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newaxis
02-15-2005, 10:35 AM
(I will edit this post with suggestions as time goes on, but this is a good start)

The link for Mapview is www.motcreations.com Click on the mapview tab, then the download tab. To get the custom files that you need for Mapview to run, go to pagan's homepage at http://www.geocities.com/aa_4online/
The direct link to the custom files is http://www.geocities.com/aa_4online/aa_mapview_maps.zip Unzip the two files and put them in the usermods directory that is inside the mapview directory.

If you click on Mapview at the top of the homepage http://www.geocities.com/aa_4online/ then you can read pagan's instructions on how to use Mapview. For your convenience I have cut and pasted them below, directly under some observations of my own.

The Gear symbol is for national production aka income. The $ symbol is for
actual IPCs on hand. The red arrow is for combat movment, the blue arrow for noncombat movement, and the green arrow for SBR (strategic bombing raids. To use the arrows, left click drag them onto the map. Righ Click on the arrow to delete it. In order to change the length of an arrow, you must click on the arrow head or the end of the arrow. The arrows are the most common frustrating factor for new players, but not for you since you read this guide.

The radio symbol is to put notes on the map. Right click the radio symbol once you have dragged it on the map to put text into it. The radios are used to indicate purchases (Ex: Purchase 6 inf, 5 arm, 1 tra), to taunt your opponent (only if he or she deserves it),to save time by indicating fleet movement, and to indicate the OOL=Order of Loss for your units. Order of Loss is for the tricky situations when you might not want to lose units in the default order, such as when you have multiple nationalities defending a territory or sea zone. Some players prefer to use the green arrow (the SBR arrow) to indicate what land units are being loaded on transports.

It is important that you e-mail your opponent your combat movement map and the rest of your maps separately. This cuts down on the temptation to cheat, since your opponent will know exactly what combats you have declared, and thus you can't fight individual battles one at a time, adjusting your forces after each one depending on how it went. Typically, you only need to e-mail your opponent twice, once with your combat movement map and once with the rest of them. This will make sense once you read on and play with Mapview.

(Begin direct cut and paste from pagan's website)
MapView file types you will see:
1. you_vs_anyone.cmf (old game)
2. AAR.udm (mapview file for AAR)

*put all of these files into your MapView directory called USERMODS

When you start up mapview, it will load up all the UDM files.
- click on FILE
- click on NEW
- select whatever game map you want
- the game map will load up and it will say Initial_Setup as the map name.

That's how you begin a game.

PLAYING an Axis & Allies MapView game :

1a. to load up a new map, click on FILE_NEW then select axis & allies
1b. OR if you have a Custom Module: it has to be in USERMODS before you start MapView
1c. OR if you have a saved game going on: FILE_LOAD _open-file-as at bottom of screen needs to be changed to a *.CMF file type, then load it up from whatever directory it is in (hopefully in USERMODS directory)

2. map name will be 'Initial map'
3. go to the toolbar on the top click/find GAME __ then __ ADD MAP
4. name your map something like R1C (russia 1 combat)
5. on the LEFT Tool bar find the MISC tab grab/move the phone thingy onto the map and you can type in what you purchase
6. use the arrows to identify your combat movements into areas , move the pieces in front of those arrows that you will attack with
7. I use the RICHYJ online dice roller : go to: http://www.wargamersclub.org/AHAA/diceroller.jsp
8. now you need to put in a new map click/find ADD MAP
9. now name it R1R (russia 1 resolved)
10. this one you remove the dead guys when combat is completely finished, put arrows if you are retreating, alter IPCs on countries, place your country marker on territories you take, et cetera
11. click on ADD MAP : name it R1N (russia 1 noncombat)
12. click/find ACTION __then__ CLEAR ALL ARROWS
13. now use your arrows to determine paths for your non-combat moves
14. click/find ADD MAP : name it R1F (russia 1 final)
15. CLEAR ALL ARROWS ; RESET MOVED ; make sure your income is correct
16. Save it however you want it named ; send it by email to your opponent

this is a quick run through on 'how to' play a game on MapView.

You could use MapView to identify F2F placements ; it lets you keep the unit positions for your board game.

If you want to decrease the chance for cheating, and you will do this for tournaments, you will send a copy of the game during the Combat Move phase, and then again on the Final phase. This takes away the opportunity to reverse battles based on outcomes of other battles since the guy you are playing has your combat map.

By the second turn of doing these steps, you'll wonder why it was ever so hard in the first place.

MapView is a VERY GOOD program for email games.

BASIC MAP NAMES

R1_C (russia round 1 combat movement with purchase)
R1_R (russia round 1 resolved combat)
R1_N (russia round 1 Non-combat movement)
R1_F (russia round 1 Final with placement)

Vollick1979
02-15-2005, 12:02 PM
Thanks for the breakdown newaxis. I just have to add that one week or so ago I had never used Mapview and now it's so easy (thanks to newaxis). I encourage anyone who's sitting out there and thinks it's too hard or they aren't good enough to give it a try.

cousin_joe
02-15-2005, 11:19 PM
Thanks for putting that up newaxis. :) Good Stuff!!

axis_roll
02-16-2005, 05:41 AM
Appreciate the effort Newaxis!

The red arrow is for combat movment, the blue arrow for noncombat movement, and the green arrow for SBR (strategic bombing raids.)

