Hi all, some of you may remember me mentioning this a while back, most of you wont.

I have been working on (as the title suggests ;)) a map generator. It is still in its very early stages and are plenty of bugs no doubt, but there is now enough there to give an idea of things to come, so I'm releasing the first public version (v0.2.0alpha).

This release supports basic Bow and Arrow and Fort maps.
It has been tested under WinXP Pro by me, but apparently it works under Wine so I'm pretty certain other windows versions wont have a problem.

Edit: Replacing download link with wiki link, will be kept up to date.
MapGEN (http://www.worms2D.info/MapGEN)

Wheee!!!! Gogogogogogogo!

Ooooooooooooh this looks spangly.

I've always wanted a random BnA generator!

Edit: oh wow it has a lovely installer and everything

Oh I just remember what I was meant to say in top post about the fort mode.

There is still a ludicrously high likely hood for repeat tiles, this happens mostly when the top two tiles are the same, if the next down will proably be the same too. Also, if the top of a tile and the bottom of a tile have the same configuration, the next tile down has a very high chance of being the same.... like 50% i think. These will be fixed later, promise!

Very nice plut, good job.

*Adds Plutonic to the list of WA programmers in the Worms Knowledge Base (http://wiki.thecybershadow.net/Worms_Knowledge_Base).*

lol @ plugging Worms Knowledge Base (http://wiki.thecybershadow.net/Worms_Knowledge_Base)

'tis a good idea, though.

n man, props.

Good to see people like it :)

Any one have any suggestions or ideas to help me on my way?

Oh while im here other schemes currently under development are Roper, Shopper and Walk for Weapons.

How do you add new graphics sets? I thought simply creating them and adding a new folder would do the trick, but the new folder doesn't appear in the drop-down list.

No doubt that .dat file has something to do with it.

I'm referring to the bna one here, as the fort one has quite a complicated folder structure.

the bna stuff cannot be edited as of yet. I will add it at some point though its on my list!

To add stuff to the forts you need to add graphics to the folders already there.
so if the folder has 0.png and 1.png in it you make a new one 2.png.
Each folder has a meaning based on the locations of the 'holes'.
If you look hard enough at those there you should be able to work out the locations where they join to other tiles if not. the 1st 4 contain left, middle, right and left and right options and the 2nd 4 contain the same with a connection in the horizontal. The middle tiles have more options because they need to vary both top and bottom holes.

I have a template RAR file if you want it.

For BnA I will make it scan for new options. I will either have to have a text file with all the options (could put them in the dat file) or make all the designes have a number based folder so I can loop and check for the folder.

Either way is equally easy so tell me which you think is best and I'll implement it.

When this program's in better shape, I'd like to write a WormKit module that integrates with it. That would mean, a new folder would appear in the maps folder list ("MapGEN"), only visible to Worms, and inside some .PNGs named after the schemes. Each time such a PNG is loaded, the module launches MapGEN with some command-line parameters, then return the generated map to W:A.

Thats exactly what I was hoping to do but wasn't sure how to go about it.

Just add a command-line option to generate a map by a specifed map type with some default or pre-defined parameters, and save that map to to a file, without popping up any windows. I can do the rest.

Edit: also, make the installer save in the registry where the program is installed. I'd rather not mess with MSI's registry maze.

ok will do!

edit:

Ok have implemented this for BnA and Fort modes, get me on MSN and I'll send you the exe. I'll PM my MSN addy.

implement other game modes... such as "normal terrain".

I know this is ingame, but it could be to have new terrain sets... before deadcode even makes a patch... it could do... if it's not hard to do...

I think I could help a bit with the drawing at the terrain sets... At least I could try...

That would be tricky though. There's probably an awful lot of code to get the in-game random map generator producing the sort of maps it does (and not static)

run's right, normal terrain is a *****. I got a bit of it going as the grass under the forts, but it only makes mountains, nothing more yet.

Once I have the ones I'm working on ... working, I was planning on doing a BnG one, which will pretty much be like normal terrain.

any progress?

Have implemented all the command line stuff and regestry stuff that cyber required. So for that side we are waiting on him getting back from holiday. I've spent more time thinking about how to implement stuff more than I have actually getting on with stuff but I hope to fix that this week. Will probably move onto walk for weapons next. so I'll post here any progress ;)

Wow! Brilliant stuff! Small question, is alpha before beta in the testing process?

Is alpha before beta in the testing process?

Yes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_stage).

I've spent more time thinking about how to implement stuff more than I have actually getting on with stuff...

That is how coding works.

That is how coding works.
More importantly, that's how the alphabet works... :)

It doesn't work on my Windows 98 SE. Hm, I don't know how this error looks in english windows, but in polish: http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/6585/errorxu5.jpg

Sorry, if someone from Poland can translate this, I'll be thankful.

Is that an error trying to run the installer?

Anyone else got Windows 98?

It might be that you need the latest version of windows installer, you can get it from the microsoft website somewhere.

Looks like some type of folder error, possibly involving a .msi file.

I was just trying to show someone the current build of MapGEN as a demo and it crashed on generating. I didn't want to say 'Its not a problem with the program' because they probably hear it alot and wouldn't beleive me, but it was slightly worrying - has anyone had problems running the alpha? So far all errors apear to be with the installer not the program itself. Any news on this would be much appreciated!

Definitly looks interesting. I'll have to give this thing a try at some point. Keep up the good work.

the msi file uses the windows installer and the latest version is only for winXP/2000 thus win98 uses may have to miss out or a version packaged into a zip may need to be released aswell... (this version will upon initial run import appropriate settings into the registry based on where it is run from.

ahhhhhh ok that explains the installer problems, I will make a standard zip/reg file version for next release then :)

we dont know what version of the windows installer your installer requires... if it needs v2.x or lower then win9x users can enjoy it... if it uses v's above v2.x then it is only winXP.

ahh plut, could ya give me a feature list and some screenies, i've not been on windows for a while now and i'd like to see how far along ya are.

