Ah, cliffs. Yes, harder than it looks. And the same thing is used for river banks, walls, etc.
First, ALL hex graphics are the same size: 287x287 pixels. Including cliff/bank/wall graphics. You'll see that by looking in any palette, say the Basic one, under the Palettes\Basic\Sides\Banks, \Cliffs and \Walls folders. Cliff/Bank graphics have the following features or requirements:
* one cliff graphic is required for each hex side, from 1.gif through 6.gif. Everything but the cliff must be in magenta, so as to be transparent.
* The cliff graphic should be completely opaque (a sold color, without any magenta pixels through it) along the edge of the hex, so as to cover the transition between one level graphic and another.
* Each cliff graphic should blend well with the neighboring cliff graphic, but preferably not leave pieces of it dangling in place when there isn't one next to it. In particular, it must blend well with a neighboring cliff graphic coming from either side, at either end. It's easier to do with irregular graphics, like are used with banks and cliffs, than with your straight line graphic. The Wall graphics have a small "tower" at each end, that are always at the same location, to ease this transition.
* Parts of each cliff graphic need not be exclusive. That is, 1.gif and 2.gif can, and in fact should normally have, a small overlap, allowing them to blend well. It can just be difficult to find the shape that blends well with a graphic coming in from say the upper right, or lower right. But using overlap and blending can usually make them look pretty good.
Yes, I use a template to design new hex graphics. There are two graphics in particular, located in the HeavyMetal\Map\Reference folder. HexMaster-256x222.gif shows a hex which is solid white, with everything transparent that needs to be. You can paint or draw on the white area to create any hex terrain/feature or graphic. HexOutline.gif is all white, with the outline of the hex, and neighboring hexes, shown in black. It's a good one to use to try to create cliffs and other items that depend on the hex line/edge locations.
I use PaintShop Pro, myself (an old version I'm used to), and use Layers continuously. That simulates how HMMap works with graphics, so if I start with the HexOutline, add a layer and draw cliffs or something, I can be sure it's covering the hex edge, and make sure where it goes to and from. Again, the trick is getting the various combinations of "lines" or cliffs (1, 2 or 3 coming together at each point) to look good, using some overlap, but not where it creates "points", as shown on your lines. If you simply take your line graphic, as shown above, and trim the parts that stick out where you don't want them, you can usually come up with a graphic that works pretty well).
For your straight lines, it's fairly simple to take each intersection, and decide what parts of the line /need/ to be there, and what parts are optional, or can be provided by the intersecting lines. This is easier to draw, than to describe, and there are too many small graphics or steps to illustrate here. If your program can read PaintShop Pro files, I can send you something with the layers on it, if you like. If this isn't clear enough, let me know and I can work out some other type of communication.
Lastly, I'm pleased that you're interested, and that you're taking the graphics to a new and possibly better level. Not too many have gotten into it this deeply.
_________________ Rick
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