[HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Here we discussed clients, mappers, tunnels and their settings.
Jahara
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[HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Jahara »

NOTICE!!!! The latest version of this guide can be read on the MUME wiki!

mmapper2
mmapper2 is a graphical mud mapper especially written for the mud MUME, combining the UI, network and storage modules from caligor's mmapper1 (mmapper.czechian.net) with the auto-mapping engine of alve's expandora (sf.net/projects/expandora).

It functions as a proxy, which stands betwen game server and text based client (telnet or any other mud client with some extra functionality). This program lets you play classic text-based mud game with graphical environment. It has some nice features like: automatic room creating, automatic connection of rooms, terrain detection, exits detections, opengl rendering, pseudo 3D layers, drag and drop mouse operations, and multi platform support!

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In order to run the mapper you need to:

1. Download the mapper
You can download the latest version of mmapper2 from sourceforce. Download the zip file and extract it to some directory on your computer.

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2. Run the mapper
Make sure you allow the mapper to get past your local firewall.

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3. Load a map
A map is included with the package named arda.mm2. Load it by clicking "File", "Open" and then selecting the file name.

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3. Configure your mud client
The mapper works as a proxy, so you need to change your mud client to connect to your own computer. As you already know, MUME runs at mume.pvv.org on port 4242. The mapper runs on your own computer at the same port and because of this you need to direct your client to localhost on port 4242. (JMC directions here)

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4. Configure MUME
Once you log into MUME, disable brief mode, enable spam mode, and toggle XML mode for your character:

Code: Select all

brief off
spam on
change xml
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5. Enjoy!
Your mapper should sync to where you are!

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6. Still having problems??
If you are still unable to get the mapper working try to figure out if you are even able to connect to the mapper (The mapper log will show a connection). If not, then you probably have an issue with your firewall and need to open up port 4242. If you are getting a connection through the mapper but nothing is syncing, then try the following as well: Change all your colors to the default values (change colour all default), display the full prompt (prompt all), and/or disconnect and reconnect your client to the mapper. Also, make sure the mapper is in the correct mode: "play mode"

If that still fails check the elvenrunes thread, post here, or contact me in-game :-)
Last edited by Jahara on Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bunlak
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Re: HOWTO: Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Bunlak »

Great guide for a great mapper!
Jahara
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Re: HOWTO: Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Jahara »

Made it a visual guide like the local editing guide ;-)
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

Nice guide, Jahara. Thanks a lot. Perhaps I should link to this thread from the sourceforge site and from ER. May I make a pdf or something similar from the guide and include it in the mmapper distribution? I don't know how I can do that, yet, but it should be useful ... Also I might need to extend it a bit to explain some of the configuration settings.
Caligor
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Caligor »

Good work Jahara :), thanks a lot. And yes, it is good idea to create pdf version which can be included within the distribution.
Dak
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Dak »

You also need to " prompt all " or it won't sync. Just something I noticed today after switching to an old character.
Insomniac
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Insomniac »

I have a really crappy old computer that where i cant even use E , i hav eto use the computer down stairs, works for mume ok, its a 100% mume computer, i tried installing the mapper last night, and it didnt work out so well, im going up stairs right now to ry again, i really need this mapper, i think it will help me with area knowledge etc. in Which i suck at the moment :/

very nice guide to, thanks jahara.
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

You need a graphics card with some sort of 3d acceleration or a not so old CPU for mmapper. Otherwise it'll be painfully slow. We use opengl for the rendering. The OS should be able to offload it to the graphics card on almost anything built after 2000. If your graphics card driver isn't working properly or you have a really obscure setup opengl can be emulated in software and as mmapper doesn't do too complicated stuff it works ok with a newer CPU (like Pentium 4).
Civril
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How to add info to the mmapper2?

Post by Civril »

How is it possible to add the names of (hidden) exits to the map? Or some other info: mob names, plants, etc
I tried to do it in the mapper mode and it screwed up my map: it didn't show me the right rooms any more half the time. Kind of created 2 maps on top of each other one slightly shifted.
Had to go back to the base map.
If anyone knows how to do it correctly please post a guide here.
Thanks.
“Hey you, goblin. Uh, put on this magic helmet. Yeah, I know you're attacking me, but look, shiny helmet. Shiny!”
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