MapGEN has been reported to run under Wine if your using Linux, or are you on Mac?

as for feature lists... ummm...

Generates Fort and BnA schemes correctly.

Generates partial Roper and Walk for Weapon maps.

Theres a screenshot on the 1st page of this thread :P

---
Can I assume no one here has had it fail to run other than the installer causing issues?

What would a Mac user want with W:A maps?

What would a Mac user want with W:A maps?

Well, they could probably use them on Wormux (http://www.wormux.org).

..under Wine if your using Linux, or are you on Mac?

The only reason I will ever be behind a Mac is because stuff i make from time to time needs testing on one of those too. I will sooner die then get one of those things.

No, i'm behind linux but i have yet to manage to install it properly. So i gotta get that done first and look at wine after. Does WA run onder wine?

yes...........

Does WA run onder wine?

www.nanacide.com/wahelp

Woot I have Win98 SE >.< and the program works just fine..cant help though with that why it doesnt work with that another guy..

There seems to be a problem with generating a fort using "White Granite". It gets an unexpected error and closes.

There is no "white granite".. but I'll assume you mean White Stone and carry on anyway.

I don't get the same error here, but that sounds very reminisent of what was happening last week. What are your system specs?

Is it possible in the future that you could make it generate RopeRace maps?

Dont worry, the White Stone thing was because I by mistake deleted one of the PNG's...

RR's will be supported yes.

Haha, I was about to ask if you might have been playing with the data files.

I solved my crash issue too - it was on a read only drive... :o

RR's will be supported yes.

Excellent.

http://www.cod.edu/dept/athletic/teams/soccer/alumni/_notes/burns.jpg

lol, rr is one of the easiest things to build. No worries about that one.

Plutonic, do you know when the next release is coming out?

Is it possible in the future that you could make it generate RopeRace maps?

Have you seen RR-Gen (http://www.rr-gen.com) before?

Have you seen RR-Gen before?

Actually I've got it. I just thought it would be handy if MapGen also supported RR's.

next release will be as soon as another scheme gives useble maps haha, currently working on walk for weapons but its um... not great yet.

Heres a screeny with all the scemes currenly partly in it and the current rubbish that is WfW output.... :

WICKED! :eek:

What's RopeRace Lex?

It's a roperace generation algorithm developped by Lex.

I haven't written it. I just told Plutonic that I might want to write one since I had many ideas for how to write an intelligent rr-generating algorithm, and he added a section for me to write my algorithm in his source code.

I don't think I'll be able to handle that yet. I'll need a bit more C++ practice before I can put my thought into code.

how far is this completed?

Just started a new job so not had alot of time on it - will try to get back onto it son though!

You'd better. It's an extremely good addition to the whole online community of WA. You will revolutionise gaming! Or something.

It's true. I imagine that when MapGen eventually reaches the sophistication one would expect of it, people just won't bother making their own maps any more. Well not for most schemes anyway, shoppers for instance. Spending loads of effort on a map just won't be worth it when their creation is drowned out by so many random maps of comparable artistic quality, just a different (random) arrangement of graphics.

(edit: in retrospect that sounds like I'm attacking it, but i'm not)

Then again there will always be some things a random generator will never do.

Buy you drinks?

Create a nice map that isn't drawn from small graphics and sprites?

Make Breakfast at 11:00?

Create a nice map that isn't drawn from small graphics and sprites?

The WA map generator doesn't do that either.

I think he's referring to things like Squiffel-like maps.

But to expect a program to generate actual art is asking a bit much...

:p Now THAT would be impressive....

Esarlier you said tyhat the BnA section wasn't editable, but if you just replace the .png files they work.

I've got a pacman bna now.

and also if you make the .png files large enough you canould make a whole new type of map.


EDIT: canould was my indescision between can and could. :/

This is gonna be awesome to the max when it's done.

Esarlier

EDIT: canould was my indescision between can and could. :/"Esarlier" is your indecision between "earlier" and "easier"! :D You are quite indecisive! ;D

Ah, when I said it wasn't editable i didn't mean that you cant change whats there - i meant that you cant add new ones to the list. I'm heading back home tomorrow and will try to get back onto this in my spare time once I do.

For now though, happy new year for tomorrow!

"Esarlier" is your indecision between "earlier" and "easier"! :D You are quite indecisive! ;D


hey, I got a new kb for christmas that is way too tiny, but it's wireless.


I've since switched back.


^^ notice my lack of spelling errors



and good luck with the mapgen Plutonic

totally disagree with you run. A random generator doesn't go too far. It will takes bits and peaces and hustle them around but that's all it does. It doesn'g design for you, it can only construct of those graphics that are intergrated into it. And even then; the mapGEN allows people to add their own graphics so rather then taking creativity away it adds a new layer to it.

Custom designed maps won't fall out of style. RR generator has been around for a while now and people are still using custom maps by the dozens. All it does is add to the possibilities. And possibilities is what has kept this game on the road all these years.

Btw congrets on ya new job Chris.

Can someone send me a link to a rr generator?

http://www.rr-gen.com/ ;)

am i doing something wrong? it hasn't made me a GOOD playable rr yet..

(Maybe you selected some rubbish settings then http://www.nanacide.com/images/Emoticons/ssh.gif)

Besides, what physical, scientifically measurable qualities can be attributed to "GOOD"? Until we have some sort of objective basis for your claim, it can be dismissed outright. http://www.nanacide.com/images/Emoticons/clint.gif

Stop using those weird emotes! Especially that pink one. I declare war on that evil pink emote!!!11!!!1!1!!!1!!1!11!

