The way the map generator makes SVGS might confuse inkscape users
ngalerchalegocity60330 opened this issue · comments
Problem
The issue here is that when we ungroup the map in Inkscape, it doesn't ungroup like how I'd expect. I was expecting the map to simply be ungrouped neatly into the ocean, the landmass, and the lakes inside. But when I ungrouped the map in Inkscape, it did not get ungrouped like how I'd expect it to be. I made a youtube video below showing the problem I'm having.
Hello and thanks for the cool and very clear video. Unfortunately we have to use multiple masks and Inkscape and other svg editor cannot handle masks properly. They don't show them visually so most users are getting confused. We can remove masks from the svg output, but it will make it look worse. So I don't know how it can be fixed. Maybe we can add a separate 'export' with unmasked svg layers only, I'm not sure
Hi Azgaar, thank you very much for the comment. Yeah I was actually worried that the map generator's algorithm wouldn't work well for making SVG maps haha. Unfortunate to hear that Inkscape and editors for SVGs can't handle the mask-heavy algorithm you have implemented for the map generator...
Funny story, I had no idea how weird the map generator was until I started playing with the SVG maps in Inkscape. My approach to this was that I would actually try to make my own custom high contrast color scheme to try and make it clearer what I was dealing with, then weed out the weird layers until I was eventually left with what I wanted. While it did help some, I thought that I didn't want to have to deal with this process just to be able to make a map.
Looking at your comment and my experience, I was thinking of a "function over form" map generation mode, where there's no masks, so there's no fancy aesthetics like shading, just all the stuff needed to make a map, like coastline, labels, cultural boundaries, height maps and such. Maybe some colors but for differentiation purposes.
That would have the added benefit of being able to come up with your own aesthetic later on when you modify the map in an editing program. The only problem is that I have no idea how easy would it be to implement considering the current state of the map generator.
Anyway thanks for the comment. Happy times and happy places, and Cheers.
Solution: prepare a simplified SVG version export
Closing as not planned for the nearest future (added to the backlog in Trello)