MiniMap Mode for Argonath

[Mihail Junkovich]

Hi guys :3

First of all.. maybe this is not the right section for any modification presentation but I placed it here because I need the feedback from you, Regular players of GTA IV MP. 


It all started as an idea from Armelin that it would be good if Argonath had his own map mode.
To have a mode so that we can see all the needed locations without any need to spam the whole map with icons.

I immediately got interested in that because I really hated situations when I can't find a player on the map because he is hidden under some icon.
So.. I've started modding a bit.. yes, I had some issues in the beginning because I didn't knew anything about modding a minimap, but I've overcame that and made this test version of Argonath MiniMap mode.

Now, in this stage, I'm asking you to help me make it better.. of course if you want to. 

This is what it is so far [ Picture 1. ].

Argonath MiniMap Mode v1




Picture 1. No icons at all.. HELL YEAH! ( For me at least he he ).


Sooo.. no icons you say?! OMGZ noooooes... what will we do now?!11 Well, have no fear because all the icons are there, it's just that they are not visible. To prove you that, see the Picture 2.




Picture 2. On the zoomed-out mode, not a single icon is visible.. yet. But when you zoom in, all the icons appear! It's witchcraft!


That was the first thing I did, hid all the icons except for the FireFighters mission or the "Waypoint" icon. That icon had to be edited [ Both renaming and graphical editing, Picture 3. ]




Picture 3. The reworked "Waypoint" icon now displays as a FireStation icon with a red exclamation mark in it's top right part.
Also the displaying name of the icon is changed from "Waypoint" to "Firefighters mission".


You can see other used icons on the Picture 4.




Picture 4. Slightly edited set of icons with some new ones added.
NOTE - The names under the icons are just names for the files, not the IN-GAME icon names!


Here is a "little" .gif file with couple of screenies of the map Picture 5. [ Can't bother making the whole map from parts.. at least not now xD ]




Picture 5. Screenies of the zoomed-in map.




The pros and cons

Now when you are introduced to this test phase of the minimap mode.. let's see which are, by my opinion, the pros and cons of this mode.

Cons:

- Some of the icons will not have a textual description as they are all integrated into the map [ i.e. icons of CarWash, Tune centar, PnS ].
- Icons will not pop-up when mouse cursor crosses over them as they are all integrated into the map.
- Icons will not rotate on the mini-map when you look around in different directions.. as they are all integrated into the map. This was a bit altered so that every icon is now placed so that it reassembles the "entrance" point of the certain location [ Only on the mini-map ]. While on the map preview [ When you press Esc ] all icons will have the same orientation as the original ones.
- Icons that are close to each other will have to be done with a special method for zoomed-out mode [ i.e. Grotti store and Persues clothes shop, I will get back to this later ].
- Some of the icons are slightly moved from it's original position due to the lack of my editing skills :3 [ That can be both.. a good - More accurate position; and a bad thing - Icon is slightly moved from it's position, i.e. a meter away ]
- Using icons on the map preview while in zoomed-out mode is not possible due to both lack of resolution of the map and the needed size of the icon - Picture 6.

Picture 6. The problem with resolution of the map in zoomed-out mode.
Low resolution makes it impossible to make both, small and visible icons for the zoomed-out mode.

Pros:

- As a part of the map these icons won't overlap with player marks.. so there will be no "hiding" of a player under the icon [ Maybe the name will not be displayed if he is under a scripted icon, check Picture 2., but the mark will be visible ].
- We can place as much icons as we want and even make custom set of icons.
- Icons can be shown with different sizes for zoom-out and zoom-in mode. So.. we don't necessarily need to show all the icons on the map in zoomed-out mode, we can just place a mark that will give us the info on what kind of icon is at that specific place [ I will get back to this further on in text ].
- Dr. Icon is gone from the airport parking! :3
- We can rename all the icons so that they fit to our needs [ i.e. Waypoint to Firefighters mission, Garage to Car Sales ]
- We can mark all the miscellaneous on the map.. such as NPCs for drugs, Hot-Dog stands, Special car locations, Restaurants and many more..

The future of the Argonath MiniMap Mode

Well, for my needs, this is almost enough. Will it develop.. it all depends on you guys. 
If you like it, I will gladly go on and try to improve the whole thing with things such as new set of HD icons, some nice effects..
Maybe even editing some other things like for example, editing Billboards at Algonquin so that they display us and our business instead of something else.. maybe editing HUD details or anything else. This can even evolve to something great as that.. which would all be just to improve our gaming experience on this server. 

