Announcement

**embryodead** · January 4, 2004, 09:45

Oh man I waited ages for such utility! Since I work only on BIQ's now, I can't really use it yet, though I'll download and just see how it works. Thanks!

**DrAlimentado** · January 4, 2004, 14:03

BIQ support will be done pretty soon, I've got some logic to add to the read/write bits mainly. I've given a tentative ETA of approx 2 weeks, it's not loads of work but realistically I probably won't get it done before then

In the meantime if your biq file dosen't use any of the new c3c terrain/rules (resources are ok though) I think you can save it as a bix and use it like that. That isn't hugely different from starting with just a bix of course!

And thanks Gramphos (? I think) for moving this to the files section so quickly

**smellymummy** · January 13, 2004, 21:48

this is a really cool utility! the minimap is awesome, and the tools in there work! the map stats graph is neat too. what other features are going to be added?

i ran into some bugs though. when i first used the maptweaker, using the 'apply' button in the resize/nudge would bring up a debug warning box and do nothing. this error stopped though when i ran the program again a few times

then there were also some bic version issues. to use some old bics I had to resave these in the editor, which I assume then sets the bic version correctly so it reads okay with maptweaker.

btw, even without C3C support, anyone can just save it as a bic, and then import that with the c3c editor for biq. You'll probably end up in the C3C editor anyway for adding conquest specific stuff.

check out these screenshots I took of the mini map on my first test with this app, where I wanted to crop out a specific part of Marla's world map, which until now I wouldnt of been able to do with such precision

this is the world map first loaded

i then nudge the map to center in the pacific (nudging doesnt seem to be necessary, although it helped me with the cropping)

then i just crop out what i don't want by resizing the map

cropped the relevant areas of the 256x204 map to a 176x144 map. really simple to use

i could zoom into just north america or europe, or whatever area.

for future features how about a gif/bmp to bic import? so people could basically use geographical maps, where terrain is codded by color, and the utility would be able to generate the map automatically.

there used to be an app floating around that did just that. it would take a bmp, where if there was a brown pixel, that pixel would represent a mountain tile. a green pixel would be a grassland tile, etc. it really comes in handy to generate quick coastlines and general geography for making custom maps.

i'll be looking forward to see what else maptweaker can do

**Skyfish** · January 14, 2004, 17:48

**Skyfish** · January 14, 2004, 17:49

This utility is just awesome !
So much can be done, its not even been realized yet how much is possible (even by the creator himself)
I encourage everyone to dl and try it

**DrAlimentado** · January 14, 2004, 19:58

Thx for the feedback smellymummy

I think I found what was causing the bug/crash in the Resize dialog, if so then it's fixed.
C3C support will hopefully fix any BIC version issues as I have had to rethink how I do file detection.

Interesting ideas about creating maps from images, I'll think on it... that might well get added to the list.

Skyfish - thx for the kind words

New version should be released this weekend.

**DrAlimentado** · January 18, 2004, 12:09

Posted new version 0.9beta in the first post.

Main change is C3C support, here's the full list:

changes from 0.8b to 0.9b

Features and functionality:
- added C3C (BIQ) support. [Added new terrain types, note: Marsh and Volcano will be visible but unpickable in the brush picker when using non-C3C maps, if pasted from a C3C map into a non-C3C map they will revert to: marsh-> grassland ; volc-> mountains.]
- added change tile bonuses functionality to Tile properties dialog, changed the layout and interface of dialog.
- added selection tools and new menu; analyse selection, deselect tiles of type/terrain, select all/none
- made resources gfx slighlty oversized on map to enhance visibility, added resource gfx toggle in Options-Map gfx

Bug Fixes:
- fixed the reset code in the Resize and Nudge Dialogs so that they reset properly after applying the tool - should fix fatal errors after using the 'apply' button :O
- fixed error with pasting tiles containing modded resources into non-modded map - If you paste tiles with resources that don't exist in the target map (the resourceID number is > max No.of resources) the resource will now be deleted.
- fixed minimap scrolling 'sticking' with very small maps

Misc:
- added BIC Mode indicator in map properties dialog. Useful because C3C editor can save files with .bic/.bix extensions - but actually saves them in BIQ file format! MapTweaker will detect that these files are actually BIQ files and save them as such. Added a pop-up to notify user when such a map is loaded too.
- improved the paint terrain and paint resource functions to better detect whether they should paint or not.
- overhauled the InfoPanel code, messages outputted to user should be more meaningful... (removed some useless messages, added some useful ones, increased the default no of retained messages to 50, added a max no of messages and purge messages options to Options-General)

**DrAlimentado** · January 18, 2004, 14:44

Here's a very provisional list of what gets added next in some sort of rough order.

things todo next list:

update the start loc data in the bix
update resources and continent counts
implement changing BIC mode (for non-modded maps only), this will allow maps to be downgraded (or upgraded) between .bic .bix and .biq files.

flip selection, rotate selection.
stretch/shrink maps

compressed files support
inline pcx reading (removing the need for the DLL)

new map function (mainly for pasting a section as a new map)
cut functionality

clone brush, replace brush

improve the minimap refresh method to only redraw the changed area (currently it redraws the entire map, hence the slow speed on large maps)

slightly longer term:

overlay information and gfx (mines/roads etc.)

fancy map generation - with a ton of parameters!
inc. heat/humidity maps for generating into

unit and city support (?)
generate map from image (?)
multiple object clipboard (?)

Suggestions as always are welcome

Announcement

UTILITY: MapTweaker (beta) - Copy/Paste/Resize Bix Files!

UTILITY: MapTweaker (beta) - Copy/Paste/Resize Bix Files!

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