Terrafirma minimap

[DocStineTM 15]

But I like my desert. It's so dry and sandy.

and dont forget prickly like a dirty hoe or is that ho. never know. lol

[Srgnoodles 1,030]

...did you just call someone an idiot for using the word 'idiot' wrong... after explaining to them that the correct use is reserved for people that can't speak, much less type?

There are no facepalms big enough.

Go sit in your mansion and think about what you've done. And no desert tonight.

no desert? how will i ever get my cactus, scraggly thorn bushes and occasional lizard?

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

Man, don't know WHAT you guys are talking about. Why'd ya all misspell 'dessert' in those quotes?

[Srgnoodles 1,030]

Man, don't know WHAT you guys are talking about. Why'd ya all misspell 'dessert' in those quotes?

the sneaky post edits on this guy...

[DocStineTM 15]

the sneaky post edits on this guy...

apparently, but i dont think the post could not have made me sound like a dumb ass earlier. so any ideas of the materials to use for an in game map? who agrees on using the various dyes to color craft able map paper using a special type of cartography table? sounds like just a start to me

[DocStineTM 15]

I like how everyone ignored this actually pretty cool idea.

Make maps just a piece of paper, bottle, and feather combined in a crafting table, then it automatically uses various colored marking items (or, if you wanted to improve on that a little, make it use bottle of ink, and get rid of the bottle requirement in crafting) as it writes stuff on the map.

Or, you could have a blank piece of paper which you could write on, and you could use your own map.

Either option works, in my opinion.

to simple to make the paper and map, terrafirmacraft is supposed to be a mastering of skills which makes survival even harder. the concept is good but i think it should be a skill set and time consuming to make something as helpful as a map. and even more so a good map.

please return to the first page to review the current concept and basis of this suggestion.

[dunkleosteus 2,425]

Guys, name calling and taunting is not allowed

I'm obligated to warn you, I think...

[DocStineTM 15]

Guys, name calling and taunting is not allowed

I'm obligated to warn you, I think...

does this mean i have to go another night without a story time?

[Srgnoodles 1,030]

does this mean i have to go another night without a story time?

indeed, and if it happens again, we're revoking your breathing privalages

[DocStineTM 15]

indeed, and if it happens again, we're revoking your breathing privalages

ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooo, well time to insert an air tube down my throat. and besides i dont think he was talking about me anyway, i only called my self a name under good reason

except for maybe a few things here and their. lol

[frederikam 5]

[DocStineTM 15]

yup, because it would put cartography in an advanced stage of the game because of how hard it is to find red stone ore, everything else is just to match the theme of a cartography table with the dyes being the colors and the wood being the base and the paper being the cover for the table. stuff like that

[Srgnoodles 1,030]

yup, because it would put cartography in an advanced stage of the game because of how hard it is to find red stone ore, everything else is just to match the theme of a cartography table with the dyes being the colors and the wood being the base and the paper being the cover for the table. stuff like that

howsabout instead of orange and red, green and blue, because those are more colors that you would use when plotting a map, for the land and water

[DocStineTM 15]

howsabout instead of orange and red, green and blue, because those are more colors that you would use when plotting a map, for the land and water

you know, that is a good idea, makes much more sense, red should be more for lava and orange really does not match anything except for deserts but would yellow be better for deserts? im thinking it would, with lime green dye dotting the cacti.

[ECC 508]

Redstone makes little sense. Cartography was done with paper, ordinary tables, inks, and charcoal(or other marking implements

Redstone, or the minecraft equivalent of electricity, does not really fit into this

For that matter, Tables were not available for most of the work. Most of it was done in the field and only touched up later at a residence.

[DocStineTM 15]

Redstone makes little sense. Cartography was done with paper, ordinary tables, inks, and charcoal(or other marking implements

Redstone, or the minecraft equivalent of electricity, does not really fit into this

For that matter, Tables were not available for most of the work. Most of it was done in the field and only touched up later at a residence.

the red stone was for difficulty purpose only, not really to make exact sense. the table is because you could not possibly complete all the steps in making a map that requires that much work in the field, unless you made the process achievable through a portable cartography kit but that also would make it easier for people to mark their maps because they could just keep walking and detailing the landscape as they go, as compared to thoroughly memorizing the landscape and detailing the map from a workspace, also if you wanted to detail the map on the go, you could just take the table with you anyway, along with the materials needed to detail the map.

if you have a suggestion, leave at least one paragraph of details with this in mind, it may not make complete sense, but also make it so it takes skill and time to do as a cartography map gives a lot of help.

edit: i have mentioned the points of paper, and cartography inks(made through the detailed process on page one). Red stone(yes i know it is pretty much electricity) because it would but mapping in a more advanced stage of Terrafirmacraft. and also the fact that you could just take the cartography table with in the field because it is easier to link to GUI the a block. Also terrafirmacraft is made to be a challenge for expert mine crafters but simple enough for new players also. and even though cartography was done on ordinary tables, the cartography table includes all the tools cartographer used to chart the maps anyway.

