cossacksEditor.pdf

Cossacks – The Art of War – Map-Editor

Side 1

Map-Editor

Use the editor included to create your own maps.

13.1. Editor Interface

Firstly you should become accustomed to the interface of the editor you are going to

create maps with. In the left part of the screen you will see a bar with a set of buttons

(this is called the left toolbar). The upper buttons enable you to switch between various

editor modes (editing the surface of water, trees etc.). The button allows you to

deactivate any of these modes. If none of the modes is active, you can control units,

attack enemies, construct buildings, etc. in the editor the same as you would in the

game.

In the lower part of the left toolbar are a set of buttons which allow you to access various

menus or switch between the editor modes.

In the right part of the screen is a bar with a number of coloured rectangles on it (called

the right toolbar). This is where information regarding the editor modes is displayed.

1. Left toolbar

2. Selected mode highlighted by yellow frame

3. Right toolbar

4. Upper scrollbar (defines brush radius in water editing mode)

5. Lower scrollbar (defines coast width in water editing mode)

6. Select nation's colour here

7. Brush radius (indicates the size of the area which will experience changes)

8. Coast width indicator (for water editing mode)

9. Mini-map

Using the F12 key, you can access the Main Menu of the editor, where you can save or

load a map, change game settings, or return to the Main Menu of the game.

Pressing F11 will let you take a screenshot, which will be saved as screenX.bmp (where X

is the screenshot's number; this will increase if you take several screenshots).

13.2. Creating Landscapes

Cossacks – The Art of War – Map-Editor

Side 2

Naturally, the first stage of making a map is to create a landscape. Decide where to place

mountains, plateaus or hills, and where to have vast seas or rivers winding their way

through the scenery. (To make this part easier, you can sketch your future map on paper

first.) When you have finished this part, click on the button in the editor interface.

This will open a relief generation window where you can add basic landscape elements to

your map.

Note that left-clicking adds a relief to the map while right-clicking removes it.

Clicking on the

button will enable you to add hills to your map. These are marked

white on the map. The

button activates the water editing mode. (Water is marked

blue.)

The button allows you to apply slopes to the map. Slopes are mostly added to

the edges of white areas, as they create a path of ascent for your units to reach a

plateau on your map. Slopes are depicted red.

Using the upper scrollbar you can change the size of the brush in any of these modes.

You can use the button to add forests. These are represented by green specks on

your map. The lower scrollbar enables you to choose how dense you want your forests to

be.

Clicking on the button changes the height of the hills generated. Point your cursor

at a hill and hold down the right mouse button. The white area underneath your cursor

will become darker. The darker the colour, the lower the hill. The lower scrollbar in this

mode alters the radius of the dark area.

The button allows you to undo any changes you have made.

Click on Save Bitmap to save images created in this way. To load a previously created

image, click on the Load Bitmap button. Click Generate to create a map based on your

image.

Note: Generating this map will delete all objects previously located on the map. If you

do not want to create a map, click the Cancel button.

13.3. Relief Editing

Cossacks – The Art of War – Map-Editor

Side 3

Now that the basic landscape elements have been created, it is high time to change the

map relief. Using the editor tools, you can create steep mountains or slanting hills, small

ravines or fathomless pits.

The button activates the altitude changing mode. Point your cursor at a map area

you want to change the height of. Press the left mouse button to raise an area or the

right button to lower it. Holding down a mouse button and smoothly moving the cursor

across the scenery creates a mountain ridge or a ravine. On the panel in the right part of

the screen is a scrollbar you can use to change the size of the brush.

Another altitude changing mode can be activated by clicking the button. The

difference between this and the previous mode is that this one creates an elevation with

a flat summit.

The button activates the area levelling mode. Point your mouse cursor at the map

area you want to level, and press the left mouse button. The whole area under your

brush will be transformed into a plain equalling the central point in height. In this mode,

you can use the right mouse button to add random irregularities to the landscape. Press

the right mouse button to see the area of the map under your brush gradually be

covered by small elevations and slopes.

