granQ 293 Posted September 14, 2010 For the Swedish Forces Pack we are making an island based on the real Sturkö, which in 1981 had a soviet submarine visiting and so on. For more background info.. So we started to work and we got clutter to work, houses placed (far from done but its work in progress) and it starts to look pretty. However the satelite texture looks like shit to be honest and we are looking for someone with experience to help us out. and part of the map, how it look like.. http://anrop.se/forum/attachments/sturko_map.jpg So please, help us out and be part of this :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akio 10 Posted September 14, 2010 Hello Your map, is it after a real land? Have you created the entire "sat_lco" (Photoshop, ...), or you have "copied" from a source (google earth, ...)? Sorry for my English, I use an automatic translator. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
granQ 293 Posted September 14, 2010 yes its real one. Here is the map of real one.. I got a photoshop with the map/arieal photos from that page but trying to paint it in photoshop since real life photo doesn't look that good (at least not from this distance).. this is 5120x5120, then i made it into 4096x4096.. but its too small, the island will need a much bigger sat_lco... here is the files we used: http://sfp.granq.se/files/betas/sturko/MergedMap.jpg <- the satelite photos, 4 mb big. http://sfp.granq.se/files/betas/sturko/MergedMap_karta.jpg <- the map, 1 mb big. The psd is currently over 100 mb and got mask, this map and stuff.. and been recut to cover our island ingame.. but to give you an idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 45 Posted September 14, 2010 (edited) Hi granQ... Yeah.... it looks like you're discovering some of the limitations of using realworld sat images... Some of your info is a little low on detail... what size is your project? heightmap, etc?... lets assume your project is 10x10km - thats probably gonna be therefore a 1024x1024 pixel heightmap... To look adequate, your sat_lco should really be 10x that - ie: 10240x10240... as you've noticed, 4096x4096 isn't really good enough... Assuming your heightmap is the usual 1pix = 10m^2, then a 10x sat_lco gives you 1pix = 1m^2... adequate "distance" detail, and essentially what BIS themselves used on Sahrani, etc... This basically leaves you with two alternatives... get a better satellite image, or make a synthetic one... Getting a better sat image... Well... all these "downloaders" for google maps, etc were "pseudolegal" at best, (*edit* I stand corrected on this point - see Shezans post below :o) and I think Google & Co have tightened things up a little recently... theres also watermarks to contend with nowadays... Check out ZeroG's island making resources "sticky" in this section for details about google map downloaders and a few interesting links on that topic... Basically though - if you want to use a real image for a sat-lco you need to - one way or another - acquire a higher res image... 10x would be best... and then get it overlaying perfectly again... Alternatively, you could abandon the "realworld image" approach, and generate a purely synthetic sat_lco using something like L3DT... this will analyse your heightmap, decide from elevation/slope/aspect, etc what kind of ground cover should go where, and generate matching mask and sat images - so your clutter (controlled by mask) will exactly match your sat-image... what you see from the air is exactly what you get up close on the ground... that can be a Good Thing, since one of the drawbacks of realworld images is too much detail... The L3DT free standard edition has certain limitations - it handles big heightmaps, but I think max sat image generation size is 4096x4096... you can apply for a 90day fully operational demo of the professional edition (which will generate masks & sats up to 20480x20480, and beyond!) - the author Aaron is a really nice & helpful guy who'll get back to you real fast with a download link and key if you ask for a demo... WELL worth it... and in fact, you may find it's well worth the asking price for a full copy (theres a great suite of actual heightmap editing tools too)... Not the most instantaneously understandable program in the world, but worth the effort..... B Edited September 15, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shezan74 11 Posted September 14, 2010 I've a licensed copy of Google Ozi. It works well for catching maps from different sources (including google). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
granQ 293 Posted September 14, 2010 Bush, i was thinking of taking the current one. Scale from 4096x4096 to 10240x10240 (or perhaps even more), then run some filter and make it more smooth and draw it "free hand" style.. its tough but would allow me to make the soccer pitch more natural and stuff.. a lot of work. My biggest problem is that i don't really get the "overlay" thing that the satelite picture creates on the normal inzoomed textures.. miss OFP's simple system sometimes :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldbear 390 Posted September 14, 2010 (edited) I had the same issue while building my Danish Brik from Google screens ... it looks more like a checker made of crude and boiled spinaches. After heavy hesitation I decided to edit the picture in The Gimp trying to tone down all the green tones on the whole _Sat , change them in a brownish green ... and I thinks it looks better even if there are still crude green splashes somewhere and somewhat diminish the contrast between all parts. I believe the wrong effect comes from the contrast between the Autumn foliage of the trees and the Spring green color of the ground ... I found this is one of the most difficult part of map making : find the right point of balance between texture, mid_texture and _Sat. Edited September 14, 2010 by Old Bear Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 45 Posted September 14, 2010 (edited) Hi again! Yeah... hand editing can produce some massively impressive results... check out Icebreakrs stuff... more recent maps look a little L3DT, but his original, and still my favourite - Panthera, is a heavily edited and colour-balanced real image... God knows how many times he's reworked it... the hours he's spent... I'm doing it myself... takes forever... I've watched it develop from the original port, with the sat image with that funny green all sat images seem to have that has FAR too much blue component in it - to the impressive version in the latest release - the inspiration for my own project sat layer right there... but - as you say - a LOT of work... Even some basic colour balancing will improve a realworld sat layer - like OldBear said... the green tones in particular don't work well - far too much blue component... I've been looking at a lot of veg recently from a color component point of view, and theres TONS of yellow happening in there... a bit of desaturation and a color balance tweak will give you an immediate improvement... I'm not entirely sure about blowing the 4096 up to 10240 tho... even with blending you're only making things worse... you really do want some 1x1pixel (and therefore 1x1m on the ground) detail happening in there (and happening on the mask in the same place at the same res), you just want it a bit more controllable... If you're going to bite the bullet and hand edit a full sat layer you might as well start with a full detail one if possible, so maybe worth a bit of effort to get one and get it aligned properly... its a lot easier to take unnecessary detail away than to add it by hand... bearing in mind that, ideally, eveything on the sat layer should have a matching detail on the mask layer... Otherwise, the easiest alternative is L3DT... B Edited September 15, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
commander1985 10 Posted September 14, 2010 Havent read all the tips that went in so forgive me if it was already told. But i would suggest importing the heightmap into L3DT and generate a satmap with it. Its quite easy to do and make fixes on it :) And do my Maps with it too. Looks pretty nice. THere might be better ways but i think they will be very time consuming unless you are very experienced :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
icebreakr 3156 Posted September 15, 2010 Thanks Bushlurker. He's right. Satimages can be a big pain in the ass ;) I probably spent a month doing the photoshop work. As shezan74 mentioned, google and other maps can be snatched and stitched together. I didn't have such luck, since area of Panthera isnt' all that high res ;) So the best way would be: - produce a CGI satimg at least 10240x10240 - use PS skillz to add the real sat images Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
