Yeah, I haven’t figured this out yet either. Can anyone help us out? I have the folder unzipped, but have no idea how to actually start a game.
Download the lastest stable build of TripleA for whatever OS you use.
http://triplea.sourceforge.net/mywiki
Then download the latest Beta package for AA50.
Extract the AA50 files from the zip, and place the folder called AA50 in your “Maps” directory of TripleA, and the XML file called AA50-41 in the “Games” folder of your TripleA directory. Then launch the program, select “Choose Game” and pick AA50-41. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the graphics. ;)
Macs are supported, though you might run into issues with custom mods, if people are lazy and don’t bother to make everything case sensitive. For the standard game it should work fine though. Also, don’t hold your breath on seeing the 42 scenario until after the holidays. If you want to learn more about Larry’s surprise, you’re just going to have to order a copy of the actual board.
:-D
Imperious Leader, thats a very nice map. I think the geographical distortion is a bit over the top (Africa especially), but the official map is the same way, so I can’t really fault you on that one.
I’m also a big fan of Dagons map too, though it seems to have the opposite issue (not enough distortion, too close to Mercator.)
I still prefer my own world projection to those , but it doesn’t have any eyecandy or polish like the maps linked above. With enough time put into it though, you could probably use either of those maps with TripleA. But before you plug in all the relief layers and eyecandy, you need to have a functional baseline. That means you need a 3 color gif (black, white, and blue) with the border lines at 1 pixel 100% black. That’s the thing that presents such a pain, because you have to draw in the skeleton map before the game will even know how to process the info. And it invariably looks terrible when resized. If you have Photoshop you can see the difference very clearly with this simple analogy: just try to resize a GIF image (in indexed color) versus resizing a JPEG image (in RBG color) and you will have an instant appreciation of why TripleA sucks it from a graphics standpoint.
I’m definitely all for better maps though. The way TripleA handles its current graphics stuff, makes me want to put my head through a brick wall. Also, Iron Cross never updated his map skins, after Sean gave the engine an overhaul a year back. So it don’t think the old marbled ones work anymore, which is somewhat unfortunate. I had high hopes for that feature, but alas. Believe me, I feel your pain guys. I wish we could do more, but the engine holds us back in many ways.
:)
