Isla Del Fuego

[oktyabr 12]

First Release: 0.2 BETA March 25, 2011

Current Version: 0.3 BETA August 13, 2011

REQUIREMENTS:

----------------------

- Working installation of ArmA II/Operation Arrowhead - *Combined Operations*

- brg_africa foliage addon v1.24t2 (08/13/2011)

Isla Del Fuego Features

--------------------------------

- A 10km.sq. map with approx. 4km.sq. of dry land in the middle of it.

- New terrain to ArmA II including the first extinct volcano caldera (AFAIK).

- 1 major city "Al-Burdera" and a smaller fishing village.

- Mangrove swamp.

- Small and dangerous but working airstrip.

- Industrial area and deep water port.

- About 100,000 objects.

- Custom ground textures.

- Kilometers of off-road trails suitable for ATV and 4x4 adventures.

- Long sandy beaches.

- Preliminary support for MSO.

Release notes: Summer is a very busy time for me so I haven't had much "free" time to work on Del Fuego. However I've had this version on my hard drive for quite some time and it is actually the fifth "improved" build since my first public release with V0.2. With the inclusion of Berghoff's brg_africa v1.24t2 addon, A.I. can no longer "see through" the trees and Del Fuego is now much more playable, I think. This version features over a hundred hours of time that resulted in a very modified caldera, completely new surface textures (thanks Bushlurker for all your help!), a good deal of optimization of foliage and buildings, some new fence lines, power lines, road smoothing, a lengthened and smoothed airstrip, and more. I dare say there isn't a single square meter of this island that I haven't tried to improve by hand, one at a time. Buildings in the city are pretty much place holders for the right custom objects I haven't found/made yet. I STILL have big plans for the buildings but it may be quite some time before I have anything ready for release. Last but not least this island makes extensive use of brg_africa foliage and in general can use a lot of optimization before it will play smoothly on "high" settings for most people. Forget 60fps on less than a bleeding edge machine! I'm sorry if the island is still laggy (it is for me too!) but I really, REALLY wanted to see how far I could push dense foliage towards a swamp/rain forest/tropical environment... high performance was and IS of secondary importance to me. If you want super high FPS you will probably need to cut back some of the eye candy and/or view distance. The island is only about 4km across anyway so do you really need 10k view distance? ;) Enjoy.

FICTIONAL BACKGROUND:

------------------

For over 4000 years Isla Del Fuego has been a sunny stopping point along the tropical shipping lanes. It's culture and history reflect a long and colored past under the rule of Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and even the Roman Empire. More recently it has existed comfortably as a territory of Takistan but military upheaval there has left the tiny island a political hotspot ready to boil over.

WHY I MADE IT:

------------------

For over a decade I've sat on mission ideas that I originally started working on for games such as Counter Strike 1.6 and TrueCombat. After experimenting with many of the great island addons that are already out there I decided my dream missions might become reality a bit easier on an island designed with them in mind. Loosely inspired by Montserrat in the Caribbean Sea but NOT modeled on any real world location, "Isla Del Fuego" is my first attempt at making that island. My island is much smaller than most made for the A2 type of games and mission makers looking for a place to plant large airfields and military bases should probably look elsewhere...

BUT if you are interested in small squad, tactical, covert operations, perhaps PvP, give this one a shot!

My small airstrip does include working ILS ("autoland"). That said while you won't be doing many touch and gos with B52s and the like I have had great fun taking off AND landing in everything smaller... including the C130s!!! The nearby proximity of the industrial area makes lining up a clean landing quite challenging, even more so at night, but it can be done! AI can land and takeoff in pretty much anything smaller than a C130... They can land sucessfully but the runway is just a hair too short for them to takeoff without crashing... a GOOD human pilot can do it though! Set your compass heading for around 28 degrees, approach from the south (take off heading north too), and try to clear the high tension cables (20+m, 4.6 glidepath) before touching rubber to tarmac. The coastal lighthouses can provide good bearings especially in the dark.

DISCLAIMER!

