Unofficial maps in game

[taco-man]

you can use different formats for dds, if you could post one of the images here i bet i could make it a dds that is under 1MB, and closer to 500kb

EDIT: and the DDS files i was using(1024x1024) compress(in zip file) to practicly nothing.

[Drumstix42]

Should be able to get it even smaller than that. I'll have to wait to get my hands on one those map images

[Dolby]

Yeah, zip compresses the dds image file size a great deal.

[Christerpher]

Eola if you post that mod with the map design you have it will become one of the most heavily downloaded UI mods on this site.

OMG I want that mod

[Eloa]

Maybe I should just hold out on this one a while....

-EDIT-

[SOE_Bobble]

This might be a good time to suggest that perhaps the existing map window should be examined a little more closely... I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader.

The necessary zone names are available someplace if you look in the game directories closely (at least after zoning there.)

Happy New Year.
MrBobble

[Eloa]

hmmm...looking everywhere for everything...
examined for what.....
no clue, the only thing that looks odd is P1, P2, P3...but no idea, you guys say if you find something.

[Eloa]

Got the dds files to 512k, no alpha, no mip maps, nothin
And what you've been waiting for.... just read the readme if ya need help

---EDIT---
Download removed (30)

[AstroCat]

How do I get the map window to show up? I'm using your files but what command will bring up your map window?

Thanks!

[Deathbane27]

Originally Posted by SOE_Bobble

This might be a good time to suggest that perhaps the existing map window should be examined a little more closely... I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader.

The necessary zone names are available someplace if you look in the game directories closely (at least after zoning there.)

Happy New Year.
MrBobble

He speaks!


But we don't need any more exercise, we've been chasing our tails for two months!

[Eloa]

oh ingame easiest way is to make a macro that goes /Show_window mainhud.maps

[tonyis3l33t]

Originally Posted by AstroCat

How do I get the map window to show up? I'm using your files but what command will bring up your map window?

Thanks!

I dropped the map window in your Jornal. Why? Because. Heheh. Well mostly cuz its the biggest window as it is, so you wont have too much window size-changes from the larger maps.

Not to mention being able to have a noted map open at the same time as your real map in zones in Antonica.

EDIT: looks like Eloa's version was done as its own window. Just checked it out in the builder. Ill have to go in game real quick. Will obviously not be J for that one

[tonyis3l33t]

Originally Posted by SOE_Bobble

This might be a good time to suggest that perhaps the existing map window should be examined a little more closely... I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader.

The necessary zone names are available someplace if you look in the game directories closely (at least after zoning there.)

Happy New Year.
MrBobble

look here guys

C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest II\cache\ioplans

I glanced inside the io files and of course it looks all crazy, there are lots of directories of vpk's listed in them tho...

not sure how this can help us with any of these things, though!

[Skylah]

The work you guys are doing on this mod is absolutelyawesome !!!

& the fact that SOE Bobble posted & threw out a clue has left me very impressed indeed.

I am following the progress of this mod daily.

May the Gurus prevail & bring ingame maps to the masses !

[Deathbane27]

Originally Posted by tonyis3l33t

look here guys

C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest II\cache\ioplans

I glanced inside the io files and of course it looks all crazy, there are lots of directories of vpk's listed in them tho...

not sure how this can help us with any of these things, though!

I believe I've figured out what he's referring to. I'll see if the "You are here" dot/arrow moves when you place custom maps here. If not, we might as well just keep it going in the journal window.

MainHUD.Map.MapStyles: Lists a bunch of image frames with the internal zone names, referencing the game maps we know about.

MainHUD.Map.MapPage.Icons: Lists of all the waypoints in a given zone. Names match up with MapStyles images and the zone names in cache\ioplans (although that appears to list zone lines?)

If this works, the biggest problem will be scaling it correctly so the You Are Here dot is placed at the correct point.

[tonyis3l33t]

to show Eloa's version this should work

/show_window MainHUD.Maps

and to hide
/hide_window MainHUD.Maps

[Deathbane27]

Okay gang, it works. I've got it so the map folder will show the Peat Bog, including mostly-accurate "You Are Here" arrow.

1- Get a map and convert it to DDS format. ***The actual map area needs to start at 0,0 and end at 436,506 or it will get cut off!*** The image itself should be 512x512.
2- Find the "internal name" of the zone. You'll need to find it under the "paks" folder. Example: The Peat Bog's internal name is qey_adv04_bog
3- Duplicate one of the Image Styles under MapStyles and rename it to the internal name of the zone.
4- Set the ImageStyle's zonerect to reflect the loc of the upper left and lower right corners of the map. Switch the negative/positive values for the X axis.

Example: Map of the Peat Bog here: http://www.***************/eq2/maps.asp?ID=7
You can see that the NW corner's loc is labelled 850,345, and the SE corner is 545,670. Therefore, the zonerect for qey_adv04_bog is "-850,345,-545,670"

5- Go to MapPage and it's subpage Icons. You'll see here that there's a Page with each internal zone name just like there was an ImageStyle in MapStyles. Duplicate one and rename it to the zone's internal zone name. Now you can create/move/rename the "points of interest" icons for that zone.

(When placing markers, go to the image "ZoneMap" and change it's style from "MapStyles.fprt_hood01" to "MapStyles.(currentzonetoedit)" to display the map in the editor window.)


The hardest part is going to be getting the ZoneRect 100% accurate.

Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a way to do anything with the height axis, so Eloa's method will probably still work better for multi-level but single-zone dungeons like Blackburrow.

Edit: Ooh! He could use the method he's doing to show/hide images underneath the regular map area, then use blank maps. That way you can sort through multi-level dungeons AND have an accurate loc arrow!

Note: I'm saying "arrow" instead of "dot" because that's what's currently on test and it should be live within a week.

[tonyis3l33t]

wooohoo!

good job Deathbane27!

Let get on this...we need to get together and figure out which maps each of us will do...i'd be MORE than happy to see this go to what i originally planned!

[Deathbane27]

Originally Posted by tonyis3l33t

Let get on this...we need to get together and figure out which maps each of us will do...

Unfortunately my participation in this endeavor has pretty much reached its limits. I'm horrible at making maps, figuring out where I am and where to place landmarks, etc. And to top it off, my highest level character is 20 and I don't even know where to GET all these access quests. I'll see what help I can contribute, though.

[tonyis3l33t]

ok myself and hopefully Eloa will get on it then

going to suck for Eloa tho, now we have to port all her waypoints into the map window