[WIP] Singling - MAP

[Mraah]

I'm feeling pretty good as far as how everything is working out. I've finally started a project that has gained my 100% attention, with good results. I'm progressing slightly faster using Stridor's tutorial and question/answer help ... much appreciate it Stridor!

So far ...

1. The hills look good after all (not depicted in this screenshot very well). I may not need to extrapolate another contour.
2. My masks/diffuse skill has grown ... note wheat field mask with new wheat field DDS (I'll upload that to a zip if anyone cares to have it)
3. Using Dirt01 for now ...will change later
4. Using the actual image of the town for a mask ... negative grey scale image, sized to 512x512.
5. Roads are there ... very wiggly ... too much caffeine ... will straighten later .. some parts (roads are never straight eh?)

Thanks for looking!!
I'll add more shots as it get's better. I'm not going to add any objects until last.

Rob

Screenshot from Scene Editor :

[Stridor]

Rob,

For your first map that is looking superb [&o]

You're right, you are outrunning my tutorial! I will have to catch up, although really I don't think you need anymore help [:D]

Looks from the SS that you got your smoothing groups fixed as well. Good Job.

I am working on trying to get MS3D to do animated vehicles ATM. I am having some minor limited success, I can't promise anything at the moment but hopefully MS3D can become a one stop shop!

I would go for the whole package if you can

Summer version -> morning, noon, evening
Winter version -> morning, noon, evening

That would be awesome!

Regards

S.

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Stridor
For your first map that is looking superb [&o]

Not my fault it looks superb ... it's your fault for teaching us how to make a superb map!!

You're right, you are outrunning my tutorial! I will have to catch up, although really I don't think you need anymore help [:D]

I kinda skipped by your tank test ... Since I'm trying to make an exact replica I need to get the terrain mapping done ... then I'll jump back to for the test since I have to tweak some more mesh ... a bit.

Looks from the SS that you got your smoothing groups fixed as well. Good Job.

Yes, thanks ... your smoothing tips helped. Still needs work and I have to go back a de-lip a bit more. Funny thing though, when viewed in the scene editor it's not as "bumpy" as MS3D show'd it ... perhaps the conversion to a DirectX mesh mashed out the bumps.

I am working on trying to get MS3D to do animated vehicles ATM. I am having some minor limited success, I can't promise anything at the moment but hopefully MS3D can become a one stop shop!

That would be great!! I've read the vehicle animation addemdum and it would be exiting. Also, BLENDER has the python script which, after opening up the script in notepad, has coding for animation export. I haven't tried it yet ... like you said, blender need lots of doses of asprin to get through the UI...argh.

I would go for the whole package if you can

Summer version -> morning, noon, evening
Winter version -> morning, noon, evening

Oh yeah, that reminds me ... question ... I believe I can make additional sceneXML files for the dawn and dusk and then have the template define this usage without having to build an entirely new media for singling?

Thanks

[Mraah]

Stridor,

I am having one problem with masks etc. See SS.

As you can see, starting from the hilltop looking down you can see the WALL bleeding through the terrain.

I'll wait until you get to this part in the tutorial ... no rush, I'm ahead when I shouldn't be.

[Mraah]

I forgot to mention ...

Although I'm using the modern day satellite image, I'm going to reference the aerial view of Singling taken on 10 September 1944. Not much has changed except it looks more wooded in spots and the grove of trees seem about the same, in spots. Plus, not all the buildings are there.

I will have two versions, like Stridor suggested, a summer and winter.
Also, three different time frames ... day, dawn/dusk, and night. I tried night textures for the SkyBox and they need work as well.

Thanks for looking!!

Screenshot of aerial photo ... Funny how after I rotated it and cropped it how it almost looks exactly like the satellite image (see post #1)

[Erik Rutins]

Very cool.

[rickier65]

Rob -

Excellent work - I still haven't talked myself into buying MS3D - but your map is looking really good and I might break down sometime yet.

I had some thoughts about some ways to smooth out your elavation transitions in earlier screenshots - but they seem to have been eliminated already.

Good job!

Rick

[Mraah]

Just a screenshot of where and what I'm doing ... I'm playing with the mask layers to get a dirt blend with the fields ... fun stuff.
Nothing's final as far as how it looks (ring around the fields)... Pay more attention to the dirt in the fields as it blends in.
I'll be making more masks for the other kinds of dirt, green grass areas, and the forest.

Once all my ground masks are in then I'll be fine tuning the mesh (maybe a bit around the roads adjacent to the fields) and then the fun begins ... object placement ... which so far at my skill level, object placement seems the easiest.

Thanks for looking!

[Bil H]

Looking damned good.

[rickier65]

Nice job on map - I still need to bite the bullet and figure out a way to get into this map-making - (I'm just a cheap SOB). I was looking at tools in Gimp, to smooth out heightmap scales, (blending and such), but it looks like you smoothed it out just fine from these screen shots.

I did dig out my Nafzigers German OOB for Panzers and Artillery, and my wife ordered his companion volume on Infantry. And just downloaded the Small Unit Actions document to check the Balta battle details a little. So I keep getting closer.

