UPDATE:Tiles for 2015 didn't work for me or BlackBeard so I linked to 2014 tiles which still work. I have modified the tutorial to reflect this! If someone knows of a fix for 2015 tiles please let me know. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/237104401/Project Zomboid Mapping Instructions.txt (New Download link for Txt file Tutorial)^^^^^ This is a basic guide to get people from Veg Map to testing their Custom Map in PZ. I'm one of those people, who before I commit to something I want to understand the process to see limitations. I spent 3 days scouring the web for videos and tutorials to learn as much as I could. At which point I think I finally have a good grasp of everything up to the point of testing. I've included some links to tools and tutorials that helped me better understand this as well. Maybe later I'll pretty this up, but for now enjoy! I apologize for any typos!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mapping for Project Zomboid
Required:
TileZed-May-25-2015-32bit.zip https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13095836/TileZed-May-25-2015-32bit.zip
Tiles-May-25-2015.zip https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13095836/Tiles-May-25-2015.zip (2015 tiles that didn't work)
ZomboidMapTools1_1.zip http://www.moddb.com/games/project-zomboid/downloads/zomboid-map-tools-64bit (2014 tiles that work)
mapzoidv060exe.zip (Optional if you do not want to make your own maps for layout/vegetation).
Paint Program
First:
Create a few folders for easy access:
Main Folder= Zomboid Mapping
SubFolders found in Zomboid Mapping Folder:
-Buildings (this is where you will store building files for the Building Editor).
-Output (This is where you will find your lot files(map you made) after clicking generate lots in WorldEd).
-TmxWorld (This is where your saved map from the PNG/BMP Basemap/Vegetation Map will save too).
-Tiles -Tools (This is where you have your Tile Definitions from the Tiles-May-25-2015.zip ZomboidMapTools1_1.zip that will be props/textures).(Extract the zip file into the Zomboid Mapping Folder,there will be a folder named Tools created, inside that folder will be another called Tiles. This Tiles folder is the one you will use for generating lot's when asked.)
These instructions are going to assume you are creating a 1x1 Cell map.
Step 1: Create your BaseMap(Roads,Basic Terrain).
Step 2: Create your Vegetation Map (The types of Plants/Tree's and Ground Coverage your map will have)
Step 3: Create your ZombieSpawnMap
Your BaseMap and Veg map should be saved in PNG format. Size for a one cell map= 300x300 for both.
Your ZombieSpawnMap should be saved in BMP format. Size for a one cell map= 30x30
Example File names: NewbCity.png(baselayout 300x300),NewbCity_veg.png(Vegetation map 300x300), NewbCity_ZombieSpawnMap.Bmp(Duh,Zombie Spawn map 30x30)
I just used NewbCity as the example for my map project.
These links will help explain the color codes to use in the paint editor to draw Base Layout map/Vegetation Map.
https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4823-how-to-draw-maps-for-the-pz-mapping-tools/
Thuztor's Pdf file for mapping contains good color code info as well pages 5 and 6.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69737873/PZ/Sonstiges/mapping/Mapping%20Guide_v0.2.pdf
If you want to try your hand using Mapzoid to get an idea of what it's like here's the link:
https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4684-random-mapzoid-random-bitmap-terrain-generator-python-win-exe/
Base layout colors Veg Map Colors(I would copy and paste these color palettes to your paint program and use them with the color picker tool to adjust your mapzoid file to your liking since it doesn't always work perfectly.:Thanks to Suomiboi again for his tutorial found here) Also make sure to disable anti-aliasing if you have any issues with incorrect colors (I didn't have too but some programs react differently). Wouldn't let me display the image here so if you want to copy them click on the links or scroll to the bottom of this page.
Step 3:Now that you are done using mapzoid or a paint program to create those 3 files(which I would store in the main directory of ZomboidMapping folder)
Load up TileZed.
Go to the toolbar at the top and look for the tab TOOLS Then go down and select WorldEd.
Now a new window popped open with WorldEd. Go to File in the Toolbar and select New and popup window asking the size of the map you want to create.
