Terrain Improvement (dev branch)

[old_painless 182]

Indeed, they do. And the first picture shows why NKs method is absolutely necessary - one midrange texture to fit the entire island has really bad side effects.

[On_Sabbatical 11]

We need some thumbs up and thumbs down on this forums ;)

Great job dude,very well detailed !

[lightspeed_aust 681]

To make it clear again:

Of course Bad Bensons textures look good at most places!

The main part of my system is created to avoid things like this.

On the other hand - I find the difference significant even on the example I did before. But then again - thats a question of perception. Maybe you arent that much affected by details;)

Anyways - heres a comparison of BadBensons textures and my system.

"BadBenson vs NK -Gif" this is an animated GIF - wait for it to be loaded so you hopefully get what I want to say;) its rather big

Bad Benson_text

NK_text

NK_without_text

Now I seriously have to go backto work again..............

Best regards!

can really see the difference now - does look good.

[Zavod 1]

Good work, are fully supported

[NordKindchen 12]

Another Update!

Here is another example!

Here is the example in big.

Spread the word! And thanks for your support!

Best regards!

[old_painless 182]

That thing speaks for itself. With this new system, what you see from the air is really what you will experience when on foot.

The top picture (current method) tries to convince you that the ground is barren, which it is not once your'e down there.

The bottom picture relays very well what the terrain is really like down low.

Well done,

OP

[Minoza 11]

Simply. Amazing.

[KyleK29 1]

Great idea, hopefully they listen.

It should be noted that similar systems are done in Frostbite and other engines that do long-range views. I did a lot of mapping for Battlefield 1942 and BF2. In BF42, the entire map was covered by one detail tiled image (ie: sandy for desert, grassy for forest, etc). IIRC, in BF2, you could apply alternate detail images to other areas (ie: roads, etc), as it used a very similar system with a logic map. The same "logic map" can be used to apply sounds to the environment for footsteps (ie: Asphalt, Mud, Sand, Wet Sand, etc.).

It can also be used to produce vehicle physics (ie: ice vs. clean road, etc) and other environment variables based off the ground conditions.

To be honest, I'd be surprised if they don't have something in the works to handle all of this. The basis of a good engine is allowing a lot of things to be handed by said engine with the least possible development time. With this, they could produce the main logic behind it and then a quality map for it, the rest just gets plugged in.

Some engines even go as far as doing the grass models based off of a logic map. You literally just "paint" the area and the engine does the grass work.

Edited April 13, 2013 by KyleK29

[dnk 13]

1. Many of the texturing looks too noisy still. You really should consider nothing for certain ground types. It really is better sometimes (smooth dirt, concrete, asphalt should be pretty smooth at a distance).

2. Is there any way to get bump/displacement implemented to add to the sense of terrain depth/detail?

[lightspeed_aust 681]

Perfection!

[dmarkwick 261]

456 votes, not a single negative vote. I think that speak for itself :)

NordKindchen, do you have a current version for download please? Even just the texture itself.

[NordKindchen 12]

@DNK: You have to understand that this is a proof of concept that I made with my own taste in mind. It is more important to understand that your wishes can be achieved with the system rather than showing off many different examples to please any taste.

I for myself like the sharp look - and the example pics you showed in your last post have small details on them too.

I would rather agree to your changes and create a different version for you if this system was implemented yet. The way it is atm - I dont see any advantage in creating another version. Sry;)

But to answer your question: No it is not possible to do that atm. While there is a theoretical possibilty for this procedure, I would not count on @it.;)

DMarkwick: Yes 457 votes now=) Still I feel that we need more cogency to get this into the developers minds...=/

And I would send it to you - but without the logicmap beeing implemented into the game theres no way this can be integrated into the game. The way I create the pictures atm is that I redo the steps that the logic map would do otherwise.

That means I:

...create different mid_range_textures

...load one into the game and make a screenshot from a specific point in a specific angle.

...load another texture into the game and retake the screenshot.

...after I did that with all needed textures I open the Screenshots in Photoshop and create a mash-up - the way the engine would do it on the fly.

So sry - theres nothing I could send you really. Even more this shows why we need the stated improved system! So:

Please guys! Spread the word! Why not send a message to a developer telling them how much you would appreciate this system? The more people demand it the more they will understand how much this is needed!

Greetings!

