Map Builder - Ingame 3D-Editor for terrain creation

[giallustio 770]

Keep it up Neo!

[1para{god-father} 105]

Love it this is Awsome !

On free view - it does seem to stop looking left for some strange reason but lets you rotate the complete other way

[NeoArmageddon 958]

@neo is it possible to have this editor for IRON Front A3 maps? ;)

Should work out of the box. Otherwise someone needs to create an editor upgrade including ironfront objects.

[/color]i just minded something...it would be really awsome if you could add roads it would be really awsome...i dont remember the name but there should be a mod where you could place roads but i dont remeber names damn...

You are referring to Homer Johnstons Roadpainter tool.

I will probably not include such function as the way how roads were layed down in A2 is now obsolete. Placing shapefiles in TB is very easy and everything I could implement in A3 will be much more of a hassle for the user. Also there is no way I could accurate visualize shapefile roads in A3.

[ironmentalist 10]

ok bro thanks for answer and for not "snobbing" like others in this damn forums and i hope your tool will be the more succesfull one

[phxdefcon 36]

Hi,

Can we use this every were ? like a mods ? like MCC ?

Thanck you

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Can we use this every were ? like a mods ? like MCC ?

You can use this at home, from work or even in a train or bus if you have a portable computer that runs A3 :P

But seriously:

I don't know MCC but it's basically just a mission. If you change the ending (or copy and paste) the mission to another terrain, you can use the editor there.

[Fogu 10]

Thx for this sweet Tool Neo.

You are saving us hours and days with this one:)

[Rudy23 14]

Hey I am loving this tool. Its exactly what the community needed! So easy to use and I have just built a nice Casino for my alits map however, how do I "merge" this building I have just made to my current map. I have saved this in all formats but I noticed its SQF and not SQM so I can not load and merge or am I missing something?

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

hmmm i have a problem. when i start the map builder ingame on my 204km x 204km, i have every 2 seconds a short "flicker", idk what it is and how i can describe it, its like the camera shakes very hard and its very short there.

[adanteh 58]

Absolutely awesome job on this. What would be needed for an SQM export though? Heck, what would be nicest is being able to switch between 3D and 2D editor easily and have it update like that. I do wonder how hard something like that would be though. I've never tried adjusting the 2D editor to do something like that and I guess loading times might be a problem.

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

hmmm i have a problem. when i start the map builder ingame on my 204km x 204km, i have every 2 seconds a short "flicker", idk what it is and how i can describe it, its like the camera shakes very hard and its very short there.

nvm. seems like its disappeared now.

can you add a object calculator in future version which show us how many objects we placed ? this would be really helpful.

and what would be cool is: a function which let you select all object with one button or if you can, you could add a button at the right side where the object selection is which select all object at once when u click the button.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Arma3goodCPUlowFPS

[NeoArmageddon 958]

Heck, what would be nicest is being able to switch between 3D and 2D editor easily and have it update like that..

I investigated this already and it is not possible in A3. The scripting commands are present but they don't work. Looks like the underlaying system is not there. Seems to work in VBS.

What would be needed for an SQM export though?

Coming Soonâ„¢

I have saved this in all formats but I noticed its SQF and not SQM so I can not load and merge or am I missing something?

Call the SQF script when starting your mission in your init.sqf (if MP on server only).

can you add a object calculator in future version which show us how many objects we placed ? this would be really helpful.

and what would be cool is: a function which let you select all object with one button or if you can, you could add a button at the right side where the object selection is which select all object at once when u click the button.

Both added to my list.

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

I investigated this already and it is not possible in A3. The scripting commands are present but they don't work. Looks like the underlaying system is not there. Seems to work in VBS.

Coming Soonâ„¢

Call the SQF script when starting your mission in your init.sqf (if MP on server only).

Both added to my list.

thanks, good luck :)

[bushlurker 46]

when i start the map builder ingame on my 204km x 204km, i have every 2 seconds a short "flicker", idk what it is and how i can describe it, its like the camera shakes very hard and its very short there.

Sounds very much like a Floating Point Precision problem...

You generally only see this sort of thing on "oversized" terrains.

I'm guessing that it was happening when you tried to work on an area far to the North and East (Top Right) of your map - where you're furthest away from the "origin point"

Basically, the engine stores the positions of things as coordinates... Down near the "Origin Point" (bottom left corner), the coordinates for a thing might be...

X=12.345678, Y=12.345678 = Very Accurate positioning...

But in a REALLY BIG terrain, up at the opposite corner of the map, coordinates start to get like this...

X=123456.78, Y=123456.78 = much lower accuracy...

Keep going further and you can guess what happens - accuracy is reduced still further... the engine starts to struggle... It's trying to keep track of the positions of things and it's having to work with very inaccurate coordinates... Object placement accuracy deterioriates, the engine can't decide if a thing is "here" or "half a meter over there" because - there's "no in between possible"

nvm. seems like its disappeared now.

I'm guessing it stopped happening when you moved to an area of the map where accuracy was better (nearer the Bottom//Left origin)

Your terrain is probably just Too Big...

B

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

Sounds very much like a Floating Point Precision problem...

You generally only see this sort of thing on "oversized" terrains.