No. http://www.nanacide.com/images/Emoticons/colbert.gif

Run's smilies own.

Ok, don't get too excited, I haven't actually, realy, progressed at all in the last year but I have started reworking a lot of the innards having looked at the code and been discusted.

Still a lot to do on that front but figured I would put out a new release with the preliminaries for WfW and Roper that are... exactly as they were a year ago.

Hopefully I will get round to carrying on with this at some point, but no promises.

Oh, and the WfW stuff works best with pads set to about halfway. (Not that I've actually tried playing one yet)

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapGen021.rar

You might notice it's a rar this time. I seem to have lost the program I used to make the installer so um, just extract it somewhere.

WinRAR's self-extracting executable feature makes a decent enough installer if you ask me.

Because I can't be bothered to download it, is it compatible with big maps?

uh it can't be.. it can maybe make them or not but how would it be "compatable" with large maps?

uh it can't be.. it can maybe make them or not but how would it be "compatable" with large maps?

gee i dunno, Muzer's post just doesn't make any sense at all, there's no coherent use of words there, I can't even begin to decipher it

oh wait yes i can because Muzer means "can it make big maps" and anyone who can't see that is an idiot

Part of the internal reworking was in that general direction, but.. no, you can't make big maps yet.

Edit: Quick update:

Just had another look at it to see how far I got in that direction and 2 mins work has it spitting out pngs of any size.
Will need to do the UI and only output at nearest valid res etc but shouldn't take too long....

oh wait yes i can because Muzer means "can it make big maps" and anyone who can't see that is an idiot

im aware of what he meant, just the wording he used is a bit odd to me.

Ok all quick update, i've just got BnA maps generating to any resolution.
There are plenty of tweeks that will need doing and no-doubt it will be buggy, but expect a release tomorrow (if I remember).

Ok, new update with BnA allowing huge maps, just a warning, don't try making 32000 x 32000 pixel maps, I know it's an option but... it realy doesn't end well.
(Trying on my PC ran out of memory at 3Gb usage) I've only left it in because I don't have the time to work out what level is possible, espesially as all PC's are different.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapgen022.rar

Next update is for a basic RopeRace map. Only for standard 1920x696 maps for now and all lines are white, but I figured I would release it, see what people think before making it look nicer.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapgen023.rar

edit: Just added support for large maps, restricted to 8000x8000, as when I made any too much larger they failed to save.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapgen0231.rar

I like it. Very nice :)

Edit: bug: when i try 640x32 or 640x104 (didn't try any other combos that are small) the program crashes on my computer.

I'm curious, under WinXP, A extra process is run that forces mapgen to close when too much memory is used. What is this extra process that Windows calls?

it hit around 2,450MBwhen making the largest size map of 0.22 xD



Now on topic, 0.231 does not enforce the 8,000x8,000 restriction.

when i try 640x32 or 640x104 (didn't try any other combos that are small) the program crashes on my computer.

Doh! My bad, it's probably because 32 and 104 are smaller than one tile wide...
I'll fix it tomorrow.

Now on topic, 0.231 does not enforce the 8,000x8,000 restriction.

The restriction is only on RR, might make sence to put one on BnA as well though.

Ok, I have fixed the crash when the map is smaller than the width of one path...

I have also opened up access to the path width variable.

You can set it between 174 and 522. And yes that means that the largest path wont fit on the smallest map. But if you insist on passing it odd values that's now your own problem :p

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapgen0232.rar

Ok, quick update for those who are interested. No where near complete but start of the Shopper stuff:

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test1.png

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test2.png

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test3.png

I've decided to use the WA sprites this time, purely as creating / finding images was taking up too much time that I just don't have any more!

Edit: Added new progress image

They look cool. Nice work.

Perhaps you could think about adding support for sheep race maps? : D

Set the difficulty level and it changes the tunnel width : <

Ok, quick update for those who are interested. No where near complete but start of the Shopper stuff:

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test1.png

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test2.png

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/images/dump/shopper-test3.png

I've decided to use the WA sprites this time, purely as creating / finding images was taking up too much time that I just don't have any more!

Edit: Added new progress image

It only looks good.

Very promising.

Yeah agreed, awesome work. Too bad you're busy, I'd really love to see a map generator that features all the common schemes. But that's a bit much to ask I guess. ;)

Which schemes in particular?

Supersheepers are normally played on random inverted cavern maps, but since big maps came along they've always been so much more fun with those. Trouble is you can't randomly generate big maps... perhaps you could implement a supersheeper map generator? It ought to be pretty simple; I used a grid template to create supersheep maps like this

http://f.imagehost.org/0897/bigss_1.png

I think the grid is designed so it doesn't matter what dimensions it is, it'll still work for WA (each grid square being divisible by 8). So if you could implement something that could create a similar grid thingy of any size (and perhaps add some sort of colour or texture!) then that would be simply brilliant

Edit: maybe with an extra parameter which determines how many of the bottom rows are completely filled in (falling sheep tend to go through it quickly)

Plut, will there be something like a "hole seed"? Shopper maps usually have holes at the bottom ("plops"), on the walls and on the ceiling (these sometimes being bigger).

Supersheepers are normally played on random inverted cavern maps, but since big maps came along they've always been so much more fun with those. Trouble is you can't randomly generate big maps... perhaps you could implement a supersheeper map generator? It ought to be pretty simple; I used a grid template to create supersheep maps like this

And an obstacle option! Placed here and there.

OoO, There will be random sized holes placed in the areas between objects on all 4 walls before the shopper stuff is released, its pretty much next on the list (after wall objects to match the roof ones).

I'm a little lost with the sheep race stuff, how does it differ from an RR? From what I can tell it's the same but has wrong turns?

