Question about maps

[freeboy]

hopefully this is an ok comment, Erik please deleat if inappropriate.. my intent is to help. I think there is an exelent map editor in the revised TOW.. can these tow created maps be imported and used?

[Erik Rutins]

I have absolutely no idea, Freeboy. My guess however is that there would probably be a lot of work in doing that.

[freeboy]

In a perfent world the maps would be in the same format LOL no worries.. thanks
 

[Erik Rutins]

(Edited - I've been advised that even posting this as an unofficial screenshot is probably a bad idea).

Regards,

- Erik

[ravinhood]

Even he didn't put any stars and HOLLYWOOD detail on those tanks. gahhhh there's too much GREEN waaaaayyy too much green and they way the terrain is soooooooo GREEEEEEEEN it's annoying. Can't we have a bit more brown maybe in the terrain some streaks and aura's here and there. Add some rust to those tanks and vehicles. lol Add something man what happened to detail? Put some FLAGS on dem tanks at least. somethin. Yeah I know it's goin gold THIS WEEK (you promised), but, I sure hope someone mods some better models than these things I've seen so far. DETAILS I WANT DETAILS, STARS FOUR LEAF CLOVERS, lol and can't you do something about every unit lookin like the next as far as faces go? Even CM had guys with glasses. Need some facial hair like beards and mustaches and some RANDOMNESS and VARIETY. Boy need to add all this to the unofficial official wish list I guess.

[Erik Rutins]

Ok, how about this one, for the folks out there who don't like boring historical Soviet paint jobs:

[ravinhood]

Now yer talkin I like that one and even the terrain has a nice blend of off green and dirt browns. That model is excellent. See I'm not hard to please now we just need to randomize those infantry and units faces and looks some more.

[Stridor]

Erik posted an Early G, here is a Late G

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian

ORIGINAL: Mobius

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian
How long does it take to strip a map and make another one?

Every tree is just a data tag in a rather large xml file. You just text it in and delete everything with a tree label on it. But I wanted to keep a couple of houses and some bushes. But I couldn't tell which was which so by a process of elimination I finally found the right ones to keep.

I just spent 2 months doing a single map from the area around Prokhorovka for a single scenario. So I'm not easily deterred when it comes to making the map. IMO, a good scenario starts with a good map.

Good Hunting.

MR

MR,

It sounds like with your dedication that you will be able to do your own maps.

There are some freeware tools which will allow you to do the meshes, you might need someones help to import the base mesh into the game, but from then on you would use the provided scenedit to place objects.

Like anything there is a learning curve, but the more you do the easier it gets.

[ravinhood]

That's a good pic also Stridor. But, that upside down tank over to the right needs some smoke or sumthin to look damaged. Need to keep the fires burning and puffs of black smoke comin out of them and they should provide cover as well.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

That's a good pic also Stridor. But, that upside down tank over to the right needs some smoke or sumthin to look damaged. Need to keep the fires burning and puffs of black smoke comin out of them and they should provide cover as well.

I agree. For the time period of PC they should burn the entire time.

But an upside down tank is an interesting thing all in it's own right. You rarely see photographs of a tank upside down on a battlefield....lol...

Good Hunting.

MR

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

That's a good pic also Stridor. But, that upside down tank over to the right needs some smoke or sumthin to look damaged. Need to keep the fires burning and puffs of black smoke comin out of them and they should provide cover as well.

That is an old dead tank rather than a newly dead tank.

And yes it does provide cover [;)]

[ravinhood]

Remember there's nothing better than the smell of burning tank in the mornings.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood
That's a good pic also Stridor. But, that upside down tank over to the right needs some smoke or sumthin to look damaged. Need to keep the fires burning and puffs of black smoke comin out of them and they should provide cover as well.

That's actually an old tank, it's part of the battlefield decoration and should also (in the case of the historical campaign) give the player a hint.

Regards,

- Erik

[Staggerwing]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
I had a feeling that exploding tanks which flipped over was too good to be true...[:D]
Is the dead tank object one of those things that the masochistic map makers can hand edit?

Yes, basically once you figure out the arcane scene editor and how the maps work you can add your own custom 3D assets to any particular map. It takes work, but it can really customize a map to a high degree.

Hopefully there is one with a detached turret as this gives the scene that 'dismembered body'
shock effect (at least it does for me when I see photos of exploded tanks).
Also, are there partially destroyed building objects as well (beyond just rubble)?

Yes, there's one with a detached turret. You could also build that into a death animation, though we haven't as it's a bit over the top. Perhaps in some future release we could have catastrophic vehicle death animations as well as the less severe ones.

There are buildings that are partially destroyed, yep.

Check out this pic.

[Erik Rutins]

Argh, sorry - edited your post by accident instead of replying. Wrong button syndrome.

Here's the pic.

[Staggerwing]

Argh, sorry - edited your post by accident instead of replying. Wrong button syndrome.

With Great Forum Power comes Great Responsibility...[:D]

Thanks for the reply.
[:)]