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

You know, an idea has jumped in my mind while i readed through all this. This is the starting idea: the cartography table is not the map, but instead, it will pop up a map item everytime you right click it and enought pixels where drawn in it. Let me explain a little better:

You went exploring all the landscape around your house, and then got back to your room, to your cartography table. You right click, and a map item pops up, roughly showing a view from the top of the area you just explored. Later, travelled in a single direction for around a day, and got back to drawn in your map what you have made. This time, two maps pop out, both of them showing correspondant halves of the all the way you just did in that one direction. Even later, you explored further more the area that appears in the first map, and then right click in the cartography table. Now, instead of it making a new map, if you have the first map on you, it fills up the unexplored areas in the first map. As a final example, let's say you explored just a bit. This time, it won't pop up any map. The next day, you explore the same area further more, and when you right click the table, voila! a new map pops up, containing both what you explored the previous day and what you did this day.

How this works, then? Basically, when you get back to the cartography table and right click, it will take a look at the blocks you travelled from it since the last time you right clicked it; then, it will try to draw that, at the same blocks to pixel ratio vanilla maps have. If the map is not big enough for holding the whole image, then it will inmediatly pop up and the cartography table will try to make a second one, containing what lacks in the first map. This will continue if needed until all the area explored is drawn, or until all the ink gets used up -more on this later-. Now, for the map to be made, there is a minimun number of pixels that have to be filled up, so you aren't map-spammed to bad by this table. If a map is not made when you right click the table, it won't count it as if you right clicked it. It won't be storing the info about this map, instead, it will act as if you never tried to make it, until you explore enough of the area for it to make the map. The table will always take itself as the center of the map, instead of the player, unless it's filling up a continuation of a previous map. You won't be able to make a map of a area too far from where you are, unless you take your table with you or you have made maps "connecting" to that area. This will help to represent the fact that you have a limited memory (i mean, you can remember and draw an area you just was in, but not an area that was miles ago from where you are.). Finally, if you already have a map of said area, do you need to make a second one? Yes, if you don't have the first one. The table will check if you have any map on your inventory, and if you do, it will check if the area you explored is part of that map/s. If the area do correspond, then it will fill up those maps, and anything that doesn't belong there will be placed a brand new map. Along with placeable maps, all this will allow to create bigger maps simply by placing continuous map next to each other in a table or wall of your choice.

Now, about the inks thing, you think you can simply place a table and get infinite maps? No. You will have to place papers and inks in there, otherwise it won't work. The table, when you right click, will also check if there is paper in it; if there is, it will check if you have which dyes it has, and will limit the map's colours to those it has in it. give it only markings, and it will make a black and white maps; give it blue and green, and the earth and water will be discernible; give it even more colours, and it will have even more detail. The table will check the blocks you "explored" and decide which colour correspond to it; if the table lacks of this colour, it simply won't appear, leaving a blank -that's why a map with marking only can make a black and white map-. Also, every x pixels the table makes of a single colour, an item from the stack will be retrieved -at a 1-16 ratio, a single marking will be used every 16 black pixels, for example-.

Finally, for the sake of avoid adding a new block, we could simply add all this as a second mode the scribing table can be used in: when you right click, the plans making tab will appear first, in the top right of the GUI you have the "cartography" tab, which is where you can place the different inks and the paper, and by simply clicking a button on that second tab, you will get your map.

And if you think you can't obtain all the dyes you would need in TFC, let's also add more flowers to the game, both for aesthetics -aren't you tired of looking at a ton of yellow and red flowers?- and for this dyes we are lacking of.

That's it. It's not a perfect idea, but it's what i had in mind. I think it has some problems, something is just not right about it... but i can't tell : i think you guys will be able to tell me... right?

EDIT: holy moly, i just made a wall of text D: now i hate a post i made myself!

[Srgnoodles 1,030]

You know, an idea has jumped in my mind while i readed through all this. This is the starting idea: the cartography table is not the map, but instead, it will pop up a map item everytime you right click it and enought pixels where drawn in it. Let me explain a little better:

You went exploring all the landscape around your house, and then got back to your room, to your cartography table. You right click, and a map item pops up, roughly showing a view from the top of the area you just explored. Later, travelled in a single direction for around a day, and got back to drawn in your map what you have made. This time, two maps pop out, both of them showing correspondant halves of the all the way you just did in that one direction. Even later, you explored further more the area that appears in the first map, and then right click in the cartography table. Now, instead of it making a new map, if you have the first map on you, it fills up the unexplored areas in the first map. As a final example, let's say you explored just a bit. This time, it won't pop up any map. The next day, you explore the same area further more, and when you right click the table, voila! a new map pops up, containing both what you explored the previous day and what you did this day.

