Updated Default SF2 Terrain by Piecemeal V 1.2

+**Dave** · March 13, 2010

Updated Default SF2 Terrain by Piecemeal V 1.2

UPDATED DEFAULT SF2 DESERT TERRAIN Ver. 1.2

SF2 has always been my favourite of all the platforms; and after downloading and using the various terrain mods for SF2E and SF2V with hungry anticipation I decided to HEAVILY modify the stock Desert terrain with more than enough of eye candy.

DESCRIPTION:

Without giving too much away, the geographical story is now as follows:

*As well as Dhimar amd Paran, I've added Sharnak from baffmeister's Desert 2 terrain (my inspiration for this), now a colony which is known as the British Protectorate of Sharnak. RAF squadrons are permanently based there. A couple of other bases, border posts and the like have also been added from Desert 2

*I always thought that D9 and D10 airfields were always a little too close to the border. They've now been moved to the Dhimari 'wastelands' which you'll see on the centre left side of the enclosed planning map

*About ten SAM sites have been added to various locations on Dhimar and the amount of SAM sites across Paran has been hugely increased, the biggest increase being Paran's capital city of Kurzah; which in SAM site and Flak battery terms is now more like Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

*Ships, cranes, oil tanks, warehouses and the like have been added to ports on both sides. Now the capital cities of Muthala and Kurzah, have extensive docklands. Other coastal towns have at least one docking area for shipping.

*(15TH AUG 2010): Inspired by JSF Aggie's SF2 Range terrain, all airfields on both sides have been extensively facelifted and given a new lease of life by re-populating them with huge amounts of groundobjects, both new and old. They now look a lot more like real life airfields instead of that deserted 'Chernobyl International Airport' look in the default airfields. All airfields have also been re-catagorised into two different groups; 'Red' and 'Blue'. For example, a Dhimari DESERT_AIRFIELD4 will now be 'BLUE_AIRFIELD4' and a Parani one will now be 'RED_AIRFIELD4'. New trucks have been added as default groundobjects so they'll have to be downloaded elsewhere on the site (see 'Installation' for details).

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INSTALLATION (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY):

Simply unzip the FILE and put the enclosed 'DESERT3' folder into your Terrain folder.

Important Note: If you don't already have these, you should download them from the SF1 downloads section, otherwise they won't show up:

*SAMs & Vehicles Pack with Desert Skins by Pasko.

*Soviet Transport Pack by Kesselbrut.

*M109A6 Paladin by rebel ryder.

*'Camiones Argentinos' truck models by Banidos Team & Suicidal (the default 'USTruck' models have been totally replaced by these, so downloading these trucks is definitely a MUST or there'll be no trucks anywhere in Dhimar!!)

CREDITS:

*Factory Target Area, Tactical Control Centre, HeadquartersR1 and Tower H1 by Wingwiner

*Enhanced Top Cloud Layer BMPs and PECCO Crane model by Fubar512

*Radar Facility by Grumpapotamus

*Railway Station by Gepard

*Generic Hangars pack by Stary

*Desert Factories mod by Wrench

*Borrowed Items from Wrench's Libya Terrain :

Tree model

Round Tents

Barbed Wire

Fences

Camonet

Russian Freighter

Oil Refinery target area

Static Helicopters

Rotten Trawlers

Libyan Koni Class Frigate (Now Parani)

*Borrowed Items From Falklands Mod :

Stanley Tower

Atlantic Causway and Atlantic Conveyor

Canberra Liner

Argentine Tugboat (now a Parani Patrolboat)

ARA Belgrano (now a Dhimari Flagship)

Baltic & Nordic Ferries

Type 1 & 2 Trawlers (including rotten models)

Type 12 Frigate

Type 42 Destroyer

Rapier SAM launcher & Rapier Generator

20mm RH-202 & 35mm Oerlikon AAA units

Crane 2 object and Jetties

All Land Rover type vehicles

*Borrowed Items From Desert Storm Mod :

Terrain and sea tiles

Various target areas such as Oil Refineries, Scud Sites and Firebases

Satellite and Radio Antennas

SS-4_ATT

SS-4_LAUNCHER

SS-4_TANKER

SS-4_TRAILER

IraqiSquad

D-20 artillery pieces

IRBM

Sandbag walls

Ammo boxes

Nuclear Plant

*Borrowed Items From SF2 Range Terrain :

Forklift and ShelterZU by Amokfloo

Firetrucks by Ravenclaw

FloodLight, SmallGenerator, ConcreteBlock and SunShelter by Pureblue

Static Chinook model by Banidos Team

Tools by Polak

Thanks to the creators of all the above mods.

