6000km Map: Anybody want to work with this...?

[FastCargo 412]

Just to let you know, the 6k x 6k terrain works right out of the gate...didn't have to do anything to use it. Obviously it's unfinished, but the basics are there.

 

For those inclined, this may be the perfect terrain to play with our current and future Mach 3 players...anyone want to run with this?

 

FC

[+SidDogg 130]

Just to let you know, the 6k x 6k terrain works right out of the gate...didn't have to do anything to use it. Obviously it's unfinished, but the basics are there.

 

For those inclined, this may be the perfect terrain to play with our current and future Mach 3 players...anyone want to run with this?

 

FC

 

I, actually, HAVE been working with the Baikal terrain...on and off.

 

Last time WAS about two years ago...

 

The reason? it's so big, finding accurate coordinates takes ages, and I got MAD impatient.

 

If one might find a good texture set to use, that incorporates all regions and climates...

 

then place and texture all desired bases and target areas...It's like a new Double D's map! no messing around...

 

I found other things also.

 

since the distances are accurate...crop it off some, and you get a realistic JASDF mod...

 

or perhaps even a realistically distanced Korea mod, kind of like FreeFalcon's Korea128.

 

 

 

SidDogg

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

FC, Good to hear!!! I can't tile. The sweet thing about blank tiles is they allow clean viewing of the texture map in TE while at wide angle view. I found this is useful for making the map, while "real" tiles can be swapped in later, using the same file names.

 

Another thing I used recently is making a one pixel wide white border on each blank, which creates a grid on the map in game. Its good for measuring distances visually without having to get down with the roving camera. The grid also offers a rather interesting "TRON" look, you know the movie. That might give somebody ideas for the SF fantasy mod forum.

 

 

======================

 

 

Sid -- its better to make a dedicated 2k or 3k map for a smaller selected region. The 3dem software allows accurate map making at high lattitudes, far more accurate than the old cut and paste method I used on this experimental map. On this old map, I compromised terrain detail to get the 6k size, so cropping may not be the best idea since a smaller map can better tolerate more terrain detail.

 

To find coordinates, do you run the game and use free camera with highly tweaked settings? I find placement easy. I can poastup my free camera view settings.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Lexx_Luthor

[+SidDogg 130]

 

Sid -- its better to make a dedicated 2k or 3k map for a smaller selected region. On this old thing, I compromised terrain detail to get the 6k size, so cropping is not the best idea since a smaller map can better tolerate more terrain detail.

 

To find coordinates, do you run the game and use free camera with highly tweaked settings? I find placement easy. I can poastup my free camera view settings.

 

I already DID make an attempt at that lol

 

Look, I'd love nothing more than to be able to use the entire map. My main issue is, finding the right texture map for the height map and being able to apply it. Sure, most of Asia might be green, but the Himalayas, Arctic, and Greenland regions are on the same map, and are QUITE differently colored, of course. Even at low elevations...

 

See what I mean? Honestly, I wouldn't mind a long range strike mission or two...

[FastCargo 412]

Interesting...very interesting...

 

FC

[Wrench 9,707]

you just have to combine tile sets ... off the existing Himilaya map, DBS, GermanyCE, Desert, etc. The real, 1stClast unadulterated cast iron bitch, is making all the f***ing transitions between them all. THAT is the nightmare.

 

As to accurate (depending on the dates/timeframe you want), I have a source for USACE maps....

 

wrench

kevin stein

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

Its a summer map. The texture map is basic, and can take on as much work as one desires. I only used auto tiling with this short lived experiment, then abandoned it as obsolete. Manually adding areas of texture can be done in TE, and also in the texture map bmp for importation, which is something I never thought of at the time. Wrench gave me that idea recently.

 

Sid, I don't understand what you are saying about coordinates. Poast a rough example problem similar to something that gave you problems with coordinates.

 

--

 

I'll poast my free camera setup. The trick is...

 

ZoomScale=0.001 has slow acceleration for detail look at objects. Open the VIEWLIST.ini file, and under FreeViewClass, and add a leading "1" to get...

 

ZoomScale=10.001, which gives 10,000 times faster camera acceleration for flying across a huge map. Then save the file and exit and run the game.

 

 

I don't recall if this came stock, but if not, then I moved my FreeViewClass to the top of the file fore easy access, and renumbered everything else. I don't remember if I did this or the file came stock like this, with free cam at the top.

 

[ViewClass001]

ViewClassName=FreeViewClass

ViewType=FREE_VIEW

ViewGroupID=0

DefaultView=

AllowFromDiffGroup=TRUE

SnapView=FALSE

InsideView=FALSE

FOV=90

PitchControl=CAMERA_PITCH_AXIS

YawControl=CAMERA_YAW_AXIS

RollControl=

ZoomControl=CAMERA_ZOOM_CONTROL

RememberFOV=FALSE

LimitPitch=FALSE

LimitYaw=FALSE

LimitRoll=FALSE

ZoomFOV=FALSE

StepZoom=FALSE

ZoomScale=0.001

PanScale=0.01

MinFOV=90

MaxFOV=90

OffsetDistance=0.0

Edited December 23, 2010 by Lexx_Luthor

[+SidDogg 130]

Well Lexx, I'm guessing it's mostly striving to match them up with real life L/L coordinates...

 

I know that the geographical location can be determined in the terrain's main INI, with those coordinates being at the lower right corner of the terrain map...

 

But I'm thinking that what I got caught up in is, the EXACT distance from those "cornerstone" coordinates.

 

I figured if I have EXACT coordinates, and EXACT distance scaling... I should be able to use exact distance from those coordinates, to every eventual TargetArea on the terrain map.

 

I do know that in some instances, I ran into obstacles, in the form of supposed "EXACT" locations being in the middle of rough terrain, that was obviously not meant for accomodating TargetAreas in-game. Of course, I could hit up TerrainEditor and attempt to flatten the terrain.....but then we are not being very realistic, are we???

 

 

 

SidDogg

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

lolz no no. This is nowhere near an "exact" mapping. Its a cut and paste paint job from several maps. For example, the cookie monster took a bite out of the Siberian coast across from Kamchatka. I did that because...

 

...I discussed this map development in detail and why I cut the cookie monster loose to chew up this map, in this thread at the Thudwire. Scroll down a bit to see me talking about the map I eventually uploaded here.

 

~> http://bbs.thirdwire.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4964&start=32

 

 

------

 

A far more accurate map experiment is described here ~> Merry Christmas from North Pole #3

 

 

This works great, but its still not entirely "accurate" and it will never be until TK makes his game terrain use a 3D planetary sphere. They say FighterOps will do that, the first TheSim to do so, well eventually anyways. The biggest obvious problem in a SF map like this, is you take off in a B-52 from Thule, Greenland, and you fly your compass south to the Soviet Union.

[+SidDogg 130]

I see.

 

Well, I guess there's no if's, and's, or but's about it...