@toblerone77 A bit late to the party here but anyway…!
The sculpts are made in a lighter plastic than later versions and the Japanese infantry sculpts, for example, really show this. Lots of them have half their helmets missing and their rifle stocks are too thin and are thus often bowed or malformed. Another example is Italian tanks which have smaller and far inferior sculpts to the europe 1940 version.
This is my favourite Axis and Allies version regardless and I have swapped out all the pieces with better sculpts from other version. Its probably cost me a fortune in potential re sales but I don’t care.
Will anyone be upgrading the Triplea….
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my god why do they always use such an ugly map? Its not even worth the time to play on such junk.
Thanks for the dig man. I drew that map. :-P
If you designed yours to work with tripleA, then we could have used it. But you didn’t, so we can’t.
Why not try contributing to the project instead of just complaining about it? You’ll get more accomplished that way. :)TripleA uses a 3 color Gif image (called a baseline map) which it then processes and breaks apart using its own quirky code to produce what you end up playing with. Its not like you can just use any image you want. Jpegs don’t work, nor do PDF files or PNGs. The game has to be able to first parse the information contained in the baseline map, before you can make it functional. Its actually a huge pain to make a map that works with tripleA (on account of the shoddy raster graphics programming), but I guess I won’t wait on any “thank you” for all the time I put into it, since you obviously think its the worst thing ever.
In any case, we’re not mind readers. Where is your map anyway?
If you have something you want to share, then post a link or something. -
i m a triple a player. Thank you fro all the wonderful job you did for us.
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TripleA uses a 3 color Gif image (called a baseline map) which it then processes and breaks apart using its own quirky code to produce what you end up playing with. Its not like you can just use any image you want. Jpegs don’t work, nor do PDF files or PNGs. The game has to be able to first parse the information contained in the baseline map, before you can make it functional in the game. Its actually a huge pain to make a map that works with tripleA (on account of the shoddy raster graphics programming),
Not that we don’t value your work. And I don’t know how the TripleA code originated. But from your remarks it looks like the map is not the problem but the map engine (code) is. It should be fairly simple to use any picture as background. You just have to define where the zones (countries and seazones) are on the map and after that it doesn’t really matter what background you use.
When AAR came out, I started together with a friend to work on our own Windows version of AAR. Although never completed and abondened, the map engine part was finished and it worked very good the way I described it.
Just a thought, althoug it is probably a lot of work to start from scratch again. -
from your remarks it looks like the map is not the problem but the map engine (code) is. It should be fairly simple to use any picture as background. You just have to define where the zones (countries and seazones) are on the map and after that it doesn’t really matter what background you use.
Oh man, if only it were that simple… Believe me how I’ve wished for something like that. :-D
I’m sure ZeroPilot knows where I’m coming from here, since its usually just me and him arguing the case to the Java guys about how it needs to “look better.” The unfortunate reality though, is that the necessary interface just isn’t it in place to handle something like that, simple though it might sound. Every time we make a new custom game, we try to push the limits of the engine, but its always an uphill battle. For sometime now, my thinking has been that TripleA should be designed primarily as a map editing program, with a focus on adaptability. But what you have instead is a program that was originally just hardcoded to play Classic, and was never really intended to do much beyond that. Even just getting the engine to the current level of flexibility has been a pretty impressive feat of re-working.
Its seems so easy in principle though, especially the way you describe it: as a background layer, or mask. If they built something official along those lines, I’d be the first to order a copy, but right now TripleA is the best I can get. Gametable doesn’t offer any level of customization at this point, and the other programs like Battlemap and Mapview, don’t offer the same style of real time gameplay that you can get out of something like TripleA. That’s the only reason why I keep struggling with it, and why I try to make little improvements when I can.
I agree though, the aesthetics totally leave something to be desired, especially the way borders are drawn/re-drawn when you scale the map (it gets all pixelated) and the text display and unit positioning is also pretty irksome. Right now though, its a sacrifice I’m willing to make to play live. Not for everyone I guess, but it has its merits.
I’m sure the AA50 map can be redone at a later date, if people really dislike it, but at least it works. :)
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I think TripleA is very good overall. And since there is nothing else I also accept its flaws. It just takes a lot of work to build something like this I know this. Spare time was the reason we abondened our own project.
But think of it. After Classic there has been a lot of new versions of Axis and Allies. With each modification you spent less time on it than rewriting the entire engine (so this looks like a good choice). But it is never the last modification. And if you add up all that time, couldn’t you just have rewritten and whole new engine in the same or even less time?
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I know you’d think so huh, but somehow it just doesn’t work out like that when the crunch time arrives.
What I would love to see, if you want to know the honest truth, is an Official “Umbrella” Game for all the various A&A boards, with some of the same customization features that TripleA allows: an edit mode, user map mods, things of that sort. If something like that was available, I’d happily switch over from TripleA in a heartbeat, but I just don’t see anything at level right now. Battlemap is cool. I sometimes use it in conjunction with TripleA, or to track stats from the physical board (in case a face to face game has to be put away) but I want a full game with multi-player support.
It would be nice if AH or whoever the publisher ends up being, could produce a solid PC/Console version of the A&A board games and then launch an online community to bring everyone together under one roof. Right now everything seems to be scattered across the web, with a lot of reduplication of info/effort. I wish we could merge the functionality of TripleA, with the user interface of Battlemap for example, or do more things of that sort. I don’t think anyone but a for-real game publisher would be able to pull off what I really want though. The Hasbro CD was what, 1997? Aren’t we overdue for another PC game here?