Nice one.
Make objects appear behind the land, not in front of it ;).

OoO, There will be random sized holes placed in the areas between objects on all 4 walls before the shopper stuff is released, its pretty much next on the list (after wall objects to match the roof ones).

I'm a little lost with the sheep race stuff, how does it differ from an RR? From what I can tell it's the same but has wrong turns?

the land is really really thick and is just a random collection of tunnels rather than a linear maze

a replay might be helpful: www.nanacide.com/ss.WAgame (run with rubberworm)

Ahhhhh! For some reason I had Sheep-Race in my head. Yeah, that should be easy enough to make. It could even run off the same algorith as my RR generator, just needs to draw the data differently...

wtf is that o_O SR is where you race the sheep from Start to Finish, not some gay game where you just sheep everyone and thats all you do...

Well, a black and white SuperSheeper is now working, will be in v0.3 along with shopper when it's done.

wtf is that o_O SR is where you race the sheep from Start to Finish, not some gay game where you just sheep everyone and thats all you do...

lol

it's a supersheeper

it's not really designed to be anything strategic, it's just a whole lot of fun

I was wondering the same.. Can't you call it "Super Sheep War" or something like that? A Sheeper to me has always been a SSR.

well i suppose so... the scheme isn't really popular enough for anyone to notice if the name was changed, even google doesn't bring up a single relevant result for it (this thread is result number 2, lol)

sheepBnG+ (http://vader.wurmz.net/schemes/sheepbngplus/) for the win.

That .wsc is actually slightly out of date but I'm not at home so I can't update it just now. I think the latest version has 0% chance of no crate dropping, 2 clusters at 3-power with no delay and a 1 turn delay on firepunch/dragonball. Whatever, it's still fun and sheepBnG requires quite specific maps, thus a map generator for sheepBnG would be really ace.

Maps should be big, busy and include some sort of pit/slide. I will upload examples when I'm home if you're interested in including it.

I always liked sheepBnG's so I will certainly look in to adding it. The more examples the better.

I'm back home now so I've compiled some screenshots, a rar of the maps in the screenshots (click the image below to go to the web page) and some points I've observed regarding sheepBnG/sheepBnG+ which pertain to the creation of maps:

There should be a lot of land, lots of floating islands, lots of 'topsoil' and some slopes which lead to the water. A bridge or two every now and then is welcome but more often than not the maps are bridge free zones.

Players tend to try and stay on high ground but there should be plenty of opportunity for those who've been knocked into little holes to attack. Essentially this means lots of islands or lumps of land - floating or interconnected - which can catch a falling worm while the gaps between offer safe passage for projectile weapons.

Of course, the amount of land there is in a level should be evenly spread but a sheepBnG map should not be symmetrical; most of the time one side of the map will present a clear advantage over the other but this is not determined purely through map design. It is predominantly during the end-game that this matters most, by which point the land will mostly have been blown up and the remaining players will be fighting for a safe high spot.

The reason these maps are so big (for .BIT, at least) is that in CoW we tend to play with 4 worms on each team and with 3 or more teams. There needs to be a lot of space for placement or it gets quite crowded. There should also be a few 'notches' designed to tempt players into placing their worms there so they can avoid being knocked about too much. These can be a good risk/reward element as a good notch will keep you still when you're hit lightly but could block any useful shots you may want to take. Still, you can see examples of these notches in "notEast" and "Gerbil".

Slopes, slides and pits are essential. You can see that these maps feature V pits or slopes at the sides. V pits should be notched a bit or likely to take damage. There shouldn't really be a pit kill on the first shot, for example, so adding obstacles of any sort is advised. The side slopes are to add to the risk of placing away from the top-centre of the map. The top-left and top-right are good places to be in sheepBnG as you have a height advantage and a better chance of being further from your attacker(s).

I could go on and on but I reckon I've said enough already.

Have some screenshots compiled into one image. Click it for biggerness and things (I threw this together impatiently but I'll make it look nicer at some point):
http://vader.wurmz.net/maps/images/compilation.png (http://vader.wurmz.net/maps/sheepBnG/)

Good god, wasn't expecting sheepbng maps to have evolved so much! Might take a fair bit of thinking but will keep you informed on any progress. Will probably start on it once shopper and supersheeper anre finished off (v0.3).

I have also now made a WK module for generating maps from mapgen in game which will be including in the v0.3 rar.

I have also now made a WK module for generating maps from mapgen in game which will be including in the v0.3 rar.
So we can generate maps similar to Worms 2 ones or something?

Um, wait, what?
Worms 2 maps are exactly the sames WA maps, thats what the ingame map generator is for? Or did I miss something?

The WK module added the mapgen scemes to the saved levels drop down, and clicking on one generates a map of that type and loads it in. That way you dont have to think about generating maps and saving them before looking for a game, you can get one while in the hosting lobby like any other map.

That's genuinely awesome. Very good show, old bean.

Vader you should write an article on sheepbng for the WKB (http://worms2d.info/Schemes) :]

e: oh wait never mind, it's already mentioned in the bng page

As SheepBnG is such a different game to regular BnG, I was considering doing so anyway.

I think it deserves it and clearly I have a lot to say on the matter!

Um, wait, what?
Worms 2 maps are exactly the sames WA maps, thats what the ingame map generator is for? Or did I miss something?

The WK module added the mapgen scemes to the saved levels drop down, and clicking on one generates a map of that type and loads it in. That way you dont have to think about generating maps and saving them before looking for a game, you can get one while in the hosting lobby like any other map.

I think "I" misunderstood you. Anyways, can you add support for generating maps that are similar to what Worms 2 generates?

Probably, though I'm still lost as to what is different between what W2 generates and what WA/WWP generates. I just tried to run W2 to check but it's refusing to run at the moment.

