Causes of a white mini-map and how to fix
Moderators: Winterhawk99, Mermut, Bannor Bloodfist
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Sharona Curves
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:53 pm
Causes of a white mini-map and how to fix
if the mini-map of a tileset is displaying all white(blank) what could be causing this and how can it be fixed?
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s030363l
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:31 pm
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- nwnihof: Yes
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The mini-map refered in the set file doesn't exist or is not named per the actual min-map. It could also be that the tile or the textures were not in the right directory when the minimap was run. My suggestion is rerun the mini-map or correct one of the possible problems mentioned in the first statement.
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Bannor Bloodfist
- Posts: 1244
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A couple notes on this:
By default, the Tileset Creator by Velmar is the tool I use to create the minimaps.
It gives me much greater control over them.
I can specify the size, the coloration of doors, etc.
Downside to this tool is it assumes and generates the minimap name as:
mi_(tilename) So, if your tile is ttr01_a01_01, the minimap name will always be mi_ttr01_a01_01.tga.
2nd downside is you have to run the process twice if you have ANY groups in the .set file. As TSC ignores all tiles assigned to groups when it generates general minimaps. I think this was done to make the process a bit faster when working on bigger sets, but I have no real idea as to why this particular feature was setup that way.
NWMax will also allow you to create minimaps, and Veltools has a feature as well. However, NONE of them properly assign the minimap name directly into the .SET file. You have to do that. With TSC, you can select a single tile, click the details button, and then manually type in the minimap name for each tile. (Or do what I did and ask a perl guru to generate a macro script for you to do it all automatically on editing the set file).
Anyway, with those caveats, I find using a 64x64 is a good sized map image. Not too large, but still gives the player the ability to zoom in on the map a bit while in game and get a slightly more detailed image of a specific area. (Helpful for map pins, notes whatever).
I have seen MANY MANY sets where someone attempts to use some sort of a cutesy naming convention. And/or use the same minimap for multiple tiles... I highly recommend that you NOT do that. Just follow the quasi standard name, of mi_tilename....
Why? Because it is then VERY easy to do a dir/b at cmd prmpt and determine if you have matching minimaps for every tile.
Why not re-use the same map for multiple tiles you ask? Well, it doesn't save all that much space, provides less than accurate minimap image, and makes it harder to find 'missing' maps, since you have to manually check the .set entry for every tile.
Unfortunately, I didn't do that naming thing with CTP release 1, but I did attempt to ensure that every tile DID have an image.
Release 2 and all sets that will be released by CTP from now forward, WILL have the properly named image files, and they will be at least 64x64 bits. It is just sooo much easier to manage things this way and to provide quality images.
By default, the Tileset Creator by Velmar is the tool I use to create the minimaps.
It gives me much greater control over them.
I can specify the size, the coloration of doors, etc.
Downside to this tool is it assumes and generates the minimap name as:
mi_(tilename) So, if your tile is ttr01_a01_01, the minimap name will always be mi_ttr01_a01_01.tga.
2nd downside is you have to run the process twice if you have ANY groups in the .set file. As TSC ignores all tiles assigned to groups when it generates general minimaps. I think this was done to make the process a bit faster when working on bigger sets, but I have no real idea as to why this particular feature was setup that way.
NWMax will also allow you to create minimaps, and Veltools has a feature as well. However, NONE of them properly assign the minimap name directly into the .SET file. You have to do that. With TSC, you can select a single tile, click the details button, and then manually type in the minimap name for each tile. (Or do what I did and ask a perl guru to generate a macro script for you to do it all automatically on editing the set file).
Anyway, with those caveats, I find using a 64x64 is a good sized map image. Not too large, but still gives the player the ability to zoom in on the map a bit while in game and get a slightly more detailed image of a specific area. (Helpful for map pins, notes whatever).
I have seen MANY MANY sets where someone attempts to use some sort of a cutesy naming convention. And/or use the same minimap for multiple tiles... I highly recommend that you NOT do that. Just follow the quasi standard name, of mi_tilename....
Why? Because it is then VERY easy to do a dir/b at cmd prmpt and determine if you have matching minimaps for every tile.
Why not re-use the same map for multiple tiles you ask? Well, it doesn't save all that much space, provides less than accurate minimap image, and makes it harder to find 'missing' maps, since you have to manually check the .set entry for every tile.
Unfortunately, I didn't do that naming thing with CTP release 1, but I did attempt to ensure that every tile DID have an image.
Release 2 and all sets that will be released by CTP from now forward, WILL have the properly named image files, and they will be at least 64x64 bits. It is just sooo much easier to manage things this way and to provide quality images.