:)
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TripleA is all about function before form, Ive loved using it to wage war against my friends. I get to play a free game b/c of the hard work of others, you cant complain about that. Props~
:mrgreen:
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TripleA is all about function before form, Ive loved using it to wage war against my friends. I get to play a free game b/c of the hard work of others, you cant complain about that. Props~
:mrgreen:
What he said. TripleA is the best way to fill my A&A needs, and I defi hope you guys will keep up the work.
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Thanks for the answers and the link , Keep up the good work :-)
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That is something that makes me bored too: triplea graphic standards. The worst part is that almost no triplea player seem to care about the basic graphics of the maps :? :? :? If I created this map, you can do it too… just take your time. It is possible to have a nice map and balanced.
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after you download it, how do you get triplea to play that version?
Thanks.Yeah, I haven’t figured this out yet either. Can anyone help us out? I have the folder unzipped, but have no idea how to actually start a game.
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Ok ill try to get a file under 10MB so i can jpeg it.
Yes, he does have a way about him, doesn’t he?
If we just sugar coat stuff all you will ever have is mediocrity. To achieve excellence you need a trial of honest comments to get you to a better place.
Black Elk: you know i just want the best looking map to be used. We both know you did good work, but to benefit the game only the best possible candidate should be used. My problem with AAA is the major flaw that only the worst artwork imaginable gets a pass to be on it because of the limitations of the program.
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Phase 1 map:
http://www.mediafire.com/?amzmjhoi5uvPhase 2 map:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zzmzndttdgj -
I enjoyed using the marble maps on Triplea that were available in previous versions.
I used a mix of different icons for the units that I liked best. -
after you download it, how do you get triplea to play that version?
Thanks.Yeah, I haven’t figured this out yet either. Can anyone help us out? I have the folder unzipped, but have no idea how to actually start a game.
You must have downloaded the source. Try downloading and running the windows installer instead.
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after you download it, how do you get triplea to play that version?
Thanks.Yeah, I haven’t figured this out yet either. Can anyone help us out? I have the folder unzipped, but have no idea how to actually start a game.
You must have downloaded the source. Try downloading and running the windows installer instead.
What if you have a Mac (like me)? Am I screwed?
Thanks. -
Yeah, I haven’t figured this out yet either. Can anyone help us out? I have the folder unzipped, but have no idea how to actually start a game.
Download the lastest stable build of TripleA for whatever OS you use.
http://triplea.sourceforge.net/mywikiThen download the latest Beta package for AA50.
Extract the AA50 files from the zip, and place the folder called AA50 in your “Maps” directory of TripleA, and the XML file called AA50-41 in the “Games” folder of your TripleA directory. Then launch the program, select “Choose Game” and pick AA50-41. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the graphics. ;)Macs are supported, though you might run into issues with custom mods, if people are lazy and don’t bother to make everything case sensitive. For the standard game it should work fine though. Also, don’t hold your breath on seeing the 42 scenario until after the holidays. If you want to learn more about Larry’s surprise, you’re just going to have to order a copy of the actual board.
:-DImperious Leader, thats a very nice map. I think the geographical distortion is a bit over the top (Africa especially), but the official map is the same way, so I can’t really fault you on that one.
I’m also a big fan of Dagons map too, though it seems to have the opposite issue (not enough distortion, too close to Mercator.)
I still prefer my own world projection to those , but it doesn’t have any eyecandy or polish like the maps linked above. With enough time put into it though, you could probably use either of those maps with TripleA. But before you plug in all the relief layers and eyecandy, you need to have a functional baseline. That means you need a 3 color gif (black, white, and blue) with the border lines at 1 pixel 100% black. That’s the thing that presents such a pain, because you have to draw in the skeleton map before the game will even know how to process the info. And it invariably looks terrible when resized. If you have Photoshop you can see the difference very clearly with this simple analogy: just try to resize a GIF image (in indexed color) versus resizing a JPEG image (in RBG color) and you will have an instant appreciation of why TripleA sucks it from a graphics standpoint.
I’m definitely all for better maps though. The way TripleA handles its current graphics stuff, makes me want to put my head through a brick wall. Also, Iron Cross never updated his map skins, after Sean gave the engine an overhaul a year back. So it don’t think the old marbled ones work anymore, which is somewhat unfortunate. I had high hopes for that feature, but alas. Believe me, I feel your pain guys. I wish we could do more, but the engine holds us back in many ways.
:)
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But you know this isn’t about honesty, it’s about how you go about giving your opinion.
Cordial and constructive comments instead of your bombastic and rude remarks. It really isn’t that difficult.
To understand what i do as a principle since 2004, watch Gordon Ramsey on Kitchen nightmares. Hes approach is exactly like mine.
If i say its “ugly” just leave it as a criticism and move on. I make comments on the artwork and not the person. I would hope people can understand the difference.
Also, i am quite sure Black elk want the best artwork for a project that many will be playing. The best possible effort will benefit the community.
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Unfortunately, i cant reduce the size of my file to accommodate a Jpeg/BMP conversion. I keep get error messages.
I could try PNG, but another poster said it needed to be Jpeg…so no go.
Again its the limitations of this AAA program and what it allows to be used or get by for graphics that proves it inferior IMO.
Hopefully another interface will allow more substantial map files to be installed.
Id play it if it used Dagons map.
Also, My map is accurate to the original, because people want to see a very similar map from the game to what they play online. Making it accurate to a real world map would prove impossible to play for obvious reasons.
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What type of programs do I need to get in order to edit triple A’s code? I’ve written code before, I’d like to fool around with some things…
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