beton 2 Posted April 10, 2010 (edited) Hi.. some of you may have taken notice of the release of the summervegetation replacementpack some days ago. In the releasenotes i mentioned that we would be releasing an addonversion for islandmakers. Since after some days of more or less only positive feedback we(Bushlurker and me) decided to release the addonpack. This means every Arma 2 plant including clutter is available in summerdress now. This addonpack is only of interest for mapmakers for now as there is no island/map released which is using it. Thats why i am releasing it here. When i created wintervegetation for a map i realized that this would become a very big file... so if everey mapmaker made his own summervegetation this would result in many big addons, what is not very good. I thought it would be better to have one communityaddon every mapmaker using summervegetation could rely on. This addon is meant to be a cornerstone for an addon from the community for the community. This means everyone is welcomed to contribute all kinds of vegetation to create one foundation for hopefully many mapmakers using one addon. To make this addon suitable for multiplayer we need a key. This key is for now located on my hd:p so any new files added to this addon have to go through my hands at the moment. If anybody feels this should be changed and has a suggestion on how to organize colaboration.... feel free to say it. Note please: this is not the replacementversion but a standaloneversion which yet is not in use on any released map Usage of this addon is explained i the readme. So hopefully this will be the start ....and grow... http://www.mediafire.com/?2tvajpj44q5c11u http://www.mediafire.com/?e9e1892u487nd1d http://www.mediafire.com/?2av206hx41gg0dl http://www.mediafire.com/?uimtt43qgbnq3xb have fun... Edited January 15, 2011 by Beton Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[aps]gnat 28 Posted April 11, 2010 OK, sounds good. So I've started downloading, but - Total MB ? - Class names changed or a list of class names? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 11, 2010 (edited) Hi all... Sorry the links aren't very specific... I'm not entirely sure myself of the individual sizes - around 400mb in total for them all... I do have a list of contents though... here we go... Pack consists of summer textured versions of the following stock BIS A2 vegetation... Bush b_canina2s b_corylus b_corylus2 b_craet1 b_craet2 b_prunus b_salix2s b_sambucus Clutter c_autumn_flowers c_blueBerry c_caluna c_deadGrassBunch c_fern c_fernTall c_GrassAutumn c_GrassAutumn_t c_GrassAutumnBrown c_grassBunch c_GrassCrooked c_GrassCrookedForest c_GrassCrookedGreen c_GrassDryLong c_GrassDryLongBunch c_GrassTall c_leaves c_MushroomBabka c_MushroomHorcak c_MushroomMuchomurka c_MushroomPrasivky c_picea c_PlantsAutumnForest c_raspBerry c_SmallLeafPlant c_stubble c_TreeSmallForest c_weed2 c_weed3 c_WeedDead c_WeedDead2 c_wideLeafPlant cr_leaf cr_leaf2 cr_leaf3 Plants lopuch_podzimni p_articum p_carduus p_Helianthus p_heracleum p_Phragmites p_urtica pumpkin pumpkin2 sunFlower **lopuch podzimni and sunflower are part-finished BIS models included with A2 but not actually used** articum and helianthus seem to be the "finished" versions) Trees t_acer2s t_betula1f t_betula2f t_betula2s t_betula2w t_carpinus2s t_fagus2f t_fagus2s t_fagus2W t_fraxinus2s t_fraxinus2W t_larix3f t_larix3s t_malus1s I'm not 100% sure about whether all the clutter included is summer versioned - Beton made them as a last minute addition to the Summer Vegetation pack - so I've not looked through them all yet - however - all the rest of the contents are basically the same as the current SummerVeg pack (clutter too probably)... B Edited April 11, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
icebreakr 3159 Posted April 11, 2010 Beton & Bushlurker: what is the total filesize of this addon 7zipped? Usually a mission maker doesn't need all the vegetation? What are the rules of using the pack for any new islands? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beton 2 Posted April 11, 2010 Hi icebreakr.. as this pack contains all arma2 vegetation the size is about 398 mb at the moment. As stated before the aim of this addon is to be a base for more than just one island. I think it is kind of unnecessary when every island carries it´s own bunch of vegetation which is/could be used by other islands too. Of course not all vegetation is needed by everyone but it would be nice if there was one big pack of vegetation every mapmaker can use and know that it is accepted by many servers. If people want to contribute their work to this pack to make it easily accesible to other mapmakers that would be great. I could think about berghoff´s and mikebart´s trees or your ibr_plants inside this one big plantspack. Therefore this pack is not called beton´s or bushlurker´s summervegetation but just summervegetation and with everycontribution added we can give a new versionnumber so a mapmaker can state version xx or higher is needed for the map and he can rely on compatibility for the future. The servers on the other side just have to make sure to have the latest version and everything will be fine. Thats the basic idea behind this effort... so you and every other mapmaker can use this addon and be shure it is provided with an accepted key and none of the plants inside will be removed in the future so compatibility is guaranteed.:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
