Using Custom Colorfull Minimaps Is Fun.

Ollj

<div class="IPBDescription">Instead of blue on grey.</div> "Buildminimap" is great, but most times this 3,5-color-minimap does not help really.
grey = Wall
Black = Wall (more than 45° , less than 90°)
light Blue = Path
Yellow = Lift

<b>The minimap is a Sprite stored in: \HalfLife\ns\sprites\minimaps\NAMEOFMAP.spr
with sprite explorer2.0 (and other sprite tools) you can view and export it to bmp.
You can convert any 256*256*(256colors) bitmap into that sprite.</b>
Important is:
Type: vp_parallel_upright
Format: Indexalpha
Dimension: 256*256

<b>The question is not if you should change it or not ... , its how</b> (into what)

For testing <b>I converted the top-down view of 2 maps (Bast + Caged) info small colorfull minimaps...</b> Download below...
(resized them (flash transparency helped there) and optimized the color palette)
the blue background is not the best, but hey its just a test (transparency does not work).
This minimaps now are fine, but just too colorfull and iritating <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->

Imagine using this customizeable (!) minimap sprite to show level(height), walls (when 2 ways cross on 2 levels), ceeling heigt, water, small location names, some tactical/design stuff ... and a small "wall_lab_eclypse"-logo for the commander.
Geyscale (light blue) = Level height
Black = 45° wall
Dark Red = vent for JP+aliens only
Dark Green = vent for anyone
Yellow - Lift
White = Location Text (ressource and hive places are white too!)

<b>Also use a copy of the Same sprite anywere on the map as overview hologram (as env_sprite) .</b>

Ollj

<b>picture preview:</b>
Grey Background looks better in browser, blue looks better ingame (because of black floors and blue HUD) .
Its jpg and scaled by 1.5 so it looks not good. - Ingame GL-scaled looks "better".

CrAcKbRoCk

Man, I am definetly going to do that for my NS maps!
Btw, did you use the developer overhead view to get the actual pic of the level? Then copy paste, I guess?

Ollj

you have no big problems seing blue red and white squares, because the squares are drawn sharp blocks while the map is streched smoothed to screen resolution.
The square-display is buggy, too , so its not a big loss.

Flayra

Those look great. I'd like to give them a try in-game and see if they are clearer then the simpler color maps.

I thought about using the HLTV overviews to create the minimap, but I didn't know how to make it fit inside the frame properly. Can you explain exactly how you created those sprites? Maybe by setting the HLTV extents the same as the min/max NS map extents?

Ollj

First:
Use a sprite viewer to convert a (buildminimap generated) map sprite into .bmp or simular. You need this as template, or the result will not match.
Second:
Use any overhead map (or create yourself).
(<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=9871&hl=overhead+maps' target='_blank'>I used the overhead map from here</a>. Quality is not that important because its will be resized and than ingame scaled again.)
A tool that allows transparency, (scaling and rotation) makes it much easyer to use the template correctly.
(I used Flash5 but any transparency supporting paint tool will do) Without transparency its a little tricky.
Now you should have a colored overhead map 256*256 pixel, 256 colors in .bmp format.
Bachgrould color of the colored map sprite should be a bright blue, like the blue of the Marine HUD, because it wont be transparent and a grey (or green) background looks ugly ingame with dark colored hallways.
Third:
Use a sprite viewer to convert new overhead .bmp map to a sprite:
Type: vp_parallel_upright
Format: Indexalpha
Dimension: 256*256
If its not indexalpha it will not work.
Backup the original sprite map and use the new sprite instead.

lyndak

talk about the student leading the tutor <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->

very good work here boy(s?) <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->

Lord_Requiem

I forsee visibility problems with player blips, resource, blips, and so forth.

Revenant

requiem it will be much better than the current ones, as the only thing i recognize on any map is the lifts and path outlines, never where i am.

The_Real_Quasar

Nice idea! How do you get the overhead view thing? and is there somewhere that lists all the stuff you can do?

CaptainPanaka

wow, nice idea.

I'll give it a try IG <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->

btw: does mp_consistency touch sprites, too? or just model? o_0

Ollj

dont you know about all the sprite cheaters all around? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

tommy14

has anyone tried to make animated sprites for this?

you know, with maybe an expanding circle in green around resources, like the blue scan ping? or a flashing star around hives?

and maybe an extra little switch icon showing where the commander can control doors/elevators and other stuff?

Ollj

tried.
if you use more than one frame in the minimap sprite the pictures of all sprites get crunched along the x-axix and you see all sprites crunched next to each other at once.