Vintage Story Map Exporter

Hey! Just wanted to say thanks to SiiMeR for this great tool. The code really helped me understand how the minimap database is structured. 🙏

Back when I was looking for a way to extract the minimap as an image, I couldn't run this exporter on my MacBook or Steam Deck (Linux), so I ended up writing my own cross-platform version in Python. If anyone’s looking for a CLI-based alternative that works on Linux/macOS/Windows, you can check it out here:

👉 VS Map Renderer

It renders the entire explored map (or a bounding box) to a pixel-perfect PNG and supports large sizes with no hard limits. Still evolving, but fully usable. Feedback welcome!

SiiMeR

The map isn't disabled but the coordinate system is. Good call. I'm the admin so imo the command should work anyway but I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't matter

Interesting, it has been working for me. Are you sure you are not playing on a map disabled server? Taeo

The source is linked at the top of this mod, under both Homepage and Source koniu699

Fair I failed to use absolute numbers. Works like a charm. Mind sharing code base? I see some improvements I could do.  SiiMeR

.cp aposi doesn't seem to work in 1.20.x multiplayer, any other way to get the absolute position if it is not what you see on the map?

Hi, maybe you are using wrong coordinates. The program is expecting absolute coordinates, not what you see on your HUD. koniu699

Hi, when I load a map file I got information that 0 chunks was loaded and then the app exits. Any idea what might be wrong?

Swend there was a typo that broke the script, the new one is here:

https://gist.github.com/achenalia/d2871cd702137825355b265865a53730

@petrichor I don't know enough to be sure, but the error comes when it tries to save a file, so there is some chance it has problems with permissions. Try moving the folder or running the exe as administrator?

Not sure what I am doing incorrectly:

Reading map DB...
Loaded 29733 chunks from map DB
Creating tile (0, 0) with bounds (0, 0) to (8000, 7744)
Saving tile to map_tile_0_0.png
Unhandled exception. System.Runtime.InteropServices.ExternalException (0x80004005): A generic error occurred in GDI+.
at System.Drawing.SafeNativeMethods.Gdip.CheckStatus(Int32 status)
at System.Drawing.Image.Save(String filename, ImageCodecInfo encoder, EncoderParameters encoderParams)
at System.Drawing.Image.Save(String filename, ImageFormat format)
at VintageStoryDBToPNG.Program.CreateAndSaveTiledImages(List`1 mapPieces, Int32 chunkWidth, Int32 chunkHeight, Int32& finalWidth, Int32& finalHeight) in C:\Users\siimr\Desktop\VSMods\vintagestory-map-to-png\Program.cs:line 134
at VintageStoryDBToPNG.Program.CreateMapWithBounds(Int32 minX, Int32 maxX, Int32 minY, Int32 maxY, String mapFileName) in C:\Users\siimr\Desktop\VSMods\vintagestory-map-to-png\Program.cs:line 65
at VintageStoryDBToPNG.Program.Main() in C:\Users\siimr\Desktop\VSMods\vintagestory-map-to-png\Program.cs:line 13

I wrote a script to automate converting from relative to absolute coords. Just drop in the same folder as the config and exe, and edit the file directly with the values.

https://gist.github.com/Swend5/ec5258e4da6eda03eb5dc42d3f2b6b88

SiiMeR you can of course also add it to the mod if you would want to.

You could try some online bitmap or pixel art upscaler. 

WildEwok

Is there a way to increase the resolution of the output image? Say I only want to export a map that's 500x500 for planning purposes. I'm able to zoom in on the native map in game so that each block is more than 1px, but it doesn't seem to export nicely so I can zoom in to the same resolution when using the tool. Can you help me out with that?

DanaCraluminum That's good to know. I had a few classes of C++ in college, but that was over 15 years ago. 

Jarrett The game is not in Java, but in C#

I am not great with java, but I was able to eventually figure this out. 

Here are some more user friendly instructions.

