Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 14

Author Topic: The DF Map Archive  (Read 78015 times)

Markavian

  • Bay Watcher
  • DF Map Archive Admin
    • View Profile
    • DF Map Archive
The DF Map Archive
« on: May 07, 2007, 06:05:00 pm »

Updated Introduction
If this is the first you've heard of the DF Map Archive (DFMA), then here's a brief introduction:

http://mkv25.net/dfma/ - DF Map Archive

With the exceptional help of SL and his very useful DF Map Compressor - you are now able create viewable DF Maps which are only 100KB. Compare this to the 50-150MB .BMP maps exported from DF and you can see how big a difference this makes..

With this smaller file size you can now upload maps to the DF Map Archive and share them with friends. On top of this; I've created a Flash based map viewer for SL's compressed file format (.fdf-map) which means you can show other users your map without wasting -their- bandwidth as well.

New Features
As of 2007-11-08, SL released version 3.0.0 of his map compressor and I updated the DFMA viewer to support multi-layer map fortresses to coincide a week after DF v0.27.169.33a was released.

As of 2007-09-23, the site was updated with gonbon's  Flash based CMV player (thanks!). In the spirit of the Map Archive's map viewer, the CMV player lets you upload and view CMV files online without needing to use a standalone player.

Addtional Features

  • Any DF player can upload maps or movies
  • Sign-up and reserve your username
  • Points of Interest can be added to maps
  • You can add comments to maps
  • The DFMA groups maps by Fortress Name forming Map Histories
  • Handy 'Browse by' and Search pages make it easy to track submissions

Reason for the site:
I have enjoyed many hours playing DF, and quickly joined the IRC and Forum and Wiki communities to learn more and talk about the game. There were many people who were trying to share their maps, but this was difficult because of bandwidth limits and image compression problems. It wasn't until I found SL's map compressor that I realised there was a plausible way to share full quality maps at a manageable filesize. The missing part to the puzzle was a convenient way to share/view these maps for people who couldn't decompress the files without using SL's utility. By creating the Flash viewer, this opened up the possibility of sharing maps to anyone with Flash and a webbrowser. This led to the creation of the Map Archive with an upload form and database to track submissions. The result over the past 5 months is a system full of contributions from all types of DF players, of which I am very grateful as it has widened my view and understanding of DF and in my mind strengthened the community. My hope is that the DFMA will continue to be a resource for DF players and communities as well as to help publicise DF to new players.

Visit http://mkv25.net/dfma/ to learn more, and upload your maps.

Rest of Original Post
Ok, so its name is actually just "DF Map Archive". But 'the' sounds so much cooler.

...

  • Yet more!
    Its free. Thats right free (Are you buying this yet, or should I carry on?).
    ...

    Feedback is more then welcome. There are a few things that might need ironing out, but over six different people (yes, you read right! S-i-x) have uploaded maps successfully. Be the seventh today!

    Regards,
    - Markavian

    If you need to contact me, there is an email address available on the left side of the Map Upload form, and you can always send me private messages on this forum. Or reply to this post.

    [ May 07, 2007: Message edited by: Markavian ]

    [ September 23, 2007: Message edited by: Markavian ]

    [ November 08, 2007: Message edited by: Markavian ]

  • Logged

    puke

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #1 on: May 07, 2007, 11:28:00 pm »

    I've been working on a fort that is very near completion.  I was waiting for the king to show up, and for the last touches to be put on a couple of areas, and then i would upload it.  untill now, i'd been pretty satisfied that I had one of the nicer forts out there.

    compact, efficient, fitting neatly between the river and the chasm, with every room planed in advance and only a couple places where i had to improvise around unforseen mountain features.

    but ohmygod.  Copperblazes.  I didnt know it could be like that.  i just didnt even imagine.  

    the scale of it all, and how it boldly incorporates and wholey consumes natural features rather than designing around them or cringing away from little bits of geography.  it sprawls grandly from one edge of the map to the other, and manages to do it with beauty and order, but still manages to look like it just happened that way on its own.

    its... awe inspiring.

