ANW 4-Seasons rebuild

[Wrench 9,833]

Wow, I gotta say it's a lot easier than it first looked.

Don't know about campaigns, but in random, game generated single missions, the DATE of the mission (month/day) allows for the changing of the seasons.

 

Some screenies (albeit, really nothing new that you ain't seen before), just all 4 combined into one terrain folder

 

Spring: (just ingore that structure in the background...it'll probably be move, yet again!)

 

Summer:

 

Winter (note the trees)

 

Thaw (in either direction!) Deuces/Doghouse tiles. hmm..forgot to turn off debug!

 

Spring & Summer are my 3rd and 4th attempts at tileing. They're myth-mashed from 3 different source tiles (deuces, polak and maybe Gepards) Colors adjusted

 

Some more targets adjustments, movement ini tweeks, etc. Should be sometime next week. Well be a full, complete REPLACEMENT for ALL the ANW terrains -- all in one big fat honking folder (really, I don't know how, but not too terribly large)

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[+Crusader 2,100]

good project.. ANW is still one of the most fun maps to fly

 

[WDH 0]

Yepper,that's the ticket!Still studying your studies Wrench and read your read me's + tutorials.Who knows,might even catch on.

[FastCargo 412]

Sweet idea Wrench...not like you don't have enough on your plate already...

 

FastCargo

[+Baltika 85]

Excellent work, looking forward to this one

 

Consolidation gets my vote as I always found the different ANW sets confusing

[+allenjb42 4,233]

So maybe something similar could be done with EAW terrains - WW2 and Cold War - if only to get rid of those damned jetties!

[Wrench 9,833]

I think the jetties are built in kinda. I seem to remember a callout for something to them; it was either EAW WW2 or Korea; can't remember! I think they're part of the coast line TODs

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[Wrench 9,833]

Ok ... it's acutally pretty easy to combine the 4 seasons (and Frankie Valey)

 

Got the EAW Euro set up and running in like a half hour ... just to see if it could be done.

that's the good news.

 

the bad news is, there are NO water effects active, and only ONE set of tgas for the coast/river/lakes, etc. 3 whole new sets will need to be made off those originals (after I clear out the alpha channel) And one whoel terrin will need it's tile bmps rezised, which will probably fuzzify them. Even with an updated data ini, with all the new goodies, water is not 'moving'.

 

Also, the targets ini is going to need a SERIOUS going over --there are a butt-load of misplaced building (stuff sitting in the non-moving water) and general oddities.

 

So, don't expect this one anytime soon. I'm shooting for a christmas time relase (but probably sooner).

 

Also, I'm going to need help decieding on the 'time of year' for seasonal changes from our brothers and sisters in the UK and Western Europe. I'm good at figuring that out for the US (in particular the West Coast!)

 

Right now, these are the date spreads I'm using, just to get it started:

 

[season001]

Directory=Spring

StartDate=04/01

EndDate=06/30

ScatteredChance=0

BrokenChance=40

OvercastChance=50

InclementChance=10

 

[season002]

Directory=Autumn

StartDate=07/01

EndDate=10/31

ScatteredChance=40

BrokenChance=25

OvercastChance=17

InclementChance=8

 

[season003]

Directory=WinterHard

StartDate=11/01

EndDate=01/31

ScatteredChance=25

BrokenChance=40

OvercastChance=17

InclementChance=8

 

[season004]

Directory=WinterThaw

StartDate=02/01

EndDate=03/31

ScatteredChance=0

BrokenChance=40

OvercastChance=50

InclementChance=10

 

So, any help is appriciated.

 

I gotta say, and no slight to Edward for all his fine work, I HATE them damn "BN" coded tiles!!!

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[WDH 0]

To bad we couldn't use specific date times like this;

StartDate=12/21/xx-----start of winter

EndDate=03/21/xx------end of winter

StartDate=03/21/xx-----start of spring..etc.