First the fact that it created a "second map" is probably unrelated to your attempt to set door names. The base map is horribly outdated and you have to be very careful if you are walking around in map mode and constantly adjust things with those "merge up" and "merge down" buttons until the map is reasonably updated. Generally I recommend rebuilding the map from scratch and _not_ using the basemap if you want to do anything useful. The base map is good for taking a quick glance at how a certain area looks like, but that's it basically. I already regret implementing that "play mode". Originally it was done to prevent mapping in PK situations where you might accidentally enter an area you haven't mapped but want the mapper to sync you up as quickly as possible instead of creating lots of possible rooms you might have been to. The problem about the latter thing in PK is that you don't immediately see where you actually are in a given situation, but while not PKing you usually have enough time to figure it out and fix the map if necessary. So the original intention is that you play in map mode most of the time and the map gets constantly updated when rooms have been changed. There is a certain tolerance the algorithm will accept. If a change in a room is within that tolerance the room is automatically updated in map mode. However, if you always play in "play mode" no room is ever updated and the changes accumulate until too many rooms in MUME are very different from the rooms in you map, so that the mapper won't find its way anymore.

In order to set door names you can either use the "_setdoor" command from your client (type _help to see how it works) or you can use the GUI. First change to select mode by pressing the "select rooms" button, then mark the room by clicking on it. Then press the "edit selected rooms" button to open the room edit dialog. There you can change all kinds of things about the room. As soon as a direction is marked as exit and door you can enter a door name in the respective field. The exit and door flags should appear automatically when you enter the room while the door is open but you can also just click the check boxes in the "exit flags" widget.
Sarai
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Sarai »

This is probably the single greatest MUME invention known to mankind. Thank you for posting it, Jahara!

EDIT: ARRRGH! I tried making my own map, but it got screwed up because of the way some of the rooms work out (some of them go up/down without actually saying it). Oh, well.
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

The files in the "doc" directory are actually worth a reading, Sarai. Especially the mapping guide. Long story short: When mapping a new area and it's not massively random or south of Bree, just run around without looking at the map for a while, try to visit lots of rooms and then go back to a known area and walk around there until it stops creating rooms and syncs you correctly. The result should be a fairly readable map, with some rooms in odd positions but with few dupes. Now arrange the rooms using the GUI so that it all looks pretty.

Don't rearrange rooms at every single step. The mapping algorithm is designed to figure out rooms and connections by itself and it does so by creating lots of speculative rooms where you might have been. Most of these are auto-deleted later on. If you rearrange rooms while the mapping algorithm is still working it will get confused and produce a worse map.

Mapping randoms and very repetitive areas is a different story. For repetitive areas it's best to precreate empty rooms that are then automatically filled when walking around.
For heavily random areas you might also need to manually create exits and occasionally use the "force to room" button. Actually I don't exactly know how to do that, but I heard that someone mapped old forest using mmapper. Perhaps you can post your experiences here?
Sarai
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Sarai »

Hehe, I'm using the map that came with it...seems to work fine for me. I noticed that there were a couple of "tangled" spots, but aside from that, it seems a-okay.
sphinx
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by sphinx »

too bad i didn't have this when i played back in 02, i never like playing puke side and started a dark character as a newbie, was hard got lost even trying to go to DT from NOC, but i liked it better. Good program don't usually have problems except in certain areas i get red boxes pop up, but you just keep moving and the mapper picks it up again.
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

sphinx: This is how it is supposed to be done. The red rooms are part of the normal operation. Mmapper will _always_ create temporary, red rooms when you map a new area (or fix a heavily outdated one). I'm surprised you only get them in "tangled" spots.

Sarai: I warned you ... you'll see the result eventually.
Jahara
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Jahara »

I ran into a problem myself.

I can't seem to get mmapper2 to save settings under Linux except when I'm running under root. It's bizarre. I have made sure all the flags are correct and that I own the permissions where its being executed and it simply won't save the settings when I restart the mapper.
Alve
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Alve »

It writes its configuration to "$HOME/.config/Caligor soft/MMapper2.conf" (that wasn't my idea but Trolltech's when they determined the standard location for QT config files). If this file isn't writable you get a problem. If that's not the case, does it give any messages if you start it from a terminal?
Jahara
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Jahara »

For some reason that settings folder was owned by root. Thanks :-)
Lolindir
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Lolindir »

Can this mapper pre-load a map made with zMud?
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Sarai
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Re: [HowTo] Install mmapper2 on Windows (Mapper Guide)

Post by Sarai »

Hmm...I'm having a lot of trouble getting my scripts to load now that I'm using MMapper2. Anyone else have problems like this?
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