[WIP] Rhodesia Bush War

[RhodesianScout 189]

The next step of this project is that today I am adding and testing Midrange Detail textures in order to get more details in ground textures that are far away from the soldier but not too far away to be a satellite image which is used for very far away.

 

A couple of options being looked at is using more than one mid range texture to replace what is currently shown mid range....which is the satellite image which appears blurred at this distance.

[RhodesianScout 189]

Of course the first thing that happened with testing was that I broke the config files with inheritance issues........ but got that fixed quickly and started testing the mid-range texture.

 

So you can compare the pictures before and after the midrange texture is applied I will repost the last picture on prior page as the before shot and then post the after shot below it

Still early testing and the texture needs some tweaking and will more than likely be converted to a granite or sand texture.

 

The next step is to fix the texture so it does not appear as lines or squares on the terrain.

 

The scenery further away from where the soldier is standing does not change as it is using the satellite texture and not the mid range texture.

 

Before mid range texture applied

 

 

After midrange texture applied

[stephsen 79]

with no midrange textures looks smoother ,the square fields effect looks not so good ;)

[RhodesianScout 189]

with no midrange textures looks smoother ,the square fields effect looks not so good ;)

That is why my next step is to get rid of lines and boxes....

With the texture I am using it should not have created the box effect.

Will look at it tonight.

The reason I want details in the middle texture area is because the smooth area is blurred and not a good look.

[mobile_medic 43]

mid-range textures with Arma are a long-standing issue. One that Bohemia ultimately stated they would not be able to address/correct with Arma 3.

[RhodesianScout 189]

mid-range textures with Arma are a long-standing issue. One that Bohemia ultimately stated they would not be able to address/correct with Arma 3.

Yes I saw that......will see if there is an option around that otherwise move on to next step of project.

[RhodesianScout 189]

With just under 3 hours left of 2015...well at least where I am........time to throw in one more screenshot.before 2016 arrives.

 

I have modified the mid range texture to a lighter shade to give a minimal amount of detail in the mid range scenery without having a carpet effect, lines or squares.

Tomorrow I will modify the texture testing it at various times of the day and night until I get the mid range scenery look I am after.

 

If you look at the darker brown section towards the left side of the picture below you will see a little bit of detail shown there from which to expand on.

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

A little more detail added to the hill,,,,note in the white area on the hill side.

 

[Saxøn 97]

Keen to see how this all pans out, good job so far mate. Keep it up  :)

[RhodesianScout 189]

First picture of the map for 2016

 

By changing the texture used for the mid-range scenery you get the following scenery with a lot more detail and not blurred as seen in the previous pictures......and no lines or squares.

 

This picture shows nicely the different scenery levels from closest to furthest:

 

- closest showing clutter 

- then clutter plus mid range texture

- then mid range texture and satellite image

- finally the satellite image on hills in the far distance.

 

This will do for now but may be tweaked a little more down the track.

 

Hopefully you will agree with me that this looks a lot better than the previous 4 pictures on this page.

 

I needed to get this done prior to adding more objects to the map in case I needed to go back to L3DT Pro to fix the mid range scenery.

 

Below is where I have added the texture in my config.cpp file..... see line 2

Personally I found you have to create a mid range texture to fit your map

 

  elevationOffset = 2000;

  midDetailTexture = "RHOD\RHOD_Rhodesia\data\RHOD_RhodesiaMap_mid_range_mco.paa";

  envTexture = "A3\Data_f\env_land_ca.tga";

  minTreesInForestSquare = 2;

  minRocksInRockSquare = 2;

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

Last night I added more to the config file and tested what each of the changes made to the map.........

