HandDrawn Map by Strannik v2.x

[Strannik]

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HandDrawn Map by Strannik v2.21
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I made this map based on hand drawn fantasy maps. The focus in this second version is the integration of the terrain textures with the political map and make it easily customizable.

This is my grain of sand to the wonderful Manga Mundi project. I cannot thank the MagnaMundi team enough for the amazing job they have done in making this mod. After spending hours making this map I realize what it must be to create a project of this magnitude. Thanks, Thanks and a million Thanks.

NOTE FOR PLAYERS:
- If the map makes you game crash and you already tried erasing the 'cache' folders (see 'Installation' section) please repeat the crash and right after it post the contents of the 'system_error.log' file located inside the 'EUIII\logs' folder.
- If the map appears white it when using the version 2.21 it may be a problem with the pixelshader 2.0b. You may have to use version 2.12 instead.


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Features
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2.0

- Integration of terrain textures into the political map.
- Customizable country border color.
- Customizable ocean region color.
- Customizable land and water map brightness.
- Customizable terrain color palette.
- New ocean texture.
- Terrain palette and brightness tweaking.

2.01

- Fixed coast misprint (see screenshot).

2.02

- Fixed missing font character.
- Added no borders option to the land (see screenshot).

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2.1

- Changed the desert texture.
- Changed the farmland texture.
- Resized the steppes texture.

2.11

- Removed green space between Hills and Desert.

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2.2

- Added two more terrain textures to the political map: jungles and desert. I order to do it I switched a pixel shader to 2.0b. I will still support version 2.11 in case that change causes trouble for some people.


2.21 and 2.12

- Made the mod compatible with maps of any size (thanks to Cabezaestufa for his help).
- Improved the behavior of the canvas texture with zoom (thanks to Pishtaco for his help).
- Added the option of having no province borders while having country borders.
- Fixed the interaction of the sea borders with the Fog of War.
- Fixed some issues with the no sea borders option.
- Reduced the density of the desert texture.
- Made the jungle texture a little stronger in the political map
- Reworked the canvas texture to make it seamless and added some minor features(from TOT) to make it more interesting.
- Reduced the sizes of most textures and colormaps (hopefully it will improve performance).
- Fixed a problem between with the marsh texture and winter.


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Installation
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- Backup '\gfx\FX\' and 'map\' folders in the MagnaMundi directory.
- Copy .Rar file to the MagnaMundi directory and unpack overwriting all.
- Run River_fix.bat inside the 'Extras\' folder. This makes a backup of the vanilla 'river.fx' and copies the moded file into the vanilla folder. Without this the rivers will not be as nice. Don't run the bat file more than once or you will overwrite the first backup with the modded file effectively loosing the original file.
- Setup optional features (see the Optional Features section below)
- Erase the 'cache' folder in both the vanilla and mod's \map\ folder. If you are using windows vista and installed your game in the 'c:\program files' folder you may have to go to the 'C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Paradox Interactive' folder, look for the map subfolder and delete the 'cache' folder.
- Inside the game turn off trees and advanced water.

NOTE:

Make sure you copy the .Rar file into your MagnaMundi before unpacking and overwriting. Otherwise you will overwrite the vanilla files.

The .bat files that install the rivers and the font will not work unless they are properly placed within the MMP folder.


Vanilla fonts and rivers restoration

- Download this file:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/408446/Vanilla_Restore.rar

- Unrar into the vanilla folder overwriting everything.


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Optional Features
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New Font:

- If you want to install the font, run AM_Map_Font_Install.bat inside the 'Extras\' folder. This will backup the vanilla font files "tahoma_60.dds" and "tahoma_60.fnt" and copy the modded files into the vanilla folders. Don't run the bat file more than once or you will overwrite the first backup with the modded file effectively loosing the original files.

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Other customization instructions:

Besides the font all other customization is done by editing three files inside the 'gfx/FX' mod folder, they are: 'terrain_2_0.fx', 'borders_2_0.fx' and 'water.fx'. Just open them with any text editor.

There are two things you need to do to customize:

- Commenting and uncommenting lines. To comment add two slashes '//' at the beginning of the lines. To uncomment remove the two slashes '//' at the beginning of the lines.

- Playing with RGB triplets. Directx defines color using triplets of the form (R,G,B) where each value goes between 0.0 and 1.0. The correspondence with regular picture editor is 0.0 -> 0 and 1.0 -> 255. Just divide picture editor values over 255 and you will have the numbers you need to input in the directx files (.fx)

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Terrain color palettes:

- There are two other palettes available if you want. Just edit the file "terrain_2_0.fx" inside the "\gfx\FX" folder of the mod. You can find them inside the function "float4 PixelShader_Map2_0( VS_OUTPUT v ) : COLOR". The one called "OLD PALETTE" has darker colors specially green. And there is also the "TOT PALETTE". To switch between them comment the one currently uncommented and uncomment the one you want to use. You can also set up your own one by defining the first three values for each terrain. They are the RGB triplets. The forth one leave with the value '1.0'.


Additional Palettes:

I will post here links to palettes that other people have done:

- Palettes by Cortes_R Including one based on EUII colors (see last screenshot).


