Winter event gift maps

[AboveTheChemist]

Please limit discussion/feedback in this thread to the use and development of this mod. Thanks!

 

In order to facilitate the collection of the clickable gifts that appear throughout various zones during the winter event, I developed a set of in-game maps depicting the location of each gift in the 25 zones that contain clickable gifts during the winter event. These maps replace the existing in-game maps for those zones. Notes regarding map installation, map use and symbology, as well as map development and other notes, are contained in the spoiler sections below.

 

Please, at the very least, read the sections on Installation and Removing/Deleting Old Installations, as most of the answers to questions I receive are contained in those two sections.

 

If anyone would like to use this mod as a starting point to build your own mod, please feel free to do so. All I ask is that I be acknowledged for the work that has been done to date, and that you take credit for any modifications that you make to this menu.

 

Here's an example of one of the maps (Atlas Park):

 

 

 

This mod can be installed either via City Mod Installer, or via manual installation. For those that might prefer to remove this mod when not needed, uninstallation instructions are included. An offline version is available at this link.

 

Installation

Spoiler

The current version of the winter event gift maps is available via the City Mod Installer as Winter Event Gift maps (version 1). Installing via City Mod Installer is the (strongly) recommended installation method.

 

Manual installation is via a .pigg file (named maps_winter.pigg) available on Google Drive at the link below:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tyDd7vbETOGPp7QM7YOu4lFSvev-Yrwn

 

For manual installation, locate the root folder for your CoH installation (which I'll refer to as <CoH Root Folder>). If using the new Homecoming Launcher, click the settings button (which looks like a little gear) in the upper right corner of the HC launcher. When the settings window appears, the installation location is shown at the top of the window. The following screenshot illustrates what you will see (the settings button appears in green here):

 

 

If using Tequila or Island Rum, you will either need to search for the install folder manually, or you should be able to check the properties of the shortcut used to launch Tequila/Island Rum, and the installation location should be listed there.

 

The .pigg file is a self-contained archive that functions identically to the .pigg files that contain all of the game data. It should be placed in:

<CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods

If your <CoH Root Folder>\assets folder does not contain a directory named 'mods', please create a directory named 'mods' within <CoH Root Folder>\assets and place the maps_winter.pigg file within.

 

The final step is to modify your game launch parameters to tell the game to check your <CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods folder for the new mod by adding the following text:

-assetpath assets\mods

This is a one-time change so if your launch parameters have already been modified to add the above text, then there is no need to do it again. Instructions for locating and modifying your launch parameters can be found in the post at this link.

 

Users that have one or more existing launch parameters can simply add a space at the end of the existing parameter(s) before adding the new parameter.

 

When gift collection is complete, the user may wish to uninstall this mod depending on the user's in-game map preference.

 

Removing/Deleting Old Installations

Spoiler

Users that had previously installed the winter event gift maps either manually or using the CoH Modder tool will need to remove or delete their old installations in order for the new version to be visible in game. This is because the installation process now uses a .pigg file and the old process installed the mod files individually into the <CoH Root Folder>\data folder.

 

Old versions of the winter event gift maps were installed to the following folders:

<CoH Root Folder>\data\texture_library\MAPS\static
<CoH Root Folder>\data\texture_library\V_MAPS\static

The folders listed above must be relocated or deleted in order for the new version to work correctly.

 

Use and Symbology

Spoiler

These maps will appear via the in-game map window (or in your web browser if using the offline version). Each winter event gift will appear as a green gift tied with red ribbon, as detailed in the example below. Simply travel to the gift marker and look for the large glowing gift.

 

With the exception of the Warburg map, which is shown in the example below, the gift markers do not indicate whether the gift is at ground level or above/below ground level. If the gift isn't readily visible on the ground, look nearby on rooftops, under structures, or for below ground areas. Most gifts will either be on the ground or on rooftops, and some will be more cleverly hidden than others.

 

In the case of the Warburg map, several gifts are located within the tunnel complex, which is depicted on the map. Gifts located within the tunnel complex are depicted as a red gift tied with green ribbon.

 

Warburg map example:

 

 

 

The zone maps themselves are the stock game maps (without typical vidiotmap markers) that have been lightened slightly so that the gift icons will appear more prominently.

 

Development

Spoiler

Detailed surveys of each zone were obtained by traversing each zone in a grid pattern while recording a demo file of the search. The gift locations were then parsed out of the demo files and loaded into GIS software to facilitate map production.

 

I won't delve into the entire (complex) process of map production, but if anyone is curious feel free to contact me and I can explain further.

 

While I am confident that I found all available gifts, I cannot be 100% certain that I found them all. I also checked other zones which might contain gifts, but only those zones containing gifts are included here. If anyone finds a gift or gifts that I missed, or a zone that contains gifts that is not included here, please let me know and I will add them.

 

Available Zones

Spoiler

Winter event gift maps are available for the following zones:

 

Hero

Atlas Park
Brickstown
Faultline
Founders' Falls
Independence Port
Kings Row
Peregrine Island
Skyway City
Steel Canyon
Talos Island

Co-op

Kallisti Wharf

 

Villain

Cap au Diable
Grandville
Mercy Island
Nerva Archipelago
Port Oakes
St. Martial
Sharkhead Isle

 

Praetoria

First Ward
Imperial City
Neutropolis
Nova Praetoria

 

PVP

Bloody Bay
Siren's Call
Warburg

 

Efficient Gift Collection

Spoiler

I performed a cursory analysis of the density of gifts within each zone, using several different methods. The list below ranks the zones from the shortest average distance between gifts, to the longest average distance between gifts. The rankings change slightly depending on method used, and some zones will have heavier competition from other players for gifts, so please use this list as a general guide rather than an absolute truth.