NOTE: If I've forgotten anybody please get in touch so I can give you the credit you deserve!

Thanks to Deuces for his editing of some DS terrain tiles.

Special thanks to Dave for his encouragement and assistance. The project wouldn't have been taken to this level only for him pointing me towards the right people.

If you have any queries or problems please don't hesitate to send me a message.

Piecemeal

15th August, 2010

Submitter

Dave
Submitted

03/13/2010
Category

Environmental Mods

+***EricJ*** · March 13, 2010

Well I can't wait to try this out, the stock terrain has been a bit barren...

+**whiteknight06604** · March 13, 2010

sounds great,now I have a reason to go get SF2.

+**Dave** · March 14, 2010

Well let me tell you all this. This terrain is awesome if you don't have SF2 this is a reason to get it. He has so many easter eggs in it, you will want to just fly around looking for them.

**xclusiv8** · March 14, 2010

Does it work with the latest patch? And will the old campaigns from sf2 still work?

Thanx

+***EricJ*** · March 14, 2010

It should, as long as (don't quote me on this though...) the naming of the airfields is right. Not sure about campaigns, as I haven't even tried it yet.

+**Piecemeal** · March 14, 2010

Does it work with the latest patch? And will the old campaigns from sf2 still work?

Thanx

I've been using it for the past few months while populating it and there's been no problems at all as regards patches. The terrain folder itself is called 'Desert3', so patches won't affect it as they won't take any notice of add-on folders.

The campaigns should work properly but you won't get the full benefit of (for example) the two extra Parani airfields I've added - the default campaign INIs won't recognise P13 and P14 airfields, as they're not listed in the default files. The Dhimari airfields I moved will still be recognised by the campaign files, as they're still called D9 and D10. I'm currently working on some edited default campaign INI files to suit the terrain better and give you more of a benefit of what's been added. They'll be uploaded as soon as I've polished them off; which won't be long from now

Edited March 14, 2010 by Piecemeal

+**Piecemeal** · March 15, 2010

I'm currently working on some edited default campaign INI files to suit the terrain better and give you more of a benefit of what's been added. They'll be uploaded as soon as I've polished them off; which won't be long from now

For those who might be interested; I've released edited versions of the default campaigns:

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=10692

**verde13** · March 23, 2010

I've got SF2V and Sf2E. I guess without the original SF2 this won't work ?

+**Dave** · March 23, 2010

I've got SF2V and Sf2E. I guess without the original SF2 this won't work ?

That is correct sir.

**Outrider** · March 24, 2010

Thanks Everyone! This is so much better than the stock terrain. Now I have a reason to dust off SF2.

**Wrench** · March 24, 2010

I've got SF2V and Sf2E. I guess without the original SF2 this won't work ?

In theory, if you have the original SFP1 desert terrain, it should be a matter of a VERY few minutes to move it over into SF2.

1) extract Desert_Data.ini (as you'll be making some small edits to use the new terrain effects)

2) create /Desert subfolder in you /***/**/ThirdWire/-nameofgame/Terrains

3) copy/paste the contents of the Desert terrain folder out of SFP1 into the above named /Terrains folder -make sure the desert.cat is there!!!!! (or just copy/paste the whole damn thing into the /Terrains folder

4) open Desert_Data.ini, and where the terrain effect callouts are, change to:

[NormalTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terTerrainEffect.fx

[WaterTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terWaterEffect.fx

[backgroundMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terFarTerrainEffect.fx

[solidObjectTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terSolidObject.fx

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terAlphaObject.fx

save and close. that should it bring it, at least partway, up to SF2 spec. BTW, it'll work even without the new shader lines, just won't look as nice for you lucky people with DX10.

5) download, unzip, install the Desert3 mod.

6) go fly

at worst, since the tileset is already included, you can edit the catpointer line (as I always show in my terrain mods), in the Desert3.ini to read something like this:

CatFile=..\Desert\Desert.cat

//CatFile=..\GermanyCE\GermanyCE.cat

//CatFile=..\VietnamSEA\VietnamSEA.cat

now, you can select any other terrain cats. NOT advised to try and use the IsrealME cat, as it's different.

wrench

kevin stein

Edited March 24, 2010 by Wrench

**Spinners** · March 24, 2010

Outstanding!

