Mediterranean-style Island

[Daniel 0]

The Orai Island Chain.

Just thought I'd jump on the island making band wagon and post about my current project.

It's a fictional map set in the med, made up of three small islands. I'm aiming to make it fairly small and detailed, and as realistic as possible. It makes use of the recently released Nature Pack 4, and will probably use Mapfact Airport and Barracks addons.

I'd say the island is about 30% complete.

Features:

- Various detailed towns and villages

- Civilian Airport

- Small Military Base to the North East

- 128x128

[smiley nick 51]

Looking good dan, will you be changing the ground textures at all? As as far as i know Mediterranean islands are a mixture of dry lush land, not sure if its 100% sand and rock, elevations are looking nice and natural, looking forward to the release

Smiley

[Daniel 0]

Yeah, I knocked most of the textures up last night, so the lower parts of the island will have grass textures, especially the settlements. Need to get rid of the ski-jump elevations at the end of the runway too.

[hidden_spectre 2]

looks good..........i would like to see a sandy beach and pines....if possible ofcourse and also lots of grass, rocks and hidden enemy camps..imagine a SEAL beach-head assault

try taking some help frm the released ARMA photos

some names:

boemia island

Far Cry

the beach

Cocoa island

best of luck making this island.......

[Daniel 0]

Thanks, I'll keep those in mind.

[Callsign 128]

order the army's recruitment dvd, theres training on crete (i think) that i was looking at for inspiration, remember that med looking islands are quite rugged (with 50m max cliffs), coves, and dusty, and usually quite historic looking so please please please put the churches at the centre of the community, with small ally ways (i know not very gd for AI). dont clump one type of tree in one spot, nature is random so make it so! main industry is usually olive groves so using the default BIS factory would only work if part of large farm, distribution centre etc. Try and keep the roads flat and level, and if u have to go over a hill edit the hill to look as though a cutting has been made for the road, then add scree that matches the colour of the textures. soz for the lecture but uve an oppurtunity to make a very decent island by the looks of things, type crete into google or something

any chance of more pics?

bootneckofficer

[jakerod 254]

Few Notes:

Make sure anything you don't want to have covered by water is at an elevation of 7 meters. I think 5 meters is the highest the water will rise but I could be mistaken.

Don't edit the elevation of ground under roads after you have already placed road on it because it causes trouble with the AI sometimes and also sometimes the road disappears.

I don't think the snow capped mountain is very realistic because generally speaking the med is warm. I could only see snow if it was an extremely high mountain.

If you are using Visitor and want anymroe tips let me know.

On a seperate note I think it looks great so far. I especially like the 3rd pic and the valley in the 2nd will look awesome once all the trees are in and things like that.

[Daniel 0]

Yeah Jakerod, the roads reset if you import a new elevation map, so they'll have to remain as they are apart from elevations made in WRP Tool.... I've nearly finished the road network too.

But I'm learning a lot, I can keep these things in mind for other islands.

About the snowcapped mountains. I might rethink that yet, but when I was on Crete last year, a similar height mountain had a snowy peak. Strange I know.

Bootneckofficer, thanks for the hints. I have actually been to Crete and agree with all your points. I'm going to try and make the roads interesting and realistic to drive down.

Thanks for the comments everyone, I'll post new pics as more areas are detailed.  

[Messiah 2]

what i'd ask is that any airport/airfield be done correctly... Im dismayed at the quality of the ofp islands around, but the awful layout of the airfields

[jakerod 254]

what i'd ask is that any airport/airfield be done correctly... Im dismayed at the quality of the ofp islands around, but the awful layout of the airfields

Whats wrong with them?

[Messiah 2]

they make no sense, and nor do the authors seem to grasp how an airfield would be laid out in reality, or what perimetre fencing would be present.

i think i've only ever seen one or two airfields/ports/bases in ofp where the airfield was correctly laid out... that was mainly because it was based on an RAF base and laid out in exact detail. Perfect stuff.

