Vegetation replacement - support needed

[.kju 3245]

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This might be of interest for more people.

A vegetation replacement is unfortunately not so easy for two reasons:

1) You either have to modify the island wrp itself or replace the p3d files.

In other words you need to make a plants2.pbo or chernarus.pbo with

different content.

So no simple config solution possible.

2) This may have changed, yet unlikely:

The object height position is saved in the wrp. Either its the center or

bottom or ground not sure. Anyway lets say plant A is 10 m high.

This means your replacement needs to be roughly the same height.

Otherwise the object is flying in the air to a degree or partially sunk into the

ground.

It may be possible to mass read and output to a file the object height via o2

scripting. This way one can do a theoretical replacement.

The other approach, can be combined with the first, is to make an addon to

be be able to place all objects in the editor and make a visual comparison.

To replace the plants2.pbo is the best option right now. The tougher part is

to find the suitable replacements. If you are willing to help out on this part,

please write me a PM!

If there is interest, we will work on the addon now to make each available in

the editor and provide a sample mission with all objects set.

Using the 3d editor of A2 the effort might be okay.

Edited June 28, 2009 by kju

[granQ 293]

hi kju.. to be honest I missed one point in your message.. why?

I mean, whats the goal here, just learning, transforming it into a jungle/desert island or what?

[Defunkt 431]

Yes, I'm sure it's sensible but the need escapes me ATM.

[HotShot 0]

Well for me, PROPER Vegetation Replacement was essential for ArmA1 to prevent it becoming a slideshow. I found vegetation to have a massive effect on performance, so to get a decent FPS I have to use PROPER Veg to give me the old Flashpoint vegetation. And that is also the reason for wanting it in ArmA2.

Although the CWC veg looked quite bad and could block areas for me where other players or the AI could see due to bigger leaves or such, the OFP:R veg was OK and did not detract from the gameplay.

[.kju 3245]

Packs

• A2 vegetation replaced by A1
  
• A2 vegetation replaced by OFP Resistance
  
• A2 vegetation replaced by A1 community vegetation (autumn pack)
  
• A2 vegetation replaced by OFP community vegetation (Berghoff's work)
  
• A2 vegetation with reduced/no shaders (a la kegetys)
  
• A2 vegetation with first LOD quality reduced (replaced by 2nd LOD (1st and 2nd the same))
  

Goals

• Different look (theme)
  
• Better performance
  
• Less shinny
  
• Less LOD switching
  

[EricM 0]

I thought you wanted to do the opposite : change Arma 1 imported islands' vegetation by Arma2's vastly superior one.

Given that BIS worked extensively on flora optimization with linda, since Arma 1 and OFP, and it looks obviously great and runs better than before I fail to see the point of :

# A2 vegetation replaced by A1

# A2 vegetation replaced by OFP Resistance

# A2 vegetation replaced by A1 community vegetation (autumn pack)

# A2 vegetation replaced by OFP community vegetation (Berghoff's work)

I understand the point of adding missing things, like Palmtrees, Winter or Summer/Spring stuff... but replacing A2 stuff by A1 ? I'm puzzled...

And concerning the goals :

* Different look (theme) : obviously autumn/central european OFP style are pointless

* Better performance : I thought BIS had worked a lot on that between A1 and A2, so I fail to see how A1 vegetation would do the trick (Overdraw anyone ?)...

* Less shinny : This is not Arma 1 anymore. Shiny is not the first thing I would say about Chernarus (except for cows...)

* Less LOD switching : Again, I had just as much switching in A1...

No offense, there must be something I'm missing totally there, but among all the great projects you have, this one is like a huge question mark to me...

Edited June 23, 2009 by EricM

[ebud 18]

No offense, there must be something I'm missing totally there, but among all the great projects you have, this one is like a huge question mark to me...

Well since ARMAII is a highend slideshow for me (unless I drop the settings to pre-2004 levels) while ARMAI runs smooth as silk at high/very high settings, I'd be interested in trying out a replacement pack like this.

[.kju 3245]

The replacement is not limited to Chernarus.

Personally I think the bushes and trees of A2 looks worse and seem to need way

more GPU.

My PC isnt that weak after all .. Q6600, 3.3 GB RAM, 9800 PRO, win XP.

I hate the LOD switching on turning, on zooming, on movement.

A2 vegetation still has the very serious issue of different shape and coloring

for the different LODs. I assume this is due the generated nature of the vegetation.

In the end what is bad about having the choice?

[-)rStrangelove 0]

Nice thread. So when i make a custom plants2.pbo with the appropiate palmtree p3ds of ArmA1 will all trees on Chernarus be replaced? Would love to play on a jungle island.

And in terms of saving performance - how about replacing some trees & bushes with empty p3ds?

[.kju 3245]

Yep. This is how it works.

A2 doesnt seem to have that many different trees. Making one empty model, might cause huge areas to be without vegetation. :P

[-)rStrangelove 0]

Not all trees are really that important in a 1stperson shooter imo. I noticed that when playing around with the Farcry editor. The amount of trees is insignificant if the 'wrong treetypes' are being used. Place lots of thin trees on a flat ground and you have no cover at all. That and it looks plain boring.

We've got many very thin trees in A2 which don't give cover anyway, you wouldn't notice if they were gone gameplaywise.

I agree we still need bushes and thick trees for view- und hardcover.

[bravo 6 0]

Dudes, are you forgetting that ArmA2 now uses linda to create the vegetations?

Will the vegetation models be similar to ArmA1 in .p3d concerns?

Some how im not liking the idea to replace them by ArmA1's vegetations... you might lose a lot of quality and also the new features. I might be wrong.

[.kju 3245]

A1 vegetation was already done by Linda from what I read.

Quality - what quality? LOD switching, bad FPS?

If we get the MLOD to optimize the A2 vegetation ourself, we can try that approach.

For now A2 vegetation has way way way to many negative points.

[bravo 6 0]

A1 vegetation was already done by Linda from what I read.

Quality - what quality? LOD switching, bad FPS?

If we get the MLOD to optimize the A2 vegetation ourself, we can try that approach.

For now A2 vegetation has way way way to many negative points.

Quality in terms of visualization, immersion feeling and new features if they exist.

I thought ArmA2 trees have roots, created by Linda randomly, i believe ArmA1 does not use it. Thats why i had the perception ArmA1 did not use Linda.

I can not confirm this since i don't have the game yet, but isn't the damage system different then ArmA1, in vegetation concerns?

Edited June 25, 2009 by bravo 6
typo

[.kju 3245]

I like the overall look of the A2 vegetation. Don't get me wrong.

Yet as long we don't have the MLOD, we cannot rework them.

What damage system?

[GLeek 10]

i promote with force this project ! if we have simplier tree and plant , we could decently play with highest 3D mesh detail, !

[Balgorg 10]

I think this is a great idea, i am not keen on A2s vegetation one bit.

[GLeek 10]

your words are kind ... it's litterrally sucks ALL OUR FPS !!11

[.kju 3245]

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