Ok, uploaded a new version with the wk module etc for people to play with, not as far along as I wanted it to be for this release but theres so many bug fixes etc. and i'm so low on time again that I thought i might as well.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapGen030pre.rar

To get the wk module working, simply un-rar mapgen to where-ever then run mapGen.exe. This sets up the regestry with a list of valid gametypes for the version of mapgen installed and the location you put mapgen so WA can find it.
Then copy/move the dll in the wkMapGEN folder into your WA folder and when you run wormkit there will be a mapgen folder in the savedlevels map list.

Added a basic supersheeper as requested, no objects, just the basic maze so far.

Also updated the RR and fixed some bugs with RR maps being cut off. There are still a few bugs (RR's with odd sized paths can sometimes make maps with invalid heights) but I will look into these for the next version.

Roper has also had a few changes to make it... very slightly better...

And shopper is now in with its first just about functional version (though only manhatten and construction have enough of the WA art converted to make it worth while)

BnA shouldn't crash any more.

Any problems / bugs / suggestions give me a shout.

Updated: http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/mapGen030pre.rar

Includes the first version of supersheep race. This isn't the checkpoint style ssr, but the maze kind. Will generate random paths through the map, start is always top left, exit somewhere on the right.

Can do any size up to 8000x8000, however be carefull when using the Complexity option, when too high it can give odd results, and in some cases on large maps, never complete at all (as far as I can tell, it might just be taking a reeeaaaaly long time). With the default complexity 8000x8000 maps work on my machine but can use just over a gig of RAM to do so.

Path size is also changeable, large paths may cause overlapping of paths (and therefore shortcuts), small paths have proven too difficult to test to know if they are always completeable, a 65 map was completed and most of a 60, anything lower is untested. Paths size of 70 - 80 usually works best.

Edit:
Also added a realy small button at the top-right of the generate map preview clicking it will show a bigger preview of the map.

Edit 2:
Quick update, bug-fix, SSR maps now correctly generate through wkMapGEN module.

MapGEN v0.3 is now uploaded and ready to use:

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapGen030.rar

Give me a shout if you spot anything wrong or have any suggestions.

The following have been completed in this version:


Larger preview button.
Save settings for individual schemes.
Maps using themes can now place both grass and objects where there is space.
wormkit module for generating maps while in-game. Uses settings saved out from the main program.
"Island" scheme for normal games.
"Supersheep race" scheme for normal games.


The following themes are now completed:


Manhatten
Hospital
Contruction
Art
Tribal
Music
Snow
Dinos
Domestic


Enjoy!

The following themes are now completed:


Dinos
Domestic

Yay!
The two missing schemes finally available from within WA?

gj plut, well done ;)

Cheers guys! :)

Yup, if you use the wormkit module you can generate them from in the map maker screen by selecting Island from the MapGEN folder. It will use what ever settings you have saved while running the program.

It currently only saves options in the box in the bottom left of mapGEN. It saves only the currently selected scheme so you dont have to worry about ruining other schemes you have tweaked but dont want to save.

There are a few things that need tweaking on the generic island maps: The grass doesn't look quite right when the land is realy thin, objects always face the same way etc but they are easily fixed. Biggest problem is that it will always pick a random theme when using the wormkit module, so if you realy want to play with dinos it might be easier to minimise and use the actual program.

nice work.

a bug: if the wk module can't start for any reason the program, wa freezes, and after minimizing and clocking on 'ok' of the error message, wa crashes. You shouldn't use MessageBox but AfxMessageBox

Ah! I good point. On my machine if you press the enter key without minimising WA, it will close the dialog and continue without crashing WA, but I admit thats a nasty oversight on my part.

I'm not using MFC at the moment as I've never worked out how to get it to compile and it seems like a lot of bloat that for the most part isn't required.

For now I can just remove the message box entirely for the next release, i'd rather confuse people than crash WA! I can always have an error log text file or something for failures.

Cheers for the report!

Ah! I good point. On my machine if you press the enter key without minimising WA, it will close the dialog and continue without crashing WA, but I admit thats a nasty oversight on my part.pressing enter here does weird things (black screen, frozen screen, glitchy screen, crash... not predictable).
You don't need to include the mfc library in your dll, and I fear it wouldn't work. Just make a call to the W:A MFC library. I think I can't post the address here...

Ah, that's cool, cheers!
Very usefull for debugging stuff, only problem is that you have to update it every time WA changes, guess for now I will just put it in a game version check.

New version of the wkMapGEN module, compatible with mapGEN v0.3.0, fixes the crash when an error occurs trying to open mapGEN. When running 28.0 or 29.0 errors will appear in the WA frontend, any other version will show no errors at all.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/wkMapGEN030.rar

3.6.29.9b? ha!

If it didn't have that in, people wouldn't be able to use it with the latest alpha!

(Though I still can't use it since Wine hates WormKit)

btw, I assume you're talking about this:
muzer@muzer-desktop:~/Big$ strings wkMapGEN.dll | grep 3.6
3.6.28.0
3.6.29.0
3.6.29.9b
muzer@muzer-desktop:~/Big$

Or is that version number listed elsewhere?

yes. I was just wondering if that is the latest alpha.

when select island map in the game map editor with wormkit
the map resolution is very big....
with other map/scheme type the resolution is correct.
how to setting island resolution ?

:confused:

Hi there! You can change the settings used under wormkit by opening the main MapGen program, selecting the scheme you want and changing the settings. As long as you click the Save button before closing, the wormkit module will use any saved settings. So you should just be able to put the sliders back to 1920x696 and save. If that's not working give me a shout and I'll take another look.

that's the problem, it doesn't work. I tested with him yesterday. it's width and height is always 3840/1392.