------------

This island is to be considered BETA status and I release it in this form with the hopes that some may provide useful feedback, suggestions and bug reports. It is NOT to be considered a finished product and new versions may make this one obsolete! Your mileage may vary. I have included a small version of the original sat_lco entitled "betafeedback.jpg"* that may be edited to indicate locations of bugs, suggested improvements, etc.

Note: Most of the buildings in the main city are being used as place holders until I can make/find the right ones. I know that surface textures might not look "real" but it's difficult to acheive with such high contrast surfaces, primarily where sand and basalt mix. I'd seriously appreciate any suggestions on how to manage this better.

VERSION HISTORY

---------------

0.3 08/13/2011
----------------------
Releasing based on improved bfg_africa v1.24t2...  no more "A.I. see-through"
New surface textures (sand, grass, etc.)  Thanks Bushlurker!
Many hours of work on interior of caldera
Improved airstrip (still tricky with the C130!)
Re-arranged many buildings, power lines, fences.  Not perfect, but better.
Smoothed more roads
Optimized foliage and other objects, still VERY FPS hungry

0.2 public beta
----------------------
Got ILS working although AI have problems taking off with C130
Put in working PAPI lights!
More road smoothing
Updated to brg_africa v1.23
Increased inland foliage aprox. +20,000
Started work on MSO compatibility

0.1 (short closed beta)
----------------------
- Added several flight path indicator lights for night landings.
- First run of "keypoint" placement including strongholds and citycenter points.
- Removed few bushes and boulders from roads and trails.
- Placed basalt surface under runway for faster takeoffs, landings, and texture visible from altitude.
- Doubled size of fishing village in the north.
- Added more breakable streetlights.
- Added bus stops on scenic highways.

Special Thanks to:

--------------

Bohemia Interactive for the wonderful game and the TOOLS that made this possible!

Berghoff for his excellent brg_africa foliage addon

Shezan74 for World Tools

Homer Johnston for Roadpainter

http://www.gimp.org for the best free pixel pusher on the net

Mikero at DevHeaven for ExtractPbo, DePbo and more

Marksman for his top notch ILS tutorial and spreadsheet! n00bs can land now too.

OFPEC for tag registration services, DSCreateKey and too many tutorials to count

Bistudios editing forums and all the guys on the mapper's skype channel that took time to answer any and all n00b questions I might have had, including (in no special order!):

DeanosBeano, cctoide, kju, Old Bear, Commander1985, Bushlurker, Bad Benson, Tupolov, bigshotking (who I learned from by trying to help!), and last but not least Icebreakr and Prowler, who's own tropical islands were a great inspiration to the creation of Del Fuego! Sorry to any I missed... and take my thanks to heart, you know who you are.

Downloads:

Megashare: http://www.MegaShare.com/3503686

Mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?wmfhpzl92uxrm7j

Gamefront: http://www.gamefront.com/files/20670356/Del_Fuego_V3.zip

Community Mirrors (thanks guys!):

Arma2Base.de: http://www.arma2base.de/include.php?path=download&contentid=3323

ArmedAssault.info: http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?game=1&cat=islands&id=144

Armaholic.com: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=13800

Promo video!

xzWBI0aHjYc

(Best viewed in HD:

)

---------- Post added at 03:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

Short video demonstrating the right way to approach the tiny (and deadly) airstrip at night. Look for the lighthouse on the beach for a good line up and watch the high tension lines in the industrial area! ;)

(C130J w/ AI pilot)

jBaPVRmxFT0

Edited August 14, 2011 by Oktyabr

[commander1985 10]

Great work mate! :)

Release mirrored on Arma2Base.de

http://www.arma2base.de/include.php?path=download&contentid=3323

Edited March 26, 2011 by Commander1985

[jeza 5416]

Cheers matey looking sweet, im feeling a tropical d-day here!

[ArmAriffic 10]

very nice, goes good with Mana Island, Fiji

[Guest]

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

Isla Del Fuego v0.2 beta



African Foliage

Arma 2

[oktyabr 12]

Thanks guys! And thanks for the mirror and news Foxhound! Only one correction, Del Fuego uses components of both A2 and OA so it should require Combined Operations?

Enjoy!

[lightspeed_aust 681]

A 10km.sq. map with approx. 4km.sq. of dry land in the middle of it.

ahh i see - i read it like it was a 10km x 10km piece of land. my bad.