 

In general, those wishing to collect gifts quickly should choose a zone from near the top of the list, and avoid the zones near the bottom of the list.

Warburg
Sirens Call
Atlas Park
Nova Praetoria
Imperial City
Mercy Island
Sharkhead Isle
Faultline
Port Oakes
Cap au Diable
Founders Falls
Grandville
Steel Canyon
Kings Row
Bloody Bay
Brickstown
Neutropolis
St Martial
Talos Island
Peregrine Island
First Ward
Skyway City
Nerva Archipelago
Kallisti Wharf
Independence Port

 

Update Log

Spoiler

Nov 19, 2021:

• Initial publication

Sep 24, 2022:

• Update some maps to account for changes in base maps

Oct 03, 2022:

• Added seasonal variant Atlas Park map to account for internal changes to how the Atlas Park map is handled
• Uploaded mod to CoH Modder tool as Winter Event Gift Maps (v3)

Oct 12, 2022:

• Added remaining seasonal variant Atlas Park maps to account for internal changes to how the Atlas Park map is handled
• Uploaded mod to City Mod Installer as Winter Event Gift maps (version 1)

 

Edited February 24 by AboveTheChemist

[AboveTheChemist]

Post reserved for future use.

[twospirited]

ok, w/e's done to create this, complete overlays vidiotmaps mod, and adds a white washed out look to the map in general. any chance this can be fixed?

[AboveTheChemist]

2 hours ago, twospirited said:

ok, w/e's done to create this, complete overlays vidiotmaps mod, and adds a white washed out look to the map in general. any chance this can be fixed?

It's not something that I plan to fix because what you describe is this mod working as intended. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough about this point, but these maps are meant to be used instead of vidiotmaps (or whatever in-game maps are currently in use, if not vidiotmaps) when you want to focus on gift collection once the winter event starts. When you are finished collecting gifts, then un-install this mod (directions are in the top post) to return to using your preferred in-game maps (vidiotmaps or otherwise). I tested a version with the gifts overlain on vidiotmaps, but the maps were just too cluttered with symbols, so these maps are the stock zone maps overlain with a light white transparency to help the gift markers stand out.

Edited November 20, 2021 by AboveTheChemist
clarification

[Troo]

@AboveTheChemist awesome.

[AboveTheChemist]

I've updated both the CoH modder installation and the manual installation files in the top post to include a new seasonal variant of Atlas Park map. Users will not notice any difference in the Atlas Park map appearance. This change was necessary due to some internal changes with respect to how the Atlas Park map is handled during seasonal events.

 

I don't imagine anyone would need to use this mod at the moment (since the winter gifts won't be available for another couple of months), but on the off chance that someone is using it, then this update will allow them to continue to use it without interruption. If you notice that your Atlas Park map has reverted to the stock map, then installing this update should cause the Atlas Park winter gift map to display once again.

[AboveTheChemist]

I have updated the top post to account for the new mod installation tool that Michiyo developed. Part of that update changes the manual installation process from a zip archive of individual files, to a single .pigg archive. Users will need to refer to the installation instructions in the top post to account for this new installation process. I also added a section for removal/deletion of the old installation, which will be necessary in order for the new installation to work. Going forward, I think this new installation process will greatly simplify mod installation, particularly for mods with multiple files such as this.

 

There were some minor map additions, which are noted in the update log.

[AboveTheChemist]

Seasonal bump for the holiday event, if anyone needs an in-game map to aid in finding presents. It does temporarily overwrite vidiotmaps, but it can easily be uninstalled once you've had your fill of presents.

[littlegems]

i don't know how to uninstall the winter event map and have the current regular vidiot maps again.

 

[AboveTheChemist]

9 hours ago, littlegems said:

i don't know how to uninstall the winter event map and have the current regular vidiot maps again.

 

If you installed the winter gift maps via the City Mod Installer, then open City Mod Installer, click Winter Event Gift maps in the installed mod list, and click Uninstall.

 

If you installed the winter maps manually by copying maps_winter.pigg into:

 

<CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods

 

Then simply open that folder and delete maps_winter.pigg from that location.

 

If you installed the winter maps prior to mid-October 2022, then please refer to the Removing/Deleting Old Installations section of the top post for removal instructions. If this is the case, you'll probably need to re-install vidiotmaps. Instructions for that can be found in the top post of the vidiotmaps thread. I strongly suggest using City Mod Installer to re-install, and you'll probably need to also follow the Removing/Deleting Old Installations section of the top post of the vidiotmaps thread to fully remove the old version of vidiotmaps.

[littlegems]

On 6/28/2023 at 9:46 AM, AboveTheChemist said:

 

If you installed the winter gift maps via the City Mod Installer, then open City Mod Installer, click Winter Event Gift maps in the installed mod list, and click Uninstall.

 

If you installed the winter maps manually by copying maps_winter.pigg into:

 

<CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods

 

Then simply open that folder and delete maps_winter.pigg from that location.

 

If you installed the winter maps prior to mid-October 2022, then please refer to the Removing/Deleting Old Installations section of the top post for removal instructions. If this is the case, you'll probably need to re-install vidiotmaps. Instructions for that can be found in the top post of the vidiotmaps thread. I strongly suggest using City Mod Installer to re-install, and you'll probably need to also follow the Removing/Deleting Old Installations section of the top post of the vidiotmaps thread to fully remove the old version of vidiotmaps.

i know it's really late to be replying to these instructions, but i just wanted to say thank you for the help. i was able to finally do it and see my badge map again.

 

[AboveTheChemist]

Forgot to bump this once the winter event started, but better late than never if anyone needs an in-game map to aid in finding presents. It temporarily overwrites vidiotmaps (for the maps that have gifts), but it can easily be uninstalled once you've had your fill of presents.