Mysterious .hwmap format
Hello hedgies,
First of all I did check to see if I could see if this a repost or not but if it is and I overlooked it, my apologies.
I'm wondering what the deal with the .hwmap format. I can see the files only through the game client, they're not displayed in windows explorer. Yes, I've got hidden files visible, I'm looking in the correct directory etc. Actually it's not just explorer, when I go to the directory in command prompt and list files, there's no .hwmap files listed.
I'm not exactly computer illiterate but this has me stumped, the only conclusion I can come to is that the actual .hwmap files are stored within another file which the game client can read but I'm doubtful that this is the case.
Anyway here's a visual of what I'm talking about:
1) the maps, viewed via the game client.
2) the same directory with the maps missing.
3) me trying to copy a game file from the file explorer within the game client to a random directory.
So spooky! Anyway, it's not a huge issue, but I've been asked on a couple of occasions to share my hand drawns here and I would also like to give making some Inkscape maps a go. Most of all I'd just be interested to learn what the deal is here.
Thanks for reading and in advance for any suggestions or answers.
Well, this issue looks like it is more a problem with Windows and Windows Explorer, so it is unrelated to Hedgewars.
I don't know what is wrong with Windows Explorer here, so I can't help you.
This is false.
This is not possible. Hedgewars does not support the SVG format.
Hedgewars developers use SVG only to store the graphics in vector format for later re-use, but for the actual game they are rendered into a PNG format.
As far I know, all maps use the PNG format only.
Yet I strongly suggest you do your maps in SVG format anyways and when you are finished, you just create a PNG out of it. Having a SVG file is good, even if Hedgewars does not support it, because it makes it a lot easier to edit this map later.
For refernce, here are some useful links:
Everything about image maps (maps which use PNG images):
https://code.google.com/p/hedgewars/wiki/PresetMaps
Extremely brief technical explanation of .hwmap format (I doubt it is actually useful for you):
https://code.google.com/p/hedgewars/wiki/DrawnMapFormat
Hi, I am a Hedgewars developer.
Thanks for the reply and the useful info Wuzzy,
So I have a solution as much of a pain as it will be to actually do one day:
Boot up GNU/Linux virtual machine, create a lan game, start the game with Windows host, load my hand drawn, exit so the VM has admin, go to edit the map, then save it on my virtual machine, then transfer it back to my host.
I'm just guessing that this will work, it may not. Actually windows has no problem with the format itself if I create a file.hwmap outside of the game client. So strange.. I've never come across anything like this before with Windows, I wonder if anyone else has the same problem.
That does sound strange. I tested using Windows 7 and have no such problem accessing or moving my .hwmap files around.
It's probably a bit of a stretch but, sometimes Windows puts funny protections on files inside "Program Files". Have you tried copying Hedgewars out of there and seeing if it helps any?
mikade
Hedgewars Developer
I did actually with no luck, I've tried quite a lot of things which I didn't list in the OP. I really appreciate the suggestion though, you could well be on the right lines with the file protection thought.