Accurate Geographical Data to Oahu

[BossOfGames 1]

I would like to know if there is accurate geographical data to Oahu. I would like to create an accurate island.

[Nicholas 5]

Oahu!? You should create "The Big Island" instead! :p

I'm not sure where you might find geographical data to recreate it though.

---------- Post added at 20:09 ---------- Previous post was at 20:01 ----------

I would suggest to contact Icebreakr. He has created some very awesome islands and knows what he is doing. You can also check out his website where he has links to contact him there as well.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Nicholas

[W0lle 1046]

The USGS should provide Digital Elevation models of the U.S. free of charge.

[jakerod 254]

I would recommend breaking it down into pieces though or scaling it down. It's quite big. Probably too big to do a 1:1 on actually.

[BossOfGames 1]

The USGS should provide Digital Elevation models of the U.S. free of charge.

Looking at that now. Thanks.

EDIT: How would i go about making this into a format that Visitor will be able to read?

I would recommend breaking it down into pieces though or scaling it down. It's quite big. Probably too big to do a 1:1 on actually.

The one thing about Oahu is that it is the island where Honolulu is. I have checked that visitor can handle the map geographically, but I am worried about the urban environments that I will need to replicate pretty close. That will be a major load on scenery. I am thankful that I did not pick the biggest island. I do not think that the island will be able to take the load.

Edited June 20, 2012 by BossOfGames

[phaeden 0]

It depends on the poly count of your buildings. You can have a dense urban area so long as you keep the poly count low.

[giorgygr 61]

but I am worried about the urban environments that I will need to replicate pretty close. That will be a major load on scenery.

You can do some tricks to reduce the load significantly.

Yes..

1) ..the polycount of course is the 'number one'.

Reducing polygons from an object it's a tiresome process..but it pays on performance.

2) LOD's

Build different lod's for different distances (1 object far away DOESN'T need to be so 'complex' (lots of poly's)

3) You can choose 'lighter' RVMAT's for buildings and objects.

i.e a 'normal' map needs only the *.co and *.nohq texture in comparison to a 'heavy' map as "Super Shader" or "Multimaterial" who both requires more resources and texture types.

Yes..

..The result of quality maybe wouldn't be the same..but personally i love MORE objects>quality than LESS objects with

good>quality.

4) Last but really serious matter- is the "Section count" on scene.

The ideal is to use 1 RVMAT per (big) object or..1 for multiple small objects for exceptional performance (although to 'squeeze' all relevant textures *walls/floors/ceilings*for a big-like-house object to 1 *.co i believe it will significantly lower your quality.)

-----------

So...

I gave you some .."extreme" measures for a 'rich' simulated environment

YOU...can balance the 'Quality' vs 'Performance' to your needs

;)

Edited June 21, 2012 by GiorgyGR

[jakerod 254]

I use 3dem for getting heightmaps into a .ter format which I then import into L3DT (I used to use terragen). You might want to take a look at what types of data can be imported into that and then try to obtain height data in that format.

If you want a 1m per pixel sat map and mask you are going to need at least a 71,000 px x 71,000 px image to cover the entire area. I would make sure you have a program that is capable of doing that because at that size photoshop gets really iffy. Perhaps you should do a bare mockup of the area just to make sure that you would be able to play it ingame with a good ground resolution. That way you don't do a ton of work for nothing. I do look forward to playing on it though if you can get around those issues I mentioned.

[m16a2m203 0]

Been a long time since I messed with this stuff. Just jumped in some threads to see how things have changed and improved. Way too big of a project to model I think but you could always do it in "miniature†by scaling the data. You can find 1/3 arc second (approx. 10m data) here http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dem/squareCellGrid/download/3410 for Oahu. I think a more realistic/manageable project could be Midway or Wake -

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dem/squareCellGrid/download/642

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dem/squareCellGrid/download/634

Good thing about using bathymetry would be it's use in upcoming ArmA 3 instead of having a flat bottom like a lot of old maps were made in the beginning.

Bad thing with these is that the data does not appear to negate the heights of buildings, trees, etc. that is usually done in some LIDAR applications so you may have to do some minor height editing in order to make the islands look more realistic. ie. non-flat runways, or high points where a structure is located etc.

Here's a portion of Wake with a quick overlay from Google in Global Mapper...

Good Luck,

gren

Edited June 27, 2012 by m16a2m203

[BossOfGames 1]

The 3DEM method is not able to parse the data from the links m16a2 is providing me. How will i able to find the proper data?

EDIT: I found the data but It is individualized into zones. Is there a way to combine all the zones properly in 3DEM?

Edited June 28, 2012 by BossOfGames

[jakerod 254]

The 3DEM method is not able to parse the data from the links m16a2 is providing me. How will i able to find the proper data?

EDIT: I found the data but It is individualized into zones. Is there a way to combine all the zones properly in 3DEM?

I think you just need to select them all when you load them.

[vasf_jeffs 0]

Try the usgs seamless server. http://seamless.usgs.gov/ you can choose a rectangular download area that will gover the island.

[BossOfGames 1]

I think you just need to select them all when you load them.

That did not help. It didn't load properly. I need one DRM file. If anyone can provide a link that works in 3DRM, that will help me in creating a excellent addon. This is my first, but this will be a good one.

[Robster 11]

I hope this explanation about DEM Files Manipulation and Export may help you:

DEM Files Manipulation and Export

Visitor 3 can't import of DEM files but you can easily convert DEM files to XYZ files using 3rd party software. First choice for this task is MicroDEM. How to export DEM to XYZ from Microdem 6.03:

Start Quickview application from Microdem folder.

Select File -> Data Manipulation to open Data Manipulation window (or alternatively click at In<->OutIcon in the Microdem's toolbar). Note that you must select this mode before you do any other actions in Microdem, otherwise it's disabled.

In Data Manipulation window select Export -> ASCII XYZ, full DEM, open DEM file you want to export and select XYZ file. You're promted to ask coordinates units, use UTM for XY and meters for Z.

Tips and tricks: Another good and freely available DEM utility is 3dem. It's more user friendly and faster than MicroDEM in many operations. The fastest and most compatible file format to use to transfer files from 3dem to Microdem is GeoTiff. Here are some of tips and tricks how to process DEM data using 3dem and Microdem to prepare them for Visitor:

Patch missing DEM data to avoid holes in the map: Operation -> Patch missing data in 3dem; Edit -> Fill DEM holes in Microdem Data Manipulation.

Resample DEM to desired size and resolution: In Microdem Data Manipulation Resample - DEM, change X, Y spacing from current value to desired value

Merge DEMs: In 3dem just open multiple DEM files at the same time to merge them; in Microdem Datamanipulation select Merge -> DEMs, consequently open DEM files you want to merge, press cancel in Open merging file selector after last DEM is added and fill the target file name in merged DEM file selector.

Crop DEM: In 3dem, use Operation -> Select Smaller Area, select the area and press Enter; in Microdem Data Manipulation use Subset -> DEM rectangle and select the method you prefer.