Call of Duty 4: Minimap Stock Like

Advanced tutorial using Adobe Photoshop to create Minimap Images just like in COD4 Stock maps.

Visual reference

download the Nvidia dds Photoshop Plugin and install it
get a stock minimap out of an IWD, compass_mp_*.iwi
convert it to dds using iwi2dds or iwi_x_dds
load it in photoshop and have a look at the channels. RGB = color, Alpha = transparency.
use the stock minimap to look up and pick the Infinity Ward colors

color: #bedfe7
thickness: 6 px

you may turn on the arrow feature, width & length set to a minimum and roundness all the way up
when finished outlining, reduce the line shapes to a single layer (this will rasterize and merge them)
use the fill options to create the glow effect (outer glow, looks best if you use a custom gradient with slate blue - dark green - lightgreen)
add a drop shadow and adjust the parameters, suggestion:

angle: 129°
distance: 4 px
overfill: 16%
size: 6 px
contour: first curve in the second row (looks like a sinus growth)

you can use the polygon-lasso-tool to create selections for inaccessable areas (like buildings)
fill it with a cyan-darkgreen (or any color and "overwrite" it using an overlay color in the fill options)
turn the layer opacity down and go thru the blending modes to find a good looking one

use the lasso tool to select the playable area. smooth the selection and add feather (10-20 px i guess)
click the vector mask button for a smooth transition from opaque (playable area) to transparent (non-playable area)
create a new layer underneath the feathered minimap and fill it with color: #4d4d4d

go to the channels window, add new (Alpha 1)
fill it with color: #464646
create a gradient from #595959 (non-playable area) to #acacac (playable area) in the shape of the outer outline
this is a bit tricky, you can create a lasso selection, fill, contract, fill etc.
- or use the brush tool and paint with hardness set to 0% (smooth border)
hold Ctrl and click on the thumbnail of the outline layer to create a selection
you might have to contract it by 1-2 px
go back to the channel window and select the alpha channel
fill the selection with white (#f9f9f9); you don't have to use the color bucket, but hit the delete key while having the background color set to white

RGB View

ALPHA View

ALPHA+RGB View (transparency in 50% red)

Closer look at the cyan lines with green glow and black drop shadow

Picking the base line color

By CodemanX