how to download maps?

[jaynay 0]

can anyone tell me how to download maps of the mapexchange and how to put them into the game so they work. also how do you create maps using the config map thing. ive tried before but it doesnt work.

thanks in advance

[Aronion 9]

 

Date:12/8/2004 11:38:59 AM
Author:jaynay

can anyone tell me how to download maps of the mapexchange and how to put them into the game so they work. also how do you create maps using the config map thing. ive tried before but it doesnt work.

thanks in advance

quote>

To download a map just do what it tells you to do. 

Do as it says.  Right click on the Download map button as save your new map. 

As far as getting the map into the game and making your own map/config map, take a look around.  There are stickies that I have put up that explain quite well how to do the stuff you asked about.

[detlef5 0]

Im having the same prolbem as he is. I download it like it says and I get a jpeg picture of the map. I also downloaded the config map to. But how do you put it into the game? I tried making a file with a name and put the picture in there and it didnt work. I tired using the config map, that didnt work. So how do you put it into the game?

[greyveil 37]

I will post these 1 more time, next time try searching the forums

To download: Right click on terrain and choose save target as or click to view terrian and right click on picture and choose save as. You must also download the config and change the name to config.bmp


Here are some basic instructions for importing these. In case you are wondering why I'm only providing the terrain maps, it's because to
provide the actual files SC4 uses, would make each terrain about 8-10 megabytes.

1) Start SC4 and create a new Region, give it a name and then immediately exit the game.

2) Go to your Documents folder where you should have a SimCity 4\Regions Folder with a folder with the name of the region you just
created. (NOTE, this is NOT located in your main Sim City Folder. It is in your Documents folder)

3) In the folder should be one file called region.ini.

4) For standard size terrains copy the file config.bmp into the folder with the region.ini. This config.bmp file will create all large cities.
For non-standard terrains use the config.bmp that is supplied with the terrain. You can also create your own config.bmp if you want to
have different sized cities.

(there is a link to landscape designer in the last link in my sig, it can be used to create custom config files)

5) Start SC4 again and make sure you are at the correct region, which should look like a flat landscape. From the region screen press
alt-shift-ctrl-R which should bring up a box that will let you select a file to import.

6) Select the terrain map JPG file. SimCity 4 will then import the terrain, which will take 5-15 minutes depending on size of terrain and
speed of your computer.

That's it. You will need to go in and add trees and animals manually if you want them.

[detlef5 0]

So I guessing that since the map I have is said to be huge, it will take a lot longer then 15 mintues even longer then an hour. Right?

[mxyzptlk 0]

If the map is large (more than 1025 x 1025), you may need to resize it down to 1025 x 1025 in order for it to work. I just did this successfully for a map of Portland which was 2049 x 2049; in fact, I was able to crop the map any way I wanted so that I could have the map be exactly what I wanted. If this is your problem, let me know, and I will tell you how to make a region with it.

[carsonruga 0]

I'm having that problem and it gives me a region generation error. It says Region bitmap size is incorrect. 5377x2561, should be 1025x1025. What do I do? How do I change the size?

[edd_erickson 0]

That happens when you create a region first (which also creates a config.bmp) and then try to render a map of a different size. Your region map is a different size than the config.bmp that was created, which is 1025 x 1025.

You should download the Landscape Designer; it's the easiest way to import maps. It on this site; PM me if you can not find it.

I generally download just the map image, then create my own config.bmp. When you create a region first, follow these instructions. The L/D will let you resize it to any dimension up to 4096 x 4096 (the fact that you are trying to download a really huge map could also be part of your problem). Once you have the right size, save the terrain (map) in your region, then go to the config.bmp generator. Create a new config.bmp for you region and save it. Your system will then alert you that the file already exists. Click YES to replace the file.

Then go to SC4 and click on your region name. You should see a different region than you created. If you don't, you messed up someplace. Assuming you see a different region, press ctrl+alt+shift+r. You should see a dialog box, scroll down to SC4/Regions/your file. Click on the map (not the config.bmp) and it should start rendering.

Be careful of really big maps as they take forever to render. I generally don't go bigger than 1500 x 1500. Bigger than that is almost unplayable and it takes a long time to render (I have a Pentium4 precessor with 512 megs of RAM and a 1500 x 1500 map takes 40 minutes or so to render).

Hope this helps.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

You don't have to scale the map size down, just increse the size of the config.bmp to 84x40 pixels to use the original sized map. To do that, open the config.bmp in windows paint, go to image, then attributes, or hit Ctrl E. Once you are there, where it says width, type in 84, and where it says height type in 40 and hit ok. After that, fill in the white areas in the picture with blue to make all large cities, or you can change it to have the city sizes you want. after that, save and exit paint, and go back to simcity 4 and try loading the region bitmap again.

If you would rather shrink the map, instead of making the config.bmp 84x40, make it 42x20 or 21x10, and then open the region map in paint, go to image, the stretch/skew (Ctrl W) and on the 2 boxes on the top, type in 50 if you made it 42x20, or 25 if you did 21x10, in both of them and hit ok. The map is now smaller, and should work for in simcity. (21x10 is smaller than the original 16x16 so it shouldn't take too long)

[detlef5 0]

I did everything that i was supposed to...download the config and the map itself. I put the config in the file and i try to download the terran but it wont work. It just goes back to the flat map. You said jpeg for the map...well for some reason i can only save it has bitmap...thats it...any suggestions?

[the_crispbread_witch 0]

Sometimes the map (the greyscale image) is not a 8 bit greyscale picture and then it won't work. Try another map to see if you're doing the other stuff right.

It would be great if you spent an hour reading these threads, then you'll probably know everything about maps....

How to put a map into game, click here.

Problems with bad pictures, click here.

More about non-working maps on the STEX, click here.

How to make your own map, click here.

And finally, download the Landscape Designer here.



Happy rendering!

[detlef5 0]

When I download any map it wont save it as a jpeg file but as a bmp....i think thats why the maps wont load...so how can i change that?

[detlef5 0]

Ok i guess it doesnt matter if it is a jpeg or bmp. I did everything both guys told me...i creat a new file put the map and the config.bmp in the file. I run the game and press ctrl alt shift and r and try to load the pic but it wont do it....i press ok and it goes back to the flat land..It does that with any map i get.