Solved Updating the Worldmap

[Pieter Boelen]

Brilliant! What does that leave us for this to be finished?
Here's what I can think of:
- Cartagena island model
- Course references in various storylines
- Testing the worldmap scale values as reloads seem to get a bit confused at times now

 

[Armada]

- Testing the worldmap scale values as reloads seem to get a bit confused at times now

Would this have to do with the island 'radius' values in worldmap_init.c? I suspect some of those will need to be changed.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That sounds very plausible. I know that causes the "land ho" on the worldmap and I don't know what would happen if those areas would overlap for two islands.

I don't think DirectSail uses that though. But the islands are now closer together, so perhaps the checking frequency is no longer sufficient.
Not sure how that code works though. This from PROGRAM\CCCdirectsail.c looks relevant:

    // if we're likely to cross into another island zone in less than 15 minutes - 20Jan09
    // Note: speed in knots times about 100 gives yards traveled in 15 game minutes, 180 sec real time
    float transitionDistance = (ClosestlandfallDist2 - ClosestlandfallDist1)/2.0*WDM_MAP_TO_SEA_SCALE;
    if ( stf(pchar.Ship.Speed.z) * 100.0 > transitionDistance || Island != ClosestLandfallIsland1 ) 
        DirectsailCheckFrequency = 5;        // check every 5 minutes
    else    
        DirectsailCheckFrequency = 15;        // check every 15 minutes

 

[Armada]

I just created some circles on the World Map Maya file to visualise the islands' radii, and the problem certainly becomes apparent in this render:

Spoiler: Show image

Some areas such as Aruba/Curacao/Bonaire overlap very slightly, but in other areas such as Cuba and Hispaniola, it's a lot worse. Isla Mona is even completely engulfed by Hispaniola.
I actually messed up Hispaniola slightly, because I moved the island label locator further south, and as you can see, it leaves out part of Tortuga.
I should be able to fix this in most cases, but Cuba will probably still cause some issues (it always has done, anyway).

EDIT: Here's a quick draft of resizing and moving the islands' radii to prevent clashes where possible:

Spoiler: Show image

This layout fixes some clashes, including Isla Mona, by reducing large radii to their absolute minimum size.
Though as expected, Cuba's vast radius still clashes with four other islands, despite cutting off the southernmost tip of Cuba.
Shame it has to be circles.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

Cheers! That was a quick test with the old island model though to prove

BTW: Any chance you'll be setting up Cartagena more like a "normal" town, eg. adding a tavern, shipyard, store, etc. and Fast Travel and the like?
We're making Cartagena accessible from game start now and it'd be nice to have it working as well as any of the other towns.

Yes, it was my intention to open these inside locations. Maybe, I should release this part of work before the quest. About the quest, only after being on vacation (end of this month), I could really finish it.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I see you are aware of the problem with the islands. Cuba is indeed very bad. I have a lot of trouble getting to Santiago and always end up on the North shore and then have to sail around to Santiago. I have not timed out yet but it is close.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

This layout fixes some clashes, including Isla Mona, by reducing large radii to their absolute minimum size.
Though as expected, Cuba's vast radius still clashes with four other islands, despite cutting off the southernmost tip of Cuba.

That looks pretty good! Only other solution I could think of is to move Eleuthera, Cayman and Cozumel further away from Cuba, just so it is more in the clear.
And indeed it did always act weirdly there.

Shame it has to be circles.

Shame indeed. But for the purpose of the original game, I suppose that would've been enough. Not anymore though.

Yes, it was my intention to open these inside locations.

Cool, thanks!

About the quest, only after being on vacation (end of this month), I could really finish it.

No worries; I'll wait.

 

[Armada]

That looks pretty good! Only other solution I could think of is to move Eleuthera, Cayman and Cozumel further away from Cuba, just so it is more in the clear.
And indeed it did always act weirdly there.

Well I'd rather make the radius changes first and get people to test that before resorting to moving the islands again. I've only just finished the map textures, after all.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Absolutely agreed! Don't want you to keep doing the same over and over.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I am still having problems getting to Santiago. I have missed Cuba by direct sailing and the best way for me to get there on the world map is to go to Havana and then head South.

Also, Eluethera appears to be reversed.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Also, Eluethera appears to be reversed.

When comparing island model to worldmap? That's another CoAS island model, I think. As is the Isla de Muerta/Isla Mona one.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

It was not reversed before.

I got lucky and spotted So Jorge as I was sailing past. Why is it called So Jorge now? The only island I'm finding easily is Petit Tabac and it always has Pirates sailing around it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I got lucky and spotted So Jorge as I was sailing past. Why is it called So Jorge now?

Because I'm waging war on the display of complex town names.
Thanks for catching that one, I've fixed it back again. And this time, I hope things REALLY display properly!

 

[Armada]

I am still having problems getting to Santiago. I have missed Cuba by direct sailing and the best way for me to get there on the world map is to go to Havana and then head South.

I'll upload a file with modified island radii soon, so you can test that later and see if the same problems persist.

Also, Eluethera appears to be reversed.

I found that Eleuthera was the wrong way round on the original map, so I flipped it for the new one.
This way it should match up better with the actual island model.

 

[Armada]

Here is the updated Worldmap_init.c which makes the adjustments I mentioned. Extract to PROGRAM\WorldMap and start a new game to test the changes.
I ran a quick test myself and found most things working properly, except for Cuba and Petit Tabac, but the latter should be fine now.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Cool, thanks!

 

[Armada]

Bad news about the Cartagena island model: none of the town models could be imported into Maya, because apparently they're 'non-existent' in TOOL.
The mainland and all the forts have imported properly, though. It just means I'll have to redo the towns you see from the sea.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Ugh, figures! Well, then you can do a BETTER job, right?
Perhaps you can use the actual Cartagena Port model and put that in instead? That one's based on the Isla Muelle one.

 

[Armada]

I guess so. So I'd need to copy the Isla Muelle port and then add the San Felipe fort?

The weird thing is, though, there are several ports dotted around this huge chunk of mainland, not just Cartagena.
Each one is accompanied by a low-detail fort, rather than one added as a separate model. There is one fort-less port though, which I assume is Cartagena, because it has a separate fort model.
So it looks as though this one model represents most of the southern mainland, and I'm guessing there are variants of it for each individual port in CoAS.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

You can get the Cartagena port and fort model from here: RESOURCE\MODELS\Locations\Town_Cartagena\Port

And that does sound quite plausible!

BTW: I've been DirectSailing a bit today without the Open Sea Mod and it definitely IS still working weird-like.
After a reload to the next island, I tend to be almost right on top of it. And according the worldmap, I tend to be already PAST it.
The worldmap position seems to "fix" itself after a while.