1. While in-in game, type ".cp aposi" in chat
2. Open note pad and paste the coordinates. It should look like this "X=512110,Y=115,Z=512030" ... Note that the Z= value is actually the Y value that you will be using below...
3. Exit out of the game (this may not be necessary, but I think it is a good idea)
4. Download the zip file
5. Export it wherever
6. Open file location in browser window
7. edit "config.json" using notepad (I use Visual Studio Code, but notepad works)
8. Open a 2nd browser window and navigate to where your map .db file is located. It should be in C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\VintagestoryData\Maps (replace <your user name> to the appropriate user profile).
9. Find the most recent map .db file (I looked for the most recently modified one).
10. Right click, copy and paste it to the same directory (this is making a back up in case the program breaks the original) - Image Link
11. copy the full file path and file name and replace the section in the mapfile line with it (between the two quotes)
12. Take the coordinates you got above - Image Link
    1. subtract 5000 to the X value in your coordinates that you copied earlier from the game... that is you MinX value
    2. add 5000 to the X value in your coordinates that you copied earlier from the game... that is you MaxX value
    3. subtract 5000 to the Z value in your coordinates that you copied earlier from the game... that is you MinY value
    4. add 5000 to the Z value in your coordinates that you copied earlier from the game... that is you MaxY value
13. After you have edited the 5 lines in the config.json file, save it (you don't need to close it... though you should be done with it) - Image Link
14. Run the VintageStoryDBToPNG application file in the same directory as the config.json file
15. That should be it... the .png image file should be saved in the same directory as the config.json file and be named something like map_tile_0_0.png - Image Link

I hope this helps anyone overcome the hurdles that slowed me down! 

@Wahazar

This is expected. The image manipulation methods in .NET don't support images over some size (I think it was 12k by 12k). 

So what I did was generate small chunks and then try to stitch them together. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, you have to stitch them together yourself. 

Unfortunately program crashed when tried to stich together map tiles (map size was above 40k blocks, I was travelling a lot).

System.ArgumentException: Parameter is not valid. at System.Drawing.SafeNativeMethods.Gdip.CheckStatus(Int32 status)

I guess there is issue with too short longint...

It took me several attempts, but finally I was able to generate whole map.

Note to users not familiar with json: data path in config needs double slashes \\

Hey

If you install the Medieval Map mod, you must re-explore every chunk to make the game repaint the chunks. I think referencing the game config to color the maps during exporting would be great, but I am not sure how easy that is. Maybe I will add it in a future version (kinda busy right now). The same goes for the default coloring of the background.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

A suggestion:

It seems that by default, the export contains only chunks that have been explored, but for the purposes of stitching together several images into larger one, or layering images from several players into a larger one, would it be possible to have an option that fills the "empty" space up to the edge of the defined position edges? That way I can predictably export the same area from multiple maps and layer them, or step over another 10k in a given direction and stick that image right by the last one I exported.

anyways, amazing mod though!

Heeeey again, so the exporting is working great for me! Awesome work! Only issue is I'm not getting the Medievil Map Mod colors, but instead the regular map colors. Is there a place to double-check the config for it? Does the program reference the game files at all for colors? I'm on 18.xx atm.

Ahhhhh, okay, I just didn't use absolute coordinates, thanks 👍 

Hey,

The error indicates that the coordinates you provided didn't have any map chunks in them.

Are the coordinates correct? Keep in mind that they need to be absolute coordinates, not the ones shown in the Map view. You can get the absolute coordinates of your current position by running the .cp aposi command in your chat. From there, you have to play around with the numbers a bit. 

Hope this helps!

Hey Siimer, love the idea here! I seem to be having trouble running it though. I'm getting this error when running the exe: 

My config looks like:

Love seeing my city of Nova Cale in the thumbnail😊! Thank you so much for this SiiMeR! 💕

This only works for areas you have already discovered. Basically, anything you see in the in-game map view is exported

Does this reveal the map areas under the fog of war or only the areas you've discovered?