[FastCargo 412]

Why? There's no reason to do that. You can already specify the year in single missions, and campaigns have specific start and stop dates.

 

FastCargo

[WDH 0]

For editing weather conditions along with the correct seasonal change.

 

Edit:Reason for edit is because,I started this thread to learn "how to" make seasonal changes originally in General Knowledge for all terrains.I ask dumb question I guess.Because,get the feeling not gonna be apart of my on idea.Not angry or upset.Just trying to enjoy my last days playing my favorite sim.Also,get the feeling that this is a very tight community too and sorry to intrude.

Edited October 31, 2008 by WDH

[Canadair 16]

Ok ... it's acutally pretty easy to combine the 4 seasons (and Frankie Valey)

 

Got the EAW Euro set up and running in like a half hour ... just to see if it could be done.

that's the good news.

 

the bad news is, there are NO water effects active, and only ONE set of tgas for the coast/river/lakes, etc. 3 whole new sets will need to be made off those originals (after I clear out the alpha channel) And one whoel terrin will need it's tile bmps rezised, which will probably fuzzify them. Even with an updated data ini, with all the new goodies, water is not 'moving'.

 

Also, the targets ini is going to need a SERIOUS going over --there are a butt-load of misplaced building (stuff sitting in the non-moving water) and general oddities.

 

So, don't expect this one anytime soon. I'm shooting for a christmas time relase (but probably sooner).

 

Also, I'm going to need help decieding on the 'time of year' for seasonal changes from our brothers and sisters in the UK and Western Europe. I'm good at figuring that out for the US (in particular the West Coast!)

 

Right now, these are the date spreads I'm using, just to get it started:

 

 

 

So, any help is appriciated.

 

I gotta say, and no slight to Edward for all his fine work, I HATE them damn "BN" coded tiles!!!

 

Wrench

kevin stein

 

 

this is from terrain_data file right?

[FastCargo 412]

For editing weather conditions along with the correct seasonal change.

 

Edit:Reason for edit is because,I started this thread to learn "how to" make seasonal changes originally in General Knowledge for all terrains.I ask dumb question I guess.Because,get the feeling not gonna be apart of my on idea.Not angry or upset.Just trying to enjoy my last days playing my favorite sim.Also,get the feeling that this is a very tight community too and sorry to intrude.

 

You didn't ask a dumb question, it's actually a very good question, which started this whole thing about changing seasons in terrains. It was your idea about changing seasons that allowed me to bring up the fact that First Eagles already does it...and all we needed to do is apply it to the WOx series. As far as I can tell (and I did a search) no one ever brought up the idea of doing it in the WOx series until you asked. So, not a dumb question by a long shot.

 

I was responding to the statement about adding a year suffix to the date ranges...it isn't necessary to do that because campaigns have specific start dates, and you can pick the year in single missions. The date ranges in terrain files are in month/day format.

 

FastCargo

[WDH 0]

Cool on the Campaign editing.Have problem directing weather acting like it's winter and so forth,for the time of the campaign if it's in winter and what have you.We know how to make it rain but,CA_Stary figured out how to make it snow.Still need winter weather for winter and spring showers for spring.Summer T-storms and Fall rain to snow again.Set as random cuz,we don't need adverse flying conditions all the time.

 

I think,I'm over thinking it a bit.

[FastCargo 412]

You're overthinking it just a bit is all.

 

Looking at the entry for the terrain:

 

[season003]

Directory=WinterHard

StartDate=11/01

EndDate=01/31

ScatteredChance=25

BrokenChance=40

OvercastChance=17

InclementChance=8

 

You can see that for each 'season', you can adjust the dates (from Nov 1st to Jan 31st in this example), and adjust the probabilities that each type of weather will occur. The only thing I don't know if it's possible is changing rain to snow 'on the fly'. CA_Stary did it by changing the 'raindrops' into snow clouds...but I don't think the engine can do that based on what time of year it is.