How this works, then? Basically, when you get back to the cartography table and right click, it will take a look at the blocks you travelled from it since the last time you right clicked it; then, it will try to draw that, at the same blocks to pixel ratio vanilla maps have. If the map is not big enough for holding the whole image, then it will inmediatly pop up and the cartography table will try to make a second one, containing what lacks in the first map. This will continue if needed until all the area explored is drawn, or until all the ink gets used up -more on this later-. Now, for the map to be made, there is a minimun number of pixels that have to be filled up, so you aren't map-spammed to bad by this table. If a map is not made when you right click the table, it won't count it as if you right clicked it. It won't be storing the info about this map, instead, it will act as if you never tried to make it, until you explore enough of the area for it to make the map. The table will always take itself as the center of the map, instead of the player, unless it's filling up a continuation of a previous map. You won't be able to make a map of a area too far from where you are, unless you take your table with you or you have made maps "connecting" to that area. This will help to represent the fact that you have a limited memory (i mean, you can remember and draw an area you just was in, but not an area that was miles ago from where you are.). Finally, if you already have a map of said area, do you need to make a second one? Yes, if you don't have the first one. The table will check if you have any map on your inventory, and if you do, it will check if the area you explored is part of that map/s. If the area do correspond, then it will fill up those maps, and anything that doesn't belong there will be placed a brand new map. Along with placeable maps, all this will allow to create bigger maps simply by placing continuous map next to each other in a table or wall of your choice.

Now, about the inks thing, you think you can simply place a table and get infinite maps? No. You will have to place papers and inks in there, otherwise it won't work. The table, when you right click, will also check if there is paper in it; if there is, it will check if you have which dyes it has, and will limit the map's colours to those it has in it. give it only markings, and it will make a black and white maps; give it blue and green, and the earth and water will be discernible; give it even more colours, and it will have even more detail. The table will check the blocks you "explored" and decide which colour correspond to it; if the table lacks of this colour, it simply won't appear, leaving a blank -that's why a map with marking only can make a black and white map-. Also, every x pixels the table makes of a single colour, an item from the stack will be retrieved -at a 1-16 ratio, a single marking will be used every 16 black pixels, for example-.

Finally, for the sake of avoid adding a new block, we could simply add all this as a second mode the scribing table can be used in: when you right click, the plans making tab will appear first, in the top right of the GUI you have the "cartography" tab, which is where you can place the different inks and the paper, and by simply clicking a button on that second tab, you will get your map.

And if you think you can't obtain all the dyes you would need in TFC, let's also add more flowers to the game, both for aesthetics -aren't you tired of looking at a ton of yellow and red flowers?- and for this dyes we are lacking of.

That's it. It's not a perfect idea, but it's what i had in mind. I think it has some problems, something is just not right about it... but i can't tell : i think you guys will be able to tell me... right?

EDIT: holy moly, i just made a wall of text D: now i hate a post i made myself!

-smack-

this is the sound of me being run over by a massive wall of text

but yeah good idea

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

-smack-

this is the sound of me being run over by a massive wall of text

but yeah good idea

I readed the first line and i thought it was a slap in my face until i readed the second one ._.

but yeah, thank you.

[ECC 508]

Damnit JAG. I have a post saved due to computer trouble that I made before you posted. I guess I'll post its exact contents here instead of in a new proper topic. I think you and I could mix our ideas together and come out with a gem. And no, not a useless TFC gem....

Cartography, as defined by wikipedia:

'Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.'

So in light of giving this its own thread, and a solid proposal of how to make this a challenge while being fun and even useful, I present Terracraftian Map making. For arguments sake, I only mention landscape cartography in this thread.

In the real world, before the age of computers, and even before the industrial revolution, cartography was a High risk job full of.. Well, paperwork. People, usually those with a knack for remembering things, would go out into the world and would draw the landscape, with great care for detail. They traveled the seas, the lands, and the dark reaches of the forests and jungles. The lifestyle was somewhat akin to an adventurer, though that analogy might just be me trying to sell this idea to you all.

