TAS Form 6 - Subsector Map Grid

[wormspeaker]

I don't have much experience with Blitz3D/DX7 but maybe you should try putting some separation between the layers. With this sort of map it might not be a problem.

[mearrin69]

Thanks for the reply. I've got the layers separated by a bit, and I've tried larger and smaller amounts to resolve the issue to no avail. I've checked in on the B3D forums and was told the B3D/DX7 has a problem sorting alpha'd polygons. This is especially true when the objects are co-located...and all of my spheres share the same pivot as a parent object. Some of the jump routes have the same problem as they share the starting world's pivot.

I'm told the solution might be to shift the sphere centers progressively toward the camera a tiny bit, with the outermost being closest. This would have to be done dynamically, each time the camera moves...or at least moves a great deal. Sounds like a real pain in the behind, frankly, and I'll have to consider whether doing that work is more worthwhile than just rebuilding the thing in something like DBPro...or just C++ with OpenGL.

Who can say? In the meantime I've been working, slowly, on building a bit of a UI for the thing and lots of minor details. I hope to be largely done with it by this weekend, work and continuing sickness willing.
M

[mearrin69]

Here’s a link to my viewer app on Dropbox if anyone wants to try it out. It mostly works now, though there’s more to do.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8988232/TSV.zip

Download, unzip, and double-click TSV.exe to run the app. Roll over the “Menu” tab at the bottom of the screen to open the menu. The “Load” button will open up a little dialog requesting the name of the sector to open. The “Options” button does nothing for now. “Exit” will close the program, as advertised. The buttons to the right are view toggles, they don’t do anything unless you’ve got a subsector loaded.

You can move the view around using:
W – Forward
X – Backward
A – Left
D – Right
Z – Down
C – Up
Q – Turn left
E – Turn right
S – Reset camera
Up Arrow – Camera pitch up
Down Arrow – Camera pitch down

The controls are hinkey and I’ll improve them at some point before I’m done.

Other keys:
Ctrl-R – Toggle display of jump routes
Ctrl-A – Toggle display of allegiances
Ctrl-Z – Toggle display of travel zones
Ctrl-L – Load subsector
F1 – Help (not yet implemented)
F2 – Credits
ESC - End program

Technical things:
Ctrl-W – Toggle wireframe
Ctrl-D – Toggle debug display

Subsectors are stored in text files in the "subsectors" directory. You can probably figure out what's what from looking at the file. If you do play with the files be aware that changing something outside of expected bounds (i.e. changing the "starport" digit of the UPP to something other than A-E) will likely cause strange behavior or even cause the app to crash. There is no strong error-checking at this point.

Feel free to critique...and please let me know if you get any major errors. Thanks!
M

[Grummore]

Hi! Nice work!

Do you have that link to the .psd file for the subsection map from the first post of this thread?

Thanks!

[mearrin69]

The blank one?
M

[Grummore]

Yep, the one from your initial post.

http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...l=1#post185480

[mearrin69]

This one has a bit more than that. It includes the white blank, a black one, one with stars, plus the labels for the form and some symbols for mapping. It's not "finished" but all of the components are there. To use the jumplines, just move them into place over the starting world and then scale them out to the destination world or the edge of the map. Please let me know what you think.
M

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8988232/subs...20template.zip

[tilt]

Really cool Mearrin, didn't expect 3D programming when I swung by the thread

[mearrin69]

Thanks, Tilt. I didn't expect it when I started the thread! I should really finish this little project...it's largely done, just needs some tuning.

BTW, did anybody download the map template I posted above? Curious to see if anybody was able to use it effectively.
M

[kortz]

Thanks, Tilt. I didn't expect it when I started the thread! I should really finish this little project...it's largely done, just needs some tuning.

BTW, did anybody download the map template I posted above? Curious to see if anybody was able to use it effectively.
M

Hi there! Sorry to 'necro' this post but, could you by any chance update the dropbox links? I'd be interested in the PSD for traveller subsector
Thanks in advance!