 

However, if there was a way to make a 'new weather' mode...or adjust one of the other weather modes, that could work (after all, each terrain can have it's own EnviromentalSystem.ini file, which specifies what each weather mode looks like).

 

It's funny you mention storms through...I know Fubar512 has been playing with lighting effects, and I have an idea on how to create thunderstorm clouds, just haven't played with it lately...

 

FastCargo

[WDH 0]

Ok,I gotcha now!And yes,I was over doing it on the thinking.

For Wrench to catch on so fast on my crazy ideas is amazing in itself.

 

BTW FC,I was wanting this mod for the thought for using ANW as a training terrain for all types of pilots.Doghouse heard my idea about this and thinks I'm on the right track.Speaks highly of Wrench and you.But,some folks get frustrated too easy like myself on projects above their paygrade and people to involved with the small details. You have the knowledge of the Training Regiment and been reading alot of your comments to pick up on using the T-38 mostly for this.Like to start out in BFM in cessna 172-182 maybe.What do you think?And I can mod this into a campaign rather than a mission.

[+allenjb42 4,233]

Ok ... it's acutally pretty easy to combine the 4 seasons (and Frankie Valey)

 

Got the EAW Euro set up and running in like a half hour ... just to see if it could be done.

that's the good news.

 

the bad news is, there are NO water effects active, and only ONE set of tgas for the coast/river/lakes, etc. 3 whole new sets will need to be made off those originals (after I clear out the alpha channel) And one whoel terrin will need it's tile bmps rezised, which will probably fuzzify them. Even with an updated data ini, with all the new goodies, water is not 'moving'.

 

Also, the targets ini is going to need a SERIOUS going over --there are a butt-load of misplaced building (stuff sitting in the non-moving water) and general oddities.

 

So, don't expect this one anytime soon. I'm shooting for a christmas time relase (but probably sooner).

 

Also, I'm going to need help decieding on the 'time of year' for seasonal changes from our brothers and sisters in the UK and Western Europe. I'm good at figuring that out for the US (in particular the West Coast!)

 

Right now, these are the date spreads I'm using, just to get it started:

 

 

 

So, any help is appriciated.

 

I gotta say, and no slight to Edward for all his fine work, I HATE them damn "BN" coded tiles!!!

 

Wrench

kevin stein

 

Kevin,

 

The UK seasons are

 

Spring - March April May

Summer - June July August

Autumn - September October November

Winter - December January February

 

Having said that we've had hail, snow and ice the last few days and its supposedly still Autumn, so maybe the Big Man is playing with His own .ini files! Either that or I need to re-read my copy of The Coming Global Superstorm and head south...

 

BTW, can you do anything about the static planes (there are some Hawkeyes on the EAW Cold War airfields and various planes on the WW2 fields) to take advantage of the new patch random parked aircraft feature or are those coded into the terrains too?

Edited October 31, 2008 by allenjb42

[Wrench 9,833]

allen: thanks! that's just what I need. The parked statics have 'been taken care of' as they say. Meaning, although still listed in the targets ini, their types in entries are now "sleeping with the fishes" Switched over the pointers for the airfield inis to the Desert_airfiled**.ini, and the game generated statics work just fine. Albiet slightly odd to see F3D skyknights parked at Lakenheath, but what the hell, right???

 

as to weather, there's another entry for that too:

 

[WeatherChance]

ScatteredChance=25

BrokenChance=25

OvercastChance=17

InclementChance=8

 

this entry goes above the Seasonal ones. I'm not sure WHICH weather entries are for what .. meaning random single missions or campaigns. I'm going to assume the Seasonal entries are for campaings (I guess a note to TK might clear that up)

 

Got the water working last night. dopey me forgot there's an entry in the tile callouts HasWater=0 which means "no water". Changed it to =1 and now I've got water effects, even without the tgas.

 

Which brings up something else....the water is now several hundred meters INLAND from the shore lines. I still have to figure out if its an hm problem, tile problem, tga problem (fixable, with several dozen hours work) HFD problem, or the height pointer in each tiles listing in the data ini..

