How to, Manage custom maps with SMRMapShifter.exe
2009 June 7
Due to a limitation of the program you will have to change the file extension on zip files to .7z instead of .zip in order for the program to recognize them,David should be able to fix this.
Note: This program requires the Microsoft .NET framework to run, Windows Vista and Windows Seven ahould already have the required files.
Warnning: This program works by deleting the files that currently reside in Usermaps, do not use if you are creating a map or have other customized files saved in Usermaps. Should not be a problem for most users.
Instructions:
- Download any number of maps from the map database
- Just like when you move files by hand “My Games/Sid Meier’s Railroads!” must be empty, if your is not see this post here
- Copy the .7z files you downloaded all into one folder, it does not matter which folder.
- Run SMR-MapShifter and select the folder where you stored the maps.
- Optionally you may go into the settings menu and select if Sid Meier’s Railraods!.exe is to be launched after the files are moved, sadly this feature does not work if Sid Meier’s Railraods!.exe is not in the default directory.
- Select the map from the list and press the “Shift the Map!” button.
- The files have now been moved over and you may now select the new map from within Sid Meier’s Railroads!
- To play another map just run SMR-MapShifter again and select another map, the press “Shift the Map!”. The program will take care of clearing the /usermaps folder and then copy the new map over.
Download MapShifter installer | 468KB
16 Responses
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Your link to SMRMapShifter does not work, the link seems to be invalid, have you moved or deleted it, if so where can I get it now?
I’m sorry I don’t know what might have since I posted. I will fix when I get back to my desktop. Sorry my phone is hard to write with and usless for fixing.
Ok so I figured out what was doing it, silly urls are case sensitive and the installer is “Setup.exe”. Thank you for pointing this problem out.
I have to try this yet
When I try to use this on Win7 I get the following error:
Unhandled exception has occured in your application:
Could not find dirctory ‘C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier’s Railroads!\Usermaps
I can email you the exception text if you’d like. I suspect the the problem is that in the filesystem path it’s “My Documents” not just “Documents”.
What you need to do is open the map manager and open the “settings” menu. Then edit the first text box with the correct folder.
This should have been completed automatically, or at least I thought it would do so.
Figured out the problem was I had a space in the name of the folder where my maps were stored:
My custom maps were on “E:\SMR Maps” — renamed that to “E:\SMR” and it worked fine, no error.
When Repacking make sure that the FPK and scenario files are packaged at the root of the 7z. otherwise this will make SMR crash when loading the map. I found this out the hard way
If the files come downloaded as a conventional .zip file, then unpack the files to a temporary folder and then re-pack them as a .7z file. The map shifter then should be able to recognize the files.
That would of course work, but is unnecessary since you only need to change the file extension from .zip to .7z
A note for you new map makers. If your map you are working on is in the UserMaps folder, it WILL get deleted! One way to avoid this, rename the UserMaps folder you are working in by adding the name of your map to the end of it and then create a new UserMaps folder. When you want to work on your map again, just delete the UserMaps folder and rename the one you are working on. A second way is to zip your map and move it to another location. This also gives you a back-up.
Oh no I hope there isn’t an unfortunate story behind that warning.
Unfortunately, yup….. http://hawkdawg.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1761#p24168
I’ve added a warning to the page, hopefully that should save someone in the future, thank you for letting me know.
………………………………………………………..Doesnt work”
There is nothing wrong with the maps you been mentioning.
You have to check your system setup.
Do you have patch 1.1O installed?
Do you start with an absolutely clean UserMaps folder?
Do you have the .Exe compatibility set Windows XP Service pack 2, or Service pack 3?
Do you have enough Ram? Large maps use more memory.
If you still have problems, check out the discussions on the Forum. There is link on the top of the page, just click on it.
You will find all the help there.
And stay away from the MapShifter. Use it when you feel comfortable with the game setup.