Change it to 1 Cell Width, 1 Cell Height.
Great now you have this empty grey square saying 0,0
You might notice in the upper right side of the screen it says Maps with a little window of folders. Navigate to your ZomboidMapping Folder you created earlier.
If you saved your files to the ZomboidMapping folder earlier you will now see NewbCity.png. Drag this file from the window into the grey square that says 0,0.
You should now see a basic view of the file you created in paint or mapzoid earlier. Great!
Go to File tab in the toolbar at the top, Save as> Newbcity.pzw (or whatever your map name is you chose).
Step 4: Go to the File Tab again in the toobar at the top, BMP>TMX then select All Cells.
You should now have a new popup window asking you all kinds of fun stuff.
The only one you should have to change is the top one for Export directory
Select that and navigate to your Tmx_World folder you created in Zomboid Mapping earlier and select that.
(if you click apply afterwards the window will exit saving your directory but will not complete the BMP>TMX so go through the file tab again
doing the same process this time click OK).
Next a window should popup saying Bmp to Tmx Sanity Check, click Ok.
After a few seconds it should say Finished, Click OK.
Step 5: go into TileZed and go to the File Toolbar tab in the upper left corner.
Click Open, navigate to Tmx_World folder in the Zomboid Mapping folder you created earlier.
Select NewbCity_0_0.tmx or whatever you saved your map as (make sure to keep the name the same across all files).
Now you should be able to view your map in TileZed.
Some notes: If you plan on changing your vegetation map I highly suggest you do it at this stage before you add props or details in TileZed
Because when I tried editing mine afterwards I had to go back and do the BMP>TMX (close out of TileZed Reload the program and load up the file again)
only to realize all of my street lines, fences and props were now gone.
So make sure you are happy with your layout of roads/forests/vegetation before continuing to detail your map.
This should roughly get your started mapping, maybe when I master HouseBuilding/Spawning ETC I will add that later.
Step 6: Playing your map!
So after all of this you have some really basic map you want to try out right?
Ok, so go back to WorldED, Go to the File Tab on the toolbar in the top left.
Select Generate Lots, then Select All Cells.
Now a new pop window has started.
Lots Directory: This is where your map files will save, select the folder we created earlier in Zomboid Mapping called Output.
Zombie Spawn Map Image: This is the 30x30 NewbCity_ZombieSpawnMap.bmp you created earlier (or whatever your map is named) it should be in the Main Zomboid Mapping Folder.
Tile Definitions: This is all those wonderful images/props for your map which should be located in the Tiles (tools/tiles is where they are now located)folder you extracted Tiles-May-25-2015.zip ZomboidMapTools1_1.zip to earlier in Zomboid Mapping earlier.
(note:Depending upon how you extracted it there might be a Tools\Tiles folder inside of the tiles folder you created earlier).<<<<<< This might explain why even I was confused about the 2015 tiles and the 2014 tiles. So make sure you use the 2014 from http://www.moddb.com/games/project-zomboid/downloads/zomboid-map-tools-64bit
World Origin: This tells the game what area of the Zomboid Map you are claiming for your cell.
Note( Go to http://map.projectzomboid.com/ and on the left side click Map Coordinates. Now you will see it say Example: Cell 35x32 which is main st Muldraugh
you obviously don't want to cover over a part of the map that has a town in it, so scroll around and find a nice spot where there isn't a a lot of stuff (clear land or forest)).
Write down the cells you want and input them into the World Origin and click OK
Now all the map files are compiled to the output folder in Zomboid Mapping.
Step 7:Now you have to make it a mod.
Go to the C:\Users\(your user name\Zomboid\Mods folder.
In this folder you will notice another folder called examplemod, you can use this as a template to create your new map mod.
So under the Mods folder create a new folder for your map named after your map.
New Folder in Mods= NewbCity
Inside the NewbCity Folder you will need to create another folder called media.
Inside the Media Folder you will have to create another folder called maps.
Inside the Maps folder you will have to create another folder called NewbCity (yes again!)
