Starting a new map

[TankCommander 3]

Hi, I've started work on a new map and wanted to open a thread to address some issues I was having.

Basically I'm having some trouble with getting all the terrain grid sizes at the start. I want to make a map that's 17x17km if that's possible. If anyone can offer some numbers for the Project Parameters that would be great.

Is there also a specific resolution the height and satellite map should be? I've just had Visitor crash so many times from 'incorrect' height maps etc and when they do come thought, they are riddled with artifacts ranging from lines to 'pots' along the terrain (like in the image).

I'm using Photoshop to edit the height map and have it set to Greyscale 16bit. It was also extracted from Google Earth via this technique: http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?t=27052

[Snake Man 401]

I want to make a map that's 17x17km if that's possible. If anyone can offer some numbers for the Project Parameters that would be great.

PMC Editing Wiki: Terrain grid and cell size.

Is there also a specific resolution the height and satellite map should be?

Up to you how much work you are willing to put to it.

Larger the size, more work to process the files etc.

I suggest you setup your build environment first with ridiculously low res like 1024x1024 image. When that works and you've learned the ropes, then pump up the resolution to achieve good visual quality. This way you don't waste time working on huge satellite image only to have v3 crash on you.

[Rg 0]

TankCommander,

I know that is probably not what you want, but that could be seriously awesome mirco terrain. Could be very interesting for gameplay.

From some of my V3 tests, I got a lot of spikey terrain and this was solved by terrain.cfg min/max heights, but more importantly blur added to the height map in photoshop. That will smooth out bumps.

But seeing that screenshot you posted makes me want to create something that bumpy with areas smoothed out for roads and towns. It reminds me of terrain detail very high in OFP. :D

If you end up smoothing everything out, would you consider posting your current V3 settings and full or part of the height map for learning purposes? That bumpy terrain could rock.

[TankCommander 3]

Thanks Snake Man =)

I used the grid layout you have for the 16x16km map and that seems to work alright. I'm only getting an issue with the satellite map being broken all over the terrain. IE grid squares occupying the wrong spot. I'll need to do some more testing tho with different texture sizes etc but I can't help feeling there must be a formula in matching up all these grid sizes.

I fixed the terrain bumpiness with just a Gaussian Blur and a better map grid setup. I agree that it would make for an interesting map to have so many areas to take cover but the Australian themed map I'm making doesn't match.

I'll post later on the height map I was using tho if you are interested =) But I did notice it lagged a little more than a smoother map for some reason... which makes little sense.

Here's an image of the map so far with it's funky sat image out of order. It was a lot worse before I tweaked the Texture Layer/Texture Size in Project Parameters.

[Rg 0]

TankCommander,

Just saw the other screens you posted. Looks badass. Indeed I'm interested in seeing the height map =)

The lag you noticed is kind of odd. Is the "better map grid setup" you mentioned, setting changes within V3? What cell size were/are you using?

I would think there would still be the same number of triangles for the terrain whether it's bumpy or not, so you would think performance would be identical. Maybe the issue is just that all the lines that make up the triangles are longer with elevated bumps? :confused:

[TankCommander 3]

Hey, I'll try to answer these questions soon as I can and post up the height map. Would need to experiment with the bumpiness and see if it impacts on performance.

For the moment I've not got a lot of time to work on this and have some BSOD issues which resulted in scrambling my high res satmap. I've also noticed that doubling the resolution of the satmap generates some strange grid lines in the texture when viewed in Bulldozer. Sort of like a gap in the tiles at 1km intervals.

Just a random question for future reference, is it possible to add custom environment noise for a map? I'd like to add authentic Australian ambient wildlife noise to really push the effect of an Aussie map.

Thanks!

[Rg 0]

Hey, I'll try to answer these questions soon as I can and post up the height map. Would need to experiment with the bumpiness and see if it impacts on performance.

For the moment I've not got a lot of time to work on this and have some BSOD issues which resulted in scrambling my high res satmap. I've also noticed that doubling the resolution of the satmap generates some strange grid lines in the texture when viewed in Bulldozer. Sort of like a gap in the tiles at 1km intervals.

Just a random question for future reference, is it possible to add custom environment noise for a map? I'd like to add authentic Australian ambient wildlife noise to really push the effect of an Aussie map.

Thanks!

I don't have access to the configs right now, but these two classes come to mind...

• class CfgEnvSounds
  
• class Ambient (not sure if this is sounds or something else)
  

Look at the configs in these PBO's..

• Bin
  
• Utes
  
• Chernarus
  

You could always look in the sound mods that have been released for some hints. I know some of them change environment sounds. You should be able to include .wss/.wav's in your map pbo and just make sure you have the correct path linking to them.

[TankCommander 3]

Great, thanks Rg! Good to know it's possible.