I just wanted to add that I've never heard of the standards associated with the colors of the arrows that you indicated above. I use different colors when they cross to help clarify movements.

Also, I think it can be very helpful if you have a battle where many units come from different areas to put a radio text box to list all the units attacking... in this case, a little typing can help clarify things because at times things can get a bit cluttered (especially Japan with transports picking up units from everywhere and planes coming form all directions)

Good luck and good gaming!

pagan
02-16-2005, 05:43 AM
My WHOLE method of cheating relies on bombarding you with arrows so often that eventually you just accept it as OK!!

---on a serious note:

I use arrows to illustrate movments. I think its important to stick to a color, but when there are mass moves & arrows, breaking up the lines with colors makes it easier to see things. {this is a visual medium]

the SBR arrow is unecessarily labeled, a Red attack arrow works just fine with all attack movements

The blue arrow for non-combat moves & retreats is nice on the land, but it is not so easy to see on the seazones

Green I usually use for Transport pick-up dropoffs: Green arrow into sz from land unit location, blue/red arrow into sz trany is going, green arrow into land territory units are being dropped off.

More people need to bug DerPanzinator to put in a 4th arrow of PURPLE, and alter the hue of the blue arrow.

Vollick1979
02-16-2005, 07:14 AM
Well in other modules there is a 4th arrow, like the World@War module. I don't see how it could be that hard to code in another arrow.

And I agree with Pagan (he's usually right... unfortunately) that I use green arrows in non-combat when it involves loading and unloading land units. It's easier on the eyes then seeing large blue streaks across the atlantic.

Pagan, would you happen to have an email for DerPanzinator where we could start to bug him? ;)

AxisRoll
02-16-2005, 08:29 AM
Yes i like it.

newaxis
02-16-2005, 09:41 AM
I posted red arrow=attack, blue arrow=noncombat, & green=sbr because that is what Mapview actually says. Using different arrow colors is fine of course; I'm not making any claims that you have to use the arrows in a particular way.

Maj.Striker
02-16-2005, 11:01 AM
Thank you very much for this explanation, it's very helpful. I'm with Vollick, three days ago I'd never even used Mapview, now I can navigate it pretty flawlessly. Excellent system.

axis_roll
02-16-2005, 11:59 AM
I posted red arrow=attack, blue arrow=noncombat, & green=sbr because that is what Mapview actually says. Using different arrow colors is fine of course; I'm not making any claims that you have to use the arrows in a particular way.
that's what I get for not reading the documentation!

cousin_joe
02-16-2005, 05:31 PM
While designing my new variant, I have learned how to make a lot of changes to Mapview. I have though about doing a new map up for Enhanced, which would feature an extra frame, probably up top which could keep track of all the NAs, Techs, and VCs in a simplified manner (rather than just the text labels we are using now). I am also thinking of devoting some space to keeping track of income. I could certainly add in a purple arrow if there is enough requests for that, as well as anything else which you may fancy and is worthwhile putting in. :)

newaxis
02-16-2005, 06:11 PM
Well, cousin joe, if you up for designed a mapview for Enhanced, go right ahead. I would make the extra arrow yellow, because it will stand out on the map better than purple. If you could lighten the shade of the green arrow, it wouldn't blend in with the green territories and be more useful. What other things CAN you do with Mapview besides add arrows and boxes?

Vollick1979
02-16-2005, 08:34 PM
Joe, since when did you learn how to code? If it isn't too hard, that's something I would love to learn how to do. Is there a do-it-yourself website specifically for mapview, if there is would you mind PMing it to me? I would be ever so grateful. :D

pagan
02-17-2005, 12:00 AM
I am a VB programmer.

The MapView processess are too archaic for my 1-higher mind.

(i have crashed many attempts to make a custom module)

pagan
02-17-2005, 01:20 AM
Here is my wish list for MapView....<within custom modification>

1. FOUR arrows.... either a dark-yellow or light-purple
-----blue could use a hue diffeent from the ocean color

2. Tech/NA Units <jets , supersubs , t-34 , mech-inf> just these four would be fine

3. Colored AA-guns : so you don't have to move around flag pictures with them

4. AARe : i like how you have the setup for NA's and VC's on our game, listed along the side

Motdc
02-17-2005, 01:03 PM
I'm still working on it, but here is the address of the UDM Compiler Guide that is under construction. It's based on DPs manual, which you all may have seen already.

http://www.motcreations.com/mod_compiler_new.html

Regards,
Mot

newaxis
03-02-2005, 05:58 AM
<bumping for others who say Mapview is too hard to use>

OctavianNT
03-02-2005, 02:40 PM
How do I upload mapview and post it on this board, or can I?

newaxis
03-02-2005, 03:56 PM
mapview is too big to post. www.motcreations.com (Click on Mapview, then click on download) has the program, but at 1.88 mb, it is way over the max file size limit.

OctavianNT
03-02-2005, 05:10 PM
so how can I posts images to RuHurt cause he doesnt have mapview?

AxisRoll
03-03-2005, 06:51 PM
Very cool pagan. to add the units and AA gun are great ideas.

Motdc
03-30-2005, 07:40 AM
mapview is too big to post. www.motcreations.com (Click on Mapview, then click on download) has the program, but at 1.88 mb, it is way over the max file size limit.

I think he meant MapView game files (which ar usually around 50K), not the executable. There is no reason to upload the whole program.

Mot