


the circled cells are the same value as the random values, the rest is calculated.Īn example is the 0,51 (yellow box).

An octave of 2 means that only every 4th random value is used, the values in between are calculated based on these values. An octave is basically setting the smoothness: the higher the octave, the smoother the outcome. In order to smoothen it we will only take some values. The calculation here starts off with the grid filled with pseudo random values. The trick for that is using Perlin Noise Perlin Noise example In order to make a more credible map, land masses need to be clumped together, which is basically smoothening the random values. The issue is that the map just based on the random numbers from Step 2 looks like this (top 40% of random values are land here): For this we need one more extra input: the percentage of land that the user wants. The next step is to use these random numbers to create land and sea. I added some conditional formatting for easier visual checks. Standardize these values to the range 0-1, so they can be used easier. In Excel function: =MOD(48271*A1,2^31-1) - this is the Lehmer random number generator Step 2 Based on this seed and the dimensions of the map, the grid is filled with pseudo-random numbers. The map making Step 1Īs a base for the map, I started off with one cell where the user has to put in a "seed value", a number greater than 0 which is the base for the whole map. As in: you can pick a random seed, but given the same seed, it should give the same outcome. It has to have a random factor, but should be deterministic in its outcome. Using just excel functions the tool can create a 64x48 tiles map. This is an example of what the tool generates: Technical This article is about the map creator I made. As Civilization used to be a simple squares-based map, I found Excel an easy and visual tool to get this done. For a Civilization-like game I like to play (freeware, ) I wanted to create better maps.
