terrain Altiplano [420 sq km desert terrain]

[major_desync 137]

Altiplano

by Major Desync 

 

Background: Altiplano is situated in the Andes along the borders of several South American nations. It is a high plateau, only sparsely populated due to its aridity and extreme altitude (at least 3,700 m above sea level).

 

Once the almost exclusive province of mining companies, the great open-cast pits became econonomically inviable. Their closure left abandoned mining camps and other infrastructure strewn across the high desert. These bases were soon repurposed to support the construction of solar energy plants by the Agola Corporation in an attempt to revitalise the region. Later, Altiplano came to be used for other more clandestine purposes. Regional governments constructed clandestine research installations far from the prying eyes of oversight committees or the media. Drug cartels, meanwhile, also appreciated the border region’s isolation. Their smuggling camps dot the rugged mountains and dry canyons, moving constantly in an unending game of cat and mouse with national and international drug enforcement agencies.

Recently, tensions between NATO and CSAT have led to new frontlines being drawn in the plateaus of the Andes, as each bloc backed its own proxies among the nations of South America. The old mining camps and aerodromes are now occupied by international “stabilisation forces”. Ostensibly deployed to prevent long-smouldering border disputes igniting into brush fire wars, this military build-up has only added more fuel to the pyre. As NATO and CSAT face off around the world, it takes only a single spark to set Altiplano ablaze.

 

Features:

Terrain dimensions: 20.5 km x 20.5 km

Terrain area: 420 sq. km

Height map resolution: 5 m/pixel

Elevation range: 3727 m to 4495 m

Approx 400,000 objects - all A3 only; no map addons required.

Vast majority of buildings enterable.

 

High-altitude desert terrain, with salt flats, dry riverbeds, rocky canyons and mountain ridges.

1 large military base with extensive fortifications, barracks, offices, hospital and airmobile facilities.

1 large biosciences facility, with research domes, offices, fortifications, and a construction site.

1 air-base, with associated navigation and early warning radome installations.

A range of industrial facilities including 6 solar energy plants, 2 factory compounds, junk and container yards, and several isolated outlying installations.

 

Note: Altiplano’s high altitude affects the aerodynamic performance of helicopters and planes.

The following aircraft cannot take off in Altiplano:

NATO: AL-6 Pelican; AR-2 Darter; UH-80 Ghosthawk; AH-99 Blackfoot.

CSAT: Jinaah AL-6; Tayran AR-2; Mi-290 Taru.

Independents: AL-6 Pelican; AR-2 Darter; CH-49 Mohawk; WY-55 Hellcat.

Civilian: All drones; FH-302.

 

Additionally, the NATO AH-9 Pawnee and MH-9 Hummingbird and the civilian M-900 lose lift and cannot operate above 4,000 m.

 

Altiplano’s size, topography, ground cover, and locations make it perfect for large scale motorised, mechanised and armoured warfare scenarios. It is also well suited to hit and run raids by insurgents or special forces against well-fortified installations.  

 

This addon is released under the Arma Public Licence Share Alike (APL-SA) licence.

 

Required Addons: None.

 

Screenshots

 

Downloads:

Steam Workshop
Armaholic

 

Known Issues:

1: AI vehicles intermittently have difficulty pathfinding across road bridges.

2: Fog does not function properly. It cannot be set above 1,000 m in Eden and produces odd visual effects in Zeus.

3: Having the Alitplano mod active will make the small thorn bush clutter models on Stratis, Altis and Malden turn black. An interim fix is to not have Altiplano active if you're playing on these terrains. 

 

Credits & Thanks:

Silola for the X-Cam mod which was used to place most of the objects in this terrain.

Mikero, whose tools underwrite most of the the Arma modding community.

BIS for producing the Arma series.

 

This terrain is dedicated to the memory of Paul “Bushlurker” Pelosi (1960-2017).

[CPT J. Shaw 32]

Really excited to check this out! 

[Bitesrad 481]

Amazing map Major desync, I was hoping you'd release a new terrain! It's absolutely lovely, reminds me of my tour through Bolivia. If I might make some suggestions however. Could you add some more houses to the map? I noticed there were a lot of half built buildings on the Altiplano, situated along the main roads. The ones that come with the base game are actually a dead ringer for the real thing. Also the runway is quite bumpy. Was this intentional? I would smooth it out a bit at least. All we need now is some alpacas and flamingos to complete the picture :D

[tpw 2315]

Fantastic and desolate map, thanks so much for bringing it to us. My only issue is that it messes slightly with the config of Altis/Stratis/Malden and makes the little round ground clutter bushes black on these maps.  

[major_desync 137]

Thanks for your feedback and kind words! 

 

@Bitesrad: Good to know it resembles the real thing at least a little. I might add a few of those houses around the civilian settlement areas - but probably not too many. I left a lot of scope for people to add their own stuff to missions via Eden if they want to. You'll notice there's a few flattened(ish) FOB/camp type sites in the western hills just for this purpose. 

I'll also take another look at the airfield to smooth out smaller lumps and bumps, but as for the larger scale"waviness" it looks like the real thing is does follow the contours of the land like that (the airstrip is 3 km or so long!).

 

@tpw: Good to know. I'd wanted to add those clutter bushes to this map, but had that problem when I did. I didn't know it affected other maps too when the mod is active. Must be a config thing as you say. That at least gives me a lead to work on - so thank you! I'll add it to the known issues. 

[Polyus 139]

oh, this is very cool!

[Redrumovy 20]

Great map, high quality stuff just like Sugar Lake.

[Meik Will Made It 45]

Great job

[Bitesrad 481]

On 4-3-2018 at 2:23 PM, major_desync said:

@Bitesrad: I'll also take another look at the airfield to smooth out smaller lumps and bumps, but as for the larger scale"waviness" it looks like the real thing is does follow the contours of the land like that (the airstrip is 3 km or so long!).

Yeah, I dont mind it being completely level, but the tiny bumps make landing really difficult. 

[nikiforos 450]

Excellent map especially for air combat!