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Hard to navigate with ambigious looking maps.

Posted: 2007-03-22 16:32
by Guerra
I'd like to see certain things, such as rivers, canals, and other bodies of water, along with grass, forest, mountain and ROADS most importantly to be more pronounced in the mini map. Its very difficult to navigate on some maps (can't remember the exact map, but it has west beach, east beach, dam, bridge, etc. US vs China).

I just want to see roads more pronounced on the minimap, so we know there are roads, and we know how to drive to the battlefield. A lot of the roads are counter intuitive, they twist and turn, vehicles have torque issues and can't really move up hilly terrain, such as the mobile AA. So I think that making roads and paths more pronounced would prevent getting lost on some of the more confusing maps.

*waits for Vikingo to tell me I have to memorize the maps, because thats what he has done*

What do you guys think?

Posted: 2007-03-22 16:36
by bosco_
Remove the minimap on the top right and make the "M" map more detailed like some kind of GPS...

Posted: 2007-03-22 16:52
by Guerra norte
bosco wrote:Remove the minimap on the top right and make the "M" map more detailed like some kind of GPS...
Agreed, we need maps which are showing the topography, buildings, rivers/water and vegitation better.
Image

Posted: 2007-03-22 16:55
by DirtyHarry88
Doesn't ArmA have pretty good maps in regard to that?

Posted: 2007-03-22 17:39
by jerkzilla
I don't think the maps in the game are actual maps as posted above, but more like a satellite photo of the area with a bunch of icons on it...
I'd like to see roads marked with red, kinda like in Battlefield Vietnam I think, water isn't causing me that many problems.
Oh, and by the way, that map is Jabal Al Burj and it's U.S. Marines versus M.E.C.

Posted: 2007-03-22 17:50
by Guerra norte
DirtyHarry88 wrote:Doesn't ArmA have pretty good maps in regard to that?
Yup.
Image



You can also click on "show textures" to get a more bf2 looking map.
Image

Posted: 2007-03-22 19:56
by JL
what model garmin is the one the military uses? or the one in PR?

Posted: 2007-03-22 20:03
by Smash-Crunch
Guerra norte wrote: Image
The contour lines on that top map are useless without any measurements, plus theres no legend.

Posted: 2007-03-22 20:40
by Guerra norte
Smash-Crunch wrote:The contour lines on that top map are useless without any measurements,

Uhh yes they are, what do you mean by measurements? Like a line that shows distances? Well there is one and it's dynamic too, it's just not showing on the screenshot I took.
Smash-Crunch wrote:plus theres no legend.
You mean like markers? Of course there's is none, I haven't put out any.

I might also add that the map is very dynamic when zooming in and out so you get a different level of detail avoiding getting lots of clutter when zooming far out.

Posted: 2007-03-22 20:51
by ubiquitous
I think that from both a realism and a 'coolness' point of view, having maps like the ArmA one posted by Guerra norte for the full-scale map (and no minimap) would be good.

Could replace the minimap with an ordinary compass to aid navigation.

Posted: 2007-03-22 20:59
by Top_Cat_AxJnAt
For those of you not living in a properly mapped country, which is pretty much every one not in the UK, or possible a few EU countries, this is what a map should and for those who like to say "Ich bin ein Berliner!", this is for you:


Image
ORdniate survey are the mother of map makers........for the UK and in terms of detail, they have like 5 + different scales of map, with hundereds and hundererds of maps in total.

I do realise the middle east, will never be mapped in such detai, but hell really, maps like these are the basis for what maps in RL should look like, and therefore a bench mark for PR to consider, but most certainly will never attain using the present game - not a problem though due to engine map size, object, terrain limitations.

I also realise, there almost certianly will be some difference between the above and military maps, although i am sure the British Army would not be too badely handicapped using OS maps if all came to the worse in an all out war over the UK. :shock: :razz:


For those desperate to see some more hardcore map pornography!:
ENJOY

http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/lei ... s_explorer

Posted: 2007-03-22 21:10
by El_Vikingo
Just do google'earth it.

Posted: 2007-03-22 21:14
by Top_Cat_AxJnAt
NO, El_Vikingo, no. ... *shakes head*

Posted: 2007-03-22 21:55
by ubiquitous
To be fair the OS are lords of all things map. Not sure the military have a lot of use for a map that tells you where you can park your car though :p .

Here are some real military maps that I found:

Israeili

US

Soviet (looks kind of like the Arma one)

Posted: 2007-03-22 22:39
by Guerra norte
Lol, while we're at it, here's a map of a real iraqi city (Samawah) in VBS1 terrain pack module 3.
Image

Here's a real US army map of the city.
Image

Go HERE for high-res versions.

Posted: 2007-03-22 22:44
by Clypp
Topographical maps are possible. I saw one of the map makers once present one of the maps (Jabal I think) as a topographical style map. They complained that filling in the buildings would take too long but using an overlay of the normal map can do this quite easily. I would love to see the maps the military uses in game.

Posted: 2007-03-22 23:15
by soraflair
Would be great but a very minor feature, if any of you guys would like to do them go ahed. :)

Posted: 2007-03-22 23:35
by [-=IDSF=-]SykloAG
Yeah those ArmA maps are cool. Most of the maps I saw while serving were aerial or satellite with contour lines etc overlaid on top and a legend on the side.
'[R-CON wrote:soraflair']
Would be great but a very minor feature, if any of you guys would like to do them go ahed.
Ok. I'll do Al-Basrah just for the fun of it. Been wanting to contribute for some time now. So consider this task/ticket/job taken!

[EDIT]
Hmm... On second thought Al-Basrah is somewhat lacking in topography... I'll do some other map - Hills of Hamgyong would be more appropriate.
[/EDIT]

I'll have to reinstall BF2 though as my editor is all screwed now and does not install in Windows 2003 64-bit (the installer cries foul).

Posted: 2007-03-22 23:38
by Guerra norte
So does anyone here know how to covert a grayscale height map into a topo map? I'm too stupid....

Try this.

Posted: 2007-03-22 23:49
by [-=IDSF=-]SykloAG
DEM2TOPO

http://people.uleth.ca/~brad.gom/dem2topo/

It makes stuff like this from height-maps in the right format.

Image