Reply With QuoteIt came together nicely GP. Although the rivers look a little "hacked" in, but I imagine you are going to clean those up. How in the world do you do .5 pixel??? I didn't think that was even possible since a pixel is the smallest display unit.
Well.. there isn't an "Instant Map" button, but I do like the speed with which it handles itself... but... what exactly are the advantages of this over say ... Illustrator?
It came together nicely GP. Although the rivers look a little "hacked" in, but I imagine you are going to clean those up. How in the world do you do .5 pixel??? I didn't think that was even possible since a pixel is the smallest display unit.
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Thanks for the doc waldronate, but it didn't answer my question and in fact showed me that I was correct in asking the question. I learned computer technology and how they work before I ever saw raster and vector programs, or rather before I learned how to use them so I always come from the more exacting definitions of things. Thus I already knew that a pixel wasn't a square. Therefore the reason why I asked the question. If Xara is able to produce a half pixel line, that to me, means that it is doing some really interesting math internally or it is fudging what it says is a pixel and thus it prompted my question.Originally Posted by waldronate
That all said, I really liked that article so thank you. I will definitely sock that away for a future debate I'm certain will come up at some point. Point, get it.
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It's done the same way that antialiased lines are done. There are many algorithms for doing this task with the simplest being to rasterize the image at higher resolution then sampling down (which is what most graphics cards do for their full-screen AA). There are also algorithms for directly performing antialiasing, with the quick google search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ed-area+sample turning up a number of good discussions.
My point on the document was that the screen/image representation samples a continuous function and the sampling function determines the minimum visible item.
Oops!
Interesting discussion and document, but I'm afraid I goofed when I said, 1 pixel wide rivers, I meant 1 "point" size rivers and .5 point tributaries.
A "point" is a standard measurement for lines and fonts.
I used the wrong word and created a wonderful discussion on what a pixel really is. Sorry for the goof!
GP
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Right, so in the end it still isn't .5 pixel it is actually 1 pixel but set relative to what 'was' "1 pixel". However, I am glad to see that the issue was clarified and makes a whole lot more sense as we look at...
Ah ha! Yes, .5 point (1/144") makes a whole lot more sense to me. It also equates much better with what I was seeing in the map. Those were some seriously big 1 pixel rivers.Interesting discussion and document, but I'm afraid I goofed when I said, 1 pixel wide rivers, I meant 1 "point" size rivers and .5 point tributaries.
A "point" is a standard measurement for lines and fonts.
I used the wrong word and created a wonderful discussion on what a pixel really is. Sorry for the goof!
GPIt's good to know we are dealing with points and not pixels as that makes a whole lot more sense to me. Thanks for the clarification GP. Oh, and to get this back on topic...
I like the creativity of this map and where it is headed. Very cool background story and it sounds like it would be a blast to play in it.
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A line half a pixel wide that is correctly rasterized will cover up to 2 pixels perpendicular to the line with an alpha value that is much less than full opacity. Anyhow, onward to more mapping or gaming or whatever I'm doing instead of what I should be doing, which is upgrading software capabilities.
How I'll fix the rivers!
Its too late now, I'm going to bed, but I had an epiphany how to fix the rivers.
The problem with the rivers is I want the scale of this map, even the view of the region say 400 to 600 miles (haven't decided.) So the channel of water reaching the crater is an arm of the sea that's 20 to 50 miles across, this is not a river. Rivers do flow into it, and as RP mentioned, "I sort of hacked them in."
I chose to use single 2 point, 1 point and half point lines to create them. Xara does have the capability of forcing a line to taper like a brush or in the case of a river the point size setting at start of line and 1/4 point or smaller at the end. Interesting, but not the way I will go.
Xara Xtreme is a hybrid raster/vector app, more vector though. That means I can create a river object (enclosed shape with freehand drawing tool) at a much larger scale. Once created I can just rescale it down and place where the current rivers are. They wouldn't look hacked in.
By using the "Arrange/Combine/Subtract" operation with "Copy Object" then "Paste in Place" I can cut my way down to the sea - see my Region Map with Xara tutorial to understand what I'm talking about
Because the forests, for instance have a "Feather" applied, when I subtract the river object, the "Feathering" is applied to the new channel cut through. I work my way down to the shallow water level, and each layers "effects" are applied to the cut.
In the end the rivers should look like I included them from the start, as if I planned it all along. Vector apps are very forgiving that way.
GP
Last edited by Gamerprinter; 07-08-2008 at 03:34 AM. Reason: fixed an incomplete sentence!
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Map Update!
Now for a much wider view of the map, a bit better quality. I fixed the rivers and did mostly what I said in my last post. In some cases I just created a river shape/object, then applied a "halo" shadow in dark green or gold depending on background.
I also stuck in an active volcano with smoke, just northeast of the crater.
Where that river meets the sea at the foot of that volcano, I plan to place a city that is facing a "Pompeii" situation. An oddessey of refugees will try to escape by sea to the north, but a storm will blow them to that bay south of the Shattered Desert. And the start of the campaign begins there.
Next I'll begin creating cities, roads and national boundries. I'm also thinking of creating nation maps, city maps of this entire region.
Though the continent continues far to the north, and not much farther south, I think I spend my efforts in this region only, for now.
More than likely I'll create a WIKI for this over at the CBG.
WIP so far... (looks like I have to fix an error in the lake south of the rift...)
Last edited by Gamerprinter; 07-09-2008 at 03:05 AM.
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