Inside the 2nd Newbcity folder there should be the following:
0_0.Lotheader (0_0 is the World Origin you picked earlier so if you choose cell 35x32 it would say 35_32.Lotheader)
Chunkdata_0_0.bin (again 0_0 is just an example for your world origin)
World_0_0.lotpack (again again 0_0 is just an example)
These 3 files are the files that were created in your output folder after you went through generating lots in WorldEd, you should copy them here.
the other required files are:
Description.Txt = NewbCity - Population ~750 <LINE> <LINE> (V1.1). U=BTL <Note>>:I figured this out but looking at New Denvers Files so I modified them to test my map, just change it to your map name.>
Map.info file looks like this:
title=Newb City
lots=Muldraugh, KY
description=Newb City - Add a short description of your map here
Spawnpoints.lua : This file will designate where your player spawns in the game based on character occupation
Updated because I was missing a closed bracket - Ty Blackbeard
function SpawnPoints()
return {
constructionworker = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
},
fireofficer = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
},
parkranger = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
},
policeofficer = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
},
securityguard = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
},
unemployed = {
{ worldX = 38, worldY = 26, posX = 180, posY = 180, posZ = 0 }
}
}
end
You will notice that WorldX and World Y refers to which cell.
You will also notice posx and posy refers to the tile in your cell/map. If you look at your map in TileZed you will see in the bottem left corner numbers like Example:180,172 These are your tile coordinates.
So find a tile you want to spawn and write down the numbers.
Now modify that file for which cell you picked earlier on the PZ map under worldx and worldy
Now modify that file for which tile you picked on your map in TileZed under posx and posy
Save the file and now you character will spawn in the spot you chose.
The next file in the folder will be: Thumb.png
This is just a screenshot for your map, you can steal the one out of New Denvers to use as a placeholder for now if you want till you have your own.
So let's recap: Inside of the last NewbCity folder you need:
0_0.lotheader
Chunkdata_0_0.bin
World_0_0.lotpack
Map.info
Description.txt
Spawnpoints.lua
Thumb.png
Make sure you have all 7 files.
Ok now go back to the Mods\Newbcity folder (the first newbcity or your mapname folder with the media folder in it).
There should be 2 files in here:
Mod.info (this is another file to describe your map)
Poster.png (Another screenshot photo)
Mod.info contains this:
name=NewbCity
id=NewbCity
description= This is NewbCity for newbs trying to map.
poster=poster.png
If you want to get rolling you can modify the files in the examplemod folder to make it easier.
If you want a better understanding of these files I suggest you download NewDenvers map to take a look at this link:
https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/12110-new-denver-bc-v21/
Step 8: Load up Project Zomboid
Go to mods in the bottom left corner and go to NewbCity(or your map name and activate it)
Create a single player game and you will see your Newbcity(or your map name) as a spawn location.
Join the game and you will notice that you spawned at the location you designated earlier in the spawnpoints.lua file.
Play your barren wasteland of a map and enjoy!
Big thanks to EasyPickins, Blindcoder, Thuztor, Suomiboi, Mendonca for their tools and tutorials which helped me make it to testing my own custom map.
Courtesy of BlackBeard! Great comprehensive tutorial!
Smelting ore into meta shouldn't even on the table when purer or stronger metals exist ready-made. There's no need to have it at all. Further, any hobby smelting I've seen has been limited to trinkets made out of aluminium -- other than arrow heads, what's the point? The only other thing that'd have any value would be brass bullet components but, those tend to require precise machining that I doubt anyone could achieve at home, particularly not primers. Nails aren't made this way, incidentally -- you'd be better off just cutting cleats from metal sheet.
Good luck learning to forge metals on any level greater than trinkets or small items. Why you'd even want to in a modern setting with plentiful sources of metal is beyond me.
Smithing existing metal into some basic things is reasonable, though. The system should encourage the recycling of modern items into other items. How you'd do that with self-help and hobby-oriented books due to the non-hesitance of the Internet would be interesting to see.