[jakerod 254]

Well don't forget that not all island makers have access to special runway textures and models and things like that.

Daniel: Seeing how I know you were making a campaign before are you still continuing to do that and is it going to be on this island now?

[furia 10]

I live in Menorca, an island on the Mediterranean Sea.

Not very big, just 40 km from tip to toe.

Most Med islands I know are green, with mediterranean pines and bush.

This islands use to have a lot of rocks. But they are very green

[Daniel 0]

Just to keep everyone from panicking, I am in the process of adding green textures.   Remember through, this is a relatively small rocky island. And as for the airport I've made...erm...hehe...*runs off in opposite direction to Messiah*

[Messiah 2]

Well don't forget that not all island makers have access to special runway textures and models and things like that.

that wasnt my issue... the models that come with flashpoint would suffice, if it was just done correctly... goggle earth would be an easy way to get the layout correct

[smiley nick 51]

I agree, island makers have never adopted a realistic airport layout, one runway and 2 hangers is not a realistic airport, RKLS airport are a fine example to use, but its the case of can people be bothered spending a extra 10mins putting some decent airport textures and layouts down.

Smiley

[Daniel 0]

Well basically, I'll try and make this as realistic as I can considering the elevations I've already made. I'll keep this in mind for future islands though. So I'll add plenty of hangers and fencing and towers.

But this is only a small island remember, the airstrip is only a minor feature.

[Daniel 0]

A guy on the OFP.Info forums called Myst9999 has come up with a great naming idea - naming them after the three Greek God Orai sisters.

So it is now the Orai island chain consisting of the islands of Eunomia (Harmony), Dyke (Justice) and Eirene (Peace).

[Messiah 2]

Dyke island... best bring the baby oil

[Daniel 0]

Haha, I was waiting for someone to say that.

[Russian aviator 0]

WoW!! Nice lookin!

[Daniel 0]

A street on Eunomia.

(The road edge will be fixed )

[Callsign 128]

land texture wise, take a look at Berghoffs Elati island, i like the look of the dirt tracks he has, they blend in more with the textures rather than the grey roads. have a look at BKMs buildings, some look a sandy/beige colour. id try to keep modern buildings down to a minimum, like petrol stations, but can hide them in the towns if desperately needed.

water is another thing u want to emphasise, i know theres no running rivers in ofp, but u can still have gorges filled with bushes and the env. sounds can play water sounds, think dry river beds and gulleys, then wells dotted in courtyards etc. have bricks and rubble around old sites in and around the towns

bootneckofficer

[Daniel 0]

Thanks for the comments. I'm building the urban areas based on memory from my trip to Crete. Obviously there will be rural areas with old buildings, but the picture above represents a relatively new town living off tourists, so it's fairly modern. I am using dirt tracks like you suggested for more rural areas though, check the earlier screenshots.

[Student Pilot 0]

Here are a few tips on making the airport...from someone who knows and has been frustrated with OFP airports for a long time.  Feel free to use or discard them as you see fit

1. More is not always better.  An airport well made with 1 runway is much better than an airport made with 2 runways with hangars right next to them and no taxiways.

2. If you add a taxiway running next to the runway, please make it run the full length of the runway.  It never makes much sense when I see an airport with a taxiway that connects to the runway a third of the way down when there is no reason it couldn't be full length (eg, Nogova) (Now, if there is a hill or some obstruction in the way, then I could understand)

3. If you do have a taxiway system, please add a ramp.  I have never seen an airport yet where the hangars point straight into the taxiway (eg, Nogova).  A ramp of some sort would be a nice addition (make sure the ramp textures look nice and attach to the taxiway, though.  Perhaps RKSL's textures would come in handy here)

4. If you want a really small airport, make a grass airfield.  Then add some small, old hangars in a small grass ramp area off to the side.

5. If there is a control tower, don't put it right next to the runway.  For that matter, don't put any buildings right next to the runway.

I'll post more if/as I think of them

-Pilot

EDIT:

Btw, the island is looking quite promising. I'm looking forward to it