It is slightly tricky, but here is the exact procedure to follow
ALWAYS use the atlas directory structure throughout your work with the map. Basically, this means having a continent folder where you keep your map in, and side by side with that continent folder should be the resource folder where you put the resources to be used for the atlas. Where you put these two directories (the continent and resource ones) doesn't matter, just that they have to be side by side (residing in the same parent folder). The continent folder doesn't even have to be for the correct continent, that doesn't matter, but the Resource folder must be named correctly. If you want to put the symbol in a symbol catalog instead of just directly in the map, also keep the symbol catalog in the same folder as the map (the continent folder).
Import the symbol as normal, including creating other resolutions. The import symbol dialog will complain about the relative path, and basically force you to use the absolute path instead, do this (don't make the path relative to the CC3+ data folder)
Open the symbol manager, select your new symbol, and hit edit. Define the edit window.
Use Numeric edit on the image (Some images with partially transparent edges can be difficult to select the edge of, such as your waterfall, you may need to resort to a bit of spam-clicking to find a good point to select it on). This will bring up the Edit Picture dialog, and you can fix the path by replacing everything up to Resources with $..\ For example, this was my original path: C:\Users\monsen\Desktop\Resources\Sue\Symbols\Waterfall 01_VH.PNG Which I replaced with: $..\Resources\Sue\Symbols\Waterfall 01_VH.PNG Make sure that the radio buttons is set to a path relative to the drawing.
Hit ok in the dialog. If you did this correctly, the image should still show (i.e. not turn into a red X). [Note that if you didn't use the correct folder setup from above, then it WILL turn into a red X]
Not sure why the image outline shows (You may remember that in the dialog in step 4, there was a 'hide outline' checkbox, and it should be checked by default. Anyway, closing and re-opening the map should fix it, and if not, it seems like the easiest fix is simply just place one more copy of the symbol in the map (from the symbol catalog window, not by doing in-map copying), and then hit 'Redraw', this will cause the outlines of all the rest of the symbols to disappear (and you can then delete the last symbol you placed)
If your folder structure is correct, then yes, all I need to do is to drop things into the appropriate folders.
Just note that if you are making a symbol catalog, remember that definitions are copied to the map on the first use, so you may need to fix paths in both the symbol catalog and existing symbols in the map.
I think with all my random clicking to find the edge of the waterfall at step 4 above (and I' seem to have drawn a particularly difficult symbol to select!)I might have carried on clicking a bit too long, as the window appeared flashing, so I might inadvertently have unticked that box the first time without realising it.
After I closed the file and re-opened it the first time it was still there, so I sort of guessed I'd done it wrong and went through the whole process again - this time making sure that little box was ticked the second time.
When I closed and reopened the file the second time the pink lines vanished, so I opened the symbol manager, selected the symbol, and overwrote the original catalogue file.
I'm a bit hazy about whether that will have made everything right, but I'm really hoping so.
You can also check that your edit of the symbol is successful by bringing up the symbol manager, selecting the symbol, and hitting the List button. That shows the output of list on the symbol definition, and you should see the image path (which should read $..\Resources\Symbols\Sue\Waterfall.png (or something similar)
No reason not to feel proud, this stuff is a bit tricky. I know of plenty of people who wouldn't have gotten this right, even with the instructions. But this is really the wast way when we include resources in a download such as the atlas, because it allows us to use the "just unzip anywhere and use" instruction, instead of having to tell people what to copy where (And you just know that a lot of people will get that wrong). Doing it thhis way makes the atlas completely self-contained (except for the add-ons/symbol sets from the "allowed" list though, even if we had the permission, we couldn't distribute all that with every atlas download)
Thanks for reminding me of another question I wanted to ask but keep forgetting.
I realise its not going to happen for a while, yet, because of all the work going on backstage on Dioramas 3 and the Source Maps, but when we do start making a community art collection of some kind, do you think it will be possible to use that in the Atlas maps in the same way that we would use the third party add ons?
It might be waaaay too much work. I was just curious to know
The plan is to allow people to use that in atlas maps, yes. But because we don't want people to have to update their art collection once a week to stay up to date, the collection itself will probably be compiled and released about once every quarter, and of course, only the art included in that release can used in the atlas, artwork scheduled for the next release may be available for individual download if people really want it, but it won't be properly prepared, and the use is discouraged for anything but personal maps.
STREETLOAD is run from the OnOpenMacro map note, completely normal.
