MCAGCC 29 Palms (Island and Buildings) almost ready for Public BETA

[phaeden 0]

I've been working on this island for the last four years or so (since late 2007 - where has the time gone?!?) and I am getting very close to a public BETA.

Delays have been caused by real life (in all its forms ranging from divorce to travel to school to work). I really REALLY want to release this as it has been eating on my soul for a very long time.

I am getting very close to releasing it even though it is still not complete and not up to my standards in all areas.

Here are some teaser screen shots (all images at view distance of 10 kilometers):

[CameronMcDonald 146]

I know at least one bunch of guys and girls who look forward to walking its virtual sands. :)

Keep up the good work.

[phaeden 0]

Some more screens:

Southwest area of map - near residential build up - mostly flat with some arroyos:

Central mountains (southern end):

Mainside:

Editor Map of Mainside:

Editor Map of one of the MOUT areas:

Northwest area of the map - mountains in the distance are about 7 kilometers away:

Similar to above shot just further south and closer to the mountains:

Southern end of the central mountains (and armory depot in the bottom of the screen):

City lights in predawn (one of the fictitious areas of the map):

South central area of the map - a few kilometers from mainside and the main airfield:

[ei8ght 11]

awesome map!!!:o

[metalcraze 290]

Looks nice. Many map makers unfortunately forget the importance of a realistic satmap in creating the proper visual presentation of the area.

[kremator 1065]

Looks very nice indeed!

[dcal 16]

Excellent! I saw this in a video a some time ago and looked for it. My dad was stationed there when I was young. Your map looks very much like the real deal 29 Palms. Cant wait to get a hold of this. Great job.

[raptor 6 actual 13]

Looks frickin' outstanding!!! Keep up the good work.

[johanna 11]

wow! and... wow!

Keep up!

p.s

How did you get the streetlights look so good at distance?

[Binkowski 26]

Awesome stuff phaeden. Can't wait for this to be released! Thank you!

[PuFu 4600]

nicely done phaeden. I still have your version working version around my external hdd from back in the A1 days ;)

[rolo87 10]

Nice island! Great work guys!

[sup3r6f0ur 2]

Is thier going to be an Airbase there? Looks good so far.

[phaeden 0]

I appreciate the positive comments! It helps to keep me focused on getting it done.

How did you get the streetlights look so good at distance?

I have removed any shine the lights have so they are just points of lights. The down side is that they don't illuminate anything when you are near them (like a street light does). The up side is that they look great from a distance and through NVGs. I figured that the ups outweighed the downs and therefore have left them that way. I would like feedback on this item once I release the BETA. I have notice a few inconsistencies with the lights and I am working on it - i.e. I have to load the map twice in order for all the lights to come on - no idea what's going on there but at least I know the workaround.

Is thier going to be an Airbase there? Looks good so far.

There are several airfields and one very large airbase (EAF). It is kilometers long and is based on the real airfield there. There are two small civilian fields in the southeast and southwest parts of the map. There are also two "hasty" fields in the desert area to the north. I believe that the airfields that are on the map should be enough for a wide range of missions and focus points for combat.

I am hoping to get a few more screens up later today.

[Alex72 1]

Great work phaeden. That island look very real and awesome. :)

Looking forward to beta.

[gunterlund21 10]

Really nice work Phaeden. Glad to see you bck from your travels. Stay in touch

[phaeden 0]

Here are a few more screens of the map and some of the buildings:

Please keep in mind that the view distance is 10,000 meters.

Mountains at sunset:

Approaching the main gate in the early night:

Main Gate:

Southern end of mainside – baseball fields, housing and large buildings:

Some of the varied terrain in the southeastern part of the map:

One of the MOUT facilities:

Another view of the terrain from the infantry’s perspective:

View from a hill in the southern part of the map looking towards to valley which separates the central and eastern mountain ranges:

Airstrike on roads leading northward – you can also see the boundary of the map of the right side of the mountains:

Another airstrike:

[phaeden 0]

And yet a few more:

Burning armor from an adjacent infantry section:

One of the fortified positions on the map:

Artillery position in the eastern portion of the map:

Infantry perspective of another arroyo:

Low 1/2 moon brightness on the terrain – note the flares and burning armor – several kilometers away:

Similar location to the shot above – just in late afternoon – again, view distances are 10 kilometers:

Sunset view of the mountains – not many buildings out here, just the occasional fortification:

[J. Schmidt 10]

Looking good, can't wait for release.