Did I read that your also going to do a wheatfield tile, I'd like to add some wheatfields to some maps? Im pretty excited that there seems to be some growing interest in community contributions.

Rick

[Erik Rutins]

Looking very good indeed - one piece of advice is that the more textures and masks you add, the higher performance the map will be so I'd suggest testing it for performance if you have a low end system after each additional layer to see what's acceptable to you.

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Rick
Nice job on map - I still need to bite the bullet and figure out a way to get into this map-making - (I'm just a cheap SOB). I was looking at tools in Gimp, to smooth out heightmap scales, (blending and such), but it looks like you smoothed it out just fine from these screen shots.

I'm just using MS3D and my paint program, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI. The DDS plugin for Photoshop won't work with it (I tried and gave up and didn't pursue any other plugins) ... I'm using DXtBMP and DDS Converter for that part. I have to save my work as a TGA before making it into a DDS because it seems TGA->DDS is best.

Also, I just smoothed it using Stridor's technique. After that, it seemed to smooth out on it's own ... it's ok ... it's not smooth round but I'm happy with it ... besides, I keep telling myself that smooth terrain isn't realistic anyhow [;)]

I did dig out my Nafzigers German OOB for Panzers and Artillery, and my wife ordered his companion volume on Infantry. And just downloaded the Small Unit Actions document to check the Balta battle details a little. So I keep getting closer.

Great, you're gathering up all you info. It's finally sitting down and looking at it all and wondering how you got into this mess!! The more detailed you want the map, the longer it's gonna take. For me at least ... as I discover more cool things to do I get bogged down with experimentation.

Did I read that your also going to do a wheatfield tile, I'd like to add some wheatfields to some maps? Im pretty excited that there seems to be some growing interest in community contributions.

Oh, yes. Attached to this post is the ZIP containing the wheat01 PNG and DDS. I simply took an existing tiled image from the game (I forget which, might be a rock version) and used the channel mixer (rbg) in paint shop to match the original color from the satellite image. Works pretty good. The XML X/Y tiling can make it bigger or smaller ... I'm using 48/48 size. I might change that as I move along to fine tuning it's appearance.

Rob

[Mraah]

Ok ... really quick before I need to goto work (don't ya hate it when real life gets in the way!)[:@]

This is going to be really close to my base wheat mask ... with dirt blend. I'll be masking out the buildings and provided areas for grass and the forest mask.

SCENE EDITOR shot

[Mraah]

And here is an in-game shot of a Panther moving up from the south road ... looking north. The road needs masking as well.

Just to give you an idea of what the contour height looks from that angle.

[rickier65]

Rob,

Looks like this is really coming together for you. And thanks for the wheat!

Thanks,
Rick

[Stridor]

Rob,

What can I say, that SS from #14 *almost* looks like a photo (sans vegetation of course) [:)]

Extra bonus points for using my Panther in a SS [8D]

I have been meaning to get back to the tutorials, but just haven't had the chance at this stage as RL just keeps getting in the way.

It is good to see that even if I was to drop off the twig, you have now mastered enough of the art to carry on without me!

Keep going, I am looking forward to playing on this map soon.

Regards

S.

P.S. Although Erik may disagree, I personally would rather a high quality map (even if it ran slower) than a low quality map which was fast. The high quality stuff will have a longer shelf life.

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Stridor
What can I say, that SS from #14 *almost* looks like a photo (sans vegetation of course) [:)]

The mask is the satellite photo (512x512), the textures are from the game, except for my wheat dds.

Extra bonus points for using my Panther in a SS [8D]

I figured if I threw the Panther in my shots you'd gravitate to my threads [:)]. Ok, so I'm brown nosing the teacher [:D].

I have been meaning to get back to the tutorials, but just haven't had the chance at this stage as RL just keeps getting in the way.
It is good to see that even if I was to drop off the twig, you have now mastered enough of the art to carry on without me!

We're on self study time. You planted the sead and now we're growing. You may need to drop some more fertilizer soon tho.

Keep going, I am looking forward to playing on this map soon.

Thanks, me too.

P.S. Although Erik may disagree, I personally would rather a high quality map (even if it ran slower) than a low quality map which was fast. The high quality stuff will have a longer shelf life.

Ahh, it's a trick Stridor, I'm using smoke and mirrors ... the mask. It's no bigger in memory that the Kharkov maps. Check out my XML SS, what you see is what you got (besides the children which is just the wall right now). File sizes ... wheat dds = 171kb , wheat03 field png = 190kb. All the rest are just Pck images. I'm only going to have two masks .... (1) wheat with dirt, (2) Forest with grass. The road will fit in via the 1st mask (that's the plan anyhow)

Thanks for checking up on us!! Appreciate all your help.
Rob

[Stridor]

If you keep to 2 masks you should be fine!

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

If you keep to 2 masks you should be fine!

Stridor,

I may need to goto 3 [:(].

Do you recommend 2 masks per XfileNode as a maximum?

Thanks.

[Mraah]

... the saga continues ....

As Stridor's Panther climbs the hill cautiously ... the TC commands a halt!!

I see grass ... I see an object ...

Just testing ... time to call it a night ...