So, really what's your trick for fill mode?  How do you get your images outlined so precisely (ie in your Of Kings and Men board)?  Are they all separate images (this is usually the only way I've been able to do it very successfully)? You use Paint.net? 

Or anyone else that knows how he does it.  I have the hardest time with filling existing images (unless they are all separate images) and really I've only seen what he appears to do on a couple of boards (Koprulu being one too I think).

For the good of WarGear!

Thanks!

i told him we're just going to get our boards to a finalized state and then he can take over on the visuals. for us all.

Since we are sharing secrets... How do you get a territory to wrap around the board (like on Quzar). Is there like a one pixel line running around the border to connect them or something?

Ozyman wrote:

Since we are sharing secrets... How do you get a territory to wrap around the board (like on Quzar). Is there like a one pixel line running around the border to connect them or something?

Yep, http://www.wargear.net/boards/designer/1239 (slide Board Transparency to left to see).

i've been playin around a bit today trying to help someone figure out some of the designer stuff and I think the key to making a great graphical board is the quality of the original source and that it be the right size to begin with.

for example i'm wondering if the Of Kings and Men board was just the right size that there wasn't much 'resizing' needed to make it fit under the 1024kb limit. the graphics on this board were great to begin with, but it was so huge i had to do some serious reduction in size (~85%), but because of that the crispness of the board has gone to shit.

but given the right combination of graphics and size i think i can start making similar boards too! and i'm actually kind of excited about that. tho i need to get my more crappy boards out there first

Send me your email and I can send you a pdn file for one of my maps.

how's this for a first attempt in 3 hours since i wrote that last email?

only problem is i think it might be too small. it gets a bit easier to see what's up in the actual player (or in the setup piece of the designer) without the circles...

My secret is out.

Ozyman wrote:

Since we are sharing secrets... How do you get a territory to wrap around the board (like on Quzar). Is there like a one pixel line running around the border to connect them or something?

http://www.wargear.net/boards/designer/1750

Look at this fill map, it's tough.

Wait, I don't have the secret yet!

For the most part I've completely redrawn all the boards I've made.  I'll have the original source on the bottom layer and then draw on the next layer up.  But this really only works (for me anyway) with territory type maps, and not necessarily icons/true graphic stuff.

hey guys, i appreciate this. I still haven't really figured out how to make good dual layers, but this is giving me some new things to try out.

weathertop wrote:

how's this for a first attempt in 3 hours since i wrote that last email?

only problem is i think it might be too small. it gets a bit easier to see what's up in the actual player (or in the setup piece of the designer) without the circles...

Wow that looks awesome!

Agreed.

Yertle, for me, The best way to fill an object is to cut it out from the background into its own layer.  Then select the empty space, invert, so you're selected on the shape, then add a new layer, underneath, and fill the selected area with a fill territory.  What's better yet is, I like to add 2 layers, one with holes, and one that's see through, so you can leave solid areas and partial areas over territories.

You just manually cut it out?

Depends on the graphics I can find.  Usually I can get pretty close by messing with the tolerance until it grabs the shape...  some websites have great, easy to grab pictures.  As for the territories, in starcraft for example, I trace a border on a separate image, and then grab the space in the center, and use that selection on the proper layer.

Impressive!  Thanks!

For sure.  I'm trying to push what I can do with it, and I'm finding pretty cool tricks, especially in incorporating opaque and transparent layers over one full territory.  In Starcraft the buildings are in 2 layers, one is more opaque than the other, so the whole building glows your color, but only parts really show through.

that's cool, do you have to merge the two layers afterward and then upload them as the board image layer?

Yes, that's exactly right.  It's similar to the single pixel trail that gets hidden.  It allows you to select areas that are opaque on the map, but still are within the fill area, so you don't have to find the little pixels to click a 1 pixel ladder.  It also allows you to leave little image details opaque for a little extra shimmer.  I am going to look into multiple layers of opacity so you can fill a gradient of sorts.