I'm working on making a photograph I took into a board.  If I understand it right, this can be done with dual-layers.  I used the photograph is the "Board Map" and then went into photoshop and made a simplified version with countries all the same color and all.  (I tested this by going to Board > Setup and then putting the Board transparency low so that I could make sure that the countries were each turning up white.)  When I test the game, there are no fills...only numbers.  I think that this is a sign of a country only taking up a single pixel.  Is my fill map wrong or is my test wrong?

Any help out there?

http://www.wargear.net/boards/view/4822

you need to make some of the board layer at least partially transparent.   The board layer sits on top of the fill layer, and player colors need to show through.

Also need to make sure that fill image has a solid pixel line between different territories.

For example, a bunch of france is not well separated.  Try turning down board transparency and click the 'fill' button.  You should see that several bordering territories always are the same color and that shows that your borders are incomplete there.

I recommend looking at the design pages of existing boards that use layers the way you want to use them. Play with those sliders to see how the board images are rather transparent wherever there is going to be fill, but often quite solid where there are no territories.

What are you using for an image editor?

Okay...so transparency is an issue...sounds about right.  Are you saying that I can set the board transparency of the board map within Wargear to make the board map transparent or that I have to actually use a Gif rather than a Jpg so the image itself is transparent?

Think of the board image as the top layer, and the fill map the bottom layer. You need "holes" or transparent sections in your board to see the fill layer underneath.  So where you want your territories to be, you need a hole in the board. 

Easiest to use is a .png, but you should still be able to use a jpg if you editor can handle transparent ones. 

Check out squrrils of suburbia:

The nuts/squirrels/mushroom etc. (territories) are all holes in the map image. The picture is otherwise solid. 

http://www.wargear.net/boards/designer/3506

zimmertyne wrote:

Okay...so transparency is an issue...sounds about right.  Are you saying that I can set the board transparency of the board map within Wargear to make the board map transparent or that I have to actually use a Gif rather than a Jpg so the image itself is transparent?

You can't adjust the transparency within the designer. It has to be part of the image. When using dual layers, usually part of your board image is solid and part is transparent or semi-transparent.  Just to get the mechanics of design down, you might want to start out with a single layer board.  No transparency necessary. Just make sure the territories are completely solid right to the boarders (watch out for anti-aliasing), because the engine fills with no tolerance.  Once you've done that and got the board working, you could easily use that image (a bit inefficiently) as the fill image, and then create an image overlay with transparency for a dual layer board.

The Dual Layers and Fog Image Help page may help to look through as well.  As for the file type, it should be PNG if you're going to use transparencies.

The transparency sliders trip up most new designers.  They don't do anything permanent to your board.

here's the quick tutorial i wrote up for someone else, might help out here too: http://www.wargear.net/forum/showthread/2336p1/board_helpadvice

ratsy wrote:

Think of the board image as the top layer, and the fill map the bottom layer. You need "holes" or transparent sections in your board to see the fill layer underneath.  So where you want your territories to be, you need a hole in the board. 

Easiest to use is a .png, but you should still be able to use a jpg if you editor can handle transparent ones. 

Check out squrrils of suburbia:

The nuts/squirrels/mushroom etc. (territories) are all holes in the map image. The picture is otherwise solid. 

http://www.wargear.net/boards/designer/3506

Okay...I'm getting it...

(Thanks for all the suggestions by the way, this is fun!)

>(Thanks for all the suggestions by the way, this is fun!)

If you decide you like map making, you may want to compete in the map making competition ($100 in prizes).  Check out the sticky thread.  It's probably too late for you for the next competition, but the theme for the one after that is 'Classic Video Games & Arcade Games' and is due in August.