Paths Guide

What is a Path

Paths are used to draw textures along a curved line in the Battlemap Editor with the Path tool. These textures need to be provided in a special format with necessary metadata so they can placed in the BME.

We call these textures with the metadata Path assets. This page explains the architecture and how to properly set up Path assets in FogMS.

Path asset structure

 

To create a Path in FogMS and make it available in the BME you need to set up a Path asset. Such a path asset consists of multiple images which need to be created separately in FogMS. Unfortunately this is not yet an optimized process but we are already working on future improvements.

In general a Path consists of at least two images which are the Thumbnail and a Path center image and are the bare minimum for a working path.

  • The Thumbnail is stored in a Path which also defines its necessary metadata.
  • The Path center image is store in a Path segment and contains the actual image that gets drawn by the Path tool.

 

Images have to obey following rules:
  • All images have to be horizontally aligned
  • Path centers must repeat seamlessly
  • Path centers must have the same dimensions
  • Path ends always start at the left and are mirrored by the editor if necessary
  • Path ends must connect seamlessly to the right with Path centers on both sides
  • Path ends must have the same height in px as Path centers

 

Example for the images of a Path:

path helper guide

Path asset types in detail

In order to create the most simple Path asset you need to create 2 separate assets types in FogMS. First the Path itself and second a Path center asset.

The following asset types are available:

Asset type

Description Technical requirements
Path

This is mandatory to create a path.

Defines the name, general dimensions and the thumbnail of the path.

All other path images need to be assigned to this asset.

The image is only used as thumbnail by the BME and is not sufficient to define a path.

The image should be between a 16:9 and 21:9 aspect ratio to be displayed properly.

The dimensions define the general size of all other path images (except the thumbnail)

 

Path segment

Segment type:
Path center

At least 1 is mandatory for paths to work properly.

Defines a center image for a path and is drawn by the path tool on the map.

When multiple images are provided the BME randomly alternates between them when drawing a path.

We recommend to add multiple variations for Path centers so it is less repetetive.

Paths centers inherit the dimensions defined by the Path (above)

All images must:

  • be aligned horizontally
  • repeat seamlessly
  • have the same dimensions

Path segment

Segment type:
Path end

Defines an end image for a path and is drawn by the path tool on the map.

Ends are optional and can be placed by the user at either end of the path.

Path ends inherit the height defined by the Path (above)

All images must:

  • be aligned horizontally
  • Start at the left
  • repeat seamlessly to the right
  • have the same height
 

ℹ️  To simplify the creation process we have special fileparser guidelines for Path assetsLearn more about the fileparser >

Example in FogMS

This is an example for a valid Path in FogMS with multiple centers and ends. Make sure all Path segments are assigned to the corresponding Path.

Need help? Ask us directly

Automation is no easy task and this document might be overwhelming.

If you have any questions or ideas for improvement don't hesitate to ask us directly on discord.

 

Open discord
Ask in the #internal-art channel