icebreakr 3159 Posted April 11, 2010 I wonder what BIS will do as Arrowhead will probably we stand alone. Hopefully they won't leave behind bunch of stuff from A2 and make a double DVD release this time. With the space available they could throw in A1(CAA1) and summer vegetation? :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shezan74 11 Posted April 11, 2010 Hi..To make this addon suitable for multiplayer we need a key. This key is for now located on my hd:p so any new files added to this addon have to go through my hands at the moment. If anybody feels this should be changed and has a suggestion on how to organize colaboration.... feel free to say it. So hopefully this will be the start ....and grow... First of all... GRAZIE! This will be a great step ahead into map making! A complete framework of old (redefined) and maybe new plants will be a great addiction to all of us. The way, if i'm right, it's to have something like a framework like ACE2, that could be shareable between various projects. This is a great new, and i will give it a try for sure I'm crashing my head on a fence generator evolution that will place trees in a specific way i need (based on gradient and altitudes on the map). Small question: i've screwed up everything on my map when i've placed tons of trees. Are your plants "lighter" for GPU than the default trees of A2? Another way of work could be a SVN project hosted somewhere, with an official page for downloading and collaborative instruments for sharing sources (and uploading new plants, for example). Uh... second thing... make a backup key :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shezan74 11 Posted April 11, 2010 Got it... 398 Mb... it's a HUGE file :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 11, 2010 (edited) what is the total filesize of this addon 7zipped? 398Mb RAR, apparently (thanks shezan ;)) (although rar proved problematic during this release - I've suggested 7z to Beton and will be adopting it myself from now on I think) Usually a mission maker doesn't need all the vegetation? A very good point which we - as islandmakers as a whole - really should discuss and reach a consensus on... more on this point later... What are the rules of using the pack for any new islands Personally - I hate even the smell of the word "rules" :p, but this and the previous question is all tied up with Betons concept - which I think is a good one... I wonder what BIS will do as Arrowhead will probably (be) stand alone. Exactly one of my thoughts as I pondered the future of island releases... currently - we can comfortably expect to be able to use stock BIS everything - veg, objects, houses, etc... but if Arrowhead IS completely standalone - can we be assured that those misguided unfortunates who buy into the franchise at the Arrowhead stage - and who don't immediately buy A2 as well - will actually be able to use our islands with only Arrowhead installed??? (I'm thinking of my fave A1 island Panthera here - and the struggle Ice had because A2 included some, but not all, of the A1 content required... obvious stuff too - like bridges!) Okay - that was the BIG leap from A1 to A2 - the leap to Arrowhead shouldn't be so bad - I hope.... but still... it's a concern... This will be a great step ahead into map making! A complete framework of old (redefined) and maybe new plants will be a great addiction to all of us. The way, if i'm right, it's to have something like a framework like ACE2, that could be shareable between various projects. Yup - not only is this Beton's concept - right on the nail! - but also possibly the best unconscious island-making pun ever!!! :) - New plants IS an addiction... I could probably add another 100Mb to this pack right now - with specifically Scottish stuff I've been making - like six shades of dry grass, about six different varieties of heather (erica), dogrose (canina) in flower, thistles with proper purple tops, etc etc etc... none of which are included in the pack as yet...Still to come are gorse bushes, scottish crop plants like tatties 'n neeps (potato and turnip), barley (essential whisky ingredient :D), and several more... (I've also been working on poppy plants and a couple of other more exotic plants)... As Beton says... there's two basic choices for us here... we can all reinvent the wheel - make our own variations (or share them) - and release our own associated plantpacks with our islands... essentially what we've all been doing so far... Ice's previous point is valid here... if you've made a 5x5 or 10x10 island - say a coupla hundred Mb - using a restricted subset of available vegetation - as most islands do - do you really want to saddle your 200mb download with a "required addon" that is already double that - and liable to get bigger??? Thats a valid concern... What would be the benefits? I think the benefits are basically twofold... Firstly... reinventing the wheel... Island making takes long enough without everybody having to recolour all their veg individually - if retextures are available, why not use them? OK - everyone wants their island to look unique, but a birch tree is a birch tree and, if people actually do contribute variations as is hoped, then there may ultimately be many variations of each item to choose from, and individuality can be achieved purely by the selection of variations you choose to employ... Theres a "core" of recolours here already - instead