4.259 Map Making [SOLVED]

[cata]

It's that time again... i have dived back into map making again and decided to create a Taiwan map, north west of  Taipei.  The map includes a lot of complex road systems, a lot of raised roads ramps  etc.  Each time i save the map, as a base map, as that seems to be the only way to save a map when you add earth works.  However, when you open that map again none of the raised roads ramps etc have been saved, the map has gone flat?  Im not sure where the problem lies? I save maps to an external hard drive where i keep all SB maps.  Anyone have an idea what the problem is?  Thanks. 

[stormrider_sp]

17 minutes ago, cata said:

It's that time again... i have dived back into map making again and decided to create a Taiwan map, north west of  Taipei.  The map includes a lot of complex road systems, a lot of raised roads ramps  etc.  Each time i save the map, as a base map, as that seems to be the only way to save a map when you add earth works.  However, when you open that map again none of the raised roads ramps etc have been saved, the map has gone flat?  Im not sure where the problem lies? I save maps to an external hard drive where i keep all SB maps.  Anyone have an idea what the problem is?  Thanks. 

Idk if that is related, but have you tried saving as existing?

[cata]

Stormrider, regards 'save as existing' yes that never seems to work once you have added some form of earth works ie ramps or raised roads etc. I just get the same 'Failed to save hight map' message.  What is the IDK?  will look into that. 

[Ssnake]

I infer from the thread title that zou are, indeed, using version 4.259.

1 hour ago, cata said:

Each time i save the map, as a base map, as that seems to be the only way to save a map when you add earth works.

It is not.

It's just, for as long as the map you're working on isn't published, the only option to save it is as a base map. It has to be like this because as long as a map isn't finalized, delta maps would have no solid foundation to define the difference (=delta) between itself and the map on which it is based. So, after you're done with the import of all your terrain data, the first step should be to publish the import result as a base map.

Once that this is done, save the map as a new delta map where you start your editing of the original data. Once that you start making high-res elevation data changes (such as leveling terrain under buildings, creating ramps for overpasses etc.) SB will create a (rather large .DHNT file which contains all these changed. That file will collapse to a small file size once that you publish it, but until then it stores the high-res elevation data uncompressed.)

 

Now, as to your actual problem, changes not showing in the 3D preview.

There may be a bug involved. We had a similar bug during the beta test and it was fixed eventually, but that doesn't mean that the thing may have gotten back to life. Or it is a matter of hardware/graphics card driver version. My theory is that the changes are being made but that the data are not updated in your graphics card video RAM. To verify, please exit Steel Beasts, then start it again and see if the changes are now shown when you load the map again and preview it.

If on the other hand changes are not being stored at all, that would also be important to know. So, please try this out and let me know your observations. 

[stormrider_sp]

1 hour ago, cata said:

Stormrider, regards 'save as existing' yes that never seems to work once you have added some form of earth works ie ramps or raised roads etc. I just get the same 'Failed to save hight map' message.  What is the IDK?  will look into that. 

Sorry cata, IDK = I don't know.

[cata]

21 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

If on the other hand changes are not being stored at all, that would also be important to know. So, please try this out and let me know your observations. 

After closing SB and firing back up, the hight data is still not rendered.  

[cata]

4 minutes ago, stormrider_sp said:

Sorry cata, IDK = I don't know.

😂 ok

[cata]

46 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

Once that this is done, save the map as a new delta map where you start your editing of the original data.

After publishing and then editing delta maps the hight info is also lost once the map is reloaded.  

[Ssnake]

Hmmmm. It's now registered as bug 9728.

I suppose a programmer needs to look at this. Can you compress the map package folder with the map deployment tool (part of the Map Package Transfer Manager), and then upload it to a place where we can get it?

[cata]

19 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Hmmmm. It's now registered as bug 9728.

I suppose a programmer needs to look at this. Can you compress the map package folder with the map deployment tool (part of the Map Package Transfer Manager), and then upload it to a place where we can get it?

Will have a bash at it sure. 

[cata]

Well its a shame, was motivated to put some time into mapping. However, i could push on and build the rest of the map in anticipation that perhaps in the next update 9728 will be resolved. Then revisit the map and reimplement the raised roads.  Technically speaking you don't see a problem with this approach?  Would suck if i spent all the time it takes to create a map that then becomes unworkable on the next update.  90% of the work is adding buildings and roads etc. So just crack on and hope for the best? 

 

[stormrider_sp]

21 minutes ago, cata said:

Well its a shame, was motivated to put some time into mapping. However, i could push on and build the rest of the map in anticipation that perhaps in the next update 9728 will be resolved. Then revisit the map and reimplement the raised roads.  Technically speaking you don't see a problem with this approach?  Would suck if i spent all the time it takes to create a map that then becomes unworkable on the next update.  90% of the work is adding buildings and roads etc. So just crack on and hope for the best? 

