Formula D map making

[metulburr]

Long story short...Im a trying to make a track for a board game called Formula D. Its a board game racing game. I would be taking Google Map of real locations and laying a 3 lane track made up of squares for movement places. My track i would like to get in the final result is Nurburgring Nordschleife . I was going to do a few simple ones first. Maybe my home town, etc. 

The instructions on "how to" make the board games are in terms of "macromedia freehand MX". I have never heard of it. But looking at their instructions here it looks similar to GIMP/photoshop ...just very old school. It looks as if they are just manually created the squares as the track moves. I would like to convert their instructions to GIMP as i know a little GIMP. However i am far from being an artist. 

1. Is there a way to auto repeat the squares to not have to manually insert each sqaure around an arbitrary line of different roads/tracks? 
      
   

I guess i am looking for a formula of how to make these tracks with doing as much as i can automatically. I know i can do exactly what i want...but i am in thinking manually inserting square after square, paint each and every corner red, etc. And i know it could take forever on a small track let alone Nordschleife. 

---

So here is a screenshot of my home area that i am doing as test-area. EDIT cant upload a high-res photo so ill just give the coords to the location on google maps
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.09197,-7...a=!3m1!1e3

What i have now
http://imgur.com/a/IQBQr

I used the path tool to follow the specified track, and stroke path twice, one for the road, and once with 5 pixels wider than the road  to create a boundary. However the next part i dont understand in their instructions to create a text object with "||||||||||||||||||||||" for the squares in the lanes....or how they make the lanes?

EDIT:
The way i am thinking to handle the lanes are to just have numerous consecutively smaller layers (5 in all). So have (from largest to smallest) white layer for boundary, black layer for outer and inner lane lines, grey layer for outer and inner lane, black layer for inner lane lines, grey layer for middle lane. That would take care of the lanes, but not sure of the text object still.

EDIT2:
Is there a way to offset the path, so i can just stroke a black line -5 and +5 of the center stroke path?

[Ofnuts]

Different software may require widely different methods/workflows.

To create offset paths:

- add a new transparent layer
- stroke the path in line mode with widh=2x the offset (so 10, in your case)
- Layer>Transparency>Alpha to selection
- Select>To path
- Delete the transversal segments on the ends
- Delete or hide the layer

[Blighty]

(06-26-2017, 07:00 AM)Ofnuts Wrote: To create offset paths:

- add a new transparent layer
- stroke the path in line mode with widh=2x the offset (so 10, in your case)
- Layer>Transparency>Alpha to selection
- Select>From path
- Delete the transversal segments on the ends

Thanks Ofnuts

I keep learning new useful stuff here.

Little correction:
Select>From path
should be
Select>To path

[Ofnuts]

(06-26-2017, 08:21 AM)Blighty Wrote:

(06-26-2017, 07:00 AM)Ofnuts Wrote: To create offset paths:

- add a new transparent layer
- stroke the path in line mode with widh=2x the offset (so 10, in your case)
- Layer>Transparency>Alpha to selection
- Select>From path
- Delete the transversal segments on the ends

Thanks Ofnuts

I keep learning new useful stuff here.

This is pretty much a hack. There is no direct function in Gimp to obtain the "offset path" (even though I believe there is one created internally when rendering the line)

(06-26-2017, 08:21 AM)Blighty Wrote: Little correction:
Select>From path
should be
Select>To path

You're completely right. I'll fix that.

[rich2005]

I have a copy of Macromedia Freehand somewhere - on a very dubious CD I got in the middle-east maybe 18 years ago. Macromedia were bought out by Ad*be I think. It was a vector drawing application.

So the obvious is Inkscape. Might be possible but not easy. In theory you can bend a pattern along a path, never seems to work for me. I did try and failed. Inkscape has a similar function to Gimp. Stroke a path then generated paths from the stroke. A few less mouse clicks than Gimp.

edit: Another go, just a single path, the pattern would have to be applied to extra paths, should be possible. screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/S0cpzDj.jpg the corners are a problem

Back to Gimp & looking at your screenshot, it is a closed circuit, so no end path to break.

Stroke path / selection -> to path produces two 'linked' paths 'Selection in the screenshot, and a good tool to separate these is Ofnuts plug-in ofn-path-edits from https://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-pa...s/scripts/ to give an inside and outside.

A possibility, and only a possibility is another plug-in arakne-follow-path5 http://www.arakne.es/en/dessign/gimp-plu...oordinate/ find a zip download in there somewhere.

Make a small layer and paint in a pattern, apply the plugin something like this



Lots of trial-and-error required for spacing/settings, so keep plenty of back-up .xcf images. Only applied to one path but you can see how it might be applied. Never going to work around those sharp corners.

[metulburr]

Thank you guys for the insight. I forgot to mention that all corners would be rounded. I kind of didnt portray that well in my example. As well as all corners would have to be custom modified AKA manually inserted. For example the turns are where the game really intensifies, and makes the game. I think i would have to manually insert each and every corner to determine the "toughness" of the corner based on the previous corner. So in theory all i would have to do automatically is the lane lines and/or lane lines and spaces. Just like this

However there are at times there are slight bends that dont constitute a corner at all. 

Before anyone answered last night, i came up with a formula for the lanes. 

