AA42 and ABattleMap

IL you need to remove the words “malta” and “azores” to differentiate them from actual game territories like “iceland” and “formosa” right?

yeah a44bigdog needs a plain border to generate the territory info for abattlemap
either IL give him a version without the pretty graphics
or it’ll be faster to star from scratch

I think the module has a error with bel, eeu, bal and ukr frontiers: they seem all wrong, eeu should limit with ukr and such

IL you need to remove the words “Malta” and “Azores” to differentiate them from actual game territories

yes and Corsica and Sicily?  I cannot in good justice leave these out. To leave in Formosa and leave out Sicily is sad. The others have their purpose and really open up strategies.

@Funcioneta:

I think the module has a error with bel, eeu, bal and ukr frontiers: they seem all wrong, eeu should limit with ukr and such

You were right, this was a little bug, it is fixed now, an updated version is attached to one of my previous posts.

@a44bigdog:

Holkann I would advise against trying to get too artistic with the AA42 module. The reason being is the size of the map on monitors and that artistic details in the background sometimes obscure the unit numbers. Honestly for battlemap I feel that plain solid colored territories work the best. With an actual printed map which is ILs goal for his maps these items are not issues.

Yeah, true… But a bit fancier wouldn’t hurt: territory names would be handy etc. And in the end, one can simply change the map by changing the Map.bmp file… Although that won’t be possible with IL’s map, because of territory border differences. Aw well, for now, his map doesn’t fulfill my high standards (sry IL :p ).

@tekkyy:

IL you need to remove the words “malta” and “azores” to differentiate them from actual game territories like “iceland” and “formosa” right?

Iceland and Formosa aren’t actual game territories for AA42 either…

yeah a44bigdog needs a plain border to generate the territory info for abattlemap
either IL give him a version without the pretty graphics
or it’ll be faster to star from scratch

There is a version (almost from scratch) ready if you want to play the game, see one of my first posts in this thread, the module attached to the post.

@Imperious:

If you want my map more plain i can do this.

What I really need is a layered file format version (Paint.Net or Gimp) of your map, otherwise it will be very hard to make a module out of it because I need a .bmp file with only the territory borders in black and all the rest in white. So even if you make a more plain one, you’d need to make that territory borders file too. If you make a good map file and a good territory file, I’ll make a module out of it. But otherwise it probably won’t happen…

Iceland and Formosa aren’t actual game territories for AA42 either…

They both are actual territories on the OOB AA42 map.

I can try a .BMP of the map, but its a high meg file and BMP usually wont work for this

Looks good to me other than the unit icons as I prefer the originals from Abattlemap but that is no problem for me to fix anyway.

I also don’t see a need for cluttering up the map with territory names when the hover feature gives that info anyway.

I too found it very helpful.

While typing my moves into notepad, I don’t have to ‘hover’ the mouse but, I just look at the map for territories and seazones.

@Imperious:

Iceland and Formosa aren’t actual game territories for AA42 either…

They both are actual territories on the OOB AA42 map.

Really? I mean, can you land on them with a fighter or conquer them like in AA50? But you’re right they are present on the map

I can try a .BMP of the map, but its a high meg file and BMP usually wont work for this

With what program do you create your image files?

@P@nther:

One issue I found out by quick checking: In the nation overwiew the underlying text is “Technology” where “Victory Cities” should be.

Blimey, you’re right!

@HolKann:

Yeah, true… But a bit fancier wouldn’t hurt: territory names would be handy etc. …

I’m going to add territory names and SZ as I did in AA50 as soon as I find some time for it (not before 19th of August I’m afraid). I will add layers to the .pdn then.
Maybe for a 1942BattlePack?  :-)

That would be great! Also, I’m thinking of making some kind of ABattlePack with modules not present in the standard ABattleMap, including a self extractor and extra image files and stuff. Just a one-click install file, with some extra functionality for those who want to adapt a module to their needs. Though I would need to learn how first. 'nyway, ideas for later.

Quote from: Imperious Leader on August 12, 2009, 10:30:41 am
Quote
Iceland and Formosa aren’t actual game territories for AA42 either…

They both are actual territories on the OOB AA42 map.
Really? I mean, can you land on them with a fighter or conquer them like in AA50? But you’re right they are present on the map

The thing for me is that if some pacific islands that had fighting on them are represented, then Malta should be as well. It was critical to UK and her ability to contain Italy.

Azores enter the picture as the only viable spot where the Germans considered bombing USA (from that point)

Sicily is critically important, in fact far more important than say “Formosa”

@P@nther:

So here are the promised files:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ltrqtmtomyq
(574 KB, 7zip-format)

Included in the 7zip you will find the .pdn in which I added seperate layers for SZ-numbers, territory-names nation by nation and the Neutrals.

Many thanks! You forgot Gibraltar though :p

Also included is an alternative Info Items layer. Here I removed the Axis&Allies label in the left corner and “lined” the unit collect zones.
In AA50 I sometimes had problems to see the number of units placed there because of the black numbers on a dark background.
It is all optional of course.

Those vertical black lines… shudder Though you are right the a&a logo does block sight (I never noticed cuz I never use that unit gather area). I tried something, tell me what you think.

You will find 2 bmp in the 7zip with an example of how the maps look like - one including “Axis&Allies”, one without.
By the way: Removing the Axis&Allies label reduces the file size of the map.bmp from 4.33 MB to 1.44 MB, because of the color reduction from 24 BPP to 8 BPP.
:-)

You could’ve saved the regular file (with the logo) also in 8 BPP format. It would’ve worked too, without color degradation or stuff.

Now, one thing I changed: all your names were centered in the territories. As a result, most of them were blocked by IPC value or by units in the territory. So I moved the names to the sides of each territory (your layers are still in the .pdn file ofcourse). Also, I tried “fancying up” a little. It’s got kind of a 3D feel now, with a slightly scorched earth and flintly clouded seas. As a result, the .zip file is a bit bigger now, as is the .pdn file. Tell me what you guys think about it, cuz I tend to like it :roll:

@Panther: do continue making your own versions of the map, it’s fun to compare ideas and merge the best ones together.

@P@nther:

What I did with your .pdn is:

• removed my “alternative Info Item”-layer
• added a layer with the AA-logo removed
• added another layer with AA-logo removed and “black lines” added

So this leaves all possible combinations to meet one’s individual needs ;-)

Sry, I like the logo too much, but your map will definately in the future ABattlePack  8-)

@P@nther:

The “new” colors of the BigPieces are nice.
I’m just thinking about the AA-guns… I think I prefer the guns in national colors on a white background, because they are easier to identify in a territory with many units in it.

But this is an individual question of “taste” of course and can be easily modified.

You’re probably right… I’ll try something else when updating the map again.

@P@nther:

I got my copy of 1942 today.

What is named “Kenya” in the ABattlemap-1942-module is “Rhodesia” on the “real” map.

I will go through the other territories before re-labelling

;-)

@P@nther:

I quickly checked the setup before … everything looks fine :-)

Allright, Kenya == Rhodesia, will be changed in the next upgrade ;) Tnx for the keen eye!

On a sidenote, am I right you like this version of A&A also better than AA50? You once stated you had hoped AA50 would be an “upgrade” of AAR, but that it turned out to be a whole new game. I for one like it better than AA50 because it doesn’t take so damn long to play a game :x