 

Example of some of the additions

 

 clutterGrid = 1;//1

clutterDist = 125;//125

noDetailDist = 40;//40

fullDetailDist = 15;//15

minTreesInForestSquare = 3;//5

minRocksInRockSquare = 3;//4

dynLightMinBrightnessAmbientCoef = 0.5;

dynLightMinBrightnessAbsolute = 0.05;

startFogDecay = 0.013;

forecastFogDecay = 0.013;

fogBeta0Min = 0;

fogBeta0Max = 0.05;

hazeDistCoef = 0.1;

hazeFogCoef = 0.98;

hazeBaseHeight = 150;

hazeBaseBeta0 = 6e-005;

hazeDensityDecay = 0.0006;

horizonParallaxCoef = 0.045;

horizonFogColorationStart = "0.8f";

skyFogColorationStart = "0.7f";

soundMapSizeCoef = 4;

satelliteNormalBlendStart = 10;

satelliteNormalBlendEnd = 100;  

skyObject = "A3\Map_Stratis\data\obloha.p3d";

horizontObject = "A3\Map_Stratis\data\horizont.p3d";

skyTexture = "A3\Map_Stratis\data\sky_semicloudy_sky.paa";

skyTextureR = "A3\Map_Stratis\data\sky_semicloudy_lco.paa";

 

 

[schaefer 53]

Very nice indeed!

Looking Forward.

[RhodesianScout 189]

You probably want to avoid these bushes....... Work in progress

 

[Sweedn 22]

We can see you're a passionate modder, your plans are huge, your work is good. Keep it that way, it's impressive.

[Neviothr 102]

Just stumbled upon this, and I gotta say it looks pretty good! 

Always wanted more African-Conflict-Like maps and mods for ArmA.

[flatbear 19]

My list of things to do so far:

 

1. Double size of map from 10x10 km to 20x20km

 

2. Learn how to create the trees , bushes, other objects for the map including the Rhodesian Infantry soldiers.

 

3. Find what weapons and vehicles were used in '66 and see if I can recreate them for the mod

 

4. I have 10 sounds I am using for the mod during the day. I need to create sounds for the african bush at night which sound different. Research using africam.

 

Peter Baxter's Sealous scouts: Rhodesian counter-Insurgency book is pretty good for research on the rhodesian armed forces.  I can post a pdf if you want.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oqo5xp15wcnxsmd/%5BPeter_Baxter%5D_SELOUS_SCOUTS_Rhodesian_Counter-Insurgency.pdf?dl=0

[flatbear 19]

Also maybe it might be possible to port in one of the alouette helos from the old arma ii mods since that would be historically acurate

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=2765

[Alex150201 894]

Oh I like this helo!

[jimbop 25]

I think he wants to do this mod 100% himself. :)

 

a massive amount of work but he seems up for it!

[Alex150201 894]

I think he wants to do this mod 100% himself. :)

 

a massive amount of work but he seems up for it!

Well he has a lot of talent, I think he could totally do it!

[RhodesianScout 189]

Peter Baxter's Sealous scouts: Rhodesian counter-Insurgency book is pretty good for research on the rhodesian armed forces.  I can post a pdf if you want.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oqo5xp15wcnxsmd/%5BPeter_Baxter%5D_SELOUS_SCOUTS_Rhodesian_Counter-Insurgency.pdf?dl=0

 

 

Hi Flatbear... thanks for the link to the book... have downloaded i and will have a look at it later tonight.

[RhodesianScout 189]

Just to let everyone know that I am back......Christmas and New year is a very busy time for me and thankfully after today things will be a lot quieter giving me more time to get back to working on this mod.

 

Mod is progressing nicely...working on some models and sorting out some issues...... will post screenshots soon.

[RhodesianScout 189]

Early work on redo of the mod banner that will be seen when selecting the mod........  still a bit more to do.

When I am happy with where the Alouette is placed I then use a minimal blur tool in photoshop to trace around the helicopter which then adds a seamless addition to the background. 

 

Motion effect also to be applied to rotors.

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

Finished version of mod banner

 

[RhodesianScout 189]

Added to the development timeline

 

- farm house

- lodges

- camp buildings

- old buildings

- destroyed buildings

- abandoned tourist tents

 

Though this map is not anywhere near a town or city there will be buildings and camp sites found in different areas of the map.