I have no problem with cutting down a tree -- it's the requirement to do it in in a world of timber-frame buildings and lumber yards that irks me. It's the dressing of the resulting log with an impractical tool that bothers me when it should be an axe and wedges. I doubt traditional handsaws for ripping logs would be remotely common. It should also require wedges. A chainsaw would make more sense considering the year the game is set in, though, and familiar to most.
Project Zomboid shouldn't be aiming for iron age survival. It should be aiming for picking the bones of the late 20th century. It doesn't need to do what Minecraft does or what various mods do.
In your tilezed folder there are two files : Blends.txt and Rules.txt.
These control how your bmp is converted into a tmx.
You can find information about using them in the tilezed help menu.
NOTICE: Continues progress is tied directly to positive feedback. It would also help if someone confirmed that this crud actually works. Been working on some tools to help with map making. Primarilly, these will take an input image and output a more detailed one. They should work on any windows system, but I make no promises as to their speed or functionality on other systems. Farmify:
Description: Takes an image with farm fields denotated by the color (255, 170, 0). Detects contiguous patches of farm and assigns them a random orientation. Fills each patch with a semi random selection of dirt and grass to simulate furrows. Furrows near the edge follow the edge, while ones in the center follow the fields orientation. For best results you should round the corners of your fields.
To Do A proper GUI Expose internal variable to allow customization Multiple image loading for seamless generating General optimizations Ability to spread generation outside designated area for better blending Add a way to save sets of settings
Changelog ---
Download V1
Roadiculate I have some ideas on how I could alter the algorithm I use to help with roads too. And any other feature that can be related to a pixels coordinates and its distance from edges and corners.
NOTICE: Continues progress is tied directly to positive feedback. It would also help if someone confirmed that this crud actually works. Been working on some tools to help with map making. Primarilly, these will take an input image and output a more detailed one. They should work on any windows system, but I make no promises as to their speed or functionality on other systems. Farmify:
Description: Takes an image with farm fields denotated by the color (255, 170, 0). Detects contiguous patches of farm and assigns them a random orientation. Fills each patch with a semi random selection of dirt and grass to simulate furrows. Furrows near the edge follow the edge, while ones in the center follow the fields orientation. For best results you should round the corners of your fields.
To Do A proper GUI Expose internal variable to allow customization Multiple image loading for seamless generating General optimizations Ability to spread generation outside designated area for better blending Add a way to save sets of settings
Changelog ---
Download V1
Roadiculate I have some ideas on how I could alter the algorithm I use to help with roads too. And any other feature that can be related to a pixels coordinates and its distance from edges and corners.
I have begun building a map the small town of Fowler, MI. The final size will be 12x12 cells, though large portions of that are farmland. I am currently looking for people to help me make all the buildings.
Major Projects: Fowler Public High School Most Holy Trinity Catholic School
Just send me any image you want farmified. The parts you want turned into farms should all be the same color. It looks best if you round off corners and make borders a little wavey.
If you need any large amounts of farmed land then I can help with that. Just designate the areas you want as fields with a new color and send it to me as a png. The current setting I like are outputting this:
But I can configure it differently if you like. It looks much better if you round corners btw.
