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[Mick]

Many THX for your Ceylon map, squashman ...! 

Just a question, though ...

Is it possible to downsize the ed_m01.tga that currently weighs some ... 261 Mb ...? 

Same with Mymap_c.tga of 87 Mb ...? 

[Squashman]

Hello Mick

As a relative newcomer myself, to the world of map making, I'm not sure if it's possible to "downsize" the two files you mentioned.
The map is 1:1 ratio and with Sri Lanka being such a big island, I just managed to squeeze everything in at pretty much the limit of possible map size (in fact the Gimp editor spat out the first few attempts as too big). The map takes a while to load, but does, I feel, provide a realistic and expansive "world" during missions.
I think the only way to make the files smaller would be to create an entirely new map at say 1:2 or 2:3 ratio, but this would of course also alter the height and size ratios of hills, mountains and other geographical features, changing the perspective and giving a less realistic landscape.
Also, to depict the Indian Ocean WW2 naval battles it was important to have the island in context compared with the surrounding ocean and mainland India, hence a significant amount extra data with including SE India.
Not sure how far the number of objects affects file size and gameplay but there are quite a lot of buildings etc. in Colombo and Trincomalee. You could try deleting some in the map editor (create back-up files first)?
The missions I am developing with this map, using 80+ aircraft and 30+ ships, including multiple carrier take-offs and landings, play pretty well at normal time - 40 to 60 fps (Nvidia 970, i7, triple screen, TrackIR); though there is significant drop-off at accelerated time - greater than x2 the fps count drops to single figures, but I can live with that.
What particular problems are you encountering?

best regards
Squashman

[SAS~Tom2]

You have to open the files with gimp and index them! Many map makers even make that mistake and the outcome are huge files for these. BTW mymap_C is totally not necessary to make a map working, it is rather a copy to be able to edit map_c.tga.

Thanks for the map!

Cheers

Thorsten

[Mick]

Many THX for your reply, Squashman ... 

Well in fact I wasn't talking about changing the 1/1 scale of the map, but the size of the huge ed_m01.tga one ... 

And Tom is right, the Mymap_c.tga file is useless since it is not called in the load.ini (so the game will ignore it and not load it ...)

The mere fact of indexing ed_m01.tga to 8 bits, instead of 24 bits, brings down its size to 87.1 Mb (instead of 261 Mb  )

A further 50% size reduction, 4992x4576 instead of 9984x9152, will bring the final size down to 22 Mb ... 

Cyberolas's Singapore ed_m01.tga is only 10 Mb ... 

It is because you have a very powerful PC that you can play on your map with so many planes in the air and no lag ... 

[Squashman]

Mick and Tom

Many thanks for that information. I followed those great map making tutorials meticulously but this is the first time I've heard about being able to modify the file sizes.
So, let me see if I've got this right.
1) I don't need to include the Mymap_c.tga file (think I knew that - probably a simple oversight including it in the download!)
2) Index the ed_m01.tga to 8 bits (not sure how to do that, but will try experimenting with gimp??)
3) Reduce the size by 50% (Use the resize function in gimp??)

Any further guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

Squash

[SAS~Tom2]

Hi Squash,

firstly, none of the above will prevent your map from loading. I am rusty myself on maps and TBH I am not sure how the map_C.tga was handled last time by me.
The mymap_C.tga...I would simply leave that out, the sole purpose is to be a backup in case you or someone lese wants to edit map_C.tga, anything related to water. Do not index it, I think that one has to be kept as is if edited later.

The ED Map however, i would change to indixed.
I did that this way:

Open in Gimp, select image, select indexed...chose Floyd Steinberg as index method, and done.


TBH I have no idea if the file could be resized, that is too long ago. I assume it is worth trying, I cannot imagine it has an effect on the map. There you see how rusty I am, this is rather vague.

Try it!

Cheers

Tom

Can upload that file for you if needed.

[Squashman]

Thanks Tom
Already I have indexed the map as you and Mick suggested. The result is good. Map size is now 21.7MB and it looks the same in gameplay. I now get about 10 fps increase overall, except 8x, which is still only 4fps - but a great improvement generally, and the map loads from cold in about 15 seconds - really good!
Thanks guys once again.
I will upload the new file to Mediafire asap.
I now have to create rivers and roads - any advice would be appreciated.

best regards
Squash

[Squashman]

LATEST UPDATE and indexed ed_m01.tga file now available from the original download link in Post #7 on first page
Thanks to Tom and Mick who helped me on this.

regards
Squash

[Plowshare]

Squashman:

I've tried to bring your map up but get this reported in my log:

Code: [Select]

SectFile load failed: null
java.io.FileNotFoundException
at com.maddox.rts.SFSInputStream.<init>(SFSInputStream.java:65)
at com.maddox.rts.SFSReader.<init>(SFSReader.java:19)
at com.maddox.rts.SectFile.loadFile(SectFile.java:227)
at com.maddox.rts.SectFile.loadFile(SectFile.java:154)
at com.maddox.rts.SectFile.<init>(SectFile.java:126)
at com.maddox.rts.SectFile.<init>(SectFile.java:95)
at com.maddox.il2.builder.PlMapLoad.mapLoad(PlMapLoad.java:220)
at com.maddox.il2.builder.PlMapLoad$1.doAction(PlMapLoad.java:572)
at com.maddox.rts.MsgAction.doAction(MsgAction.java:36)
at com.maddox.rts.MsgAction.invokeListener(MsgAction.java:152)
at com.maddox.rts.Message._send(Message.java:1217)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendToObject(Message.java:1191)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.sendTo(Message.java:1134)
at com.maddox.rts.Message.trySend(Message.java:1115)
at com.maddox.rts.Time.loopMessages(Time.java:180)
at com.maddox.rts.RTSConf.loopMsgs(RTSConf.java:101)
at com.maddox.il2.game.MainWin3D.loopApp(MainWin3D.java:131)
at com.maddox.il2.game.Main.exec(Main.java:449)
at com.maddox.il2.game.GameWin3D.main(GameWin3D.java:235)
section [MAP2D] not found in 'maps/Ceylon_42/load.ini

The last line - "section [MAP2D] not found in 'maps/Ceylon_42/load.in" - shows up at the bottom of the FMB screen. I have Cyberolas' Singapore map up and running so I don't need the folder you sent with your map.

This has happened to a few maps lately and I'm thinking there may be a problem with my install.

I'm using a heavily modded 4.12.2 with SAS ModAct 5.3 - no packs such as vpmedia's or CUP.

I don't see anyone else having this problem but if someone could point me in the right direction to solve this it would be appreciated.

Bob

[Mick]

... try this, Bob ...

Push all this [MAP2D_BIG] section to the left, so aligned with [MAP2D]
ed_m01.tga

[MAP2D_BIG]
OutsideMapCell = 28
tile tile.mat
sizeX 800000
sizeY 800000
ofsX 1000
ofsY 340000

[Plowshare]

Mick:

I tried as you said and no go. I even copy/pasted the lines from the post above with the same results.

I tried various things as well such as copy/paste the "ed_m01.tga" right from the file in the map folder. I removed all the returns and entered new ones (in case there was something like a "Shift_Enter"{which used be called a "Soft Return" and I'm not sure if that is even relative nowadays but it used be back in the dark ages!}).

Here's hoping there's something I'm missing.

Bob

[Mick]

... Bob, did you try with the new downsized "ed_m01.tga" file ...?