Razani, North Waziristan Map

[sk3pt 0]

Wow, that sure looks like a great map !

[robert.munsey 0]

The word on the street from Bosniarat is;

North Waziristan is pretty far from Kabul and Bagram Airbase

"North Waziristan is pretty far from Kabul and Bagram Airbase "

Actually one of the larger airbases in the FATA IS in waziristan, it is the airbase of Miram shah;

http://maps.google.com/maps?cl....=h&z=16

It was also a base used by the Mujh during the Soviet- Afghan war.

With that said, I think Nicholas Bell has the right idea, no caves, FOBs or Air Fields, and I do agree with Bosniarat , that they can be spawned 'in flying' off map. Although they could come in form the north or the west.

The 'Kot' or Qalat (pronouced Kah-lat) are pretty large and Opteryx has also done a very good job of making the structures for the game. Nick is right when he says the people with money have large walls, the guy who contracted most of the contracts for our FOB had a HUGE Qalat!

Also those that look around Google earth can get a good idea of what a FOB can look like. I wont say where, but FOBS are visible in Google maps, in the region. Example are around.

I to am impressed and look forward to seeing this map.

Robert- the n00b

[Alex72 1]

Have followed this thread since start and as always NB, this doesnt seem to dissapoint.

I was wondering after seeing the houses/walls etc if its possible to change the colour of those buildings? I understand it can be done, but if there is an easier way than get new textures etc. I think the colour clashes a bit with the ground textures. usually many buildings down those areas are very close in color to the ground i think. I might be wrong, but its sticks out a bit with all yellow and then the ground is more greyish. Wondered if there was a tint option (or what its called) to change quicker of color of objects? Maybe Opteryx knows.

Never the less its an amazing map and it doesnt bother me. I just thaught out loud about the color thing.

Keep up the super duper work Nicholas.

Regards

Alex

[Nicholas Bell 0]

Opteryx already noted the color issue.  There is no real easy fix for this.  Either changing the terrain or the object's textures is would take a lot of time.  So the initial beta release will be as shown.  I can not make any comment beyond that - other than I am grateful for Opteryx's work and permission to use it.

[bravo 6 0]

Nicholas have you ever though the possibility to create new models with textures that better fit your terrain?

I tell you, you won't regret it.

[sparks50 0]

If you do that then please release the current one with OPX objects first,

I really don't mind if the color is a few shades wrong someplaces, with such a great map

[Rg 0]

I know you said you can not make any comment beyond that, but nothing fancy is required, just a few hours of simple adjustment work.

The yellow/orangish tone of Opteryx's objects works perfect for his SAT's, but since yours has a very greyish tone, all that would be required is to lower the saturation of the object textures to match your SAT (rather then adjusting your SAT to match the objects which would unrealistically alter the way the terrain is supposed to look, assuming the tone from the satellite images matches the terrain on the ground in RL). It also gives the objects a little more of a weathered look (although very cheaply done).

Left = Original   |||   Right = Reduced Saturation

1) Open texture in PhotoShop

2) Ctrl + U (Image>Adjustment>Hue/Saturation)

3) Saturation = -50

4) SaveAs .paa (or tga and convert it via BIS's TexViewer)

If it's 1 texture per object (building,wall), then that isn't too bad. Although I have no idea how many custom objects there are for his pack. If permission were granted to you to adjust only this, I could help you (do 1/2 & 1/2 or something) or just knock it out for you, since I don't see this taking very long (god I hope not. if so, I retract my statement ).

[Alex72 1]

Wow rg7621!

That was exactlly what i meant. Ok so you have to change it in PS. I thaught O2 maybe had some option to change all objects at once or something lol. Would have been great huh.

That looks brilliant. Maybe we can all pitch in and change the saturation of Opteryx objects to match this amazing map.

EDIT: And yes i hear you Nicholas. Opteryx objects are amazing. And ofcourse if the tone is a bit off it doesnt matter. Just would look a bit better. And with maps like yours it feels it should be perfect for the optimum illusion of a real area. This was the image that i thaught showed the most difference (that sticks out): http://i163.photobucket.com/albums....-10.jpg

EDIT2: Anything you choose will be great anyway. Like i said, it was just a thaught i had.

