I am working on 3D RTS. On the playing screen there will be Mini-Map like in all RTS games. The terrain and everything else will be tottaly 3D, so I am wondering, how to draw Mini-Map?? Should it be isometric, 2d or...? Please help me! Thanx! Nebo

2d is the clearest of course. That''s how all real maps are anyway. If the game has lots of changes in altitude and you want to emphasize this, you could have also a contour map. Then the player could switch between contour map and normal colour map by clicking some button.

Contour map should look something like this:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/graphics/mapgraphics/elmap3.gif

If you had really efficient code you could impliment a 3d map - kind of like a holographic image of the field, if you're doing a future RPS.

Otherwise, since you are probably using some sort of files with the map information on them, just design something that will read the same map files and render them in a different (mini-map) way. I would suggest something 2d, though, just because it would be a lot easier.

EDIT: You should probably just use your map files and render them in small 2d area in the corner.

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[edited by - Mushu on February 2, 2004 10:50:20 AM]

What kind of mini map are you going for?
The choice changes how you represent things.

For instance if its suppose to be a radar. Then you could a simple black screen with units represented by diffrent size color dots corrisponding to there teams color.



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Thank you guys! The map will be 2D, it should be a square I think and it will represent the terrain with all objects on it but without details. Is that ok?
And that about contour map, thanks for your suggestion, I''ll think about that.

Nebo

That sounds fine. More important than aesthetic appeal or stylistic ingenuity is the presentation of data. If the map shows you where the water is, where the mountains are, where the bases are, and where your units are, and does so such that you can glean that information from it with a glance, then it did its job. Blue, green and brown fields with little blue dots on it is enough to get the message across, unless you''re dealing with tunnels or something.

you might even want to have a couple of maps, and let the player switch between them. Use your topographic map to see the lay of the land, the radar map to spot incoming aerial units, and the unit map to see your troop placement. Of course, these should be overlayed to provide quick reference, but if you see a fast-moving enemy blip, you should be able to click the "radar" button to see if it''s flying.

Thanks for your suggestions!
I don''t want to make it complicate, there will be maybe 2 maps:
- Standard Map; it will show everything on the terrain
- Topographic Map; ?? what should it represent ??

Please give me some ideas for Topographic Map.

Thanx!
Nebo

quote: Original post by vnebojsa
Thanks for your suggestions!
I don''t want to make it complicate, there will be maybe 2 maps:
- Standard Map; it will show everything on the terrain
- Topographic Map; ?? what should it represent ??

Please give me some ideas for Topographic Map.

The topographic map could give the player information about the topography of the map :-) Things like resources: gold, oil, spice, whatever you can think of. Obstacles in the terrain like trees and rocks. The terrain itself ofcourse, maybe a contour map like someone suggested. You could exaggerate the size of roads and buildings for the sake of distinctness.

In a RTS a player would use such a map to determine where to mine for resources and to navigate his army.

The Designer''s Notebook: Cartographic Cartwheels

Enjoy!