[Map] Operation Hailstorm (4km) [WIP]

[Rhino]

He should build it more like a big Outpost with helipads, which would make it more realistic in my opinion.

Agreed.

[DenvH]

In addition to that, you could build on the reason of the outpost being there by placing something like a Vietnam arty pit like this one on that same island:

[VapoMan]

Is it a good idea to put the artillery on the island where it can actually be seen? Or should I just keep it like most maps outside of the combat area.


Quick question about the satics located in: objects>staticobjects>buildings

Most of them are from EOD and look good for my map. Is there any statics in there that mappers shouldnt use?

[Rhino]

Pretty much all of them shouldn't be used tbh since they load totally different pallets etc but you can use them as you wish, most are pretty buggy thou. I would recommend not using them.

[mintyflinty]

just had a fly around, maps looking really good!! cant wait for release

[VapoMan]

Updated the test version download:
Download operation_hailstorm19thSep.rar

I cleared treess off all the roads, added bamboo to the overgrowth to give more ground cover, tweaked the fog and increased the undergrowth viewdistance.

Dont worry about the static object placement and the bumpiness of the road. I just need to see how well it runs on a variety of computers and what people think of the jungle.

[Rudd]

bumpiness of the road

to make your roads nice use the apply spline function, it will move the terrain to coincide with the spline points

[VapoMan]

Yeah Ive use the apply spline tool but its still bumby around the edges in some places, just need to smooth and level it out a bit.

[VapoMan]

Some new screenshots:

[Rudd]

Yeah Ive use the apply spline tool but its still bumby around the edges in some places, just need to smooth and level it out a bit.

widen road, apply spline, thin road, then smooth the edges and tis good

[Rhino]

If I'm going to be honest Vapo your overgrowth is so thin its pretty much pointless and dosen't give anything near the jungle feel your trying to aim for. You should really look into ways of getting the density you need while keeping performance in mind as well.

[VapoMan]

If I'm going to be honest Vapo your overgrowth is so thin its pretty much pointless and dosen't give anything near the jungle feel your trying to aim for. You should really look into ways of getting the density you need while keeping performance in mind as well.

Thanks for your honesty

This is the best the jungle has been so far. When I started it was VERY dense with over 75000 overgrowth objects and so it was super laggy for alot of people. Gradually I have been tweaking it, making weaker overgrowth in some areas and denser in other areas.

Now the overgrowth number is around 47000 and a lot less people are complaining about lag and with the addition of bamboo there is more cover. If I increase the denisty then I have to lower the viewdistance to compensate for fps lag.

TBO I dont think it looks that bad:


Most ground fighting will probably be in and around the villages anyway so im not too fussed.

widen road, apply spline, thin road, then smooth the edges and tis good

Thanks, but when u say widen, where is that in the bf2 editor, because I cant find it. Unless you mean selecting a wider road from the templates?

[Rudd]

go to road templates, then you select the road your using, increase the width, then apply, the revert.

[Rhino]

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... -50-47.jpg

that still looks way to open to me, you really want to hardly be able to see the ground from an overhead view.

I can understand the performance issues but there are ways of making overgorwth look more dense than it really is (code wise).

For starters, make large overgrowth objects much more common, large trees, epically "clumps" of trees (where you have multiple trees in one overgrowth object, pretty sure there are a few in the jungle set, if not GD was planning on making them at some point), I would totally get rid of the palm trees and replace them with huge jungle trees. You can also have less small shrubs etc, possibly even have no small shrubs and add the shrubs etc in as staticobjects (by painting them as overgrowth then converting them into statics) but not sure how well that would work.

One thing you might want to consider is sacrificing view distance for performance (although if you want choppers it really should be above 800m if you can) or perhaps sacrificing in some other areas, maybe how much your detail textures repeats, you could tone that down etc and areas like that.

[AFsoccer]

I'd have to agree. The jungle looks too thin to be convincing (let alone affect gameplay like I think you want it to). In addition to what Rhino said about using the thicker tree sets, is there a way to create areas where there aren't trees so that the areas with trees can be made more dense? Things like small lakes, rock outcroppings, marshy areas, etc. might work.

Also, I've played with (and changed) the OG and UG on my map dozens of times. It plays a HUGE part in immersing the player, so it's worth tweaking and re-tweaking until it's just right.

[VapoMan]

I would totally get rid of the palm trees and replace them with huge jungle trees.

See reference photos of the actual island for why im not using the huge jungle trees:
Picasa Web Albums - Sunkmail - Dublon Island...

You can also have less small shrubs etc, possibly even have no small shrubs and add the shrubs etc in as staticobjects (by painting them as overgrowth then converting them into statics) but not sure how well that would work.

This I could do though.

[Rhino]

Well the only real difference between you ref photos and the huge trees is the height but I meant huge more as in width. Using many more trees with large width would help, and if your going to be using palm trees, use the palm clump a lot more.

[HangMan_]

Had a quick look around on the map today, some initial feedback:
- Trees are too linear, ie they look unnatural because there isn't enough variation in positioning.
- Chinese main is a labrinth to get out of, this is minor at this stage though.
- Map could use some more unique areas. ie have a heli crash site, maybe an overgrown ww2 bunker and trench system? You need more stuff like this to make the map interesting.
- Also the villages need a lot more work. Look at qinling for how a chinese village/hamlet should look. Fences and common objects are needed! You need to use a different ground texture in villages aswell for paths and stuff. Otherwise it just looks like buildings plonked randomly in the jungle.

Will give you more feedback when i get back from holiday

[VapoMan]

Updated screenshots. New overgrowth, much more dense, thanks for the suggestions.


http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een001.jpg

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een002.jpg

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een003.jpg

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een004.jpg

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een005.jpg

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv17 ... een006.jpg

[AFsoccer]

You might think about:

- Making lots of small terrain variations to reduce the view distance (it will make it feel more dense) and
- Placing more OG that's has foliage low to the ground (at eye level) because it will help provide the density feeling that you're looking for (bushes and ferns, etc. work well for this).

Good luck