[GUIDE] How to create real custom MAP

[Dreej]

Hi everyone,

I will detailed here how to create real custom MAP for Forest Village.

Keep in mind that i still got 3 issues that i couldn't figure out alone, and i'm expecting to get help aside than just giving everyone knowledge to create their own custom map.

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Application used :
- GIMP
- Notepad (++)
- terrain.party
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First of all, you will need to create a MAP in MYWORKSHOP.

1. In Game, go to "MODIFICATIONS", then, at the bottom click "My workshop".
2. Click the "+" button at the right bottom corner.
3. Change the informations as follows :
Type = MAP
Title = Your_Map_Name (keep in mind that it will be the name in STEAM, each time you will update it, it will rebuild the Steam Mod name depending on what you've put there, even if you changed it afterward IN Steam)
Description = Your_Map_Description (Safe as Title : Steam description will be change according to this description if you changed it in Steam : i'd suggest you to keep your description text in a .txt file (named "description.txt for instance) in the mod directory : i'll tell below how to find this directory)

Once completed, in the window, you should have a new line like so :

XXXXXXXXXX Your_Map_Name Date_and_Hour_of_creation
_____

2nd STEP :

Once this 1st Step done, go to your Steam installation folder, then "steamapps", then "common", then "Life is Feudal Forest Village", then "maps", then "MOD ID".
Mod ID being the XXXXXXXXXX from step 1 right before your Map name.

So complete path should look like this :

X:\Default_install_folder\...\Steam\steamapps\common\Life is Feudal Forest Village\maps\XXXXXXXXXX

In this folder, you should have files as follow :
- icon.png
- localization.csv
- map.data
- mapinfo.lua
- version.txt

icon.png, is the file that will set Steam Mod picture for your map.
localization.csv, we won't deal with it.
map.data, is your actual map coded. (it's not an actual image file like .png or .jpeg)
mapinfo.lua, is the file that overrides the default various settings of Forest Village, like scale, and spawn point.
version.txt, we won't deal with it.
_____

3rd STEP :

First hing will be to clean out mapinfo.lua.
Open it in Notepad++.
And make sure it is like this :

return
{
landingPlace = {
x = 1024,
y = 1024,
radius = 25
}
}

It just says to the game, where you want your default spawn point to be.
It can be changed InGame by the player when they select your map.
We just want that NOTHING ELSE than those lines are in this file.

_____

4th STEP :

Serious things begin : select the map you want to extract from real world thanks to terrain.party (browser).

You will get kinda of a google map, with a bleu square in the middle.
Blue square is telling WHERE you want your map to be extracted.
You can change its size to your liking up to 60km, it doesn't mater since we'll be able the resize it with GIMP later.
Once you made your choice, click the download logo, chose a name, and click OK.
It will download a zip file.
In this zip file, we'll want to play with the picture "MERGED".

OR, you can create a Heightmap yourself no mater how you do it, as long as you get at the end a greyscaled png or jpeg file image file.

You can even create a map in CitySkylines for instance, and extract it.
_____

5th STEP :

Image file to DATA file.

1. Once you'll manage to get your greyscaled Heightmap from a way or another, open it with GIMP.
2. Resize your Heightmap for the biggest possible map in LiF FV as follows :
Go to Picture, then "Image Scale and Size".
Width = 8192px
Height = 2048px

Then resolution : pixels/in : 72 X and 72 Y

3. In PICTURE still, go to Transform, then chose "Vertical mirroring".

4. Export it under DATA file.
File > Export to > Go to Mod Folder from STEP 2 > Under "Show all File", select "data/raw" extension. > rename file to "map.data" > Export.

_____

By now, everything should be OK
Go back in game, and select "New game".
Under "Map", select your_map_name.
In the preview, you should see the map you've selected.

_____

Issues :
- Map preview can sometimes not quite be what you've expected, it mostly due to the fact that your greyscaling is too light / low.
Go back to step 5, and BEFORE resizing your image, go to "COLOURS" > "Light and Contrast" and tweak the settings to make it lighter and more contrasted. (just a bit should be enough, i was doing 0.060 lighter, and 0.030 constraster)

- Maps are quite pixelly in game, i couldn't figure out how to make a smoother shaped hieghtmap. I believe it comes from the fact that you have to make a 8192 wide image to make it work. When it builds the map, something happens that pixelises width somehow.

- Sea depth is quite low no matter the height i give to my maps.
To notice that, to go the edges of the map, you will see that, all in a sudden, sea levels are way deeper. Couldn't figure this out by myself either.

- It seems that you can't make very high moutains in maps., it will only build high HILLS.

[Dreej]

Bump for Volodya

[Volodya74]

If I understood correctly, did you create a map in GIMP and then import it into map.data?

[Dreej]

Once you get your greyscaled heightmap, you will need GIMP to resize it and to transform it into a file that the game can read to build it as a map in game. (it's 5th step)

[Volodya74]

Hello! And where to get this - terrain.party?

[Dreej]

it's a website, just type it in your browser

[Volodya74]

Good day! According to your method of creating a map, everything is fine, but only for some reason when in the game I select an island cloned and there is no possibility to choose a starting point.

[Volodya74]

I also didn’t find Vertical mirroring in GIMP

[Volodya74]

What am I doing wrong ?! Pink background is visible and there is no single island.

[The Rock]

I have had some issues with this method, maybe it just happens to me, but if i don't mention them i wont find any solution:
- No mods are supported in the custom map.
- Altitude in land areas are either 0 mt above sea level, or 1km, always flat, no hills.
- In the picture i have tried every brightness possible and beyond some light threshold it shows in game a 1km high altitude area.
- Water being 1mt below sea level is not aesthetic.


Appart from the above, I have seen very few maps in workshop, not as many as expected for making them being this easy, so maybe there is another way.

Thanks for showing us the tools, anyway.