The 2 winter sets are really funny looking ... it's like there's a lot of "liquifaction" and subsidence one tile width inland from coast. Or there's been a tsunami that nobody told me about!

 

Some things to fill the time with.....

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[+EricJ 4,223]

Ok,I gotcha now!And yes,I was over doing it on the thinking.

For Wrench to catch on so fast on my crazy ideas is amazing in itself.

 

BTW FC,I was wanting this mod for the thought for using ANW as a training terrain for all types of pilots.Doghouse heard my idea about this and thinks I'm on the right track.Speaks highly of Wrench and you.But,some folks get frustrated too easy like myself on projects above their paygrade and people to involved with the small details. You have the knowledge of the Training Regiment and been reading alot of your comments to pick up on using the T-38 mostly for this.Like to start out in BFM in cessna 172-182 maybe.What do you think?And I can mod this into a campaign rather than a mission.

 

It'd be nice if you can just make it a "multi-training" map, a la a more updated "Range". While the original Range/Red Range is great, it's just level. Unless there's a good comprehensive guide that can be downloaded (Gepard?) I'd like to try my hand at it, or at least adding more stuff because it'd be nice if you go on the Range, you can practice key settings for BVR/WVR ranges, rather than hoping your stuff works when it drops in the pot.

[Wrench 9,833]

Canadair: sorry, I forgot to answer your question. No, it's not in the data ini, but in the MAIN ini (ie: AmericaNW.ini or EAWEuro.ini)

 

If you have the FE expansion pak, look at the Cambari.ini....

 

BTW, you all DO know that post-patch, ALL the terrains will work in FE, as long as one of the Original 3 Terrains ™ are also present in the main /Terrain folder, right??

 

Wrench

kevin stein

[WDH 0]

No!But i do now!And vise versus too?

[Wrench 9,833]

opps...forgot something...

 

It's taking a little longer to get finished than I expected, mostly due to some AI issues on take off and landings. I'm 'refacing' the airfields (and replacing as necessary), to try and find 'holes' in the canyon wall so you (under autopilot) and the rest of your flight don't turn yourselves into mountain-coating, splatter-on aluminium sidings -- the AI has a TERRIBLE tendancy to crash into the hills on take off (not so much, but an expensive problem for the budget-conscious governments), but definetly on landings....autopilot is NOT reccomended for shooting your approach.

 

So, don't be to surprised to find 'oddly' faced runways that point into breaks in the hillsides...you can 'thread the needle' -hopefully- without splattering yourself on the wall. Mostly the problem is with the larger, less manuberable and 'underpower' bomber-types (Beagle, Brewers,) even though I've seen it with some of the lower performance fighters (Flashlight)

 

so if all goes well, mid-week I'm shooting for. Depending on my "distractions" -- meaning I keep finding aircraft that need fixing to 10/08 standards, and have to stop to take care them.

 

Wrench

kevin stein

 

ps: WDH, you know, that's the ONE thing I haven't tested!!!!

[WDH 0]

I'll try Cambri in WOE and give results>i'll be back!

[WDH 0]

The Wrench is a GENIUS!Or as Least very SMART..HA!It worked for WOV/WOE install!Flanders Terrain works with just adding GermanyCE to .cat.

Now to add Groundobjects and Aircraft to fill the Terrain holes you see in the background and walaaa!

[Wrench 9,833]

Just about done with final testing; have only one issue to try and figure out.....

 

"Why in hell do the cursed Winter Tiles disappear at random, unpredictable intervals during gameplay, when they're STILL residing in their proper folder?" and "Why does dropping them back in ie: copy/paste of the "spare set" make them come back???"

 

Other than that, and little fine tuning in the movements ini, and it's ready to go. LOTS of changes, new target areas, some renamed, airfields refaced, etc. The trees I ehem.. "borrowed" look really good!!

 

Wrench

kevin stein