Custom Track Tutorial/Minimap

Minimap Creation
Programs: Subtutorials:
 * Wiimm's SZS Tools by Wiimm
 * mkdd track editor by Yoshi2
 * Converting Images

Minimaps are less subjective than the previous steps, so stricter advice can be gen.
 * Each minimap image has the dimensions of 128px in length, 256px in height
 * Course minimaps are in grayscale, while battle minimaps are colored. However, a course can load a colored minimap.
 * Colored minimaps for courses are often difficult to see (defeating their purpose), and whenever implemented so far, they have looked plain bad. Don't color your course minimap.
 * The transparency of the minimap is applied by the game; all minimap image pixels are either fully opaque or transparent. Basically, use the CMPR image format.
 * Cannons and notable areas of offroad (such as the pit in Dry Dry Desert) are usually indicated in gray.

 Creating a mimimap image in Blender
 * 1) Trace over the road collision mesh/object with a Nurbs curve.
 * 2) Solidify the curve by going to the “Modifier” section and adding a “Solidify” modifier. The thickness of the Solidify modifier will determine how thick the outline will be.
 * 3) The outline is a faux outline in which the solidified curve is duplicated, and further thickened and extruded less.

 Creating a minimap image using the mkdd track editor 
 * 1) Load the .bco into the course editor, and make everything invisible. If only one road collision flag it used, highlight it. Take a screenshot of the main workspace.
 * 2) In an editing software, get rid of all the non-road pixels, and make the resulting image white.
 * 3) Shrink the image to fit into a 128x256 image. Apply a 1-3 px solid colored black outline.

Changing game Minimap positions
 * 1) In the mkdd track editor, Minimap -> Load Minimap Image, also, load the .bco
 * 2) Move the corners so that the .bco/.bmd and the image line up
 * 3) Minimap -> Save data to JSON. This will create a file that can be shared to others who want to play the course.
 * 4) Minimap -> Save data to .dol. Then, choose the .dol that will affect your gameplay. This will edit the actual .dol so that the minimap works in-game.

Auxiliary Files
Programs:
 * MKDD Text Maker by tarsa129
 * Wiimm's SZS Tools by Wiimm
 * Any image editing software

Miscellaneous Notes:
 * The standard for new courses is to release in all the languages found in a PAL .iso. Some creators have also released courses with Japanese, but not all.
 * The font used in Double Dash is Super Mario Script 3, but you do not need to install this font to make the images.
 * The numbering system for battle maps for the relevant files in the section is different from the numbering system of the .arcs. Additionally, how a course is referred to changes between different files. A complete list of Scenedata and .arc names / numbers can be found here

Course Name To make a course name using the MKDD Text Maker:
 * Found in-game in the course select menu / anywhere the course name shows up
 * Found in Filesystem/SceneData/English/courseselect.arc/timg/coname_ .bti (course) or Filesystem/SceneData/English/mapselect.arc/timg/mozi_map.bti (battle arena)
 * 1) The default setup is meant for course names. Do not do change anything that the rest of this part does not mention.
 * 2) Type the name of the course into the text box at the top. Then, press the "Make Text" button to generate the text.
 * 3) If your course is a retro track, set the "Prefix" to be from the correct game. If not, leave the prefix as "None".
 * 4) If needed, adjust the space between words and the horizontal scaling. Do not change the vertical scaling from 100.
 * 5) To save, choose one of the options from the "Save Image" menu. The default save option (Ctrl+s) will create a .png file with the entered text in the same directory as the .exe.

Course icon To make one: Making the text using the MKDD Text Maker: The rest of your course icon is done in the image editor.
 * Found in the records section of the game (smaller) / before a grand prix match (larger)
 * Any file in Filesystem/CourseName/English (Grand Prix logo - 208 x 104) or Filesystem/SceneData/English/coursename.arc/timg (Records screen logo - 144 x 72)
 * Only courses have two files - battle maps only have have the larger file
 * This file represents, in one image, what your course is all about.
 * 1) The name of the course/map appears on the logo. In vanilla, the text is in the same font as the course name, and the inside of the text is colored with a gradient.
 * 2) The MKDD Text Maker is capable of generating gradients in text via the Color->Text Color->Gradient Editor menu option.
 * 3) Under the "Image Size" menu, click on "Auto Size (something x 32)". This will adjust the length of the generated image to match the input text. If the course name is long, this will allow the entire name course name to be generated in one image without the letters being squished together.
 * 4) Double-clicking the image display will cause the generated image to be copied to your clipboard (with a gray background) for direct copy-paste into the image editor.
 * 1) The background image usually has multiple objects / elements of the course. If the course is themed after a character, a render of them should appear in the icon.
 * 2) In vanilla, every element has a black outline. This can help with distinguishing elements in the image from each other. Additionally, it helps the image stand out from the background when it is displayed in-game.
 * 3) When shown by the game, there is "bounding box" for the icon. Icons that are "cut off" on more than the bottom side usually do not look good.

Course thumbnail To make one:
 * Found in the course select menu when a course is highlighted
 * Found in Filesystem/SceneData/English/courseselect.arc/timg/cop_.bti (courses) or Filesystem/SceneData/English/mapselect.arc/timg/battlemapsnap.bti (battle stages)
 * 1) Open up your course in DouBOL Dash, a 3d modeling program, [noclip.website], or use in-game and use Dolphin’s free camera option. The latter is the best option if the course is item-heavy.
 * 2) Navigate to an iconic spot in your course, and take a screenshot.
 * 3) Crop/Resize that screenshot down to the 256 x 184 px in an image editor.

'''After converting with wimgt, hex edit the bytes at 0x06 and 0x07 to both be “00”. This will ensure that the images are not messed up on Nintendont.'''