Revisiting STT Desert Malden Island in OFP 1.96

[theavonlady 2]

Desert Everon 3 is in the making.

Tell us more. What's going to be changed? Sample pics, perdy please?

Any thoughts on upgtading Desert Malden?

[benu 1]

Yeah, stt desert malden is one of my favorite islands, i don't think it needs new textures. We took it from the server in the end because i could not find any new missions for it and we knew the 4 or 5 missions we had inside out. And even those were cwc missions i had to rewrite so they worked with resistance.

So if anyone knows/has missions for desert malden let me know. No need to retexture the island if there aren't any missions available for it anyway

[theavonlady 2]

No need to retexture the island if there aren't any missions available for it anyway  

That could be said for most islands.

[Chris Death 0]

Desert Everon 3 is in the making.

Tell us more. What's going to be changed? Sample pics, perdy please?

Any thoughts on upgtading Desert Malden?

Look at Schoeler's sig and start combining.  

Lot of new objects i'm guessing.

:edit - k - just in case - Third world explosion = 3WX = object

addons for wrp-edit - you can also check the second link in

my sig to get further info.

~S~ CD

[theavonlady 2]

:edit - k - just in case - Third world explosion = 3WX = object

addons for wrp-edit - you can also check the second link in

my sig to get further info.

Confusing. I searched through the MOA forums and only found a reference to Afghan Everon. Is that what you're referring to?

Question: One of the things that bothers me with recent re-renditions of the games islands (example: Mapfact Nogova) is that they are so different from the original that missions designed for the original have a big chance of not playing out correctly on the new island because of new and repositioned objects.

This is almost not a problem with the old Desert Everon and Malden islands. Will it be problematic with this new Desert Everon 3?

[theavonlady 2]

Benu, your PM inbox is full. I'm done. Thanx!

[Pappy Boyington 0]

Anyone want to take a swipe at this? While you're at it, Desert Everon, too?

I want too, but I am pretty busy atm  

Anyone else?

I'm guessing it's a relatively small editing task.

Don't look at me! I don't know the first thing about this!

i know the second thing about it first comes the hard work, then comes the complaints and moaning

[Chris Death 0]

Quote[/b] ]Confusing. I searched through the MOA forums and only found a reference to Afghan Everon. Is that what you're referring to?

Nah - i meant to get further info on objects being used for

3WX / MIA project - those you'll probably find on desert everon 3.

Quote[/b] ]Question: One of the things that bothers me with recent re-renditions of the games islands (example: Mapfact Nogova) is that they are so different from the original that missions designed for the original have a big chance of not playing out correctly on the new island because of new and repositioned objects.

This is almost not a problem with the old Desert Everon and Malden islands. Will it be problematic with this

So what do you expect then - just the same island but different textures? - New possibilities/tools/and growing experiences of island makers will even lead to more different

island conversions than you've seen yet.

I don't think that current island makers are going for just retexturing islands - just to get feedback like: "uhm yeah - nice but i've already seen something similar - couldn't you

have added a bit here or there?".

I'm sure the majority of feedback would be like that, tho i understand your point M'am  , but  ppl want to see new stuff

rather than old stuff with just new colours - at least i do, but

maybe i'm here for too long (ya know the magic date - you're here too since that i think).

:edit - had to add one word, or a whole sentence would have

meant something completely different

~S~ CD

[benu 1]

Question: One of the things that bothers me with recent re-renditions of the games islands (example: Mapfact Nogova) is that they are so different from the original that missions designed for the original have a big chance of not playing out correctly on the new island because of new and repositioned objects.

One of the reasons i did not install any of those islands on our server. They are kind of a waste, you get the same island again, with slight improvements, but no working/interchangable missions. And if you make missions for this "new island" they will most probably not run on the old island. This is imho ok for a completely new island, but not for a "facelift" one.

As the winter/desert/jungle conversion islands (even nogojev) came out you could just unpbo a mission, rename the folder and repbo it and had a working mission nearly all of the time.

Benu, your PM inbox is full. I'm done. Thanx!

Ah, thanks for telling me, that would explain why some ppl i wrote to in the last days never answered

They (=bis) could have made the warning message a little bigger or color it red something, it looked like fine print, i had to search for it after you told me my inbox was full.... one more thing i don't like about ikonboard i guess, the search function is next to useless too

[theavonlady 2]

So what do you expect then - just the same island but different textures? - New possibilities/tools/and growing experiences of island makers will even lead to more different

island conversions than you've seen yet.

Yes. That's what the first desert, winter and jungle versions of the game's original 3 main islands were. It offered ample opportunities to easily convert existing missions as well as produce new thematic missions appropriate for each island's setting.

