Schmalfelden, Germany Map

[ProPilot 0]

Looking good!

[Inkompetent 0]

It looks fantastic! Keep the work up with that map, because I thoroughly love that look! Been dreaming about that kind of map for a long time, with fighting between ditches and rows of bushes and trees, with uncovered movement for both hundred and two hundred meters.

Eagerly waiting for it to become done!

[Maddmatt 1]

That map looks impressive. How close is it to being finished? Are you still setting up some towns and stuff or is it just finishing touches left?

Hope you release it some time

[biggerdave 56]

Wow.

That looks very nice. Out of interest, what sort of Era is it based in? Because it'd be useful for Cold War scenarios...

But I guess a lot of places haven't changed much in the last 20 years or so...

[ezechiel 0]

wowowowow !!

Veryyy nice man ! I love this map ! Really good.

% of progress ?

[-HUNTER- 1]

Very nice map your making there.

Finally some FLAT terrain, a bit more like where I live. The Netherlands

Isnt there also a big ass German luftwaffe base somewhere near to this map.

And this map is going to be great for all sorts of missions, ranging from WWII stuff to Cold war tank battles.

Keep it up!

Perhaps you can make an extra addon with the little road reflectors they have in germany. If you put that next to the roads, im sure it will look like germany instantly.

[berghoff 11]

Very nice, should be nice for some tank battles .

[Nicholas Bell 0]

Thanks for all your kind comments!

Quote[/b] ]Well the map size with 5 km x 5 km could be very small if you have some groups of moving tanks and modern combat is more combined arms then "tank only".

I totally agree, but there are personal limitations. I actually did all the initial work for a 10 km x 10 km, but I quickly saw that I would burn out and lose interest before I could get it done. I've spent over 2 months and 120 hours on this so far, and have another month to go. I can easily extrapolate that it would take me a good 10-12 months to do the full map, and by that time we'll all probably be playing something else

Quote[/b] ]How close is it to being finished? Are you still setting up some towns and stuff or is it just finishing touches left?

I have completed 5 out of 8 towns, so I think I will have an initial release in about a month. It will probably not have all the little touches I want to include (roadside markers, trash cans, etc). The north half of the map is "done" and I've played a quick company level engagement and was a bit too busy to notice the lack of these items though <g>. I realize not all will agree, but fighting on it has quite a different feel from my perspective.

Quote[/b] ]Out of interest, what sort of Era is it based in? Because it'd be useful for Cold War scenarios...

Well the map is from 1985, but I am referencing Google Earth for most everything so I would have to say "recent". Since 1985 the quarry has doubled in size for example. But the forests have not changed in area.

But because the stock buildings in ArmA in general have a very poor look about them, it looks more like something behind the "Iron Curtain" in the 1950's The look up close is unfortunately an insult to the citizens of these real world towns.

I would not hesitate to use it for WW2 engagements too until some specific WW2 maps were created. (wish I had more time..)

Quote[/b] ]will it be compatible with 1.08 and without QG?

Yes to both - that is 1.08 is okay and no QG objects included. Been too busy working on it to even try 1.09, which is my loss I know.

[mrcash2009 0]

Certainly a map thats missing with terrain. I wanted something like the UK countryside and this fits it perfectly.

Ive yet to see a map with working streams running though them (and audio water fall sounds) ... if anyone remembers, something like infamous "The Farm" map from the original Ghost Recon.

Anyway ... this looks great, cant wait for its completion.

[canukausiuka 1]

Definitely excited about this island, as well. I love ArmA's ability to reproduce real terrain... while I love BIS, their islands always felt too odd for me to really believe them. I will be downloading this island, and I have a feeling it will get used. Its a bummer about the size, but it's also completely understandable.

Can't wait!

[icebreakr 3159]

Nicholas: it would be lovely if roads would have little trenches (ditch) beside them, so when ambushed you can debuss and hide down it the trench and lay cover fire for teammates.

[lecholas 2]

Nicholas: it would be lovely if roads would have little trenches (ditch) beside them, so when ambushed you can debuss and hide down it the trench and lay cover fire for teammates.

