CAT's Afghanistan Revisited

[sneakysix 0]

Great version, I like it far more than the original due to the incresed towns delivering more areas of combat. Please dont do version 1,2,3,4 to please the critics. Updates with little improvements only noticeable by the person who requested really grind especially when they are silly niggles. I can understand improving it with with more objects but I say if your happy with it then leave it. top job as it is

[Tomislav 0]

well done AG

[ag_smith 0]

Hmmm, that's a strange thing you're saying about file sizes. AFAIK the proper .pbo size are:

- old version 2 (the one with the big city, includes custom textures) - 81MB

- old version 3 (base version for this update, includes custom textures) - ~75MB

- my current version (custom textures removed) - 38MB

I'm not aware of any other versions, especially the one Acecombat have (224MB!!!   ).

Now, the plan is following:

- there will be an update to my basic version (BIS textures), featuring some new objects added here and there + modified desert foliage by fighter. The file sie will remain ~40MB (<20MB zipped) to keep small download size in case you only want to use this as objects pack for your custom islands.

- there will be additional .pbo containg island as above, but with all the custom textures. Expected additional .pbo size is around 40-60MB.

I hope you all will be satisfied. I also hope people will start making quality missions for this island. CTI conversion would be nice, too.  

[Acecombat 0]

I had the internal Nomad mod version and maybe it never got released? I dont know as i left the whole ofp scene for a few months then , i thought most people had it. at zipped it was 180MB after zip 224 mb.

I have always wanted to do that Alpha group spetznaz assisination of Afghan premier , it was a pretty neat operation with only a handful of russians vs the whole security compound of the afghan premiers. His house had pretty thick walls and even the shilkas couldnt bust it so they had to go in and tap a few rounds in him in his study .

Would make for a nice OFP mission though.

[Acecombat 0]

Ok heres the full article i posted onc ein the nomad forums:

Quote[/b] ]<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>The Assault on the Palace Dar-ul-aman (Afghanistan, December 27, 1979)</span></span>

In Afghanistan, the Alfa's orders were: investigation of structures, location, intentions of mujahideen, capture and liquidation of the leaders of mujahideen, search and destruction of warehouses of the weapon and ammunition, army headquarters and signal centers, search and rescue soldiers from captivity, help of the Afghani army in organization of subversive groups. Their first goal, however, was an assault on the palace Dar-ul-aman.

The palace of Amin had been built on an elevated area, which provided an excellent 360-degree view of the surrounding area. This three story building featured extremely well constructed walls (23mm shells from ADV-vehicles could not penetrate these walls). There was only one road into the palace, which was under constant watch by palace security personnel. The palace complex typically housed approximately 2,000 guards, with the barracks of the guards located on the third story of the palace. On the 27th of December, however, only 200 guards were present. They were reinforced by eleven tanks, two of which were dug in at the gate to the palace.

Near the palace grounds there was also a general Afghanistan Army headquarters building with its own complement of soldiers and an air defense system. Approximately 500 meters from the palace was also a building housing a regiment of gendarmeries (police).

For the assault, Alfa's soldiers were divided into two groups, "Grom" (Thunder) and "Zenith". Thunder was composed of 25 men, two ADV vehicles with the ZSU 23-4 "Shilka", six BTR-60's and six BMP-1's. Zenith was composed of 24 KGB men. The moslem batallion is other subdivision, which provided only cover of assault and consist of conscripted soldiers.

The sign for the start of the operation was the explosive destruction of a signal center in the city of Kabul. When this happened, the Shilka's opened fire on the palace. Thunder group on BMP's then moved towards the palace. Zenith also moved forward via a foot ladder towards the palace.

To prevent reinforcements from approaching from the opposite side, and to prevent any palace guards from escaping, the Muslim Battalion opened fire with two Shilkas (normally used for anti-aircraft duties) then opened up, providing devastating fire. Simultaneously, a smaller team designated "Carandoy" (made up of personnel from Thunder, Zenith, and an airborne unit) assaulted and captured the Ministry of Foreign Business in Kabul. Two soldiers from Thunder along with a platoon of paratroopers also captured the Afghanistan Air Force Staff. Four men from Thunder and Zenith then commandeered the two tanks at the front of the palace and captured the gendarmerie post.

As the BTR's and BMP's began to advance, however, they were taken under heavy automatic weapons and antitank fire. One of Zenith's BTR's was destroyed and caught fire, and one of Thunder's BMP's was so severely damaged that she had to be abandoned.

In the first two minutes after the teams left their armored vehicles, thirteen soldiers from Thunder were wounded. Despite this, massed fire overwhelmed the palace guards and Alfa made entry into the place itself. The Shilkas continued to fire at the second story, as Afghan guards tossed hand grenades and opened fire with a machine gun. As the Alfa soldiers made their way upstairs, they used their own grenades to eliminate the Afghans. Once on the second story, the soldiers lobbed grenades into each room. Amin was in his study when a grenade exploded, killing him. Some more fighting ensued, but shortly thereafter, Alfa had successfully taken the palace and set up defenses.

By the time the assault was over, nearly all of the assault personnel had been injured. One soldier lost a hand while approaching a ladder to the second story, while another took a round through the neck. Others received bullet and fragmentation wounds to the stomach, legs, and hands. At least five Alfa soldiers were killed. In the morning, the Vitebsk parachute division landed at the airport at Bagram City and the invasion of Afghanistan was underway.

