Can Google Earth Be Used to Make Maps?

[GaryChildress]

Knowing nothing about CC map making which I do, I have a question. Can Google Earth be utilized for making CC maps? I've downloaded the map making utility for CC but don't know how to use it yet.

Thanks.

[Perturabo]

I think yes, but it would make some very ugly maps.

[GaryChildress]

I found a map making tutorial on the CSO forums. I'm going through it now. They make everything by hand using Paint Shop Pro and various textures and preformed objects. It's an interesting tutorial. It's located here:

http://www.closecombat.org/mmg/before.html

[CSO_Talorgan]

Experiments have been done with satellite photograph to make maps but the results are usually unsatisfactory. The map looks too realistic for the units and there are problems with the direction and intensity of shadows.
 
For those (of us) who are "artistically challenged" a better approach is to use the map editor from another game.
 
This presents a different set of problems and there are tales of modders driving themselves nuts having to take multiple screenshots and splice them all together.
 
Then Nomada_Firefox hit gold:
 
http://www.closecombatseries.net/CCS/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2420&highlight=blitzkrieg
 
... with the discovery that Blitzkrieg II's maps can be exported as giant .TGA files.
 
The results are good:
 
http://www.closecombatseries.net/CCS/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&album=topn&cat=12870&pos=0
 
There is a bit of "fisheye" towards the edges but this is generally no greater than on some stock Close Combat maps.
 
However, we are still several steps away from the perfect map editor for Close Combat.
 
1. Obviously Firefox' "B II" technique only helps the graphic part of the map. You still have to do all the elements, elevations, LOS etc. yourself. This is a shortcut for those whose right brains don't work. If your left brain doesn't work either then you're stuffed!
 
2. Rivers are a bit basic. This might be gotten around by making very thin lochs but that has not, to my knowledge, been tried yet. Not sure if bridges will still work.
 
3. The biggest problem is the unmoddability of what Blitzkrieg II calls "objects" i.e. buildings, walls, piles of wood etc. As this:
 
http://bkpforums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7644
 
... thread suggests, it is possible, provided you can A. speak Russian and B. afford "Maya", which retails at a mere $4995!
 
Even the weakness of the dollar hasn't tempted me!
 
.... but that brings me to a question for you:
 
Does anyone know of another program which will open Maya's .xdb files?

[CSO_Talorgan]

P.S. I went back and checked "2." above. Lochs and lochans *can* be deformed into river-like strips and all the game's bridges work across them. The result is much better than B II's stock rivers.
 
However, we can't create new bridges etc until "3." is cracked.
 
Problem "3." is most acute with simple houses. They *all* seem to have red, hipped roofs! Great for Central Europe; hopeless for elsewhere.

[GaryChildress]

I think I'm going to just start out fooling around with maps without many buildings and other objects for awhile, just using PSP and what little I've been able to scavenge. Maybe by the time I've mastered the basics some more objects will become available on the CSO downloads. I still haven't figured out how to use 5CC map editor yet. I really just need to take some time and sit down with the documentation for awhile to get an idea of what I'm doing.

Anyway, at the moment I'm working on a small appendage to Spinel's data mod, adding US Rangers and US Airborne teams. [:)]

[CSO_Talorgan]

Sensible approach!
 
Walk before you run.
 
There's nothing to beat that cup of coffee after dinner. Chores all done; 'phone off the hook; door bell maimed; just you and the computer!

[spinel]

ORIGINAL: CSO_Talorgan

Problem "3." is most acute with simple houses. They *all* seem to have red, hipped roofs! Great for Central Europe; hopeless for elsewhere.

That sounds good enough to make a map of Venice.

Ah, if someone can make a map of Venice (one of my favorite cities) I would be absolutely delighted.

[CSO_Talorgan]

ORIGINAL: spinel

That sounds good enough to make a map of Venice.

The hipped roofs are distinctly Germanic.

... but you've struck on the nub of the problem. If we could create our own bridges and buildings then Venice would be a piece of cake.