I think this can't be done with the terrain map. Cells are to large. But I think there's another way. FDF mod for OFP made roads that sticked out of the ground at their desert island. Maybe someone could make model of roads with ditches included?

[MEDICUS 0]

Very nice!

Know this area pretty well.

Keep it up!

MfG Medicus

[Enixj7 0]

Very nice looking map and I agree with panther! Arma terrain is generally to flat, maybe ditches and dyke's where appropriate would be excellent (especially in forests and what not) A good point of reference is the Gardina island made by Alex Sworn

[The_Captain 0]

Just the map I have been waiting for to port my mission to.

Now all I need is P85 and the germany terrain..

I lived in germany for a year and find that quite authentic! Great job!

[Shadow NX 1]

looks really good, have you considered talking to the project '85 peeps at all?

Were very intrested but he said a few times that he doesnt plan to work on more because he would fear the burnout effect if it takes too long.

[Nicholas Bell 0]

Quote[/b] ]Were very intrested but he said a few times that he doesnt plan to work on more because he would fear the burnout effect if it takes too long.

Did I say that ? I have not spoken with anyone in the Project '85 group. I did say that doing a 10km x 10km map would be beyond my capability, so perhaps you are not far off the mark. That being said, when I release the map it will be available for anyone to use for whatever purpose. In fact I will also post the source files for anyone interested in modifying it to suit their own designs.

Quote[/b] ]I think this can't be done with the terrain map. Cells are to large. But I think there's another way. FDF mod for OFP made roads that sticked out of the ground at their desert island. Maybe someone could make model of roads with ditches included?

Would be a nice feature although it might cause a FPS hit if used extensivily. You are correct regarding the cell size - I'm using the "standard" 10 meter grid. As Dmitri has pointed out in his thread regarding his small-cell map, it really creates a huge drag on the system. But his island sure looks sweet.

Quote[/b] ]Know this area pretty well.

MfG Medicus - I was waiting for this Now don't be too hard on me, okay? Doing the best I can with the tools available.

Hard at work still - daily, and making progress. Was thinking about trying to shoot a short film with Fraps this weekend. Or maybe just post a few pics.

[icebreakr 3159]

Nicholas: did you get any of my "feature" requests via mail?

[Undeceived 392]

Just a question in general about island making:

What is around the island? Ocean? How is it limited?

'Cause I believe, Schmalfelden doesn't lie at the north-sea, right?

Edit: Ok... After posting it, it comes to my head -> "Island" already does answer my question... Isn't it?

[Nicholas Bell 0]

Quote[/b] ]did you get any of my "feature" requests via mail?

Yes. Mt first objective to reproduce the actual terrain as close as possible, so I do not plan on adding anything that isn't there. At some point I will release the source files to enable everyone to alter the map to their heart's content.

Quote[/b] ]Just a question in general about island making:

What is around the island? Ocean? How is it limited? 'Cause I believe, Schmalfelden doesn't lie at the north-sea, right?

In order to avoid the "edge of the world" problem the ArmA engine reproduces the area around the edges of the actual map repeatedly "forever". Constant repeating water "terrain" looks normal, which is one reason why the ArmA maps are islands. When not surrounded by water the repeating terrain (which contains no objects BTW) looks pretty odd. The problem is lessened in desert terrain, but in my terrain it is pretty annoying. Solution - don't fight near the edge of the map. This may or may not be suitable for everyone, however.

Work continues. Finishing the final town. Lots of details to add, plus work on the clutter, mask and satellite image. Trying hard to get a beta version out mid-April.

[ShadowY 0]

:

Quote[/b] ]Trying hard to get a beta version out mid-April.

...

[wolfsblut_ 0]

Great pictures nicholas.

If anyone come to Schmalfelden please make some live-photos and share the shots with the ArmA-community here.

So we can compare ArmA-schmalfelden-shots with real-live-shots.

[dmitri 0]

That looks awesome.

[mrcash2009 0]

Updates look real nice mate .

Going to be great for tank battles, well, to me it looks like a superb map for long range firefights also using certain engage range mods out, and sniper fun.

What I like is that this map looks like its going to be suited to certain playing styles rather than just another map to "have". Certainly will be one out on its own.

[HamishUK 0]

Perfect tank country.