Do you have enough memory to force all the textures to very high? Try running the LISTIMAGENAMESDWG command (takes a little while) and then scroll down to the bottom of the report window and check the very last line to see how much memory is needed for having everything in memory. Also note that CC3+ need contiguous memory, so if it has been a while since the last reboot, memory may be fragmented, so a reboot may help.
I think I've reached the limit already, and I've only done the bottom two harbour levels. I might have to do it all Hadrian style - simple one-colour polygons with a bevel to make the rooftops. Its not what I wanted to do, but I don't really have a lot of choice.
Thank you for trying to help, but please don't worry about trying to find a solution tonight. I'm not actually very well right now, and I have to go to bed.
And you are right - its not crashing this morning, so the contiguous memory thing must have come into play.
I'm having a rethink about how many fills I am using, and I will probably resort to the bevel method of making buildings - using plain colour polygons an a sheet with bevels.
At the moment, you see, I've built all the buildings from scratch using the House command.
It doesn't help that I'm using a crippled machine with only 1.5 GB RAM available to the user
Have you considered doing what i did for Stromphe, another large city (80,000 pop) - I did an overall map, and so far have done one district (using house commands a fair bit). You could do something similar for Sanctuary. But your work, as usual is stunning. And get the money together to buy a better machine
I have indeed considered it, Quenten. In fact I'm currently trying to work out if I prefer to chop the city up, or go with the Hadrian style and keep it as one.
Still thinking about it - though right now I have to hoover the flat ready for my landlord's insurance surveyor who is dropping in, in less than an hour, so I'm just a bit distracted.
And thank you
I'm afraid the better machine is just a dream, but its possible that I might be able to afford to upgrade this thing to 8GB RAM, instead of only 4, which will hopefully alleviate the some of the contiguous memory problems. Though again - that won't happen for a couple of months.
That's CD3B_Stone 3 with an HSL effect to make it paler and pinker than it really is. I've also messed with the default bevel settings because I wasn't getting enough of a tone difference between the cliff and the flat surface. I was hoping it would look like some kind of rough pink marble. That top level also hasn't been covered by any cobbles, houses, grass or trees yet, so in comparison with the mostly cobbled tops of the other two layers - yes it does look a bit shiny.
I haven't ruled out swapping it out for one of the Bogie cliff textures eventually, but I will need to generate more of the city before I start making those kinds of decisions. For now its CD3B_Stone 3
I can see all kinds of things that need to be modified - like the fact that the shadows cast by the docks are much more affected by the waves than the shadows cast in the bottom waterfall pool by the shape of the harbour, but that is easily remedied because all bar the house and tree shadows are hand drawn.
Its not going to be as detailed as Merelan City because its larger - but those kinds of details can be added at battle map scale
Do you have any requests for particular features? I have two temples planned. A library, and an elven enclosure along the river, but I need a few more ideas or this city is going to be a bit bland!
Here is a 7500' x 7500' area showing the progress within the city walls so far with an experimental elven district, modified wall, a dyke, and several experimental residential streets using the Street tool. Its a bit difficult to see at this scale, so I will also be uploading it to a new Sanctuary thread over at the Guild at 3 x the scale when I get organised enough to sort it all out later today.
Comments
I also already sent it to you before I saw that. Sorry!
EDIT: I remember trying to use relative, and getting an error message. That's why I did it absolute.
Please can you help me sort it out when you are not so busy?
If you want to put the symbol in a symbol catalog instead of just directly in the map, also keep the symbol catalog in the same folder as the map (the continent folder).
For example, this was my original path: C:\Users\monsen\Desktop\Resources\Sue\Symbols\Waterfall 01_VH.PNG
Which I replaced with: $..\Resources\Sue\Symbols\Waterfall 01_VH.PNG
Make sure that the radio buttons is set to a path relative to the drawing.
I really appreciate that you took the time to write it all down in a neat instruction set like that, since I know how busy you are right now
Thank you very much
I do have this really pretty pink line around them, but I can still see the symbols.
Thanks again Remy. I'm hoping all you will have to do is just drop the catalogue and png folder in place and all will be well.
Anyway, closing and re-opening the map should fix it, and if not, it seems like the easiest fix is simply just place one more copy of the symbol in the map (from the symbol catalog window, not by doing in-map copying), and then hit 'Redraw', this will cause the outlines of all the rest of the symbols to disappear (and you can then delete the last symbol you placed)
If your folder structure is correct, then yes, all I need to do is to drop things into the appropriate folders.
