using the
editor
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additional information
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So you have created your land with BnW so now its time to take it into Black and White.
Luckily its nice and simple to do as well :)
The Script
Don't be daunted by the word 'script'. Plonkerfish has already made it for you.
(Click to open) >>>
Script << There is the wonderfully simple script. However to use it you are going to have to edit 4 little bits.
Editing the Script
LOAD_LANDSCAPE(".\DATA\LANDSCAPE\z.lnd")
<< Change the path of the landscape.
For my test map it would be: LOAD_LANDSCAPE(".\DATA\LANDSCAPE\my_lands\test.lnd")
CREATE_CITADEL("1279.62,3646.62", 0, "PLAYER_ONE", 0, 1000) << Change the coordinates.
Very simple. Load your land into BWSurveyor. Right click the area where you want your temple to be and click "copy coords".
Then just paste it into the script file.
CREATE_TOWN(2, "1279.62,3646.62", "NEUTRAL", 0, "GREEK") << Change the coordinates. Most likely going to be
the same coordinates you used for the temple.
CREATE_CREATURE_FROM_FILE("PLAYER_SIX", 10, "COMPUTERCONTROLLEDCREATURE", "1682.27,2606.12")
<< Change the coordinates. Same process as before, however in a
different spot. Just in case you hadn’t already worked it out, this
piece of script produces an enemy creature.
This will work with both Black & White and Creature Isle.
The new script should be saved at location %bnwdir%\scripts\playground\nameofmap.txt, or for Creature Isle at location %bnwdir%\%cidir%\scripts\playground\nameofmap.txt. If you save the map at the BW location, it will appear in both CI and BW. If you put it in the Creature Isle location, it will load only in Creature Isle.
Tip: you can go straight into skirmish mode in Black and White/Creature Isle by adding a /skirmish tag to the shortcut.
A scripting edition of BWSurveyor is also planned for the future. Don’t forget to drop by the TOI forums if you have any
ideas on how you want it to work (You don’t even have to register, now how good is that!)
Creating coasts is essential for a good landscape. I am writing
this tutorial because it has been the number 1 problem for the beta testers.
Solutions I and the other beta testers
have been working for a while on good solutions. At first we tried
creating brushes. However this can only add and subtract.
Catbert shortly came to our rescue with the land flattening tool. This is the
single most important tool in BWSurveyor.
Problems There are still some pretty
wierd problems that occur when you use certain textures. The problem
that arises is when your creature walks along the land and yet
sounds like he is walking on water. This only happens with certain
textures, so if this happens with you, try another set instead.
Catbert is working on a fix for this problem.
Getting Started
Ok so you will need a blank landscape. This is a very easy task even though BWSurveyor does
not yet support complete new landscapes.
Make a copy of one of the BnW landscapes (location = %BnW dir%\data\landscape). I copy my
landscapes to (location = %BnW dir%\data\landscape\my_lands) so as not to get confused. You can rename the land if you want to as well.
Now open this new land in BWSurveoyr and go: Edit >> Mode Land Editor. The current altitude for the level brush will be 000.
This is fine.
Right click the land and select "Level Map". The entire land is now set to the altitude of 0.
 Click for a bigger view
Set the altitude brush to 3 (This height is land, however will give a faint reflection, not as clear as that of the sea)
Set the brush radius to full and "draw" yourself a nice land shaped bit of land by: Right clicking the area and selecting "level brush"
Now set the level brush to 6 and go around the inner edges (not going to the very edge) using the same process.
Your land is now starting to take shape. Try experimenting with a few of the brushes at the side and build yourself a little land inside the area you have levelled out.
Now you have a nice looking land lets texture it. Right clivk and select "Block countries". Select a nice looking texture and paint it on.
Increase your paint brush size to 64 for best results. (this size is
manoverable and fast).
You can also paint your land an entire country set. This is extremly useful:
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Custom Countries
One of the best things about BWSurveyor is the ability to load in your own textures into the land. Its pretty easy to do as well!
Go into your BWSurveoyr directory (usually : c:\bwsurveyor) then open up the temp folder. You will now see a bunch of folders containing the
name of every land you have opened. Make a copy of one and paste it. Now rename the copied folder to "my_textures".
Go into the folder then into mats. You will now be looking at the default textures for that land. "Material1.bmp" is most often the texture which
will paint all over the land regardless of the blocks height. So open this up in an image editor (mspaint is fine) and do something with it. Draw a pretty picture :)
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Now open up BWSurveyor, load in your new land and then go to the "block countries" dialog. Choose import countries and you will now see "my_textures" in the list.
Open up that tree segment and click "0". There is your wonderful new texture. Import it and paint it somewhere on the landscape.
All the information for the countries is stored in "countries.xml" in the mats directory. Have a play around with it if you want. But be warned its pretty boring and
tedious. BWSurveyor will modify this for you but it takes a long time. A better system is
planned for a future version.
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