Hassle free installation into SF2 (Quad-Merged) and I now have a fifth terrain!

+**Piecemeal** · March 24, 2010

Hi guys.

I'm glad there's widescale approval of this project. Makes it all more worthwhile also to know that there haven't been much problems with it.

Sorry I haven't got back on this sooner, but for those who might be wondering whether Desert3 would be workable in the other SF2 titles; sure!

As an experiment I copied the Desert3 folder over to the SF2E terrains folder and flew a single mission with everything the way it should be - no problems at all. So if you've already got SF2 as well as other SF2 titles and you want to use Desert3 in, say, SF2V - you don't need to install the Desert.CAT in the folder.

For those who have some SF2 titles but don't have SF2, Wrench is correct. Just follow his instructions above and it should all be fine. The terrain itself started out in SFG and when I moved it to SF2 it worked without any problems. I only needed to make some INI adjustments in order to take advantage of the changes that TK made. So the Desert.CAT file from SFP1/SFG is suitable for the job at hand.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Piecemeal

**verde13** · March 25, 2010

In theory, if you have the original SFP1 desert terrain, it should be a matter of a VERY few minutes to move it over into SF2.

1) extract Desert_Data.ini (as you'll be making some small edits to use the new terrain effects)

2) create /Desert subfolder in you /***/**/ThirdWire/-nameofgame/Terrains

3) copy/paste the contents of the Desert terrain folder out of SFP1 into the above named /Terrains folder -make sure the desert.cat is there!!!!! (or just copy/paste the whole damn thing into the /Terrains folder

4) open Desert_Data.ini, and where the terrain effect callouts are, change to:

[NormalTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terTerrainEffect.fx

[WaterTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terWaterEffect.fx

[backgroundMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terFarTerrainEffect.fx

[solidObjectTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terSolidObject.fx

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]

EffectShaderName=terAlphaObject.fx

save and close. that should it bring it, at least partway, up to SF2 spec. BTW, it'll work even without the new shader lines, just won't look as nice for you lucky people with DX10.

5) download, unzip, install the Desert3 mod.

6) go fly

at worst, since the tileset is already included, you can edit the catpointer line (as I always show in my terrain mods), in the Desert3.ini to read something like this:

CatFile=..\Desert\Desert.cat

//CatFile=..\GermanyCE\GermanyCE.cat

//CatFile=..\VietnamSEA\VietnamSEA.cat

now, you can select any other terrain cats. NOT advised to try and use the IsrealME cat, as it's different.

wrench

kevin stein

Hi guys.

I'm glad there's widescale approval of this project. Makes it all more worthwhile also to know that there haven't been much problems with it.

Sorry I haven't got back on this sooner, but for those who might be wondering whether Desert3 would be workable in the other SF2 titles; sure!

As an experiment I copied the Desert3 folder over to the SF2E terrains folder and flew a single mission with everything the way it should be - no problems at all. So if you've already got SF2 as well as other SF2 titles and you want to use Desert3 in, say, SF2V - you don't need to install the Desert.CAT in the folder.

For those who have some SF2 titles but don't have SF2, Wrench is correct. Just follow his instructions above and it should all be fine. The terrain itself started out in SFG and when I moved it to SF2 it worked without any problems. I only needed to make some INI adjustments in order to take advantage of the changes that TK made. So the Desert.CAT file from SFP1/SFG is suitable for the job at hand.

Thank you both.

+**ext** · March 25, 2010

Thank you both.

I have tried to use SF1 Desert terrain in SF2 Europe. It works fine with no problems. When I try to run Destert3 it ctd. Usually I have no problem with getting mods to work but this one has me stumped. I have copied all files needed into the Desert3 folder from the GermanyCE terrain. Any ideas for help?

+**Piecemeal** · March 25, 2010

I have tried to use SF1 Desert terrain in SF2 Europe. It works fine with no problems. When I try to run Destert3 it ctd. Usually I have no problem with getting mods to work but this one has me stumped. I have copied all files needed into the Desert3 folder from the GermanyCE terrain. Any ideas for help?

What SF2 titles do you have?