    Logged

    Genuine

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
      • http://none
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #2 on: May 08, 2007, 01:23:00 am »

    This is awesome. Just added my old horizontal fort to the mix and may add another assuming I ever get around to finishing it.

    Unfortunately, as cool as this is, it might not work so well once Toady updates the game again (which probably won't be for quiet a while). Still, I also want to see the final pictures of forts other people have made, which is half the fun of this game.

    Logged

    Selkie

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #3 on: May 08, 2007, 06:10:00 am »

    what year is copperblazes? its absolutely incredible, my only gripe is that the picture is too zoomed in....
    Logged

    Markavian

    • Bay Watcher
    • DF Map Archive Admin
      • View Profile
      • DF Map Archive
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #4 on: May 08, 2007, 07:14:00 am »

    Hey,

    Selkie - use the mousewheel to scroll out/in if you have one. Then you can view the map from way above.

    I'll ask Veryinky to confirm the age of his fort and update the entry when I get chance.

    Genuine - I spoke briefly with ToadyOne last night on IRC and gave him a few suggestions about useful file formats for the future. I'm sure he'll consider the options and come up with something useful.

    At worst, I think he could output a BMP of the current visible layer - then that would still be compatable with our map viewer.

    Anyhow, I rather get the new completed version of DF with 3Dness then worry about my map archive being incompatable.

    Thanks for your sumbissions so far, look forward to future fortresses; Big, small, and failed!

    Logged

    JPolito

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
      • http://jpolito.zlique.org/
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #5 on: May 08, 2007, 09:12:00 am »

    Sweet jesus, copperblazes is amazing.

    I think I'm going to start over.

    Logged

    hactar1

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #6 on: May 08, 2007, 11:10:00 am »

    What are all those 5x5 buildings between the river and the chasm in this fortress?  I've seen them in other screenshots, but I've never seen them in game.  They look like trade depots except with an 'X' instead of an 'O' in the corners.  Were these some sort of storage area in previous versions?
    Logged

    Jifodus

    • Bay Watcher
    • Resident Lurker
      • View Profile
      • Dwarf Fortress Projects
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #7 on: May 08, 2007, 11:41:00 am »

    Those are shops, you get them once the economy starts.
    Logged

    Jusal

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #8 on: May 08, 2007, 02:05:00 pm »

    Excellent. Now I can go spying on other people's fortresses instead of having to ask stupid questions myself.

    And yes, Copperblazes is simply breathtaking to look at. I already find myself trying to make a few at least half that detailed buildings. By the way, how did the creator manage to dodge the ore veins so well? Was some mod used or how was that possible?

    Logged

    Markavian

    • Bay Watcher
    • DF Map Archive Admin
      • View Profile
      • DF Map Archive
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #9 on: May 08, 2007, 03:03:00 pm »

    quote:
    Originally posted by Selkie:
    <STRONG>what year is copperblazes? its absolutely incredible, my only gripe is that the picture is too zoomed in....</STRONG>

    I checked, the year for Veryinky's fortress Copper Blazes is definitely 1065 - 14 years in.

    Zooming: - Try the scrollwheel on your mouse to zoom out/zoom in.

    Jusal:
    As for dodging the ore veins I don't know.

    [ May 09, 2007: Message edited by: Markavian ]

    Logged

    TotalPigeon

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #10 on: May 08, 2007, 03:06:00 pm »

    I'm guessing that he dug the ore out and replaced the gap with either a door or windows (see the lower building between the river and chasm). Not that that isn't a hell of a feat. Love the axe.
    Logged

    veryinky

    • Bay Watcher
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #11 on: May 08, 2007, 03:25:00 pm »

    Hi all. Copperblazes is now into year 1066. Economy has finaly turned on (sigh). FPS is hovering around 5.