 

If you choose to make a map using very high res heightmaps (<2m/px resolution), you can most likely skip altogether the need for raising roads cause it's already baked into the terrain.

For some places of Europe and the US, you can already get this kind of data, as DTMs, for free, for example, Poland, France, Spain and others.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[Ssnake]

Yeah, but there's a nasty bug in 4.259 that creates a coordinate offset between Shape files and ASCIIGrid data. So, you may want to hold off importing high-res data until after the next update.

 

WRT the suggested approach of working on other stuff, my best guess is that it'll work.

Can I guarantee it?

Only to the extent that it's our firm intent to protect your work investment.

[stormrider_sp]

Roger, thank you.

 

[Jartsev]

18 hours ago, cata said:

Will have a bash at it sure. 

...And one more thing... Could you launch SB in debug mode, try to edit map, and provide log collected?

[cata]

19 hours ago, Jartsev said:

...And one more thing... Could you launch SB in debug mode, try to edit map, and provide log collected?

Got it, i opened the map in map editor added hight to road sections then saved the map as a delta closed reopend, the roads where flat again, closed out and grabbed the file, see attached

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Jartsev
Debug Log may contain sensitive private data

[cata]

On 4/17/2021 at 5:10 PM, Ssnake said:

Can you compress the map package folder with the map deployment tool

Ssnake, sorry having a problem opening the Map Transfer Tool program i get the following message 'Unable to execute more than one instance simultaneously' i dont have anything open so not sure what that means just yet.   

[Ssnake]

Hm. I thought that was a problem of the past. You haven't forgotten to update the Transfer Tools when updating SB Pro PE, have you?

Anyway, here's what to do, the mutex must go:

Please delete C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts Map Tools\IPC\PackageDownloadManagerMutex file before the next attempt to start the map tools.

 

[stormrider_sp]

Make sure to start the tool with Steel Beasts running.

[cata]

aahhh ok thanks ...wait out 

[Jartsev]

34 minutes ago, cata said:

Got it, i opened the map in map editor added hight to road sections then saved the map as a delta closed reopend, the roads where flat again, closed out and grabbed the file, see attached

DebugLog.txt 178.94 kB · 0 downloads

Ok, thanks! At glance, it seems that you are running out of free space on your disk, when attempting to save edited map as existing or as a new delta:
 

Quote

[01:00:52,652] CGame ERROR: CNTHeightMap::BuildHNT, not enough free HD space in "C:\Users\52315\AppData\Local\Temp"

 

-Please note, that unpublished map with edited heights may take from 1GB to more than 50GB of disk space, depending of amount of changes made.

[cata]

ok, will look into this, im storing the maps on external drive did not realise its caching them locally as well.  Map tool still not opening with SB running and confident its the new version all the 4.259 downloads from one file 

 

[cata]

9 hours ago, Jartsev said:

Ok, thanks! At glance, it seems that you are running out of free space on your disk, when attempting to save edited map as existing or as a new delta:

Ok great news !  that appears to be the problem.  i had 15GB free on the HD but apparently that was not enough. having cleaned up to 64GB free it's behaving and saving the hight info on a delta map after closing and reopening SB. problem solved thanks guys. 

[cata]

Well almost, problem is it keeps repeating. After adding a few more roads, say four, im faced with the same issue. Yet it's not so clean cut, on the next try it might work and i can save to a Delta map, then after which hight maps cannot be saved again etc.  After only a few Ks of road, i cannot imagine what would be required to make a full map.  Sometimes while trying to save the program will hang "Saving XNT" and become unresponsive. All said and done i was unable to keep working on this map, perhaps map making is not within range of everyones hardware.  It appears to be beyond my scope, whether its the considerable amount of HD space required or understanding how these maps work. But very soon it becomes unworkable and the frustration threshold is reached.   

[Splash]

At the risk of, as Twain said, opening my mouth and removing all doubt ...

Have you tried "save as existing" since freeing up disc space?

Maybe I'm not understanding your method exactly, but it sounds like you're creating a new delta with each save? I can understand how that would let you return to a certain earlier "save point" if you're unhappy with a series of changes ... but wouldn't it also create a bunch of very, very large unpublished delta versions on your drive?

 

I've been experimenting with modifying a map (leveling all the roads, changing bridges, flattening under structures, adding lots of roadsigns & infrastructure) and everything saves fine when I use "save as existing". I've only been working on that one map, but saved over it many, many, many times that way as the project progressed. I eventually got it to a state where I "published" it, which reduced the size, but I know I can still make changes by creating another delta from it and editing that one (again using "save as existing" to limit the project to just one humongous file at a time). 

 

Edit: Full disclosure, I do have over 300 GB of free space, although I didn't think that was a huge amount..

Edited April 21, 2021 by Splash