I'm guessing that it was happening when you tried to work on an area far to the North and East (Top Right) of your map - where you're furthest away from the "origin point"

Basically, the engine stores the positions of things as coordinates... Down near the "Origin Point" (bottom left corner), the coordinates for a thing might be...

X=12.345678, Y=12.345678 = Very Accurate positioning...

But in a REALLY BIG terrain, up at the opposite corner of the map, coordinates start to get like this...

X=123456.78, Y=123456.78 = much lower accuracy...

Keep going further and you can guess what happens - accuracy is reduced still further... the engine starts to struggle... It's trying to keep track of the positions of things and it's having to work with very inaccurate coordinates... Object placement accuracy deterioriates, the engine can't decide if a thing is "here" or "half a meter over there" because - there's "no in between possible"

I'm guessing it stopped happening when you moved to an area of the map where accuracy was better (nearer the Bottom//Left origin)

Your terrain is probably just Too Big...

B

i tested it again and you were right. in the second time i moved in a area where accuracy was better.

i tested 122km x 122km and have this problem there too, yet take on helicopters south east asia terrain is 120km x 120km.

my questions:

- does this accuracy problem has bad affect on gameplay or is noticeable ingame during playing (without using this editor or anything) ?

- is there a chance that this will be fixed ?

- your island 51 is 51km x 51km AFAIK, did you noticed any accuracy problems with that size ?

[NeoArmageddon 958]

- does this accuracy problem has bad affect on gameplay or is noticeable ingame during playing (without using this editor or anything) ?

- is there a chance that this will be fixed ?

- your island 51 is 51km x 51km AFAIK, did you noticed any accuracy problems with that size ?

1) Yes, it's noteable

2) No, that can't be fixed because it is not a bug but a fundamental principle of computer science. It can be solved by different engine design (which has other drawbacks)

3) 51x51 should be fine

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

1) Yes, it's noteable

2) No, that can't be fixed because it is not a bug but a fundamental principle of computer science. It can be solved by different engine design (which has other drawbacks)

3) 51x51 should be fine

thanks.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Arma3goodCPUlowFPS

[melbo 3]

Fantastic bit of kit this! Had a bit of a boring weekend and remade the Crash map from CoD4 to see what it was capable of. Must say I am impressed

Need volunteers for people to run around in VR suits and shoot lasers at each other now!

[francis 4]

does its only me to think that . This mod is really not needed, Buldozer is better and by far than this mod.... you cannot smooth the terrain you cannot change the size of brush , you cant change the density ( buldozer done all of your mod and more why we take a less programe ) the only way i see its most friendly user but you have less option so in my opinion better to use buldozer , thanks to BIS to give us a splendid 3D viewer

[melbo 3]

does its only me to think that . This mod is really not needed, Buldozer is better and by far than this mod.... you cannot smooth the terrain you cannot change the size of brush , you cant change the density ( buldozer done all of your mod and more why we take a less programe ) the only way i see its most friendly user but you have less option so in my opinion better to use buldozer , thanks to BIS to give us a splendid 3D viewer

It's all WIP mate. Read the first post.

[NeoArmageddon 958]

thanks to BIS to give us a splendid 3D viewer

You said it yourself: Buldozer is a 3d viewer with a few editing functions. nearly all terrain makers complain about the object positions features of buldozer and THAT is the intend of Map Builder.

Also you can create scripts and in a future updates SQM files with the editor. Something buldozer can't.

Also buldozer can't be used in Multiplayer. It's something completly different to populate a terrain with your friends (and the results are incredible).

@Melbo

Awesome video. You worked more with Map Builder than I did :D I will add this to the frontpage, when I am home.

May I add your projectfile to the next patch as an example? That would be awesome!

[itsdonjon 25]

does its only me to think that . This mod is really not needed, Buldozer is better and by far than this mod.... you cannot smooth the terrain you cannot change the size of brush , you cant change the density ( buldozer done all of your mod and more why we take a less programe ) the only way i see its most friendly user but you have less option so in my opinion better to use buldozer , thanks to BIS to give us a splendid 3D viewer

Nearly every A3-Terrainbuilder is at some point annoyed from BD and Neo's Script/Mod really is an amazing alternative. It is much easier to work with Map Builder, than with BD (in my opinion!).

Nobody is forcing you to use it.

[1para{god-father} 105]

Hi NeoArmageddon ,

I tried this on our Dedi server but had an issue where once we placed an Object you could not select it again. any idea if this would work on a Dedi or is it Just on hosted MP ?

@francis -in BD you cannot get other players to help on you Terrain like you can with this Mod hence AWSOME :)

[giallustio 770]

It's the same concept of x-cam. Split the map in 10 squares, assign 1 square to 1 person, load in TB all the squares and here you go, a map in 1/10 of the time required by 1 person.

Better buldozer for sure

Edited January 19, 2015 by Giallustio
adding sarcasm

[NeoArmageddon 958]

I tried this on our Dedi server but had an issue where once we placed an Object you could not select it again. any idea if this would work on a Dedi or is it Just on hosted MP ?

With every object you place? Works on our dedicated... strange... What object? Which A3 version? I will look into it.