So heres what I actually propose. Users who wish to map will carry paper, ink, and a quill(feather). While standing anywhere on the surface(exposed to the sky), crafting with those three items records a small map 'segment.' A segment consists of only the chunk you are sitting in and the directly adjacent 8 other chunks. The recorded chunks are a 1 pixel to 1 block scale and are the most accurate you may get. The only real difference between this map and its vanilla counterpart is it is a static map. It will never show a live update and will never display player locations. In effect, it stays the same unless you, the user manually change it, a matter I will discuss later. Segments of a map can be combined, however the recipe is very exacting, and once done can not be changed. Using whatever crafting grid available, users place a series of printed segments into the grid. Based on what is contained on each segment, the information will be transferred to the larger product exactly as it was in the grid. So, you could effectively take a north segment and place it directly under a south segment. When segments are combined they are relabeled as 'maps'. Maps can be further combined to expand indefinitely. In order to incorporate this massive amount of detail and expandability, a new GUI will be needed. This gui will feature a scrolling option as well as the display.

manually changing a map is possible, and can be done if the user places a printed segment into a grafting grid with a feather and ink. This opens a GUI that allows a user to draw over the map. This allows users to define certain elements, from writing in the name of a place to marking where you left your treasure. Ink colour is defined by ink used. Yes, I am aware this allows people to 'paint' in game. I think thats a rather nice and balanced extra, dont you?

My own concerns:

Lag created by server size maps - How to reduce lag when looking at a map that is 10000 blocks round. Is there lag even for that?

Skill argument - No real skill other then not dying and having a large supply of papyrus and ink. User ability defines this mod, and the task behind this is 'So easy a cave man can do it'

Cost - Its relatively cheep and does not require metals or minerals. Personally, I think it fits better like this, but I've seen the argument for cost in other related threads.

Mods - Rei's does far more then this and far better. This is effectively 'fixing whats not broken'

notes:

The feather is given back(similar to buckets in some mods)

No fancy work should be necessary for this. Its hard enough to go out and map all you can see. the world presents danger.

As per usual, I've hit a deadblock in coming up with an idea. Thread is unfinished.. Talk it out, might allow me to bounce around a few things.

Yes, I wrote this for a new thread.... Dont yell at me plz?

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

It seems pretty good as well... i'm not sure that to combine two walls of text in a single one is a good idea but oh well, it deserves it. Let me see...

Firstly, while keeping the map making feature i suggested for the scribing table, i like the idea of being able to make maps just with paper and ink, as it is a little more accurate historically. To keep them both in place, let's balance it with an issue drawing in the wilderness does have: Unless you are just awesome, you will find it really difficult to draw anything in a paper without any plain support for it, even harder to write any names. As well, it would be pretty difficult to change from a first ink color to a second one, or even to carry them all. So, maps made in the wilderness, both crafted there and edited there, can be more accurate to maps made in the scribing table, as you are drawing your direct sorroundings; but it will easily lead to mistakes you can't erase easily, and can annoy you from an aesthetic and functionality perspective (let's say you used bone meal to cover something you made by mistake. Now you have a white line in the middle of your map, very notorious, and which could even lead to confusion whenever you are using it). Instead, while drawing in the scribing table, you have all the elements properly prepared for the task and a proper working area, so it can make better looking maps. But this maps can be pretty inaccurate, because they depend on your memory to be exact, and human memory has limitations. That way, we can erase from my suggestion the section about not being able to make maps that are too far from known areas, as it was intended to represent what now will directly interact with the game: your limited memory. And we will avoid some inmersive problems because of it being Steve memory instead of yours the one which matters...

I don't think you can make an item look as big as maps could get with your suggestion, that's why i asked for the addition of placeable maps -And i suppose, also the reason why you suggest a GUI-. It sounds good, but how about if it was tiered as well -only that this has 2 tiers instead of 8-. How? By adding a hand lens. At tier 0 (no instruments), you can zoom in or out in the GUI, but the portion of the map you can see, as well as the detail and zooming capability are limited. The hand lens is the solution to all this problems, but you need both bronze and glass for making them.

Now, for the skill section... How about, leave automatization completely out of the thread? Your ability drawing will then become really important, as well as your ability noticing important details in your sorroundings that let you recognize tat area in a map, and as well as your general memory if you are writing it in your scribing table.

The mods thing... do we really need to worry about what other modders do to their mods? people is free to play with a minecraft jar as modded as they wish to. People who like Rei's minimap will lose the need for this feature and instead will be able to use it just for art. People who don't, will have this feature completely available and will be able to use it in the way they wish to. It's not really fixing what's not broken, but instead, adding something that could or couldn't be already there, depending on the user.

And... i think that's all i have to say ._. i will take another look at it later, i think i'm missing something.

[ECC 508]

I'd say its time for a new thread at this point, right?

and no, automation so that way its not a 'pointless item' for users.

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

Yeah, you are right :

As a final note to be discussed there... how about it being optional?

[ECC 508]

Aww, you changed your avi. Its like i dont know you anymore D;

Posting new thread by quoting our walls of text. kk?

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

Aww, you changed your avi. Its like i dont know you anymore D;

Posting new thread by quoting our walls of text. kk?

Oh, don't be sad :3 i'm sure you know slenderman, so you will have no problems knowing me. *really creepy smile. coughcoughRunawayyoufool!coughcough*

I'm ok with that :3