Beginner Questions Regarding Recreation of Detroit, Michigan

[Twin2Win 1]

Hello everybody!

First of all thank you for taking the time to read this thread and I will continue to update it as progress comes to fruition. But, first I have a few questions...

1. Detroit (the city itself) is 370 km2 what is a safe size that Visitor can handle for a project of this size? What size would you recommend?

2. Do any of you know of any quality models to represent some of the skyscrapers found here in Detroit?

3. Where do you think would be the best place to obtain a satellite map would be?

Thank you for your time! :)

[cavemanmods 1]

Looks like it could be a good idea.

1. From what I remember after looking at other threads and through my own experimentation a good size for a large map is a 2048x2048 terrain grid size. You can then mess with the cell size to find a map size in km2 that suites your needs (the lower the cell size the greater the impact on performance).

However, for a fully populated urban area a large map could cause a couple of issues. It could impact performance and it would take a very long time to build accuratly.

Assuming that your map will be relatively flat as it is a city with skyscrapers I would suggest that you attempt a map size at 512x512 with a 20m cell size, giving you a 10.2kmx10.2km map. Or even a 10m cell size at 5.12kmx5.12km.

2. Charon productions made a decent skyscraper pack.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11458

3. There are many different ways to get a SatMap. If you want sattelite image the only place I can suggest is google earth. However, I use l3dt to create heightmaps and it also generates basic textures for satelite map. I would then be painting on other features using GIMP.

Hope this is usefull.

[Twin2Win 1]

Looks like it could be a good idea.

1. From what I remember after looking at other threads and through my own experimentation a good size for a large map is a 2048x2048 terrain grid size. You can then mess with the cell size to find a map size in km2 that suites your needs (the lower the cell size the greater the impact on performance).

However, for a fully populated urban area a large map could cause a couple of issues. It could impact performance and it would take a very long time to build accuratly.

Assuming that your map will be relatively flat as it is a city with skyscrapers I would suggest that you attempt a map size at 512x512 with a 20m cell size, giving you a 10.2kmx10.2km map. Or even a 10m cell size at 5.12kmx5.12km.

2. Charon productions made a decent skyscraper pack.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11458

3. There are many different ways to get a SatMap. If you want sattelite image the only place I can suggest is google earth. However, I use l3dt to create heightmaps and it also generates basic textures for satelite map. I would then be painting on other features using GIMP.

Hope this is usefull.

Thank you for the speedy response!

Regarding 1. Yes, it's very flat I looked at the aster project and a few other projects and its all one solid color. Then the issue arises that I have no idea how to get said map. I read a post talking about using MicroDEM and I'm currently downloading the program and hope I am able to figure it out. Regarding 2. Thank you! :) Regarding 3. The problem I will have with the satellite map is it is mostly all buildings and pavement...no way I can paint that! I'll do a search about how to rip google maps even though I'm aware of it's legality issues but what other options do I have ya know?

Any other tips would be much appreciated! I'll be reading Bush's more in depth tutorial for more tips when I find it. Already have went through his basic beginner tutorial, and I give my thanks to him for that now ;) I'll also be giving credit to everyone who posts here, with relevant information, upon their given permission. Thank you again!

UPDATE: I have obtained a satellite image of Detroit 5120x5120px in size. Would that be the correct size I need the sat map to be? I did a 512x512 with grids at 10 as suggested which is equal to 5120x5120 which is my image size so that should work correct? *Thanks in advanced!*

Edited October 3, 2012 by Twin2Win
Update

[jakerod 254]

UPDATE: I have obtained a satellite image of Detroit 5120x5120px in size. Would that be the correct size I need the sat map to be? I did a 512x512 with grids at 10 as suggested which is equal to 5120x5120 which is my image size so that should work correct? *Thanks in advanced!*

Problem with this is that you need to make sure that every pixel of that Detroit sat image is 10m wide. You can have a 5120px x 5120px sat image of just a building, of Detroit, of the US, or of the planet but that doesn't make it accurate. So one way you could do it and get it pretty close is to measure out a box in google earth that is 5120m x 5120m and make sure that you cut out that area. It isn't the most accurate way of doing it but it will at least get you close.

Also if the area of the city that you are doing is completely flat you might as well just make your own heightmap instead of pulling another one. That way you can skip the step of lining up the height map with the sat map perfectly which depending on your software can be a pain.

[Twin2Win 1]

Problem with this is that you need to make sure that every pixel of that Detroit sat image is 10m wide. You can have a 5120px x 5120px sat image of just a building, of Detroit, of the US, or of the planet but that doesn't make it accurate. So one way you could do it and get it pretty close is to measure out a box in google earth that is 5120m x 5120m and make sure that you cut out that area. It isn't the most accurate way of doing it but it will at least get you close.

