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[air_tramp]

Hi there

I have been playing around in the unlocked FMB and with numerous map related tools.
The actor cutting and creating tools seem to have very hard to understand instructions.

Many times now I have tried to cut and actors down and re-create it into smaller separate actors without any success.

Is there anyone who could help with these actors tools,who could maybe give a more layman type of instructions rather than the computer programmer kind of instructions that seem to be included with all these actor tools.I must get lost reading them and trying to follow the steps as I have yet to be able to get any one of the available actor tools to work.I have downloaded them all hoping to find at least one set of tools to be simple to use but find them all very confusing and complicated.

I have read many threads on these tools,but find that most threads really don't say anything different than the rest.They almost always just end with no reply's eventually with no real answers being given.It is always the same computer programming jargon that is in the readme's.

Must one be extremely fluent with programming ete to be able to work on maps?

I have almost been able to accomplish everything while inside the unlocked FMB that there is that one can do from inside the unlocked FMB.It is the file management of the actors.static outside the Unlocked FMB that eludes me.

The only difficulties I seem to have is this actor cutting and re-creating,
 I would be very grateful for any help offered.

Thank you

Cheers:
air_tramp

[SAS~Malone]

I'm with you, mate. The actors tools are the one part of the map-making process which I haven't been able to figure out yet, myself...

[agracier]

And I emphatically second the motion. I would very much, somewhat desperately in fact, would like to learn how in the world to use those populating tools
_____________________

Must one be extremely fluent with programming ete to be able to work on maps?
____________________

Goodness no. I wouldn't know the beginning or the end of a programming language, but making maps is more of a graphics mode of thinking. You should be able to easily work in a graphics manipulation program and know how to achieve certain graphic goals. But other than that and lots of patience, that's really about it.

[air_tramp]

Well thanks for the interest fellas

The graphical and actual unlocked FMB part of maps I am ok with,
I know Gimp quite good,so no problems there

Just the technical part of these Actor tools seem baffling to me.I have managed to get so far with some of the tools but still fail in total success.I have even gone so far as getting by out.txt files and renaming them accordingly to in the end creat a new MWactors.static

Then the newly created MWactors.static will not load for me in the Unlocked FMB.I have managed to load my new MWactors in normal Vanilla FMB,but there was no population anywhere on the map as if it was a blank MWactors(which wouldn't load in unlocked(scratch my head )!

I have a Actors just under 3 mb I started with and cut it down to 512 kb sizes and sized somewhat smaller than 512 kb for the differnt sectors of the map I guess one could say.Each actor once created into a MWactors ,just doesn't do anything in unlocked,the map won't load.

Being a mathematician instead of a magician would truly help running these tools and working with these coordinates for sure,I am getting closer to having them work but I am missing a step or running a step not quite right I presume.

Cheers:
air_tramp

[ftarquisa]

I have managed to use it a few times. I must recognize that every time it is a pain in the neck and it seems to me like if it were the first time again, but at the end, after sweating quite a bit, I have been able to populate two maps so far..

by the way, it has not much to do with programming, it is more reading the howto's and trying...

[agracier]

I have managed to use it a few times. I must recognize that every time it is a pain in the neck and it seems to me like if it were the first time again, but at the end, after sweating quite a bit, I have been able to populate two maps so far..

by the way, it has not much to do with programming, it is more reading the howto's and trying...

Hats off to you ... this thing has eluded me so far. I've read the instructions, short as they are, from back to front and sideways and across and it just doesn't work for me ...

[ftarquisa]

I guess it is just luck, next time I'll try to fix in my mind the process, to try to explain, hopefully, the process as it works for me...

[air_tramp]

I have given it an honest consorted effort on my part to understand the instructions and follow the steps for these tools.I get close ...but no Cigar...

I have tried many times with all the available different tool sets,but it seems very difficult to do
This is why I ask for help in hopes of understanding the process better.

Yes,if you could at some time explain how the process works for you ftarquisa,it would be much appreciated thank you

Cheers:
air_tramp

[ftarquisa]

in advance, I remember you first use AUTOPOP to create houses, trees, etc.. in your towns, but typically you have got many other things you want to merge - airfields, bridges,...- with your new actors file, i.e., you need to merge two different files. That's tricky. at least for me. I remember having used Act_093.zip, but last time I had to copy and paste using the full FMB, because I didn't seem to remember how to do it. As you can infer, I do not master it, specially when it comes to merging them...

[air_tramp]

I have now had success at extracting a large actors

outBuildings.txt has the required info when opened ,
the other files with chiefs ,stationary and outwings are ok also

I will now try and re-compile these files

[air_tramp]

I have compiled my first actors.static that works on my map in unlocked.

It is all coming together finally,I am now going to move on to the cutter tool to see if I can cut my actors.static down into 4 separate actors for my small map now that I can extract and compile actor.statics.

This way I will be able to work on a quarter section of my map at a time adding to it,and eventually being able to compile the four actors.static's together for a Master actors.static at the end for the Vanilla FMB to build missions on.

If I can get this cutting of the actors accomplished into 4 equal parts of the map,I could then try and move on to building a template to run in the auto-pop tool.If successful with auto-pop I could auto-pop the 4 actors ,hopefully with still being able to open them in Unlocked FMB to work on the map with Population.With eventually being able to compile these auto-populated actors together to make a large Master actors.static

Yes ftarquisa,it has a lot to do with reading the "How to's" trying... over and over until you get it.
I think I am finally getting it,I will re-do all my steps and I have made BackUp's of ever file created so a few times over and over I should get the hang of these tool's

Cheers:
air_tramp

P.S: I wonder if one should auto-pop the whole map and then cut the actors to smaller sections of the map.Rather than trying to auto-pop 4 individual actors after cutting?

I think so now,auto-pop once,then cut actors
I am going to continue trying to cut the actors to learn how,once I can do it for sure then I will try to auto-pop my map to cut the actors after.

[|ZUTI|]

Which tools are you using? A while back, when i was working on my Slovenia map i created a "nice" GUI tool that enabled you to do a lot of things from decompiling to recompiling of actors.static file. Can't find links to it any more as over at AAA all my topics were deleted a while back and on other forums, just can't find them no more. If i do, i'll share again.