of recolouring 15 items for your island, you may only recolour and contribute 2, but use 13 from the pack - ultimately = less work for the individual island maker... Secondly... standardisation... As Beton also says... if multiple islands are released - all using the "summerpack" as a requirement, then anyone who downloads and/or uses multiple islands will actually end up downloading less in the long run... If servers have the latest summerpack plus key installed, they need only worry about the individual islands and their associated objectpacks - if any... less confusion for server admins = they're more likely to host games based on alternate islands. From an individual user point of view, anyone who downloads an island or two will only have to download the one plants pack to cover all the islands they use... OK... Theres a lot to digest there, so I'll shut up for now... I'd like to think of this release as an "initiative"... the concept will only work if we - as a loose association of island makers - choose to adopt it... I think the concept is a good one in principle... I'd really like to hear what everyone else thinks - all suggestions, criticisms, potential practical problems, everything and anything relevant you can think of... lets discuss the idea, and - if we all agree - we'll make it happen - and hopefully save each other a lot of extra work... :) B Edited April 11, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beton 2 Posted April 11, 2010 Very well spoken Bushlurker, it´s always better to have a native speaker explaining things. About the concern regarding Arrowhead i think i read somewhere arma2 can be started as a mod. If Bis does not change their attitude towards using content from older games there should be no problem using this plants addon as it has any data needed to be used. At least this addon should work. I don´t know what will be with the rest of things used on our islands. maybe bis will give away arma2 for little money then and the arrowheadusers go and buy arma2 as a kind of extension... but this is all speculation. So best would be now to say your opinion and maybe think about contributing your stuff to make this a success... Concerning the rar/7z discussion: I have not tried 7z yet but if it has any advantages or is prefered here i have no problem to switch, sorry Bushlurker really forgot to change to 7z Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Haggis 0 Posted April 11, 2010 Guys, thanks for making my day! I've been waiting for a summer texture pack for ArmA 2 a long time and now that it's here it's great! Today I've had the best ArmA 2 experience ever. No more brown trees but nice sunny weather and green forests. Best addon ever!!! THANKS! Now it would be nice if warfare servers wouldn't kick me for using this addon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebanks129 10 Posted April 11, 2010 looking forward to future plant releases :) using the summer veg for my map. Works alot better then default A2 plants. thanks doooodes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldbear 390 Posted April 16, 2010 Big and challenging project ... will try to use it as soon as possible Hosted as a single .7z archive on Armed Assault.info Link to mirror : Summervegetation (v 0.5) : http://www.armedassault.info/index.php?game=1&cat=addons&id=1338 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 16, 2010 Thanks very much, Old Bear! B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebanks129 10 Posted April 17, 2010 Thanks again guys for this pack. Really filled a gap with plants for me with them being green now. So does the what was orange plants still take a hit on performance? or i mean which plants could you or someone say is most performance hitting? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 17, 2010 (edited) Hi ebanks! Good question... disappointing answer, sadly... I very much doubt there'll be any difference in performance whatsoever... Quite literally all we've done here is change the colouring of the existing textures - plus remap the paths in the models to isolate these versions from the official BIS stuff so theres no conflicts... We didn't fool with the actual models themselves, their LOD switching, etc... not really possible with these binarized models at the moment, nor were we able to fool with the complexity of the models at the various LOD stages - which is where I think some of the performance issues lie... What we WERE able to fool with - and we'll probably tweak further if or when we do an update - was the contrast between LODs... With several of the models there was quite a radical colour change between LODs, which made the changeover much more apparent - and contributed heavily to the impression of the trees "popping" into focus as you approached... by making the colour blend between LODs less visually apparent, they should visually "pop" less... but that ain't gonna change actual FPS... Actually - having been over all the BIS veggies so heavily recently I'm much more impressed by them than I was initially... internally, the quality of the textures is impressive (dunno about the models - the binarized thing again)... The "colour popping" mentioned above may just be due to the fact they were put together in a bit of a hurry - it does take a zillion years tweaking, testing the LOD flip, tweaking again to tidy it up... BIS may simply have run out of time on certain trees :)... From an FPS point