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[zagibu]

And another update to speed the script up a bit and allow a maximum value for the embark rectangle's side length in addition to it's area (to avoid 1x16 rectangles): http://www.geocities.com/qrphome/df_asl_v0.4.5.zip

[Shamasu]

Is there no way to extract the whole map from the game? The script so far works great, but it takes forever to scan one map.

EDIT: You should post some links for this script on the DFwiki

[ May 30, 2008: Message edited by: Shamasu ]

[Inquisitor Saturn]

So how do I tell it which features I want?

[Shamasu]

I think that all you have to do is to edit the script file. Set what you want to yes, and what you don't want to ignore. Plus select the max size of the embark square.

[ May 31, 2008: Message edited by: Shamasu ]

[zagibu]

@ Shamasu: What do you mean by "extract the whole map from the game"? The tool scans the local maps, not the world map. It would theoretically be possible to extract the data of the local maps and directly analyze it, but this is much more difficult than what the current script is doing, because you have to find out what is what in memory by doing lots of manual comparison operations.
Also, I simply don't have the knowledge to do it. Maybe the writer of the reveal-utility should be contacted with this request.

@ Inquisitor Saturn: Like Shamasu said, rightclick the script and select edit with scribe or whatever it's called (you can also open it in notepad or any other text-editor). There are some variables that need to be adjusted in the header of the script. Should be pretty self-explanatory.

[ May 31, 2008: Message edited by: zagibu ]

[MuonDecay]

You know this is exactly the kind of fundamental program creation that puts you on the right path to churning out macro programs for chinese gold farmers...

you could make millions!!! (of copper coins)

Apologies for content-devoid post. Sleep deprivation.

[Shamasu]

What I meant is, that the map must be saved someplace somehow right? If it would be possible to extract the map data from that (and I have no idea how feasible that would be), wouldn't that make the whole scanning process a lot faster?

[LeoLeonardoIII]

You could make the scan faster by doing what I do: scan the world map for mountain tiles, then run along the outside of the mountain scanning each local square. If a volcano appears anywhere on the world map, scan its local square too.

In the local square, have it center on the first desired feature the player marked and check the area 3 squares in all directions. Catalogue what you hit and see what it matches in the list of desired features. If you get all the desired features, export the region folder name and the coordinates to a text file for later perusal. If it doesn't match, move on.

Finally, somehow get it to tell DF to generate a new world with parameters right after it finishes checking the first one. That way you could leave the game running over the weekend and come back to a perfect 3x3 embark.

[zagibu]

@ Shamasu: Yeah, but the map is saved in human-unreadable format. To find out what is what, you'd have to manually compare different maps tile by tile and document the changes in memory. It's a chore really, and I also don't know how to do it exactly.

@ LeoLeonardoIII: Yup, sounds reasonable. Problem is, an algorithm tracking the sides of mountains and not missing any tile in complex mountain patterns is a non-trivial task. Just the "hole in the mountain" thing, where some kind of valley is completely enclosed by mountains provides quite the algorithmic challenge.
The automatic map-generation and scanning is feasible, though, and will probably be implemented in a later version. The distance-check already works very much like you described it. It's a bit more complex, and I'd say it's also faster and more flexible than your approach.

[Sinergistic]

Quick question/remark.

I'm just guessing here, but I assume this only works with the default DF install? No graphics packs of any kind? (Or at least, no graphics packs that modify the way the local map looks?).

Go about 10% through my first scan, and went 'oh... you know, I wonder if it's going to work'.

Gonna go download the default install and copy my map over, and run it on that, but I figured I'd ask to make sure.

[Sinergistic]

Another question, as I've run this several times, and even when only looking for one thing, and ignoring the others, I don't get any locations.

Should 'blackscreen' be set to yes? As in, should I keep the game from stretching itself in fullscreen, or should I let it stretch?

Should the game res be set to anything specific?

Edit: Ok, apparently blackscreen should be set to off, because this time through, I got a crapload of locations. Thanks for the awesome tool, looking forward to using it now ^_^

[ June 07, 2008: Message edited by: Sinergistic ]

[Grek]

Any chance of getting it to find caves?

[zagibu]

@ Sinergistic: Yeah, since it does and image-compare of the desired tiles and the found tiles, graphic packs that change the tiles in embark screen will render the script defunct.
Also, I have improved the description in the original post a bit. You should indeed not change the DF fullscreen-settings, because that could change the pixel size of the displayed tiles, and the desired tiles would then never match the found ones...

@ Grek: If information about caves is displayed on the embark screen, it is possible to include it in the script, yes.

[Kashyyk]

I tried it and it came up with this:

Failed to find locations to patch;perhaps the're already patched?

[zagibu]

This is an error message of regional prospector and has nothing to do with my script. You only have to launch regional prospector once per DF session.