    Dodging ore veins: I would highlight the exposed ore to be mined, then repeat. Using my engravers to smooth out the tunnels to find any  ore hidden in a diagonal since smoothing acts funny near ore veins.

    I did use two hacks. granite.exe to allow ore smoothing (you can see a smoothed out gold vein in the cooridor between the ore depots). Otherwise, I would just dig out the ore and try to plan out the fort so it looked like I planned it that way. (look at the wall which seperates the fort and the giant tree farm, most of those "side entrances" were simply me trying to get access to ore and then making it look like I ment to do that)

    The other hack is teleport.exe, since my fort has 22 children right now, and at any given moment, one is starving or dieing of thirst while stuck on the magma smelters (I /HATE/ that bug)

    The axe is a 1200+ 1x1 bridge made out of silver, bronze, brass blocks (plus grey, white, dark stone). If you've ever watched lord of the rings, you'll figure out who my fort's patron saint is.

    At this point, my fort is mostly gearing up for taking out the demon pits and finaly "too deeping" it so adventurers will have something interesting to explore. (my elite soldiers are equiped with masterpiece steel plate, studded with gold, decorated with unicorn leather (yeah I modded them to be butcherable after they killed one too many dwarves) and dimple died silk). The non elite dwarves get simple exceptional steel with bronze trim and unicorn leather. Fort guards get simple exceptional bronze and the newly formed royal guards get masterpiece bronze.

    My fort's favorite features are the "Castle", the arena gladiator pit (designated as a barracks by a weapon rack, which goblin prisoners are released to fight my training soldiers), and the "Vault")

    ... that's about it.

    Oh, edit. My fort's net worth is now 23 million. Lots of gold/platinum crafts along with steel armor/weapons helped. My goal is for 100 before it "too deeps".

    [ May 08, 2007: Message edited by: veryinky ]

    Logged

    Slartibartfast

    • Bay Watcher
    • Menaces with spikes of Tin
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #12 on: May 08, 2007, 03:33:00 pm »

    So... Anyone know how to get the Adobe Flash Player 9 to work on firefox, or should I just skip this site?
    EDIT: Scratch that, even though its a sucky method, updating IETAB did the trick so I can view the website (with IETAB  :()

    [ May 08, 2007: Message edited by: Slartibartfast ]

    Logged
    But what do I know?
    Everything I say should be taken with atleast 1 tsp. of salt, and another liter of Dwarven Wine is recommended.

    "I thought it was the size of the others!" said Vanon. "I guess it was just standing further away!"

    Markavian

    • Bay Watcher
    • DF Map Archive Admin
      • View Profile
      • DF Map Archive
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #13 on: May 09, 2007, 03:22:00 am »

    quote:
    Originally posted by Slartibartfast:
    <STRONG>So... Anyone know how to get the Adobe Flash Player 9 to work on firefox, or should I just skip this site?)
    </STRONG>

    It would be a terrible thing if you couldn't visit the site. Try the link on this page to install the latest version of Flash in FF: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/windows.html#Flash
    and read the information here: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/faqs/flash.html

    Logged

    Slartibartfast

    • Bay Watcher
    • Menaces with spikes of Tin
      • View Profile
    Re: The DF Map Archive
    « Reply #14 on: May 09, 2007, 08:47:00 am »

    quote:
    Originally posted by Markavian:
    <STRONG>It would be a terrible thing if you couldn't visit the site. Try the link on this page to install the latest version of Flash in FF: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/windows.html#Flash
    and read the information here: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/faqs/flash.html</STRONG>

    Thanks, works great. The site is really cool too  :)

    Logged
    But what do I know?
    Everything I say should be taken with atleast 1 tsp. of salt, and another liter of Dwarven Wine is recommended.

    "I thought it was the size of the others!" said Vanon. "I guess it was just standing further away!"
    Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 14