+**ext** · March 25, 2010

My game is SF2 Europe which has the GermanyCE default tiles. I know if I point to that cat the game will run but the terrain is all squares of water and land. Unless I misunderstood that if you import the Desert terrain from SF1 that you could run your mod without the SF2 default desert terrain. Hope I am not wasting your time :blink:

+**Piecemeal** · March 25, 2010

My game is SF2 Europe which has the GermanyCE default tiles. I know if I point to that cat the game will run but the terrain is all squares of water and land. Unless I misunderstood that if you import the Desert terrain from SF1 that you could run your mod without the SF2 default desert terrain. Hope I am not wasting your time

I'm assuming you don't have SF2 but you do have SF1. OK, I thought about this for a few minutes and I think I know what your problem might be. I just looked at the DESERT3.ini and this is what you'd see:

[Terrain]

TerrainFullName=Desert 3.0

DataFile=DESERT3_DATA.ini

TargetFile=DESERT3_TARGETS.ini

TargetTypeFile=DESERT3_TYPES.ini

MovementFile=DESERT3_MOVEMENT.ini

NationsFile=DESERT3_NATIONS.ini

BriefingText=DESERT_BRIEFING.ini

DogfightFile=DESERT3_DOGFIGHT.ini

DogfightOnly=FALSE

CatFile=..\Desert\Desert.cat

LimitedNations=TRUE

GroundObjectTexture=tan

Again I'm assuming that you placed a DESERT.CAT file from SF1 into the Desert3 folder. What's probably wrong is that you need to make sure that the terrain is pointing to the CAT file in question.

Change the following entry from:

CatFile=..\Desert\Desert.cat

to

CatFile=..\Desert3\Desert.cat

If I'm reading your problem correctly then that should set things straight for you.

Let me know how you get on

+**ext** · March 25, 2010

Ok I made it work. I do not know if this right way but it works for me. I renamed the DESERT3.ini to Desert. I then renamed the terrain folder DESERT3 to Desert. Moving the cat file into your folder and change the names of the 2 files seems to be all you need. My compliments to you. Very nice and lots to look at! :salute:

**Wrench** · March 25, 2010

or, you could take the REALLLLLLYY old fashioned way (circa 2004), and just rename the desert.cat to desert3.cat, and do away with the cat pointer line completely.

one may also have to rename the TFD and HFD to match ... meaning desert3.TFD, desert3.HFD (they really shold be done that way, in any case -all files pertaining to the base terrain construction MUST match)

Basically, this is a FULL terrain, with the TFD, HFD and complete tile set. You should be able to use ANY of base 3 terrains in you cat pointer line. It really don't get any simpler than that.

wrench

kevin stein

+**baffmeister** · March 25, 2010

Really impressive piece of work. The idea of having Sharnak as a British protectorate is an interesting way to justify some British types in the game. I think I will be trying to fit a French colony into my personal install of Desert3 to liven things up even more. Cheers.

+**Piecemeal** · March 25, 2010

Ok I made it work. I do not know if this right way but it works for me. I renamed the DESERT3.ini to Desert. I then renamed the terrain folder DESERT3 to Desert. Moving the cat file into your folder and change the names of the 2 files seems to be all you need. My compliments to you. Very nice and lots to look at!

At the end of the day if it works; well who am I to tell you otherwise. Glad you enjoy it bud. Happy flying

Hi Baffmeister. Don't know if you realise it but your earlier release was in part my inspiration for this. It'll be interesting to see where your French colony ends up!

+**baffmeister** · March 25, 2010

I'm not sure yet where the French colony will end up but really like the idea. I like the idea of keeping Paran big and formidable with the two colony's and Dhimar smaller and all of them with border exposure to Paran. Should be a fun tweak and I'm looking forward to it. Glad to hear that DesertPlus gave you some inspiration to do this excellent mod. :clapping:

**Outrider** · March 27, 2010

Hi Everyone. I just installed this terrain and new to extracting files,modding,and what not,and don't understand how to extract the files from the Germany CE terrain and install them into this terrain. Is there anywhere in the KB that I may find this info?

Also I can not find any aircraft data files to change engine sounds, pilots,etc. in MY Docs /Thirdwire/SF2/Objects/Aircraft. All I see is config for LOD and Texture.

Thanks for all your help!!

Updated Default SF2 Terrain by Piecemeal V 1.2

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