[WIP] Terrain: Sugar Lake

[major_desync 136]

And now for something completely a little different…
 
Sugar Lake
Sugar Lake is a township in the  [REDACTED] Delta, about 120 km south of [REDACTED]. It is a hub for oil exploration and extraction in the delta. Sugar Lake has extensive port facilities servicing a number of oil refineries and extraction facilities in the surrounding wetlands. These include the Sugar Lake Oil Field, which is owned and operated by Vrana Petrochemicals, a division of the multinational conglomerate Vrana Industries.
 
The delta wetlands surrounding the port consists of a maze of bayous, channels, and watercourses of varying size, and low-lying islands covered with tall marsh grass and patches of woodland. Sugar Lake’s size, topography, ground cover, and locations make it perfect for amphibious operations involving boats, subs, and divers, and/or airmobile elements, as well as counterinsurgency search-and-destroy missions, or insurgency raids against military or industrial infrastructure. The various oil and port installations are suitable for MOUT, while the vegetation in the marshes is almost certain to produce close-quarters combat. This is not an ideal map for extensive armoured maneuvers, aside from convoys. However, Sugar Lake does offer a chance for amphibious vehicles to shine.
 
Screenshots or it didn't happen...
 
Sugar Lake by the numbers
Terrain dimensions:          8.2 km x 8.2 km
Terrain area:                     67.1 sq. km (same area as Zargabad)
Heightmap resolution:       4 m/pixel
Elevation range:                -15 m to +16 m

 

• Flat, low-lying river delta marsh terrain, with high marsh-grass and patches of woodland; many navigable bayous, bays, and channels.
• Approx 250,000 objects drawn from A1, A2, and A3; All in Arma Terrain Pack or CUP Terrains are required addons.
• 1 large low-density urban area surrounded by levees, and several small outlying settlements.
• 1 large industrial port facility, with a number of different compounds, including a PMC base, several shipping container yards, and oil storage plants.
• 1 air-base, with extensive hinterland and associated radar installation, military camp, and fuel storage facility, all surrounded by levees.
• 1 military camp with extensive docks, field hospital and airmobile facilities.
• A range of industrial facilities including several oil refineries and isolated outlying extraction rigs and installations.
• Vast majority of buildings enterable.

 

Progress:
After 8 months work, I’m close to what I’d consider an alpha. As with Gorgona, I’ll farm that out to a few mates for private testing. Assuming that goes well (and barring disasters and disruptive Arma updates), I’d like to release a public beta in early November, with bug fixes and tweaks thereafter until it’s done (I expect lots of nice object goodies to wash up from Tanoa when it releases).
 
A special thanks to Silola for his outstanding X-Cam mod, with which most of the objects were or will be placed. It's fair to say that without X-Cam this terrain would have been built in multiples of the time and fractions of the quality.

[lumnuon 295]

Screenshots or it didn't happen...

 

kek

 

Sounds interesting. I´m really excited to play the first version when it is getting released.

[eh chaser 285]

Looks reaaaly nice tho !! ;-)

 

Keep up your work!

[nikiforos 450]

Release this and I will quit my job :803:

[Richie 330]

Screens look awesome :D

[silola 1086]

WOW m8, that's realy a different map and all what I can see so far looks fantastic.

 

Great job !!! Thanks for 8 months of hard work :notworthy:

 

Silola

[eh chaser 285]

Release this and I will quit my job :803:

 

 

learn 3d modelling first, then earn some money with it and THEN u should quit your job ;-)

[Von Quest 1161]

Damn it. I was planning on doing a similar water heavy terrain myself. Looks great. Can't wait to sneak around and meet the neighbors. ;)

[Foxone 1044]

Damn, cant wait to drive around in my boat. Looks so awesome!!

[devileyedelvis 8]

Wow, excellent work here.

[old_painless 182]

Looks great, really impressive industrial complexes. The water regions are awesome, all the way from Florida-esque waterways to foresty swamp

[warlord554 2065]

Looks great. Cant wait

[jaaxxxxon 140]

Oh bby
I'm in south Georgia right now and it looks like I just looked out the window. :D

[soolie 189]

Looks great but please include a pic of the ingame map. Don't know why everyone overlooks this.

[cosmic10r 2325]

Wow... that does look cool and different

[Uro 220]

Looks awesome!

 

Now where's my boat :D

 

 

Looks great but please include a pic of the ingame map. Don't know why everyone overlooks this.

 

If you'd bothered to read major_desync's post there is "screenshots or it didnt happen" subtley linked within ;)

[EO 11230]

Looks fantastic, best of luck with the project...... ;)

 

Are there plans for a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. outlet.....I can smell that Jambalaya...... :P

[soolie 189]

If you'd bothered to read major_desync's post there is "screenshots or it didnt happen" subtley linked within ;)

 

I mean the map in game. Like if you hit "M" in game, the image that you see.

[major_desync 136]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I hope that the end product lives up to your expectations. 

 

Release this and I will quit my job  :803:

 

 

@nikiforos: Well, that poses me a dilemma.  Maybe just call in sick for a few days before you decide.  :D  

 

@Jaaxxxxon and Evil Organ: I'm glad it does look a little like the SE US. That's what it's supposed to resemble (even if the terrain is actually in [REDACTED], a country that has road signs in kilometers, odd vegetation, and a really strange mix of building styles).  ;)

 

@Soolie: The game map looks a little bare at the moment, as I'm upgrading all the woodlands to X-Cam standards (a new vegetation mix including some appropriately marshy pre-A3 models, random scaling etc - blame Silola for raising the bar  :P), but maybe a grab of the satellite map layer will do in the meantime?

[devileyedelvis 8]

Oh bby

I'm in south Georgia right now and it looks like I just looked out the window. :D

Hey I'm in Ga also and it definitely reminded me of cumberland island. 

[major_desync 136]

@devileyedelvis: Cheers - I'll add it to my photo reference sources. :) 

[devileyedelvis 8]

@devileyedelvis: Cheers - I'll add it to my photo reference sources. :)

Hey I'm already trying to pull some pics for you anyway. lol once my day eases up after lunch I'll send them your way.

[pinaz93 1020]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I hope that the end product lives up to your expectations. 

 

 

@nikiforos: Well, that poses me a dilemma.  Maybe just call in sick for a few days before you decide.  :D  

 

@Jaaxxxxon and Evil Organ: I'm glad it does look a little like the SE US. That's what it's supposed to resemble (even if the terrain is actually in [REDACTED], a country that has road signs in kilometers, odd vegetation, and a really strange mix of building styles).  ;)

 

@Soolie: The game map looks a little bare at the moment, as I'm upgrading all the woodlands to X-Cam standards (a new vegetation mix including some appropriately marshy pre-A3 models, random scaling etc - blame Silola for raising the bar  :P), but maybe a grab of the satellite map layer will do in the meantime?

It looks like the industrial area in the lagoon around Venice/Mestre/Marghera  :D

[jaaxxxxon 140]

Hey I'm in Ga also and it definitely reminded me of cumberland island. 

 

You wouldn't happen to be stationed on Kings Bay would you?

[major_desync 136]

It looks like the industrial area in the lagoon around Venice/Mestre/Marghera  :D

 

Funny you should say that - I first got the idea for a marshland map on a boat out to Burano!

 

I even eyeballed the satellite map of the Venetian lagoon, but opted for one based off an American location instead. An island town like Burano or Murano would make an amazing map - but would take quite a long time to put together (also I liked the idea of isolated industrial facilities in the middle of the marsh, which the other map gave me).