Also if the area of the city that you are doing is completely flat you might as well just make your own heightmap instead of pulling another one. That way you can skip the step of lining up the height map with the sat map perfectly which depending on your software can be a pain.

Thank you Jakerod, Downloading google earth now to do as you mentioned.

UPDATE: Got any pointers as how to best measure out said box? I'm using the ruler tools and im measuring 5120m lines but they never seem to meet up? lol

EDIT: Would it just be easier for me to make my height map with L3DT and go pro? Would that not make my sat map and mask for me in that situation?

Edited October 3, 2012 by Twin2Win

[jakerod 254]

Thank you Jakerod, Downloading google earth now to do as you mentioned.

UPDATE: Got any pointers as how to best measure out said box? I'm using the ruler tools and im measuring 5120m lines but they never seem to meet up? lol

EDIT: Would it just be easier for me to make my height map with L3DT and go pro? Would that not make my sat map and mask for me in that situation?

It would make a basic sat and mask for you. It wouldn't be able to do buildings or anything like that.

About Google Earth:

Select the ruler tool. There is one that says line and one that says path. I use the one that says path and then I do a right angle so that there are two 5120m sides. Sometimes after I do that I will go to the add Polygon tool or add placemark tool and mark the four corners up using that in case I need to come back later I will know the exact area I took.

It might be beneficial for you to do a trial run too. Do a 256 by 5m or something and get a 1.28km x 1.28km of a part of Detroit. Use it to learn the best ways to do things for the specific map. This way you can do sat and masks quicker. It won't take 2 hours to open it in photoshop because the file will be small. It can help you learn which objects are which.

Another thing that might be beneficial is to start a project at the same terrain resolution as your final project will be but as small as you can. So let's say your final project is a 2048 x 10m (20km x 20km). Do a 2.56km x 2.56km (256 x 10m) and start in the lower left hand corner of your final project. Then once you finish the 2.56km terrain you can then use the paste absolute command and paste it into a 512 x 10m (5km x 5km). Then you work on that project and when you're done you paste that into a 1024 x 10m (10km x 10km). This way you are doing things in steps.

A 20km x 20km project is a huge undertaking. When I did terrains for Operation Flashpoint / Cold War Assault a 12.5km x 12.5km would take me anywhere from 2 to 4 months and things were a lot less detailed back then. Additionally, all three of those terrains were islands with a significant amount of water around them. It's better to have a 2.56km x 2.56km map of part of Detroit than it is to not have any because the project was so big you lost your will to complete it. I'm not saying you wouldn't complete a bigger one I'm just saying that there is no point starting big when you can start small and keep increasing the size of the project. Plus when you finish the smaller one you can release it and get feedback from people.

[Twin2Win 1]

Thanks again Jakerod. The map I'm making more or less for the DayZ mod so I'm not overly concerned about a sat map. Out of anything I was thinking of using a basic one, completing my project. Opening it up in a mission editor and taking a screenshot of it and then using that as a sat map because you can't get anymore accurate then that. I'm expecting this to take me quite a long time. A very long time. But I'm very meticulous about my work so everything will need to be perfect. I just want to get everything set up first like the layers.cfg and whatnot and then just start building. Figure I'd start with what would be the coast or the "East end" and isle my way through it all. The worst part I can see now is the roads. They are going to be horrible! I plan on doing some more work today on it and I'll let you all know if I run into anything and generally ask for tips as I encounter different aspects of making my world come to life. Thanks again!

[muppet1856 6]

Thanks again Jakerod. The map I'm making more or less for the DayZ mod so I'm not overly concerned about a sat map. Out of anything I was thinking of using a basic one, completing my project. Opening it up in a mission editor and taking a screenshot of it and then using that as a sat map because you can't get anymore accurate then that. I'm expecting this to take me quite a long time. A very long time. But I'm very meticulous about my work so everything will need to be perfect. I just want to get everything set up first like the layers.cfg and whatnot and then just start building. Figure I'd start with what would be the coast or the "East end" and isle my way through it all. The worst part I can see now is the roads. They are going to be horrible! I plan on doing some more work today on it and I'll let you all know if I run into anything and generally ask for tips as I encounter different aspects of making my world come to life. Thanks again!

So I'd love to do an insurgency based on the D. Are looking for help? I'm local to Detroit if that helps...

[Twin2Win 1]

I discontinued this project for now, but with A3 I might pick it back up. After we get our new tools first =P