Otherwise, why rework an old island? Might as well make a brand new one from scratch if you won't be able to use existing missions on the newer version.

That's why I don't understand the benefits of a new Nogova, for example. Many/most old missions will play differently on it because of the change of objects.

Quote[/b] ]I'm sure the majority of feedback would be like that, tho i understand your point M'am , but ppl want to see new stuff rather than old stuff with just new colours - at least i do, but maybe i'm here for too long (ya know the magic date - you're here too since that i think).

To give you an example, I just took Asmodeus' demo mission for the updated BAS D/R 1.5 units and simply renamed the PBO to play on Desert Malden because the mission contained desert troops and I felt that Malden was too Mediteranean for these units to be used.

The mission worked perfectly on Desert Malden and the desert affect, scenery and camo was perfect! Well, except for those green Russians.

That's why I don't understand why you need to creat an Afghan Everon? Why base it on Everon to begin with if it will essentially not be reusable for exisitng missions that wouldn't work unless heavily revised?

[theavonlady 2]

One of the reasons i did not install any of those islands on our server. They are kind of a waste, you get the same island again, with slight improvements, but no working/interchangable missions. And if you make missions for this "new island" they will most probably not run on the old island.

From my experience, missions like this will run. My first experiences in editing missions was converting official missions and packaging winter, desert and jungle versions of them. These converted mission packs are still available through The FAQ. They were very popular.

[Schoeler 0]

Desert Everon 3 is in the making.

Tell us more. What's going to be changed? Sample pics, perdy please?

Any thoughts on upgtading Desert Malden?

What's wrong with Desert Everon 2?

Oh let's see, it uses retextured OFP buildings and has about a thousand lag producing empty p3d objects on it for things that couldn't be retextured.  Don't get me wrong, the textures are excellent and they will be retained, but they can certainly be improved upon.  Zwadar made the map at a time when the tools for really making new models and maps weren't available.  Now that they are, Zwadar's map can recieve the treatment it deserves.

@Avon Lady:

DE3 will have all new models of Middle Eastern buildings.  Zwadar's sand textures will be retained, but sand/greenery textures will be added.  Palm trees of several species including Washingtonia Filfera, Washingtonia Robusta, Phoenix Dactylifera. Phoenix Canariensis etc.. will be added.  Cactus and other middle east plants will be added.  Agent Smith's industrial objects will be added, and a few surprises will also be included.

Edit: The reason Desert Everon is being redone is simply as a showcase for upcoming 3WX/MIA Middle Eastern products. It's a teaser desgined to generate interest and show off some preliminary work. A new desert island will follow that release. Objects will be retained in place. Town locations etc.. will not change, just the buildings and objects in them. Additional objects will be added and the map cleaned up for efficiency's sake.

If anyone is interested in contributing to this project to see the results sooner, contact me.

[Chris Death 0]

Quote[/b] ]Yes. That's what the first desert, winter and jungle versions of the game's original 3 main islands were. It offered ample opportunities to easily convert existing missions as well as produce new thematic missions appropriate for each island's setting.

You probably have misunderstood the idea of the first conversions. They weren't made for being able to easily

setup the same missions with different colours - you and

others rather took it for that, because it wasn't hard to do

(no offence and in no way any critism about your mission

editing skills were meant by me here).

These island were made because of the same feelings, you

have had, when converting the missions - it was not too hard

to convert an island from here to there.

Quote[/b] ]That's why I don't understand why you need to creat an Afghan Everon? Why base it on Everon to begin with if it will essentially not be reusable for exisitng missions that wouldn't work unless heavily revised?

Afghan Everon is made by Remo, and has nothing to do with

desert everon 3, except there may be found some objects

being used on both islands - (dunno details about DE3 - only

that it is in the making).

You seem to forget that there are so many new objects out yet, just to improve islands appearance - like industrial zones,

more complex harbours, military bases, airports, etc. Ppl want

to see that stuff ingame, without the glitches, comming up when being placed by the ingame editor.

Mapfact Nogova is a good point - what do you expect from mapfact nogova? - shouldn't they put their new objects onto

their version of nogova? That was the only intension, the maker of this island tried to offer to the comunity. Well, he may have fixed some missing road parts or so, but the main goal was to bind mapfact objects into an already existing map.

Further more, they even decided not to use other stuff than

mapfact addons, because of: "mapfact nogova".

See my cement barriers for example:

http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....9;st=30

It's my first addon, it's nothing spectacular, but it's been missing from the start - be sure people will start putting them

onto the streats on their islands - and those will make it much

more harder to just rename folders for mission conversions.

I've been mission editing for 3 years now, and if there's one thing that wouldn't have made me make piruettes, than it's been a mission taken over 1:1 from one island to another just

for eye candy. I've been more interested in new ideas or techniques being used in a mission, than just in a new outfit.