Just note that if you are making a symbol catalog, remember that definitions are copied to the map on the first use, so you may need to fix paths in both the symbol catalog and existing symbols in the map.
After I closed the file and re-opened it the first time it was still there, so I sort of guessed I'd done it wrong and went through the whole process again - this time making sure that little box was ticked the second time.
When I closed and reopened the file the second time the pink lines vanished, so I opened the symbol manager, selected the symbol, and overwrote the original catalogue file.
I'm a bit hazy about whether that will have made everything right, but I'm really hoping so.
You can also check that your edit of the symbol is successful by bringing up the symbol manager, selecting the symbol, and hitting the List button. That shows the output of list on the symbol definition, and you should see the image path (which should read $..\Resources\Symbols\Sue\Waterfall.png (or something similar)
Couldn't have done it without your help, though
But this is really the wast way when we include resources in a download such as the atlas, because it allows us to use the "just unzip anywhere and use" instruction, instead of having to tell people what to copy where (And you just know that a lot of people will get that wrong). Doing it thhis way makes the atlas completely self-contained (except for the add-ons/symbol sets from the "allowed" list though, even if we had the permission, we couldn't distribute all that with every atlas download)
I realise its not going to happen for a while, yet, because of all the work going on backstage on Dioramas 3 and the Source Maps, but when we do start making a community art collection of some kind, do you think it will be possible to use that in the Atlas maps in the same way that we would use the third party add ons?
It might be waaaay too much work. I was just curious to know
For some reason the file crashes as soon as I decide to get a clear view of something by using fixed bitmap quality set to Very high.
I've tried stripping all the non-critical symbols and fills out of it to lighten the load, but its still crashing.
I notice that whenever I open the file the command line is set to "STREETLOAD", which I never initiated.
I'm just hoping that I haven't corrupted the file and need to start all over again.
Do you have enough memory to force all the textures to very high? Try running the LISTIMAGENAMESDWG command (takes a little while) and then scroll down to the bottom of the report window and check the very last line to see how much memory is needed for having everything in memory. Also note that CC3+ need contiguous memory, so if it has been a while since the last reboot, memory may be fragmented, so a reboot may help.
I think I've reached the limit already, and I've only done the bottom two harbour levels. I might have to do it all Hadrian style - simple one-colour polygons with a bevel to make the rooftops. Its not what I wanted to do, but I don't really have a lot of choice.
How many MB is 322570504 bytes?
And you are right - its not crashing this morning, so the contiguous memory thing must have come into play.
I'm having a rethink about how many fills I am using, and I will probably resort to the bevel method of making buildings - using plain colour polygons an a sheet with bevels.
At the moment, you see, I've built all the buildings from scratch using the House command.
It doesn't help that I'm using a crippled machine with only 1.5 GB RAM available to the user
It must be the House constructions with all their groups of shaded polys?
And I was having such fun!
(This is just a screen shot, so its not antialiased)
Its also only about a third of the buildings I've done so far.
Still thinking about it - though right now I have to hoover the flat ready for my landlord's insurance surveyor who is dropping in, in less than an hour, so I'm just a bit distracted.
And thank you
I'm afraid the better machine is just a dream, but its possible that I might be able to afford to upgrade this thing to 8GB RAM, instead of only 4, which will hopefully alleviate the some of the contiguous memory problems. Though again - that won't happen for a couple of months.
That's CD3B_Stone 3 with an HSL effect to make it paler and pinker than it really is. I've also messed with the default bevel settings because I wasn't getting enough of a tone difference between the cliff and the flat surface. I was hoping it would look like some kind of rough pink marble. That top level also hasn't been covered by any cobbles, houses, grass or trees yet, so in comparison with the mostly cobbled tops of the other two layers - yes it does look a bit shiny.
I haven't ruled out swapping it out for one of the Bogie cliff textures eventually, but I will need to generate more of the city before I start making those kinds of decisions. For now its CD3B_Stone 3
I can see all kinds of things that need to be modified - like the fact that the shadows cast by the docks are much more affected by the waves than the shadows cast in the bottom waterfall pool by the shape of the harbour, but that is easily remedied because all bar the house and tree shadows are hand drawn.
Its not going to be as detailed as Merelan City because its larger - but those kinds of details can be added at battle map scale
Do you have any requests for particular features? I have two temples planned. A library, and an elven enclosure along the river, but I need a few more ideas or this city is going to be a bit bland!
I learn so much from following your posts and watching your progress. Thank you!