This is probably the most complicated (in a good way) mapping style I have seen yet... But, then, I'm still quite the n00b, so take that with a big ole grain of salt...
Most of that complication is pure texture work. It's all in the patterns.
Not much of what you see there is actually symbols - only the bushes and orchard trees (which are both placed automatically anyway), the dunes, and the curtain wall towers. The rest is all textures and sheet effects.
LOL! Me too. I even catch myself glancing down for them from time to time.
Thanks Andre. I'm working now to try and take the strain out of drawing all the various parts of it so it will hopefully be no more trouble than your average city map. That's why there are so very many drawing tools.
Can anyone tell me where the line styles are saved?
I have the "Ferraris footpath"in all the FCWs I've got because it was created early on, but I've just found a line style I want to call "Ferraris fence line". I've created it in the legend, but I can't think for the life of me how to get it into the example map - or for that matter the template.
Line styles are stored in the actual .fcw's. If you create a new one, you'll have to manually add it to each file through the line style dialog. (It is also copied over by using the insert file trick that is commonly used to copy over fill styles)
I will probably just pretend to copy the Legend into all the maps I've done.
Or would it be sufficient to create and save the drawing tool, and then use the drawing tool just the once in each of the other FCWs? (I'm trying not to cross contaminate newer sheet systems with the older ones)
Not quite sure about the drawing tool route (since I have never tested that), but I don't think that will work, since drawing tools rely on line styles defined in the map, just as they relay on fill styles in the map, and don't work properly if those aren't present.
Ok. I think you are probably right. I discovered the fill style issue when I tried to use my new breakwater tool in the Legend. I had forgotten to import the new breakwater fill I created for it.
Ok. I decided to have a go at adding the control points to a set of houses I drew and made into symbols, so that they would work just like city buildings (though only from the point of view that they will align to the road).
All went well, but I seem to have this curious problem.
When I paste them one after another in a row the selection is random, but when I'm aligning them to the curve below that row the random thing doesn't work any more. I have to hit TAB to get a new house to paste.
Well, then, apart from including instructions to hit TAB between each paste I also need to do more houses, since a lot of the variation depended entirely on random x reflections.
Here are two current photos of French fortifications in Mali in the current day. I stuck them here because of Sue's magnificent fortifications she developed for this style, so it looks like they belong.
As a tactician, I find this very cool. During Desert Storm, we had the engineers build simple rectangular berms around our life support area (where our tents were) and the Command Post (where we worked), about 1KM apart. There were four "bunkers" (to be chartiable on each corner, but unlike these, they did not cover the front of the walls very well, so there would be places where bad guys could get up next to the wall and work there way up or through it without us having to expose ourselves to stop them. With these, there is none of that Dead Space for them to be safe in, and I always thought we should do this.
Every now and then I think briefly about moving to my Mom's land in Missouri which has nice terrain, a stream, and good fields of fire, buying ye olde dubble wide trailer, and then preparing walls like this, only with a moat using the streams. Alligators would not do well there, so I'd have to find other stuff.
For that matter, these are very much like Roman Fortifications as well. Only bigger and no spikes sticking out of them, but who needs spike when you have machine guns and hand grenades?
I find it fascinating that this form of fortification is still used today. I usually think of modern fortifications as being nuclear-proof underground bunkers!
Posted By: mike robelEvery now and then I think briefly about moving to my Mom's land in Missouri which has nice terrain, a stream, and good fields of fire, buying ye olde dubble wide trailer, and then preparing walls like this, only with a moat using the streams. Alligators would not do well there, so I'd have to find other stuff.
Table top not doing it for you anymore? Planning on moving your war games to 1:1 scale?
Comments
Still, this is just jaw dropping work.
Most of that complication is pure texture work. It's all in the patterns.
Not much of what you see there is actually symbols - only the bushes and orchard trees (which are both placed automatically anyway), the dunes, and the curtain wall towers. The rest is all textures and sheet effects.
Fantastic maps Sue!
Thanks Andre. I'm working now to try and take the strain out of drawing all the various parts of it so it will hopefully be no more trouble than your average city map. That's why there are so very many drawing tools.
I have the "Ferraris footpath"in all the FCWs I've got because it was created early on, but I've just found a line style I want to call "Ferraris fence line". I've created it in the legend, but I can't think for the life of me how to get it into the example map - or for that matter the template.
Thanks Remy
I will probably just pretend to copy the Legend into all the maps I've done.
Or would it be sufficient to create and save the drawing tool, and then use the drawing tool just the once in each of the other FCWs? (I'm trying not to cross contaminate newer sheet systems with the older ones)
All went well, but I seem to have this curious problem.
When I paste them one after another in a row the selection is random, but when I'm aligning them to the curve below that row the random thing doesn't work any more. I have to hit TAB to get a new house to paste.
Am I doing something wrong here?
Well, then, apart from including instructions to hit TAB between each paste I also need to do more houses, since a lot of the variation depended entirely on random x reflections.
As a tactician, I find this very cool. During Desert Storm, we had the engineers build simple rectangular berms around our life support area (where our tents were) and the Command Post (where we worked), about 1KM apart. There were four "bunkers" (to be chartiable on each corner, but unlike these, they did not cover the front of the walls very well, so there would be places where bad guys could get up next to the wall and work there way up or through it without us having to expose ourselves to stop them. With these, there is none of that Dead Space for them to be safe in, and I always thought we should do this.
Every now and then I think briefly about moving to my Mom's land in Missouri which has nice terrain, a stream, and good fields of fire, buying ye olde dubble wide trailer, and then preparing walls like this, only with a moat using the streams. Alligators would not do well there, so I'd have to find other stuff.
For that matter, these are very much like Roman Fortifications as well. Only bigger and no spikes sticking out of them, but who needs spike when you have machine guns and hand grenades?
I find it fascinating that this form of fortification is still used today. I usually think of modern fortifications as being nuclear-proof underground bunkers!