Now i have scoured the island and havent seen such a place as that described to accurately replicate the palace grounds as:

The palace of Amin had been built on an elevated area, which provided an excellent 360-degree view of the surrounding area. This three story building featured extremely well constructed walls (23mm shells from ADV-vehicles could not penetrate these walls). There was only one road into the palace, which was under constant watch by palace security personnel.

Now i know most of this island is empty and mountainous , so ag_smith you couldnt possibly flat a few mountains and make this for us?

[Munk 0]

Ignore my last post, seems my pilot is blind...

Big improvement on the original and 56k friendly

[sneakysix 0]

Nice info ACE, Was thinking from the current objects pack that a few buildings with interiors could be placed in centre of palace buildings for the final target hit. Not seen in pic below, only the government buildings.

:;)

[bonko the sane 2]

if you are going to update the island check 20ÅŸ N off Bagram, theres some texture transition problems in mountains.

once again, great stuff...personally i dont mind the "new" textures at all.

[-HUNTER- 1]

could also use those elite 1024x1024 ones from Wilco...

[Hawkeye 1985 0]

Outstanding work ag_smith !

But i found a "little" Bug:

Ingame Screenshot

On Map

How stay's the chance that you can fix Tonal like this Island ?

[Stelios 1]

Damn nice island. Gonna have a lot of fun with this.

Great work!

[desantnik 0]

woot! Cant wait for this island with the old textures back!

[cornhelium 0]

Great work AGS - this island is a corker

[van Nistelrooy 0]

Nice work Mr Smith !

But according to most of users, I prefered the textures of the previous version. No problem about the file size. If you can download 20Mo, then you can download 80 ;)

Another thing: I can see snow and desert from less than 200 meters from one to the other (I don't know if it's very english sorry). That's not very realist.

But finally, I'm happy to see all this towns in this map that was so empty. Thanks

Edit: well, after more tests, I wanna say that some places are quite pretty, so if you change the ground texture, don't change it everywhere

It's hard to keep only better ones but the old texture was very beautiful too...

[philcommando 0]

Smith, i cant thank u enough...i'll tell u, man...it was fantastic flying thru the valleys with migs on yer tail and watching them crash one by one to the mountains, with some snow to simulate high ground ( i do know that if the mountains are too high, cpu will have hell processing the height).....soldiers creeping up mountain passes to fight against enemies holding it, tanks enmassed awaiting for the breakthru....and so much more!.  If it had been a ultra high quality textured map, i doubt it would have been so much fun.

Thanks

PS:- and not forgetting that u had set aside many flat areas so that we can make use of other buildings to set up and configure as per our own mission requirements. Great and well thought out island, smith - definately an asset to the community.

[oyman 0]

this is a cool level,no lag . I like it with nogova textures

[Heatseeker 0]

With the old textures and smooth transitions this will turn the most promissing map into the best map ever, the mountanious terrain with the awsome textures, rocks and bushes really made it look desolated, please dont put many BIS stuff in, theres alot of customs objects like the water well and the rugs and other objects to use, i look forward to the SE version, thanks again and please take your time Smith, you know we love to wait for the great stuff .

[CanadianTerror 0]

Well what about having 2 versions...one with Res and one with Catshit textures?

[wheres my rabbit ? 10]

Well what about having 2 versions...one with Res and one with Catshit textures?

he already said he was doing that ...?

@ag_s you will have to rename the textures to 2 letter names to generate the transition in visitor or it wont do them.its gonna bump the filesize up a bit tho cos its i started an island an have only used 4 custom textures on the whole thing so far and it 40mb so expect at least that again on top of the 70 or so mb it is now ..

if you need help making transitions pm me i'm no visitor guru but know how to use it .

[CanadianTerror 0]

Well apparently I wasnt paying attention.

EDIT: Go play your drums.

[Stelios 1]

Now I don't have a super pc(1.6ghz,256MB RAM) but it doesn't lag at all with me.

I like the island with the current textures.

[fighter 0]

CATintro_updt3 (ground textures) with ag_smith objects  

fighter

[Cpt. FrostBite 0]

NICE! Now only replace those trees with more beautifull ones and I'll be very happy (I allways hated those ugly trees)

[ag_smith 0]

Once again, glad you like it and thank you for your feedback.

I'll make sure all these bugs are sorted out.

@wheres my rabbit ?, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll find my way around.

@Acecombat, that's a very interesting read. I will think what I can do about providing you with appropriate setting for this scenario.

Another thing: I can see snow and desert from less than 200 meters from one to the other (I don't know if it's very english sorry). That's not very realist.

Yes, I know what you mean... but let's put it this way: normally the snow caps should be on the north mountain slopes above 1000m ASL. In order to maintain realistic proportions, one moutain would take half of the map area. Plus, what philcommando already said, OFP engine doesn't handle that high mountains very well.

Yet, we can always pretend, that it's spring time, it's not that hot and the snow haven't melted yet. This is quite correct, because, even if it's desert, winters are very cold in Afghanistan.

@fighter, stop teasing people, cause they'll think it's ready... I'm a little bit occupied with other things now, so it's gonna take me a week or 2 to release an update.

[van Nistelrooy 0]

All right I understand.

And one more time: thank you Mr Smith !