But there will still be some guys around, taking up your idea

to give you an old island just looking better than before - i'm

sure about that - it's just that DE3 or Afghan Everon

won't be it.

~S~ CD

[Schoeler 0]

One of the buildings for the map which is near completion is featured in the 3WX thread along with it's source photo.

Here are some of the other source photos being used:

[benu 1]

You probably have misunderstood the idea of the first conversions. They weren't made for being able to easily

setup the same missions with different colours - you and

others rather took it for that, because it wasn't hard to do

(no offence and in no way any critism about your mission

editing skills were meant by me here).

These island were made because of the same feelings, you

have had, when converting the missions - it was not too hard

to convert an island from here to there.

You know, the why didn't really matter for my point of view. As i said, i really liked stt desert malden, but there were next to no mp missions for it and it had to go from the server. It's the same for good islands as for good addons: if there are no missions for them and nobody wants to make any then they are just taking up space on the server.

I could use all malden missions for stt desert malden if i wanted to convert them, but i can not guarantee that any old mission works when eg buildings have been changed/replaced, as soldiers in those buildings or vehicles behind/beside them might be somewhere else. So i have to compare those kind of conversions not to other thematic conversations but to completely new islands when it comes to "usability on a mp server". And that is the point were i usually lose interest. There are so many great islands out there... if i have to make missions myself i'd rather do it for a new islands than a facejob.

But YMMV.

[Schoeler 0]

Benu, missions made on DE 2 shouldn't be too much affected by DE 3. There will be new buildings, but all the original towns and building locations will be retained. New models will be used instead of retextured BIS models. You may have to change some of the smaller details of the mission, but overall, things should be transferrable. DE 3 like I said is just a showcase, not really intended to be a complete product, but just a taste of what's to come. The new island will probably have to wait for Flashpoint 2, since not too many people will be making OFP1 missions by the time it gets finished. When there are only a handful of people making all new models and environments, it tends to take a little while to get things done.

[-ZG-BUZZARD 0]

What's wrong with Desert Everon 2?

Oh let's see, it uses retextured OFP buildings and has about a thousand lag producing empty p3d objects on it for things that couldn't be retextured.  Don't get me wrong, the textures are excellent and they will be retained, but they can certainly be improved upon.  Zwadar made the map at a time when the tools for really making new models and maps weren't available.  Now that they are, Zwadar's map can recieve the treatment it deserves.

What? You mean Zwadar's Desert Everon can be made even less laggy?      

That's why I don't understand the benefits of a new Nogova, for example. Many/most old missions will play differently on it because of the change of objects.

Hey Avon, ever toured an island just for fun? Wondered how it could evolve, etc? OFP tourism sometimes is great!  

[SelectThis 0]

Just so you know, Desert Malden was made using a hexeditor, no buildings were moved (only a few rocks were moved from roads...and believe me when I tell you that doing that via a hexeditor is NOT fun ;)).

I have no plans to update it, so it's open to anyone who wants to spend the time doing so.

SelectThis

[theavonlady 2]

BUZZARD @ June 14 2004,03:14)]Hey Avon, ever toured an island just for fun?

Rarely. Read my sig's bottom line. I've got great addons going nowhere fast.

And while I like the OFP photo thread, I'm interested in playing OFP, not looking at its great potential through a camera script's lense.

I'm not arguing here about the benefits of new islands that won't run old missions. I'm only asking why does a new Nogova have to be based on Nogova at all? If old missions won't work on it anyway, why not start from scratch? Not just the buildings and objects but the terrain itself? I would want to see new hills, mountains, roads, forrests and shorelines - not just new factories and houses.

That cannot be said for the old desert/jungle/winter island conversions. For the most part, they are compatible with exisiting missions.

And converted missions were indeed extremly popular. Much more so than driving twice around a new island and then leaving it untouched on your hard drive, with nothing else to do there.

[theavonlady 2]

SelectThis

MaxRes, oh great OFP veteran!

[MadAussie 0]

Gday all...

Im very much enjoying this debate.. good points on both sides of arguement.

I dont want to get drawn into debate.. but would like to add a few things.

*Afghan Everon.. Made by Remo (author of taliban units pack too).. Ive been privileged enough to test this isle out...this isle has also been edited to the point where it is no longer everon.. ocean is desert.. a river added and other things.. A great map still.. 4 1/2 stars

*Desert Everon 3... from screenies ive seen of objects to be added.. this is definately one to look out for!!

Ill stop before i go off topic..

I believe STT malden.. Zwa everon and Kegeties isles revolutionised the way we look at OFP.. After the idea of isle editing was brought to reality.. OFP modding really kicked in.

Thanks to the veterans

MadAussie out...