EDIT:
I spotted the bug: you set the default width and height after calling the function that reads settings.dat, contrary to what you do in the other cases than island.

forgive me for keeping reversing your executable, but I'm teaching eddy2000 (whose real nick is atrox) a bit of programming and disassembling here and there:D

Oh god, your not meant to look at MapGEN source, it's horrific! Not as bad as it was about a year ago but realy, not nice.

Anyway, nice catch, will be fixed in next build!

forgive me for keeping reversing your executable
If you add 3D renders of ninjas, you can even publish MapGEN as your creation! :D
That's the GNU General Ninja License model.

If you add 3D renders of ninjas, you can even publish MapGEN as your creation! http://forum.team17.co.uk/images/newsmilies/biggrin.gif
That's the GNU General Ninja License model.

He he, that's the biggest laugh I've had all day shows you what a boring day I've had

Well thanks! But I saved a map and wanted to play it, then it says: error opening map....

Doesn't work!

Hmm, weird.
Could you zip and send me the map? If it fits you can attach it here.

It shouldn't let you generate maps of invalid sizes, nor should it use an incorrect colour palette unless you ask it too. What type of map was it?

Well I found the prob ^^ Do not select "force full colour" :)

Ah! yes, that would do it!

That option is there for incase it saves with a realy, realy in-optimal pallette, then you can save it out in true-colour and convert it manually.

waiting for a new release, I modified version 0.30 to fix that island bug

see following post

Hmmm, if you wanted a fix that badly you could always have just asked for me to upload it...

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen031.rar

Rebooting server now, so should be back online shortly...

The server is down. Are there anyother mirrors up for it? >.>

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen031.rar works fine for me

Works now, but i've tried for the better part of a day, and it timed out. Anyhows, solved. :P

Sorry, server can be a bit temperamental, occasionally just decides to not exist even though it's still connected and nothing has changed.

Gad you found it in the end, any feedback always welcome!

Is there any way to choose how many objects that will be placed out? Every island-map that I creat get ALOT of objects placed out.

Right click on the map to open the terrain editor. There is an object option which allows you to decide how many objects are placed on the map.

I think you missunderstod. What I mean is that I want to change the number of objects that by automatic are put into the map that MapGEN creates.

Not at the moment, it will pretty much try and place as many as it can. Will look into adding the option of reducing this in the next version.

some friends of mine at wormsmania.net (http://www.wormsmania.net/public/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3398 for italian readers) decided to "implement" all the native terrain styles in mapgen.

Since mapgen at the moment can't handle correctly more than 10 (9th index) styles in island maps, I patched it to workaround this problem.

http://pisto.xoom.it/MapGen1.rar

You can generate islands with the following styles:

Urban
Tribal
Tools
Time
Tentacle
Sports
Space
Snow
Pirate
Old-Hell
Old-Forest
Old-Desert
Music
Medieval
Manhattan
Jungle
Hospital
Hell
Gulf
Fruit
Forest
Farm
Easter
Dungeon
Domestic
Dinos
Desert
Construction
Cheese
Beach
Art

There are two executables inside, because version 0.30 generates far less objects than the latest version.

New version 0.3.3 now available!
Contains the "theme sorting" fix in Pistos, and also adds a slider to contol the amount of objects placed on the map. It will need another version to make it so that the bar apears on other game types but i'm out of time for tonight so will look at it another day.

I havent included the new styles Pisto just posted in the rar, but they should work with it just fine.

Edit: Updated same download link with the objects bar available on shopper and supersheep as well.

Edit 2: Added preview for theme textures, enabled the "hold" button for many of the schemes and added the listed themes in the main download. Also added EXE only and Data only downloads on the mapgen page.

Edit 3: Was an error in the data folder, updated to fix

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen034b.rar
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen034bEXE.rar
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen034bData.rar

Damn rollback!

Ok, New versions out:

If you have v0.4.0/0.4.1, theres a small exe only (not even the dll's)
that fixes the loading of indimask based maps losing the indimask flag. File should be attached.

If you still have 0.3.x, you will unfortunatly want the full download of 0.4.1 as well (then patch with the attachment):
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapGen041.rar

v0.4.x adds an editor to mapgen for changing colours between destructablilty types as an aid when making them.

Enjoy

Damn rollback!

Ok, New versions out:

If you have v0.4.0/0.4.1, theres a small exe only (not even the dll's)
that fixes the loading of indimask based maps losing the indimask flag. File should be attached.

If you still have 0.3.x, you will unfortunatly want the full download of 0.4.1 as well (then patch with the attachment):
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapGen041.rar

v0.4.x adds an editor to mapgen for changing colours between destructablilty types as an aid when making them.

Enjoy

Plutonic, why not update your first post with these new versions, i accidentely installed version 0.2.0 by mistake.

But apart from that, VERY nice program.

Thanks matey! Very good point, will go do it now.

Hey Plutonic,

I notice when you generate a map that you can choose a theme. But I want to generate basic rr maps and all the themes seem to result in fluffy edges. None of them are properly straight lines.

Any chance of a setting for no theme and just perfect straight lines :<

Sorry if I've missed something obvious.

:<

Cue.

Hey cue! I'll look into adding a 'no top soil' tick box at done point, in the mean time it's possible to just make a new theme that does it. Just copy one of the current ones and either edit the graphic to be flat or make it all black or something! Will add it to the list of things to add though!

Sorry if this counts as Ressurection of a Inactive Thread, but I just generated a wFw Map on MapGEN to try it out, and it had ten Sheep blocks. Just a few too many, don't you think? I think Max. 5 of a certain kind in later version. Cheers.

Hey shirdel! Nothing inactive about this thread, it's slow but I always check it! Yeah I've never been too happy with the wfw stuff, if your interested in using it though I'll move it up my list for a second pass!

