Next Generation MAP (NG-MAP) Mod v3.0There is something for everyone in this update. Most of the changes went under the hood for NG-MAP to be more "multiplayer friendly" but offliners will also find some of the new features useful, I hope!
The mod now (truly) complies with mission/campaign difficulty settings.
To have access to in-game icon features deactivate "Map & Icons" difficulty settings at will (cannot be changed during a mission/campaign):
• Icons & Map > No Map Icons (A)
• Icons & Map > No Player Map Icon
• Icons & Map > No Minimap Path
(A) Enabled? Radars will also get disabled
To have access to the different sections of the Actor Viewer deactivate at will settings from the "Views" difficulty window (cannot be changed during a mission/campaign):
• Views > No External Views
• Views > No Player's Own View
• Views > No Enemy Views (A)
• Views > No Friendly Views (A & B)
• Views > No Aircraft Views
• Views > No Carrier Views (C)
(A) Enabled? The NEUTRAL menu will also get disabled since some actors can spoil the surroundings
(B) Enabled? You can "pin" a location but you will not get to see the landscape
(C) Enabled? Applies to any ship, Aircraft Carrier or not
OFFLINE PLAYBy default, Hostile icons are hidden in the map every time you start a new mission. It is up to you to enable Hostile icons using the in-game NG-MAP menu. Knowing enemy positions spoils all offline fun, in my humble opinion.
MULTIPLAYERBy default, Hostile icons are visible in the map every time you start a new mission (unless the "Icons & Map > No Map Icons" difficulty setting is enabled). That way users with and without NG-MAP will play under the same conditions.
Online Squadrons can employ NG-MAP if they wish to do so. While there isn't a foolproof method to prevent friendly (or hostile) cheating we can certainly make it a little more challenging and in v3.0 I tried my best to prevent players from taking any advantage on their own.
A true cheat is when a player takes advantage of a 'feature' others don't have. If all members of the squadron use NG-MAP none will be cheating: all of you will be having access to the exact same set of tools. Online play among friends is about respect and honesty. That's the only way to have good fun.
For online play I highly recommend to at least enable/activate "Views > No Enemy Views" and "Views > No Friendly Views". This move will not only disable most of the external views but it will also deactivate NG-MAP "Targeting System" (View pinned location and lock onto hostile icons).
INTELLIGENCE SERVICESThe Static Camera object can be used by mission creators to mark key locations: Open FMB, load or create a mission, insert a Static Camera and set it to the same color of an army. Use this method to mark relevant locations in the map.
When playing the mission, users will see X marks wherever you placed the cameras. As the mission creator, it is up to you to give spot marks a meaning. You can use the briefing to explain what a X mark means. Use grid coordinates to reference a sport mark. Players will only see spot marks of their same army/color. The spot marks will be displayed in both the briefing and during the mission (as Targets).
"Intel Services" will work in any game mode, offline or online. You can use this feature as long as you have access to the mission file. In order to maintain compatibility with any other missions and users with or without NG-MAP, if the Camera army is set to "none" (game default), nothing will happen.
This is as much as I can do to provide new and (hopefully) useful features compatible with any version of the game or modpack. New objects would require dealing with *.ini entries and I want to keep this mod as little intrusive and as easy to use as possible.
SMALL MAPSince v3.0 you can make the Standard Map and the Combat Mode grid a tad smaller by enabling the "Small Map" option. This parameter is permanent and it is saved to the [game] section of the conf.ini file as MapPadSmall.
MAP TRANSPARENCYMap transparency can be adjusted from the map menu. You can change transparency for both the Minimap (follow mode) and the fullscreen map independently. The transparency setting is permanent and it is saved to the [game] section of the conf.ini file as MapPadAlpha and MapAlpha respectively. The previous Mouse right click + Mouse wheel method from v2.0 is now obsolete and therefore no longer available.
Changelog- New "Intelligence Services" feature. Refer to the Readme contents.
- Bridge icons are now displayed below any other element
- Fixed an issue where the camera could get stuck when switching from a (follow) external view to any other actor.
- NG-MAP should be now fully compatible with multiplayer/online mode.
- The Actor Viewer now complies with the "Views" difficulty settings.
- NG-MAP now respects DogFight multiple army colors.
- Lighter Blue and Red colors applied to other icons.
- New "Small Map" menu option. Make the Minimap a tad smaller by enabling it. This parameter is now permanent and it is saved to the [game] section of the conf.ini file as MapPadSmall.
- The "Large Icons" option is also permanent and saved to the [game] section of the conf.ini file as MapIconLarge.
- Larger mouse pointer. Get back a smaller cursor by deleting: NG-MAP/gui/game/cursors.tga
- The mod is now (hopefully) 4K-ready (and beyond).
- Map transparency can now be controlled from the map menu. You can change transparency for both the Minimap (follow mode) and the fullscreen map. The transparency setting is permanent and it is saved to the [game] section of the conf.ini file as MapPadAlpha and MapAlpha respectively. The previous
Mouse right click + Mouse wheel method from v2.0 is now obsolete and therefore no longer available.
- Simplified "Icon Filters" submenu for a faster unveiling of icons: "Vehicles" refers now to both Trains and Columns, and "Artillery" refers now to AAA and Artillery combined.
- Nigh Mode is enabled automatically if the sun is below the horizon at the beginning of a mission.
DownloadsDisable and delete any previous versions! v3.0 link can be found in the first post.
Have fun!
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Topic: NG-MAP v3.2 (Read 50321 times)