Country Borders:

- You can change the country borders to any color you want by editing the file "terrain_2_0.fx" inside the "gfx\FX" folder of the mod. Look for the function "float4 PixelShader_Map2_0_Border( VS_OUTPUT v ) : COLOR" and inside it you will find two predefined colors, red and blue, and the, country borders only option and the no borders option. Uncomment the one you want to use and comment the rest. If you want to set your own color just play with the RGB triplet.

Ocean Borders:

- You can change the ocean borders to any color you want by editing the file "borders_2_0.fx" inside the "gfx\FX" folder of the mod. Look for the function "float4 PixelShader_ProvinceBorder( VS_OUTPUT v ) : COLOR" and inside it you will find three predefined options, light blue, black and no borders. Uncomment the one you want to use and comment the rest. If you want to set your own color just play with the RGB triplet.

Land and Water brightness:

- You can change how dark or bright the land and the ocean are going to be by editing the files 'terrain_2_0.fx' and 'water.fx' respectively. Look at the very beginning of the files and you will see the definition '#define LIGHTFACTOR'. By changing the value you will change the brightness. The highest the value the brighter the land or ocean. The values in the files are independent so you can set land and ocean brightness independently.

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Remarks
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- This version is for Magna Mundi Platinum only, there is another version for In Nomine Vanilla. See the following thread:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=385074

- For the previous major release including a changelog look here:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=384101


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Acknowledgments
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- Thanks to all people that has given me feedback.
- Thanks to Pishtaco for helping me fix the sea misprint on the coasts and the moire patterns.
- Thanks to Cabezaestufa for helping me make the map compatible with maps of any size.
- Thanks to Cortes_R for sharing his palettes.



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Download
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- HDM 2.21

In case you have trouble running version 2.21 (for example a white map) you can download this other version:

- HDM 2.12

However, version 2.12 will NOT have neither desert nor jungle textures in the political map.

The reason is that the pixelshader 2.0 only allows for 64 logical operations and in order for me to incorporate this two additional textures I had to switch to pixelshader 2.0b


If you want to upgrade it to 2.21 or if you have 2.21 and want to downgrade to 2.12 here are the corresponding files:

- Upgrade HDM v2.12 to v2.21.

- Downgrade HDM v2.21 to v2.12.


Instructions

- Unrar into the main MMP mod folder and overwrite all.

WARNING: Be careful not to unpack into the main EUIII folder or you will overwrite the original files.


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Screenshots
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Terrain Map




Political Map




Winter




Coniferous and Deciduous Forests




Plains, Steppes, Farmland and Hills




Jungles, Mountains, Hills and Plails




Desert, Hills and Plains




Customizable Country Borders
(red/black/blue)



(only country borders/no borders)




Customizable Ocean Borders
(no borders/ black/ light blue)




EUII based palette by Cortes_R

[EnragedKiwi]

Ah, fantastic! I particularly like the look of the new ocean textures, and the way the terrain shows through political map view.
I'll download it as soon as I get home.

[Moquia]

Looks great, but I must say i'm not a fan of the new ocean texture. It looks too 'bizzy' to me .

[Strannik]

Looks great, but I must say i'm not a fan of the new ocean texture. It looks too 'bizzy' to me .

hehe . You can always use the old one. The file you need is 'water_blur_20_pixels_tilable.dds'

[Moquia]

hehe . You can always use the old one. The file you need is 'water_blur_20_pixels_tilable.dds'

Thanks, I'l do that.

[ubik]

As said on another forum... well, this is really jaw dropping.



Welcome to the Magna Mundi Platinum 2 team!

[Strannik]

Everyone, I'm super happy you liked it. I'm very proud of it!


Now thanks to Pishtaco's advice I was able to fix the last thing that was bothering me which was the coast misprint.

On the top: Before.
On the Bottom: After




If you already downloaded version 2.0, the only file you need to download is THIS ONE (terrain_2_0.fx). Just overwrite the one in the 'gfx/FX' mod folder.

[juvefan]

Gorgeous.....

[Strannik]

Following feedback by Mandead I fixed a missing character in the font which you can download HERE and added the no borders options that looks like this:

[Herr Oberst]

I am especially thrilled by the 'no-borders-option'! Can finally get rid of the ugly borders caused by my crappy videocard. Great work!

[Dr. B]

I have installed this map, as it is indeed beautiful

But the country/province borders were missing when I tried it out, and they are sorely missed. I tried to fix it by following the nice instructions in the terrain_2_0 file, but I cant seem to get any borders at all. What is it I dont understand?

Help is much appreciated!

[ubik]

Strannik, I can't seem to get country borders (like Dr.B above) even after editing the terrain_2_0.fx file.