Yeah, I do generally like wFw's more than most other people.
But the Program in itself is very useful and clever, so keep up the Good Work.

Right, new build:

Get back to me with any errors as i've been changing a lot of stuff behind the scenes.

This MapGEN version is now built with VC++2010 as my old compiler doesn't work properly under windows 7 :(

Changes:
Added a "No top soil" tick-box for RR maps.
Added a default name so people generating many maps at once dont have to manualy name them.
Changes to WfW, should give more even distribution of weapons, also, updated tiles to give better spread around the map and fixed SOME of the overlapping tile/out of bounds issues.

Warning though, there is still a memory leak in the WfW generation, will look into these next.

Following download contains everything APART from the themes, as they are far too big for people to keep downloading.
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGen043.rar
If you need the themes they are here:
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGenThemes.rar

please provide msvcrt100.dll in the mapgen package, some systems don't have it.

please provide msvcrt100.dll in the mapgen package, some systems don't have it.

You can google it, there's a download avalible for it somewhere.

Telling your users to google for random DLLs is very bad advice, you're practically telling them to download and install executable code from random websites. The correct thing to do is to link the C runtime statically instead of dynamically. (Alternatively, with some trickery or by using Visual Studio 6 you can link to msvcrt.dll, a standard DLL in Windows XP and newer.)

Cyber wearing a bobby's helmet today!

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but from the tone of that reply, you've mistaken Kalan for Plutonic.

My reply was to both Kalan and Plutonic.

Sorry all, didn't realise there was a new dependancy! I will look into cybers suggestions as soon as I'm home. Posting from my phone here!

I have replaced the rar already posted:
www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGen043.rar
with one that has the missing DLL, i will still look into removing the dependancy for the next release though.

New version!

Nothing much new on the feature front but a must get for anyone that actually uses it:

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGen044.rar
http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGenThemes.rar

Have fixed all memory leaks across all scemes.
Massive optimizations to pretty much every scheme, most noticably island and wfw.
Reduced memory foot print while running (rarely goes over 10Mb now)
Removed almost all dll dependancies (just one left...)

Fixed a couple of issues with the shopper generation.

Still some known issues in the WfW gen (its much faster now but has a habit of "clumping" up... looking in to this next!

Quick fix to WfW generation!

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGen044b.rar
http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGenThemes.rar

I've never actually looked into this untill now, but.....

You can generate islands with the following styles:

Domestic
Dinos

That was the selling point for me! :cool:
I just hope that the beta updates are allowed to follow suit and heve these in game officially.

For anyone having issues with saving settings or not seeing the correct the previews its because the files in data/temp and *scheme*/settings.dat are readonly when they shouldnt be, just delete or set them all to be writeable and it should work.

I've updated the rar to not have these files in.

Also, if you get pure white maps, you will need the theme pack from here:
http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGenThemes.rar

I will add error messages for these cases in the next version...

I've just tried this out and was happy to finaly play large maps in game using the official themes! However, it appears that on most themes Mapgen leaves behind a slanted trail of black pixels which are treated as terrain in game, causing a difficult to see obstruction.
Some themes are worse than others.

Hi Chip, thanks for the feedback! I'll take a look to see if I can find the problem, is there any chance you could post an example of a map that is affected by this?

I did plan on going through all themes and getting shots of each but after installing Alcohol52% and setting up a virtual drive (fow WA but never got around to cloning the Disc), Windows claimed my computer has had massive system changes and now must be reactivated within 3 days so I spent all day backing up the contents of my hard drive in case the activation wont except my original Windows ID.... assuming I can find my old case with it stuck to.

But I did get a shot done yesterday, here's the Dino theme: (I hope the image isn't too big)

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/6620/dino1.png


Like I said in my earlier post, these black pixels count as being the terrain so you can walk on them and weapons can hit them. Also being so thin causes the AI to think it can throw objects through it as if it weren't there only to end up bouncing a grenade back to themselves.

The one example should be enough if it's the same on all of them, it's only to give me a rough idea of what to look for! I'll take a look once I get home if I have the time.

Just had a quick look and yes, it happens here too. It doesnt seem to be an issue wih the generation itself, more an issue with how gdlib is choosing to lower the colours. Didn't happen with the old version!

I will look inot fixing this up though.

Ok, I have turned off dithering as this seems to be the cause of the problem, if the maps look a lot worce post here and i'll look thurther into fixing the issue.

This version also has some warning/error messages added to help diagnose common problems with setup.

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen045.rar

I've continued my play with this and must say that all the maps I play now are made through this!
I've even started making my own theme for maps, although this first one is just a re-make of the old Candy theme and I have only got 1 object done so far (as well as the soil - pic: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7338/exampleg.png) but I have noticed a few bugs which you may have noted but I'll mention them anyway.




1. When objects are placed from the themes, they can be flipped. This is good but it also can flip objects that are placed on the walls of maps. Basically objects in the "left" and "right" folders can be flipped which causes an undesired silly look when you have objects like leaves that end up sticking into the terrain instead of sticking out.

2. Ocassinally objects will not actually touch the terrain when being placed. I think this happens when an object has a large image but mostly filled with black (which will be transparrent) and any part of this can touch the terrain to deem the object valid for placing. So the actual object itself ends up "floating" since its the transparrent black pixels that are touching the terrain.

3. Wide objects can be placed on really narrow points of the terrain. Say you have something that is 100 pixles wide and that's the bottom of the image (the base), Mapgen could place this on a surface like 20 pixels wide. This doesn't cause much problems for some themes but others like the Urban have wide, flat bases on some of their objects like the ruined building, and it looks a little strange seeing it ontop of a really small point.
I'm guessing the WA editor avoids this by checking for a certain length to place the "base" of the objects on so the base doesn't overhang an edge or wall.

