Howdy Gents,
The game I’m working on has two maps that are each the size of a regular map board 28 x 36. To create the Vassal version I’ve been given a graphic for the combined boards. This of course makes the issue of inserting a board into Vassal easy, BUT, the problem attends when one tries to match the counters to the size of the hexes. The result is Fuzzy counters because they’re so small. In order for the counters to be legible, I need them to be at least 50% larger, if not closer to 75%. BUT in doing this, the map becomes far too large for Vassal to handle. As I understand it, the maximum Megabyte size of a module is somewhere close to 125 Mb. The map needs to be bigger so the counters that fit upon it (and are legible - requiring increased size) are larger. But the map when resized to a proper size is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200+ Mb.
Now I’ve heard there’s a way of cutting a map into several smaller pieces and using Vassal to reunite them during play. However, I confess I’ve not seen any of Joel’s videos that explain how to do this. So, How do I manage to make a multi-piece map appear as one piece when the module is open for play? And if the overall map megabyte size continues to exceed the maximum megabyte limits of Vassal, what then?
Thanks,
Tom
VASSAL doesn’t have any hard limits to file size (just available memory); the limit is in what you can upload to the wiki for distribution to others (and I believe exceptions can be made in that case, if it isn’t too huge). If the images are too large, you (and anyone who plays your module) will likely need to increase the maximum heap size for the module (Open/edit the module, go to File/Preferences…it’s near the bottom of the list) to avoid running out of memory.
As for splitting the map into pieces, you simply have to create a separate board for each map piece, all under the same map (right-click on Map Boards, Add Map), and then arrange them properly by double-clicking on Map Boards then selecting “Select Default Board Setup”.
Thus spake Cundiff:
As I understand it, the maximum Megabyte size of a module is somewhere
close to 125 Mb.
That’s not correct. The size of the module in bytes isn’t directly
related to map display.
Now I’ve heard there’s a way of cutting a map into several smaller
pieces and using Vassal to reunite them during play. However, I confess
I’ve not seen any of Joel’s videos that explain how to do this. So, How
do I manage to make a multi-piece map appear as one piece when the
module is open for play?
Make each image a Board. A Map can have multiple Boards in it.
And if the overall map megabyte size continues
to exceed the maximum megabyte limits of Vassal, what then?
There is no inbuilt module size limit.
–
J.