Ps: New screens in work;)

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

This right here is freaking incredible. Not only does it look SUBSTANTIALLY better than what is currently implemented, but it also helps alleviate the problem of drawing grass at long distances. The darkened terrain and added noise give the illusion that there's grass on the ground at distance, and should help blend in anyone prone on it without even needing the sinking into the terrain method.

You really have a winner in that shot and I PRAY that Bohemia implements this. I need my Arma 3 to look just like that!

Edited April 14, 2013 by DaRkL3AD3R

[NordKindchen 12]

Thank you so much DaRkL3AD3R!

I really really really hope that BI will implement a logic map for that midrange!

Now if we can try and spread the word so more people will get the huge advantage this brings to the game I am sure we can convince the necessary guys!

Greetings!

Oh and dont forget to vote! ;)

[Kemeros 1]

:D If you keep this up the devs will start yelling:

YtwFcDO4FRg

Edited April 14, 2013 by Kemeros

[seamusgod 1]

1. Many of the texturing looks too noisy still. You really should consider nothing for certain ground types. It really is better sometimes (smooth dirt, concrete, asphalt should be pretty smooth at a distance).

2. Is there any way to get bump/displacement implemented to add to the sense of terrain depth/detail?

1. the roads and asphalt grounds don't use noise textures, so it should have no impact on those areas, visually, i don't think his example shows that either. so i think you're complaining for the sake of complaining.

2. that would be ideal, but it seems the mid range texture have no normal map layer, only the texture that is generated close to the player has it.

[dmarkwick 261]

DMarkwick: Yes 457 votes now=) Still I feel that we need more cogency to get this into the developers minds...=/

And I would send it to you - but without the logicmap beeing implemented into the game theres no way this can be integrated into the game. The way I create the pictures atm is that I redo the steps that the logic map would do otherwise.

That means I:

...create different mid_range_textures

...load one into the game and make a screenshot from a specific point in a specific angle.

...load another texture into the game and retake the screenshot.

...after I did that with all needed textures I open the Screenshots in Photoshop and create a mash-up - the way the engine would do it on the fly.

So sry - theres nothing I could send you really. Even more this shows why we need the stated improved system!

I understand the limitations of the texture use i.e. it's a one-size-fits-all-areas texture, but still I should like to see first hand the gameplay difference when used on hilly terrain. :)

[bushlurker 45]

it seems the mid range texture have no normal map layer, only the texture that is generated close to the player has it.

Actually, one of the less immediately noticable tech "improvements" in A3 / Stratis is that the entire Sat Layer now has a normal map... That's different from the old Arma 2 method, it's also different from the current VBS2 tech, so I'm doubly at a loss!!!

I guess we'll have to wait and see what the new tools contain before we'll be making "true A3" maps...

B

Edited April 14, 2013 by Bushlurker

[NordKindchen 12]

I noticed it:P You can see it on how the sun casts shadows on the mountainsides when low;)

[CaptainObvious 95]

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4934308/Arma%203/mid_range_problem/MashUP_engine/after_2_small.jpg

Holy ..! This is something I would very very much like to see in Arma, great job buddy!

This combined with Elcoo's technique to render grass at long distances, oh yes please!

[Wolfstriked 11]

Truly outstanding Nord! Can't play without it now.

[old_painless 182]

Frustrating that this ticket has noone assigned to it (http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4635) . Just found out that you can't vote more than once :-)

-OP

[dnk 13]

1. the roads and asphalt grounds don't use noise textures, so it should have no impact on those areas, visually, i don't think his example shows that either. so i think you're complaining for the sake of complaining.

They clearly have noise textures applied in NK's picture and in other midrange texture replacement mods (which has been a major complaint of them, which NK is trying to correct). You should really work on your discussion skills, since I think this is the 3rd thread in a row I've responded to where you've managed to troll/annoy someone with an unnecessarily inflammatory remark (me this time: complaining to complain).

[NordKindchen 12]

The new update says that they improved the midrange texture.

"More detailed middle distance terrain texture added"

I feel that I have to point out again that its not the lack of resolution in the midrange which let the game look undetailed. Its the lack of diversity. And this simply cannot be achieved with only one midrange texture.

Better resoluted textures will not improve the look of the game anymore at that distance. The current resolution suffices as I showed in my examples. What is missing is the possibility to have different textures active at the same time!

I wont explain it again since I did so at least 3 times in the course of this topic.

Pls make BI aware of this issue!

Best regards

[Wolfstriked 11]

I agree,I disabled your mod and checked the new textures and they are better but then I went back and enabled your mod again as its a big improvement.