4. Objects can be placed overlapping other objects. Not much of a problem but things can start to look cluttered when you have like 3 objects all on top of each other (over lapping).

5. With this latest version I cannot generate a new map after saving one. Basically each time I generate a new map and save it, any following attempts to generate a map fail with either a message saying "failed to generate map, make sure the temp folder (something like that) is not set to read only", or simpley wont load any more themes, not even the one is just used.



Other than that, this is one of the greatest programs I have downloaded. If the ability to generate big maps isn't enough (which it is!) then the ability to add in my own themes does it!

I've continued my play with this and must say that all the maps I play now are made through this!
I've even started making my own theme for maps, although this first one is just a re-make of the old Candy theme and I have only got 1 object done so far (as well as the soil - pic: http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7338/exampleg.png) but I have noticed a few bugs which you may have noted but I'll mention them anyway.




1. When objects are placed from the themes, they can be flipped. This is good but it also can flip objects that are placed on the walls of maps. Basically objects in the "left" and "right" folders can be flipped which causes an undesired silly look when you have objects like leaves that end up sticking into the terrain instead of sticking out.

2. Ocassinally objects will not actually touch the terrain when being placed. I think this happens when an object has a large image but mostly filled with black (which will be transparrent) and any part of this can touch the terrain to deem the object valid for placing. So the actual object itself ends up "floating" since its the transparrent black pixels that are touching the terrain.

3. Wide objects can be placed on really narrow points of the terrain. Say you have something that is 100 pixles wide and that's the bottom of the image (the base), Mapgen could place this on a surface like 20 pixels wide. This doesn't cause much problems for some themes but others like the Urban have wide, flat bases on some of their objects like the ruined building, and it looks a little strange seeing it ontop of a really small point.
I'm guessing the WA editor avoids this by checking for a certain length to place the "base" of the objects on so the base doesn't overhang an edge or wall.

4. Objects can be placed overlapping other objects. Not much of a problem but things can start to look cluttered when you have like 3 objects all on top of each other (over lapping).

5. With this latest version I cannot generate a new map after saving one. Basically each time I generate a new map and save it, any following attempts to generate a map fail with either a message saying "failed to generate map, make sure the temp folder (something like that) is not set to read only", or simpley wont load any more themes, not even the one is just used.



Other than that, this is one of the greatest programs I have downloaded. If the ability to generate big maps isn't enough (which it is!) then the ability to add in my own themes does it!

Wow thanks for all the feedback (and compliments!)

1. Definitely a bug! It's meant to be able to flip the "left" and "right" images but only to place them on the other side!

2. hmmmm, yes, true! Can probably fix that, just have to hope it doesn't cost us too much in generation time!

3. Would probably fix this along with the above issue

4. Not sure about this one, the obvious fix would have a nasty RAM usage hit. But yes I had noticed this one!

5. Already fixed tough dont remember if I uploaded a fixed version or not! Which version are you using?

Thanks again! Will look at those fixes soon.

New version 0.4.6:

Fixes a couple of things I broke previously namely:
Writing the mapgen path to the regestry so wkMapGen can find it.
and 5) in the posts above.

Added very very early support for cavern maps.

And in order to get these working, MapGEN now writes a waLV chunk into it's pngs. This means that cavern maps now behave like caverrns and the correct background image/gradient is used on theme based maps. Custom themes should edit settings.txt to pick the one they want.

Added missing theme Manhatten to the themes folder, no idea how I lost this! As the file is smaller now I have again combined it all into one file here:

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen046-full.rar

New version 0.4.7:

New implementation of Roper, now creates two islands and cuts small circles out of the edges, also Roper maps now turn on indi-borders and water drops.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/MapGen047-Full.rar

2. Ocassinally objects will not actually touch the terrain when being placed. I think this happens when an object has a large image but mostly filled with black (which will be transparrent) and any part of this can touch the terrain to deem the object valid for placing. So the actual object itself ends up "floating" since its the transparrent black pixels that are touching the terrain.

It would be great if you could take a look into that one soon. To me, that's the number 1 bug at the moment and is the only thing I'm really bothered about.


Oh and keep up the good work! :cool:

It would be great if you could take a look into that one soon. To me, that's the number 1 bug at the moment and is the only thing I'm really bothered about.

Oh and keep up the good work! :cool:

Oh yes! Sorry forgot about that, im on it!

Oh yes! Sorry forgot about that, im on it!

Ok, new version 0.4.8 should fix/improve all the object placement issues.

As a side effect you sometimes get maps that are a little sparce though as object placement is a lot stricter now, I will continue to try and improve this though. :(

www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/mapgen048b-full.rar

Edit: Modified link for hotfixed version (048b)

Good Jobs Plutonic ;)

vn... and ty.;)

Ok, new version uploaded:

MapGEN 0.4.9 - Only change here is that it included wkMapGen040 and the images scale when windows is set to huge font mode...

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/MapGen049-Full.rar

wkMapGen - Just the updated wk module if you dont use large fonts, get this one.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapgen/wkMapGen040.rar

Download DNS error! MapGEN full version 0.4.9, please help :mad:

Hi there, sorry for the down time! The CPU fan fell off on the server! I've fixed it now but won't be able to get it all plugged in properly until the weekend when I drive it back to it's home. But I will see if I can get it plugged in temporarily tomorrow or at least post the rar file here.

Ok, server is plugged back in and seems to be behaving this end so give it a try now!

New version of wkMapGEN has been made that restores compatability with versions other than 31.0.

http://www.wormscc.co.uk/download/mapGen/wkMapGen041.rar

Uploaded new version that fixes an issue where the water level was always set to max, also added support for a new IndiMask flag ready for future versions of the module.