The smoothing mode turned on using the button gives the area a more natural

appearance. Smoothing allows you to get rid of sharp angles and lessen slopes that are

too steep. Point your mouse cursor at an area you want to smooth and left-click. The

area under the brush is gradually smoothed. Pressing the right button in this mode

creates ledges on mountain slopes.

The button activates the relief area editing mode. Left-click on the edge of the area

you want to change. A yellow line will expand as you move the mouse cursor away form

the place where you clicked. By left-clicking you can encircle the area you want to select

with the yellow line. To end the selection of a map area, close the polygon or click with

the right mouse button. An action selection menu will appear on the screen:

Cubic - Create a slanting hill in the area within the yellow line. You can specify its height

in the lower menu string.

Squad - Create a steep hill in the area within the yellow line. You can specify its height in

the lower menu string.

Smooth - Smoothen the area within the yellow line.

Road1, Road2, Road3 - Draw one of three types of road along the yellow line.

Cossacks – The Art of War – Map-Editor

Side 4

You can make use of one more handy instrument for relief editing by clicking on the

button. A screen showing the altitude map of the area (green - lowlands, yellow-brown -

hills, brown-grey - mountains) will pop up on the screen. A set of scrollbars allows you to

regulate the parameters of the elevations generated:

Height of Eminence - the height of the eminence

Radius of Eminence - hills' radius

Width of Crossing - the length of the slope

Number of Jags - the number of ledges

Depth of Jags - ledges' length

Phase of Jags - the phase of ledges

The lower buttons are divided into several groups:

Type of Jag - the type of slope. You can select one of the types of slopes

available:

- regular

- concave

- convex

- tapering

- uneven

Pressure Type - the method of surface decline

- sharp eminence

- smooth

- smooth incline

Cossacks – The Art of War – Map-Editor

Side 5

- smooth decline

Brush – select hill type

- smooth

- with ledges

Height

- measure altitude of the area under cursor

Having made the settings needed, left-click on the changed map area. You will see the

colour of the map change under your cursor. Using your cursor like a brush, you can

create mountain ranges or oblong hills. Click the Generate button to apply all the

changes you have made to the map. You can optimise the map surface using the

Smooth Hills button. In this case, the rear boundaries of all mountains and hills will be

smoothened to allow faster work with the map in future. Select Cancel if you want to

undo all the changes you have made.

13.4. Water Editing

If you want to change the generated water surfaces or create new reservoirs manually,

you can use the water editing buttons.

Clicking on the button activates the water drawing mode. Two scrollbars will appear

in the right toolbar. Using the upper one, you can change the size of the brush, while the

lower one allows you to adjust the width of the surface line. Left-click to fill the area

under your brush with water.

Make sure the area you are filling with water is even and not above the zero line to avoid

flooding.

Click on to remove water. In this mode, the water will be removed from the area

under your brush if you left-click with your mouse.

Manually created water zones have a somewhat unnatural look due to the absence of

sunlight glistening on them. The brightness and size of light spots can be adjusted using

the scrollbar in the right toolbar. Left-click on the surface of the water to create a

reflection centred on the position your cursor is pointing at.

You can delete glints in the water darkening mode, which is activated by clicking on the

button. In this mode, a left-click will delete any water glints under the mouse

cursor. You can adjust the size of the area darkened with the scrollbar in the right

toolbar.

If you need to create reservoirs or rivers with intensive current, you can use the

current editing mode. Click on the button. You will see lilac grid pop up on the

screen. Each section of the grid allows you to specify the direction of the current. Select

one of the sections above the water surface and left-click inside it, at the point you want

the water to flow towards. An arrow will appear in the middle of the selected section,

pointing in the direction you specified. Clicking with the left mouse button lets you move

the arrow in any direction. By right-clicking you can delete the current arrow in the

section needed.

Note: Currents can be set not only for the sea, but for other water structures as well.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: