Map Preview

Part of the Atlas (Scenario Editor) Manual

During the game setup, a map is presented by its map preview image. Eventually it should be possible to generate such previews in Atlas (see #1745), but for now they require some manual work to be made:

1. The initial image can be created in Atlas using the Misc Hacks → Screenshot. It's recommended to show the entire map on preview (see Red Sea preview below as an example) and use as much of the screen space as possible (by adjusting inclination). If fog is present, the fog factor should be reduced, otherwise the zoomed out map would be obstructed too much.
2. The image should be resized to 400x300, embedded into the upper left corner of 512x512 canvas and saved in png format.

   HINT: ​ImageMagick can be used to place the image of a map in the upper left corner on a black canvas.

     convert -size 512x512 canvas:black map_image.png -gravity NorthWest -geometry 400x300+0+0 -composite result.png
   

3. The resulting image should be placed in art/textures/ui/session/icons/mappreview, either inside the local user data (see wiki/GameDataPaths) or inside a mod (see wiki/Modding Guide)
4. To set the preview for a map, the corresponding field ('Preview') on the wiki/Atlas_Manual_Map_Tab can be used.