According to the Rules.txt, there are more possible colors than this. The following is a compressed list of all labeled rules in Rules.txt and their RGB values
Dark Grass | 90 100 35 Medium Grass | 117 117 47 Light Grass | 145 135 60 Sand | 210 200 160 Light Asphalt | 165 160 140 Dark Asphalt (main roads) | 100 100 100 Medium Asphalt | 120 120 120 Gravel Dirt | 140 70 15 Dirt | 120 70 20 Dark Pothole | 110 100 100 Light Pothole | 130 120 120 Water | 0 138 255 Trees | 255 0 0 Trees + Dark grass | 127 0 0 Grass (all types) | 0 255 0 Light long grass | 0 255 0
According to the Rules.txt, there are more possible colors than this. The following is a compressed list of all labeled rules in Rules.txt and their RGB values
Dark Grass | 90 100 35 Medium Grass | 117 117 47 Light Grass | 145 135 60 Sand | 210 200 160 Light Asphalt | 165 160 140 Dark Asphalt (main roads) | 100 100 100 Medium Asphalt | 120 120 120 Gravel Dirt | 140 70 15 Dirt | 120 70 20 Dark Pothole | 110 100 100 Light Pothole | 130 120 120 Water | 0 138 255 Trees | 255 0 0 Trees + Dark grass | 127 0 0 Grass (all types) | 0 255 0 Light long grass | 0 255 0
According to the Rules.txt, there are more possible colors than this. The following is a compressed list of all labeled rules in Rules.txt and their RGB values
Dark Grass | 90 100 35 Medium Grass | 117 117 47 Light Grass | 145 135 60 Sand | 210 200 160 Light Asphalt | 165 160 140 Dark Asphalt (main roads) | 100 100 100 Medium Asphalt | 120 120 120 Gravel Dirt | 140 70 15 Dirt | 120 70 20 Dark Pothole | 110 100 100 Light Pothole | 130 120 120 Water | 0 138 255 Trees | 255 0 0 Trees + Dark grass | 127 0 0 Grass (all types) | 0 255 0 Light long grass | 0 255 0
EDIT: Until I find the time to update this a bit, after checking this go see Thuztor's Mapping Guide! It explains this process in a bit more organized way
Hi guys! Here's a little tutorial on how to draw "handmade" maps for the PZ mapping tools.
So, let's start!
1. Software
You need somekind of a photo editing software. Paint will do, but I would recommend something with a bit more options. You could go with Photoshop or similar, but I like to use Gimp as it's free and has many similarities with Photoshop, but it's a bit more simple. Also as we're only editing a few colors we won't be needing anything too fancy.
2. Maps
There are two maps we will be drawing. The "main map", which has roads, streets and lighter grass areas. Then we have the more intricate vegetation map. We will start by drawing the "main map". The image has to be sized by the amount of cells you want to have on your map. one cell is 300x300pixels which means that if you want to have a 3x3 cell map the image has to be 900x900 pixels. (I'm not sure which way the pixels have to be if you'd want a 3x5 map for example, but it is either 900x1500 or 1500x900 I'll update when I get the info...)
3. Drawing the "main map"
When drawing a map 1 pixel = 1 tile
Ok as said, we'll start by drawing the "main map". We have 6 colors to use in doing the map as follows:
4. Drawing the vegetation map
We'll start drawing the _veg map over your existing main map. This is where it comes handy to have a little more than paint in your disposal as you'll be able to create layers and add those on top of the main map. There's another six colors that will define the vegetation. (If you're using paint or a program that overwrites the .png file, save this after a different name for now.)
5. Adding the maps to WorldEd
Now that you have the two files, whateveryouwant.png and whateveryouwant_veg.png, make sure they are in the same folder. Then open WorldEd and from the top left click File, New... Then input the cell amount that responds with your map. Remember 1 cell = 300x300pixels.
6. Start editing!
Here are the .png Files I used in making this tutorial: http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx319/elmosyrjalainen/MyfirstPNG_zpsb42a622f.png http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx319/elmosyrjalainen/MyfirstPNG_veg_zps7f4b8629.png Feel free to use them in your learning! If you use them as a part of your mods or something else please add proper credit.
Sorry if I forgot something or left something out. This went on a bit longer than I expected and I'm a bit tired. (It's about 4am here now and I have to wake up in 3 hours)
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from xXxFANCYCAPYBARA36xXx in Different tree types per region
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from Peetfighter in Subforum for custom textures and sprites.
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from Atoxwarrior in Subforum for custom textures and sprites.
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from kaizokuroof in Ciber's Tools
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from Suomiboi in Ciber's Tools
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from harakka in Return of the Map (mod)
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from terec the tec in How to draw maps for the PZ Mapping tools
Ciber Ninja got a reaction from LeoIvanov in How to draw maps for the PZ Mapping tools