might know
Is there a way to use Megamek or the Map Editor to capture pictures of a map comprised of several mapsheets? Or only individually?

[Jayof9s]

You can capture an image of just the map after launching a game. File -> Board -> Save as Image (w/ units as an option).

Otherwise, the only way I know of is to assemble the combination of maps you want in the lobby, click View Game Board and take a screenshot (print screen and paste into paint or similar) and then crop it down to just the preview. Since View Game Board works just like the minimap you can zoom in prior to taking the screenshot.

Attached is an example with 3 of my maps combined using the second method. Using the first method, the images tend to be very large but more detailed.

[Ask Eklund]

Thank you. I was the one inquiring about that. I'll look into it. Appreciated.

[Simon Landmine]

Thanks Jay! One thing to note about using the 'Save As Image' option from the 'battle view' is that your level of zoom will be used to generate the image, so that you can zoom in or out to the level of detail that you want (e.g. for the previews in my map posts, I tend to zoom out until the hex numbers disappear, so that it's just the terrain visible on my screenshot, but if you want to be able to reference details, you can zoom in until those are visible, and then save that way (although it'll end up being a much larger file, obviously, as there will be more detail).

The other thing about 'Save As Image' is that it will save the image as rendered, which means that, even if you don't choose the 'save with units' option, you'll get deployment zones, move zones, fields of fire, etc, unless you switch all of those off, or render the map after having all units flee, so none of their zones are shown.

[trboturtle]

Stupid question: How do you make a map from scratch, using the editor?

Craig

[CranstonSnord]

I just let it create a random map the right size, then erase all the terrain and go from there.

[Simon Landmine]

I've saved a set of 'random terrain' settings that are basically all set to 'nope', so that I can load that to get a plain sheet of the specified size, without having to remove the generated terrain. You only need to do that once, and then you can load it every time you want a plain base to work from.