1. follow track path with path tool making all corners bend 
   
2. stroke path solid color line with new layer each for the following... (color, pixel width)
   
3. white 63
   
4. black 57
   
5. grey 51
   
6. black 21
   
7. grey 15
   

So the pattern method works assuming the track is straight, however, if the pattern bends and snakes back and forth, the patterns in its 90 degree turn looks odd.  
http://imgur.com/a/sav2H

Quote:Back to Gimp & looking at your screenshot, it is a closed circuit, so no end path to break.

Stroke path / selection -> to path produces two 'linked' paths 'Selection in the screenshot, and a good tool to separate these is Ofnuts plug-in ofn-path-edits from https://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-pa...s/scripts/ to give an inside and outside.

A possibility, and only a possibility is another plug-in arakne-follow-path5 http://www.arakne.es/en/dessign/gimp-plu...oordinate/ find a zip download in there somewhere.

Make a small layer and paint in a pattern, apply the plugin something like this

Im having trouble figuring out the plugin process. Never done it before. I added the python source to the directory /usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug.ins/ and restarted GIMP. But not sure how to implement a layer to the selected path as you have shown you done in your last screenshot? I think this method would work the best as the corners would be customized afterwords of laying the straight areas out.

Code:

metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$ ls | grep fu
gimpfu3.py
script-fu
metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$ ls | grep path
follow-path5.py
ofn-path-edits.py
selection-to-path
metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$

[rich2005]

Quote:Im having trouble figuring out the plugin process. Never done it before. I added the python source to the directory /usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug.ins/ and restarted GIMP.

Using linux, the place for plugins is in your Gimp profile, in your home partition. It is the hidden folder ~/.gimp-2.8/plug-ins They do work where you have them but not good practice.
For that follow-path plug-in 2 files needed arakne-follow-path5.py and gimpfu3.py files, make sure both are executable.

The place to find it is - right click in the paths dialogue, it is at the bottom along with ofnuts plugins screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/IJXgq9A.jpg

Quote:But not sure how to implement a layer to the selected path as you have shown you done in your last screenshot? I think this method would work the best as the corners would be customized afterwords of laying the straight areas out.

Make a path active, run plugin, make sure the little pattern layer is referenced, adjust settings, try and hope you are not too far out.

For sure the corners will have to be draw separately, in fact I think the whole thing might be best made in sections on their own layers, on the horizontal and then moved, rotated, into position.

Try the plug-in, do not be disappointed if you do not get the desired result. It is a steep learning curve.

[Ofnuts]

(06-26-2017, 01:51 PM)metulburr Wrote: Thank you guys for the insight. I forgot to mention that all corners would be rounded. I kind of didnt portray that well in my example. As well as all corners would have to be custom modified AKA manually inserted. For example the turns are where the game really intensifies, and makes the game. I think i would have to manually insert each and every corner to determine the "toughness" of the corner based on the previous corner. So in theory all i would have to do automatically is the lane lines and/or lane lines and spaces. Just like this

However there are at times there are slight bends that dont constitute a corner at all. 

Before anyone answered last night, i came up with a formula for the lanes. 

1. follow track path with path tool making all corners bend 
   
2. stroke path solid color line with new layer each for the following... (color, pixel width)
   
3. white 63
   
4. black 57
   
5. grey 51
   
6. black 21
   
7. grey 15
   

So the pattern method works assuming the track is straight, however, if the pattern bends and snakes back and forth, the patterns in its 90 degree turn looks odd.  
http://imgur.com/a/sav2H

Quote:Back to Gimp & looking at your screenshot, it is a closed circuit, so no end path to break.

Stroke path / selection -> to path produces two 'linked' paths 'Selection in the screenshot, and a good tool to separate these is Ofnuts plug-in ofn-path-edits from https://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-pa...s/scripts/ to give an inside and outside.

A possibility, and only a possibility is another plug-in arakne-follow-path5 http://www.arakne.es/en/dessign/gimp-plu...oordinate/ find a zip download in there somewhere.

Make a small layer and paint in a pattern, apply the plugin something like this

Im having trouble figuring out the plugin process. Never done it before. I added the python source to the directory /usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug.ins/ and restarted GIMP. But not sure how to implement a layer to the selected path as you have shown you done in your last screenshot? I think this method would work the best as the corners would be customized afterwords of laying the straight areas out.

Code:

metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$ ls | grep fu
gimpfu3.py
script-fu
metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$ ls | grep path
follow-path5.py
ofn-path-edits.py
selection-to-path
metulburr@ubuntu:/usr/lib/gimp/2.0/plug-ins$

To install a plugin (.py), add it to "~/.gimp-2.8/plug-ins. Check that it is marked executable (the plugins you get packaged in a ZIP should already be). You have to restart Gimp to see them. If everything went  well the should be listed in the file "~/.gimp-2.8/pluginrc". This may also tell you where they hide in the menu structure, not all of them are in the menus of the main image window.

For your corners you will have to be a bit more explicit about the curvature by adding more control points. By default on straight corners Gimp aims for the smallest curvature radius.

[rich2005]

First real go. 

And while there are obvious faults, nothing that could not be 'faked' up by hand. Corners are going to be the problem as are pronounced curves.

   

The gimp xcfgz file is here if you want a look at the layers. https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=...Dv2YwJ5QDy about 2.3 MB

[metulburr]

thanks.