Anu, admit how to make a globe!
I have already asked this question in all the relevant topics and in the comments to all the relevant mods for the globe, but in the end I had to independently learn how to create my own globe and I will share this knowledge with you.
I immediately opened the vanilla-hybrid globe using GlobeEditor (for this you need a .rul file with the globe polygons, to edit other parameters, you need to add another globe, polygons and polylines, countries, regions, missions to this file), but here is the FMP globe and CMP cannot be opened in any way, for this you need the WorldEditor program and an .obj file, which can only be owned by the creator of the globe, as it turned out, WORLD.DAT cannot be opened and edited, why do this at all.
GlobeEditor cannot open anything other than .rul files, and WorldEditor generally constantly opens the built-in vanilla globe and does not save changes. To save changes in the globe, you need to create an .obj file. It is difficult to create world.dat files in such conditions, since I had already completely redesigned the African continent (created it from scratch) and spent 6 hours of continuous work on it, and then the laptop froze and I could not save the globe in .obj and I had to again start from the very beginning. Bravo to the program developer for this; it couldn’t have been easier to make a globe autosave button and a reset button to the standard, as well as reading and writing files such as .rul and .dat. I will also scold the developer of the GlobeEditor program, because this program does not have the “knife” tool, without which it is impossible to create a continent even with the smallest details and bends. It would be better to make one ideal editor than two of them as they are.
As for the globe, in the .rul file you can easily copy the necessary polygons from one globe and paste them into another, this way you can separate and combine the two halves of the globe, land and sea. For some reason, the creators of the globe editors did not think at all about modifying the globes already created by someone else and making them more ideal, as well as combining the two halves of the globes (only I think about this, because I combine absolutely everything into a single whole ) this is how globe editor programs appeared that do not support globes.
Remember one important truth. All programs you create should always have the following functions:
1) <- -> (cancel, apply) (to cancel the last action if you accidentally destroyed the wrong landfill and flooded the country in the ocean);
2) there must be save buttons (rewrite the open file, save the file as... and at the same time select the file name and the file type in .rul or .dat, as well as auto-save progress within the system, so that you can continue working even if The laptop froze while working);
3) you need a button to open a file (open any file or even several .rul files at once);
4) you need to add the function of self-opening a file by dragging the file into the program window, and it is advisable to add all the possibilities for simple editing of complex functions (if it is an editor);
5) the globe editor should show all the information about the polygons;
6) there must be program settings (if it is a globe editor, data about the textures of the globe must be saved, how many there are and what color they are);
7) and finally, instructions for using this program in txt format must be attached.
All of these listed functions are available in the Aseprite program (well, maybe except for the instructions, although the Internet is full of different videos about it, but there is no video about the globe).
I finally started creating my globe using WorldEditor, I had to start creating it from scratch without even relying on the vanilla version, as I am trying to surpass all the globe masters combined and create the perfect globe with the perfect shapes of the land and sea, working out the smallest details, the smallest curves, islands, lakes and even the real color of the earth.
Nobody thought of making WorldEditor load .rul or .dat files, only .obj format is available, World.datEditor does not understand the world.dat format, I don’t know what kind of weirdos you had to be to do that.
I wonder what the author of the program was thinking when he created all this? I would think first of all that this program could load and save the globe in .dat or .rul files, and I wouldn’t do the .obj format at all, but the author of the program made it weird so that if you save your globe in . dat format, you will no longer be able to make any changes to it and you will have to start all over again.
No one shared useful information with me on this topic, the only thing they answered me was:
About GlobeEditor - "this tool is very strange, but if you understand it, you can create a globe"
About WorldEditor - “you just open it and that’s it”
That’s why I decided to describe here absolutely everything I encountered, condemn all the shortcomings of both programs, because of which I had to start my work all over again, suggest how these programs can be improved, or better yet, and also answer you as they answered me “just open and do it"
For the last time I’m explaining how to create editor programs, for the laziest who don’t want to create anything as needed, if it doesn’t teach you anything, then I’m just wasting my precious time on you, trying to convey obvious things.
What should the globe editor program be like:
1) Buttons to load and save as a .dat or .rul file (the game only understands these 2 files, which means the editor itself must understand them and open and save them);
2) Never make the program create a .dat file but not open the .dat file (you would have to be either stupid or crazy to prohibit opening globe files in the globe editor);
3) There should be buttons for undoing previous changes (if you made a mistake, just go back a step, no, damn, no one thought of this, only the creators of Aseprite thought of it);
4) Support for full editing of all elements of the globe (these are countries, regions, missions, country borders, this is how I edit the borders of countries, using the GlobeEditor program blindly on another globe, which differs from mine in the WorldEditor program in the shape of the continents);
5) Auto-saving of the globe inside the program (in case the laptop freezes while working and you haven’t lost everything you’ve been working on for many hours in a row);
6) Changing the size of the program window and expanding it to full screen (the creator of WorldEditor didn’t even think about the fact that it’s inconvenient to edit the smallest details of the globe in a small window that cannot be expanded to full screen, of course, you’re making square continents, no one even thought of it it’s time to make smooth shapes, why use a full-screen mode when you can either make a square globe or buy a giant monitor for a million dollars);
7) Convenient editing tools (in the WorldEditor program the most convenient and best tool is called a knife, it easily and simply cuts the globe polygons into pieces, in the GlobeEditor program there is no such thing, you didn’t think of doing in the new program what works perfectly in the old one, congratulations you, you are slow-witted and cannot create a full-fledged program without my tips);
8) Instructions in the box (there should always be complete instructions for using all the functions of the editor, as well as detailed tips on how best to create polygons and what should not be done under any circumstances).
Maybe I’m expressing myself too strictly, but it’s simply impossible to explain to you any other way, I want to ask myself where I was when programs for editing globes were created and discussed, now it’s too late to advise how to update the editor, when the creator of the editor is retired and the corresponding topics are abandoned, I have to publish my thoughts about editors and court globes, since there is no point in publishing this in the topics of globe editors, no one visits or reads them anyway, just like the topic of FLC FLI cutscenes was abandoned, instead of either optimizing and compressing this format into 10 times, or create another easy format, but you don’t even need cutscenes in the game, I’m afraid to ask what you actually need and I’m curious what you want to add to the game.
To summarize:
WorldDat is the most convenient program for editing a globe, thanks to the “knife” tool, but also the most useless for editing ready-made globes, since it does not support the .dat format and the .rul format, the only way to edit a ready-made globe is to get the globe in .obj format . There are also many other editing branches missing, it does not expand to full screen, there are no undo buttons, and there is no automatic saving of the latest progress in case of a system failure.
GlobeEditor - at first glance, an improved and full-fledged program than the previous one, but there is no important “knife” tool, without it editing polygons is a real nightmare, does not support the .dat format (stupidly but true, they created a replacement for WorldDat, which, like the previous one, does not understand this format, bravo), there is also no button to cancel an unsuccessful action, but at least you can expand it to the full screen, there is full editing of countries and everything else (but how can I edit this if the globes in WorldDat and GlobeEditor are completely different, since I can’t load my own globe to both programs, also bravo for the different formats that do not support each other, there is the .obj format here, the .globe format, there the .dat format, here the .rul format), also does not save progress in case of a sudden system failure and does not save texture colors.
Ps. Finally, pay attention to my ideas and suggestions in the topic of my ideas, I offer the necessary things. What can developers be so busy with that they don’t want to add my ideas to their to-do list? All of you are busy adding some little thing, instead of doing something global and memorable.