Here is a snippet of the code I tried to change with no effect (all three values start out commented):


float4 OutColor;
OutColor.a = max( ProvinceBorder.a, CountryBorder.a );
OutColor.a = max( OutColor.a, DiagBorder.a );
OutColor.rgb = float3(0.19, 0.14, 0.045);
float3 Cntr_Brdr_clr = OutColor.rgb;

//************************************************** *******************************************
// COMMENT (UNCOMMENT) THE FOLLOWING LINE BELOW THIS INSTRUCTIONS, BY PLACING (REMOVING) THE TWO
// SLASHES '//' AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LINE FOR BLACK (RED) COUNTRY BORDERS
// BY MANIPULATING THE VALUES BETWEEN 0 AND 1 THE COUNTRY BORDERS CAN BE SET TO ANY COLOR
//************************************************** *******************************************

//Cntr_Brdr_clr = float3(0.7, 0.0, 0.0); //RED
Cntr_Brdr_clr = float3(0.0, 0.0, 0.7); //BLUE
//OutColor.a = 0.0; //NO BORDERS


//************************************************** *******************************************

float mask = CountryBorder.a;
if (DiagBorder.a > 0.7) mask = DiagBorder.a;
OutColor.rgb = Cntr_Brdr_clr*mask + OutColor.rgb*( 1.0f - mask );

[Strannik]

I have installed this map, as it is indeed beautiful

But the country/province borders were missing when I tried it out, and they are sorely missed. I tried to fix it by following the nice instructions in the terrain_2_0 file, but I cant seem to get any borders at all. What is it I dont understand?

Help is much appreciated!

That's because I uploaded the wrong file . Uploading again.

EDIT: Files Uploaded. The only file you really need to replace is "terrain_2_0.fx"

[Strannik]

If you want to restore the original rivers and fonts follow this steps:

- Download this file:

http://files.filefront.com/Vanilla+R.../fileinfo.html

- Unrar into the vanilla folder overwriting everything.

[Ignatich]

Superb!

[Frakel]

This map looks really beautiful and I cant wait to try it out!

Some initial feedback - judging from your screenshots alone:


What I love:
- The mountains, hills, forrest and ocean textures. Though especially the mountain and hill textures - for being so ´large scale´. They really leave the impression that you are looking at a handdrawn map. And, perhabs due do their size, doesnt seem repetitive on the map.
- The blue borders for ocean and the black borders for land provinces.


What Im sceptical about:
- The green line between desert and hill terrain, but I suspect that cant be remedied?
- The texture for desert. It seems too small and gritty - and repetitive. This texture breaks the impression of a hand drawn map IMO. Have you considered trying something more in style with the ones for the hills? That is, something ´large scale´ rather than small, small dunes? Perhabs keeping the present texture but simply scaling it up 200%?
- Perhabs a similar argument could be made regarding the texture for steppes...


But overall great work! Great, great work. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your effort!

[Strannik]

What Im sceptical about:
- The green line between desert and hill terrain, but I suspect that cant be remedied?
- The texture for desert. It seems too small and gritty - and repetitive. This texture breaks the impression of a hand drawn map IMO. Have you considered trying something more in style with the ones for the hills? That is, something ´large scale´ rather than small, small dunes? Perhabs keeping the present texture but simply scaling it up 200%?
- Perhabs a similar argument could be made regarding the texture for steppes...

Thanks a lot for your feedback and I'm glad you like the map. Regarding your suggestions, I'm afraid the green line between desert and hills cannot be avoided. However I will experiment with the textures to see if I like the change. At the very least I could just upload those textures in a larger size as an optional. Stay tunned.

[Frakel]

Ok, Ive now installed the map and admired it in the game. Compared to the screenshots above, I find it even more impressive when experienced ´live´


Some thoughts:
On max zoom the map is near perfect! The different terrain textures are crisp, intuitive and stand out very well. However, on an intermediate zoom level (where I prefer to play), I find the map slightly ´messy´ or ´busy´ (as I believe someone else described it earlier). Again, I think this is mostly due to the fact that some of the terrain textures are very small - they become hard to perceive and repetitive on an intermediate zoom level. Ive allready mentioned that the desert and steppe textures might come better across the screen simply by being scaled up. The same goes for farmland and I think the same might also be true for the ocean texture. It is a great texture! I really, really like it. But Id like to see that one scaled up as well.

[Strannik]

Ok, Ive now installed the map and admired it in the game. Compared to the screenshots above, I find it even more impressive when experienced ´live´


Some thoughts:
On max zoom the map is near perfect! The different terrain textures are crisp, intuitive and stand out very well. However, on an intermediate zoom level (where I prefer to play), I find the map slightly ´messy´ or ´busy´ (as I believe someone else described it earlier). Again, I think this is mostly due to the fact that some of the terrain textures are very small - they become hard to perceive and repetitive on an intermediate zoom level. Ive allready mentioned that the desert and steppe textures might come better across the screen simply by being scaled up. The same goes for farmland and I think the same might also be true for the ocean texture. It is a great texture! I really, really like it. But Id like to see that one scaled up as well.

I understand what you say and this is something I have thought before. The desert terrain certainly needs to be improved. It goes all the way back to the very first version. Regarding the other types I think I will slightly increase the size of the steppes but I'm not sure I will do it for the farmland or the ocean. Thank you very much for your feedback though. Stay tunned for the update.

[ubik]

I agree the desert terrain is the greatest candidate for improvement.