Regards

Alex

[Nicholas Bell 0]

I'm quite aware of how to do it, but I do not have the right to rework and redistribute Opteryx's work without his permission.   One has to respect his right and concern about quality and potential conflicts with his maps.

As for making my own objects - I am only in the beginning stages of learning how to create models.  The rock wall visible in the images is mine, for example.  My opinion is that it would be better to get something for people use now, as opposed to waiting another six months for me to make objects.  As is, the map which will be released in a few weeks is not complete regarding other aspects not related to the buildings.   This is going to be an on-going project which I will continue to improve and release.   I and a few others are enjoying the map as is right now - I don't see why the rest of you can't also enjoy it for what it's worth.

No one is forcing anyone to d/l or use this if they disagree with this.  I feel I am and have been from the beginning fully disclosing my approach.

[sparks50 0]

Don't take it the bad way Nicholas, I'm sure people just want to help out

[mrcash2009 0]

Nice one, haven't been around much at all so thanks for beta, but last time i opened Arma was before christmas!  

Anyway, Im glad its nearly to be out, I too also think the saturation idea is superb but can completely see where you are tied to things for now. I automatically though "hmmm, looks like map editor quick edit thrown into the map" rather than something tied in nicely to the theme.

Anyway, its only parts, and the map itself rules so cant wait to try out the final beta  

Quote[/b] ]I feel I am and have been from the beginning fully disclosing my approach.

Sure have, its all WIP warts and all which is nice .. but the warts are dwarfed in comparison with the "all"  

[TheDog 0]

wow reduced saturation looks amazing! is it going to stay that waY?

[Binkowski 26]

I love the way this is progressing, NicholasBell. You're epic.

[Red_Barron 0]

wow reduced saturation looks amazing! is it going to stay that waY?

Only if Opteyrx gives Nicholas Bell permission to do so TheDog.

@Nicholas Bell

I just want to say that I am very much looking forward to this map.  I think you have an excellent concept here and I am glad to see the map making community sharing their efforts so that high quality maps can be made without doing things over (as can be seen with Opteyrx's buildings and wheat fields).

I also applaud you for not making any permanent FOB's.  This allows mission makers to place them freely on the map themselves, which I think is excellent.

For those of you who don't otherwise know it, OFPEC had a setpos template contest a while back.  Basically they are mission.sqm's that you import into your mission that create a base for you.  I'm not sure if any of these could be used specifically for this map, but it is a great resource.  I would encourage people to make their own FOB's tailored to this map when it goes public and post them on OFPEC.

Here's the link:

http://www.ofpec.com/ed_depo....ype=xyz

With the exception of the ACE maps (which are all OFP island convets anyways), good maps are few and far between.  It is always nice to see another good map come out.  I wish you all the best in this project Nicholas Bell!

[robert.munsey 0]

Gentlemen,

Being one that has spent time on the other side of the border...(Afghan side)...the qalats are brown. The mud walls will look more like Opteryx's buildings.

However with that said, as soon as I get u-tube working (they seem t be down for maint?) I will post a video from Ghazni. I know that is far away, but it shows a good view of qalats.

NB, I am looking over the map and will comment later. Still IMMENSELY impressed!

Robert-the N00b

[Nicholas Bell 0]

Yeah it's pretty easy to stick a base on the map.  The templates at OFPEC are great.  And one can easily modify them for specific conditions,

[Bosniarat 0]

The map Looks great, cant wait to fight on it, Sorry I was tired when i posted the first time :P. Cant wait to see this map!

[mr.g-c 6]

The only thing i would suggest, is to saturate the sat-texture a little bit more into brownish.... just a layer with very very low opacity over it via PS.

I'm by far no expert of that area, but i recently saw a whole lot of videos and pictures from that Areas and for me it looked even at the "most greyish" parts, still a bit more brownish than on the lastest pic, 2 posts above mine.

[Nicholas Bell 0]

The predominant hue in the sat map is actually red-brown.  I think a lot is lost in the compression to jpg.  Time of day and cloud cover also affect the color.  Twilight puts an orange glow on everything for example.

I've checked numerous true color satellite images and photographs and the colors on the map are as close as I can manage.  The sat map is an altered satellite image.  I am not disagreeing with the fact that there are areas where brown is the predominant color, but not here.

I think one needs to see it "in-game".  When again, you may not feel it is correct then either