[oldbear 390]

New on front page at Armed Assault.info

Link to mirror :

Isla Del Fuego (v 0.2 beta) : http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?game=1&cat=islands&id=144

[Alwarren 2766]

Just had a quick fly-over/drive-over, and I must say, a very good looking island. I like the caldera, pretty unique sight :)

Great work. Good framerate too.

[bad benson 1733]

loving it! keep it up!

made a base jump from the edge of the vulcano:D

[oktyabr 12]

loving it! keep it up!

made a base jump from the edge of the vulcano:D

That's awesome!!! It's one of the things I always thought about while building it. Could never get a jump off the cliff to work right! Thought about trying to jump a motorcycle off it first but...

How did you script that?!?!

[grub 10]

looks awesome Oktyabr, will have a look tonight

[bad benson 1733]

just put this in your init line:

this addaction ["jump", "\ca\air2\Halo\data\Scripts\HALO_init.sqs"]

it enables you to start the halo mode from the action menu. just stand really close to the edge and then while making a step forward execute the action called "jump".

there are even some places on Takistan where u can do it. you'll need to jump off a rock though because Takistan's slopes aren't steep enough.

[bushlurker 45]

Hi Okty!!

Congrats on the release - a milestone indeed! A proper beta that says "see - it ain't all just talk!"... god, I need to do that sometime I guess ;)... And a good Beta too!... The heightmap is excellent! Caldera looks very convincing... well done!! not easy to do that kind of hi-detail groundwork with the resolutions we usually struggle with - and make it look good... seriously well done with that aspect all round...

I see what you mean about the surfaces... check your PM for a couple of thoughts on that score...

Great stuff mate!!

B

[oktyabr 12]

Thanks guys!

I test of a pair of AI piloted F14s taking off from my tiny airstrip ;)

OTR_XSowIns

[katipo66 94]

Hey Oktyabr,

Ive been playing on this for a while! Nice map, good size, has a really good feel to it... look forward to any updates.

Thanks :D

[oktyabr 12]

Thanks Katipo66! A beta release doesn't mean I've quit working on it ;)

[ArmAriffic 10]

just a suggestion, if you thinned down the vegetation in the rainforest's we would get better frames, it's a great island but there is a bit of lag for me

[oktyabr 12]

Thanks for all the feedback on my first release. Just released version V0.3 today!

I did try to optimize the foliage for better FPS, and it is, slightly, but don't expect this one to skyrocket performance wise like an empty desert one. I wanted to see what could be done to simulate *dense* foliage and well, everything has it's price.

New surface textures, longer airstrip, smoothed roads, new fences and power lines and more.

I've actually had this one sitting on my hard drive for a few months now waiting for an update to brg_africa to solve the A.I. "see through" problem. v1.24t2 seems to have fixed that, not only on Del Fuego, but all the other islands that make use of it too! Highly recommend upgrading to this version:

http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?game=1&cat=addons&id=1447

Updated the readme but forgot to change a couple of references to the old, V0.2 version. Sorry!

Mostly wanted to get this one uploaded as I'm moving to a new machine and with that, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. If I botch everything else and have to start back up from scratch at least the most recent version of my island is now public.

Comments, suggestions, etc. appreciated, as always, but this is a very busy time of year for me so don't expect any more releases for awhile yet.

New links in first post. Enjoy!

[miller 49]

Thanks Oktyabr

ArmA2Base.de Mirror:

Isla Del Fuego v0.3 by Oktyabr

Kind regards

Miller

[oldbear 390]

New on front page at Armed Assault.info

Link to updated mirror :

Isla Del Fuego (v 0.3 beta) : http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?game=1&cat=islands&id=144

[oktyabr 12]

Thanks guys!

[.kju 3241]

We played on Isla Del Fuego a couple of times with my game mode.

The people loved the overall theme of the terrain, as well as the variety the small towns and the jungle like landscape.

Excellent job mate :bounce3:

[Guest]

Updated release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

Isla Del Fuego v0.3 beta



African Foliage

Arma 2

[=kct=blackmamba 44]

from wat i can see in the video this island looks great!!

gonna try this one :)