First of all, as this is just a test phase.. we need to think of a method of displaying icons on the zoomed-out mode while on map preview [ When you press Esc ].
I was thinking about something that could maybe do the trick.

We could add simple marks like these - Picture 7.

Picture 7. Simple marks for zoomed-out mode. Easily spotted, color gives the clear info about the specific location.

Each mark would be defined by the color or maybe even by shape and color.. to avoid misunderstanding a mark of location for a mark of a player.
So for example, on Picture 7., mark for hospital would be a pink circle [ The same color like the player gets after taking that job ]. Same would go for all the other jobs.
Other locations would have to get their specific colors.. and all the colors and marks would be displayed on the LEGEND which would be placed in the empty space of the map [ Probably lower-right corner ].

If you have a better idea, please do suggest it. 

Download

This is a very small sized package [ 4.9 MB ] that contains both, files for mode and the ones for the backup.
Although, I strongly recommend that you backup your own files.. just in case.

Link for download - Argonath MiniMap Mode


And in the end.. all suggestions, critics, offers for help, trolling.. is highly appreciated.   

[Casper]

Well done Mihail! This is great!

[IMVINCIBILUL]

Great job.

[yoske]

Where should I c/p this? Y u no give instructions?

p.s. This is not bad, I doubt you could do it all by yourself...

[Marcel]

Fcking awesome mate! Keep this up!

[Mihail Junkovich]

Thank you guys for the support! I really appreciate it ^^

I am currently trying to figure out the best way to show icons on the zoomed-out mode.. it will probably be done in couple of days from now. 

Where should I c/p this? Y u no give instructions?

p.s. This is not bad, I doubt you could do it all by yourself...

There is a ReadMe in the downloaded file 

[Dino]

Nice one Mihail!

good job!

[DeeJay]

Nice idea. I hate it too when I can't find the place I want :P

[Mihail Junkovich]

Thanks guys 

Anyway.. yesterday and today I was experimenting a bit with zoomed-out mode.. and realized that the GTA IV Map preview is quite f.up.

The resolution for, I'll call it, first 3 steps while zooming in [ When you scroll your mouse wheel for just one "click" or whatever.. 3 times ].. the resolution for those 3 first steps is awful. It's only 512x512 for each of the four sections of the map [ Picture 1. ]. After certain level of zooming-in is passed [ After those 3 steps ] the "map preview automatically switches to smaller sections which are each 512x512. [ Picture 2. ].

Picture 1. One of the four sections of the map. Resolution 512x512




Picture 2. One of the many sections that form the larger sections [ 4 parts of the map, like one from Picture 1. ]

So the problem is.. how to make something visible, easy to recognize and spot with such a low resolution?

Should I try with a something similar to this MiniMap mode - Picture 4. and 5. [ PS - Use Right Click - ViewImage.. to actually see how much blur there is ]

Picture 4. Totally zoomed-out map with CG4_RadarMapMod_v1.2




Picture 5. Appearance of the map of  CG4_RadarMapMod_v1.2 after those "3 steps" of zoomin-in I mentioned earlier on.

Give me your suggestions please D:

[wolfalberto]

I know, it is an old topic, but it is really usefull, so:

The link doesn't work, please update it i NEED that map  It is a really good work! 

[Mihail Junkovich]

Link updated ^^

[yoske]

Very good, such scripting, much hax knowledge.

btw, the heck is this "CG4_RadarMapMod_v1.2" What does those green, yellow and blue lamps mean?

[Mihail Junkovich]

That is some other MiniMap mode which shows where the flying rats/quest npcs and whatever is in the GTA IV game. I gave it just an example that I could mark some of the important stuff on the map with dots like that because current mode "cleans" up the map and shows markers only if you zoom-in. If I would do it like with that pigeon/quest npcs mini map mode.. there would be a small marker for the zoom-out mode too :P

[wolfalberto]

Link updated ^^

I love you man   

[wolfalberto]

That is some other MiniMap mode which shows where the flying rats/quest npcs and whatever is in the GTA IV game. I gave it just an example that I could mark some of the important stuff on the map with dots like that because current mode "cleans" up the map and shows markers only if you zoom-in. If I would do it like with that pigeon/quest npcs mini map mode.. there would be a small marker for the zoom-out mode too :P

When you will implement that? :3