of view - without seeing the actual models it's difficult to judge whether they could have been made more efficient, or with less polys... Maybe we can look at the situation again if we get MLODs at some time in the future... I suspect that BIS, as is often their policy, are relying on the fact that we'll all upgrade to better computers eventually, and it'll cease to be much of an issue :D B Edited April 17, 2010 by Bushlurker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Haggis 0 Posted April 17, 2010 I hope this addon will become a bit more popular. It seems a lot of people aren't aware of your efforts. I already liked the Chernarus landscape but now it feels a whole lot better. I hope this addon will soon get some real attention so we can all enjoy ArmA 2 with nice green summertime scenery. It's so incredibly awesome! Like I said before, I wish my favourite Warfare servers wouldn't kick me for using this mod. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 18, 2010 Presumably you're talking about the replacement version for Chernarus, Haggis? This thread is actually for the integrated island version... It's all down to the admins of the individual servers I'm afraid... at an absolute minimum they need Betons Key in their Keys folder... unless they're sign-checking technically the server doesn't even need to run the addon at all... much like LandTex, it should be purely clientside - the server machine doesn't really care what colour of trees you see - as long as you're seeing them in the right place - which you are, since it changes nothing but the colour... You could always drop a polite email or PM to the server admins, point them at the correct thread and ask nicely if they'd mind adding this "purely clientside addon from a trusted source" please... You might just get lucky - since it's clientside only, it could be an optional/allowed, rather than a required addon... Worth a try... B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Haggis 0 Posted April 19, 2010 Yeah, I was talking about the summervegetation for Chernarus. Looks so nice :-) I already thought about what you said. I think I'll send the admins of the server an e-mail. After all, this is not a cheat, just summer instead of autumn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
commander1985 10 Posted April 22, 2010 Just one Question: Does a .bisign and a .bikey come with it? Would be a shame if not , there a much good addons out there that a totaly useless for me without them... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bushlurker 46 Posted April 22, 2010 Key and sign files should be included in the download... B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MadMardigan409 10 Posted April 23, 2010 Hey there, was wondering if you guys gave any thought to making some winter versions. I was giving some serious thought to making a winter version of these ofp maps at a later time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beton 2 Posted April 27, 2010 Hi Madmardigan, i don´t think that there will be a winterplantpack out in the near future unless somebody wants to do it. But if you want winterplants, you could try the ones from my "betons addons 1.47" which i used on Hurtgenwald or maybe ask raunhofer if you can use his plants from Thirsk island. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diveplane 0 Posted April 29, 2010 help if there was screens of this mod Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beton 2 Posted November 24, 2010 Ok finally... i´m happy to announce the release of summerplants v1.0 This addon should not be mixed up with the "summerpack v1.0" which is a replacement for Standard BIS autumn vegetation. At the moment this addon is only for Islandmakers and the ones who want to be in the future since there is no island released at the moment which is using this addon. We (bushlurker and me) started with this project because of the lack of Summervegetation which could be used by any islandmaker who wants to. You can find some plants added here or there to some of the maps already released but there was no freely available pack for anybody to rely on like Berghoffs is for tropical plants. So here you are ... after Beta 0.5 ... Summerplants v1.0.:D Because of the lack of other islands on my HD i show some wip screens from my Omahabeach-map which will be using this addon. But the best would be if you tried it on you own map. The screens below show just a small part and the clutter still is very mixed for testingreasons but you can see that there are different colourtypes of the same grass in this addon to choose from. At the moment i know of three islands that will use this addon for shure... but the more the better. So if you are about to make a middle european map with summervegetation... have a look at this and think about using it on your map. As soon as the first island using this Addon is released there will be a real official release of this Addon including serverkeys etc. Feedback is highly appreciated and special wishes may still be included if you are going to use this addon. You are also free to contribute to this pack if you want. Just contact me or Bushlurker here on this forum. Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?2tvajpj44q5c11u http://www.mediafire.com/?e9e1892u487nd1d http://www.mediafire.com/?2av206hx41gg0dl http://www.mediafire.com/?uimtt43qgbnq3xb have fun:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