[lao fei mao 21]

Great news, I've thought you might deserted the island since last year. I still keeped your WIP version, which actually quite stable in 1.59 except some house config define error, such as bullets can hit cross some house's wall without any effect.....but so sad the WIP version would crash to desk since update OA to 1.60 version.

Anyway, hope you could release the beta version ASAP.

[jumpnjack 10]

These shots look very photo realistic. As if they were taken somewhere in Nevada/Cali region, or maybe Iraq. It will be a very awsome map! CAnt wait! Thankyou for your hard work!

[phaeden 0]

Here is the last group of screens I will take for now (so I can get back to working on the models) – this group of screens includes a lot of close ups of many of the buildings:

This is one of the base housing residential neighborhoods (west of mainside – when I was stationed there for comms school, this area was nearly empty). I have NOT tried to replicate each building type but instead went with a more generalized building that can be used in various area around the map. Additionally, I went with low poly models to keep the focus on high FPS play instead of really pretty houses/buildings. When I studied the psychology of simulations and training, I learned that when you are actually “fighting†in the virtual world, little details like rain gutters and such don’t actually matter much to your brain. Therefore, if you are walking the streets from the perspective of a tourist, the buildings may look horrendous. However, if you’re engaged in a firefight, you shouldn’t even notice.

Here is another building type – the larger buildings have this concrete type build whereas the smaller buildings are mostly concrete block in nature:

Another view of the city lights at night – on the left is the residential area seen above while the right is Mainside - note the reflection of the moon's light on the sand toward the right side of the image along the base and side of the hill (I remember it looking a lot like this in real life):

More city lights – this time, we are flying over the southwest section of the map (based on real world data). Buildings are spread out along dirt roads.

Flying over that same area in the daytime, you can see arroyos, several dirt roads and the main hardball the goes east-west:

Flying a little further west than the above shot, you can see more houses as the terrain gently rolls toward the horizon:

Heading west above the houses, you can see the central mountains off in the distance.

Final shot of that flight as the sun sets over that large residential section. I don’t have the data right in front of me but it is something like 5 kilometers from north to south and 10 or so from east to west:

Southern end of the central mountains:

Killing tanks at 3.5 kilometers:

[phaeden 0]

Final set of screens for now:

Insurgents form hasty ambush in one of the MOUT areas northeast of Mainside:

Same area – this is close to some firing ranges:

Assaulting the same area – the southern end of the central mountains are in the background:

Infantry assault the main MOUT facility. The buildings are based on real buildings used for MOUT on 29 Palms – they are not in the exact right locations but are close enough for government work:

Another view of the same assault – note the 5 story building on the right – again, this is based on real buildings used for training:

Another squad moves towards the 5 story building as the main assault moves up the roads to the interior areas of the training facility:

Aerial view of the same training area:

Another angle of the same facility:

The final screen before I get back to work (both real world and the buildings for the island):

If anyone would like to volunteer to help me finish the buildings and provide them with enough polish to make them worthy of our community, I will gladly accept your help. Please just send me a PM and we can get started.

---------- Post added at 22:55 ---------- Previous post was at 22:49 ----------

I forgot to note that all the buildings have been built with ACE's ability to "stabilize" your weapon in mind. For example, you can stabilize your rifle or MG on any of the window sills while kneeling or roof top walls while standing. You have to approach them fairly straight on as it doesn't always work if you are trying to stabilize your weapon in a corner (for example). The buildings also have "paths" for AI but, honestly, they haven't all been put in yet and don't always work (sometimes, the AI will stand outside of the building - I've been trying to figure this one out so if anyone knows what might cause that behavior, I am more than happy to listen and correct the models.

[thepiespy 2]

Outstanding work, I trust you've modeled Camp Wilson in all its depressing glory.

[[aps]gnat 28]

Whoah .... don't know about the island, but the pictures are bloody beautiful !!