Utility: RanDom - SemiRandomizer and Dom3 random map gen...

[Ballbarian]

RanDom is a simple program written in visual basic which serves two purposes:

1. It can be used to tweak the various settings for random map generation via the command line options provided by Dominions3, generate the map, and then save those settings for future use, or to load settings from previous sessions.

2. It can also be used to tweak the settings for and run the SemiRandomizer on the specified map.

There are several features I would still like to add, and changes I would like to make, but it can be quite entertaining in it's current state. I have included a few sample saved settings (.stg files) and hope to see some interesting setting files from others.

Since it is a VB program, it will require the VB runtime dll which you probably already have on your system. If not, it is widely availble on the net.

Following are scaled down examples of small 500x500 maps generated with the included 'settings':


From top left to bottom right they are:
COT_colorscheme
Greenland
NortherSkrags
Rediculous
SwampyRedSea

These settings are rather extreme and just the result of playing around with settings in a very short time. COT colorscheme was just an effort to emulate the crisp colors of Targa's Clash of the Titans Dom2 map. And yes I know that Rediculous is misspelled. It was intentional. That is my story and I am sticking to it!

Feel free to share your favorite settings here if you would like. The stg files can be opened with any text editor. Just copy the contents and paste them here along with a title for the file and maybe a small sample thumbnail image if you are so inclined.

[Ballbarian]

Below is a screen shot of the RanDom interface:


From the simple readme:

To install, place unzipped contents into your dominions3 directory.

[Execute] to run the Dominions3 random map generator with the settings that you have specified.

[Semi Randomize] to run the SemiRandomizer. The modified map file will have '_SR' appended to the file name and can be found in your dominions3\SemiRandom directory. Just copy/paste this '.map' file into your dominions3\maps directory to make it available for play. (In the future I hope to fix this so that it will be moved automatically.)

[Save Settings] to save your favorite map settings for future use, or to share with others.

[Load Settings] to load map settings from previous sessions, or those of other users.

[Gandalf Parker]

Very very nice.
This just passes to the dom3 generator?
It doesnt do any tweaking of the .map file afterward? Its fine if its true, it just defines what suggestions I can make.

[Ballbarian]

Yes, it just generates a command string and passes it to the dom3 generator. Any map file tweaking only takes place via the external SemiRandom executable.

[Ballbarian]

Edited the topic and added some sample images of the included 'settings' files.

[Ballbarian]

Whipped up 3 more stg files earlier tonight. If I get time tomorrow, I will try to post sample thumbs.

Here are the stg's:
Savannah.stg
0,20,20,20,20,10,10,#FALSE#,1000,1000,150,#FALSE#, 199,193,163,255,56,56,178,255,184,133,91,170,112,2 09,209,67,10,70

BluewaterBay.stg
100,30,20,20,20,10,10,#FALSE#,1000,1000,150,#FALSE #,160,186,156,255,54,84,170,255,160,130,130,255,80 ,120,160,255,15,80

RuggedShores.stg
0,30,40,40,15,15,15,#FALSE#,1000,1000,150,#FALSE#, 188,152,91,255,54,84,170,255,160,130,130,255,80,12 0,160,255,0,70

[murteas]

Quick question: What does Normal Mount do?

[Ballbarian]

By checking the Normal Mount checkbox, the random map will be generated with the old style mountain provinces instead of the impassable border mountain terrain that is used by default.

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive gotten some pretty different results playing with ground and water color, noise level, and border colors. Im playing with width and transparency to try and get barely visible borders since I feel that makes it more of an RPG type map.

I love having a server. That way I can generate 20 maps at a time then view them with my browser.

[MadFrancis]

Every time I try and randomize a map (using the semirandomizer in the RanDom GUI) I get this message:

---Error in main, line 1692: index 1 (=-1) out of range
---Error: Program stopped due to an error
---Program done, press RETURN---

Any advice?