Island progress

After 3 years of island discussion inactivity:

How's the island progress going on?

Last time since anything notable happened in visitor was in OFP times.

I am still making satmap for island and negotiating with potential mapmaker. I have made weaponary and units on my (current extra) spare time, so it has been left on secondary place for a while.

We have also observed our possibilities to bring our OFP era island to ArmA with Roller, but so far no notable luck and we are unable to reach Instructor to get .pew files.

So it will take time, but if I don't have to do it, should come much faster than we hope.

Also if somebody has some level photoshop/PSP skills and wants to do our height map could contact me. Its a decent amount work, but map size is only 5120x5120. Its simply adding while and black layers on grey according height of landscape.

Now since you wanted to see some WIP of island, which I cannot give since satmap or height map are not done, I give you half of our satmap.

Its not all too clear, but its just flat satmap there aint much of shocker. I have taken quite a few artistic liberties on it.

Taipale half of map WIP

Take fair guess' what is where, lets see if you can find important/notable locations on map

Well I can clearly spot Kirvesmäki, Terenttilä and ofcourse Taipale, Pärssisen Metsä, Suvanto, Taipaleenjoki and little bit shores of Laatokka

This will be so cool!

Thanks!

Yep, looking really good so far. Though I'm just a noob with ArmA and don't have the foggiest idea what kind of editor you're using to create the map, I reckon it takes a lot of experience to create something like this.

Keep up with the good work

Forgot to meantion that satmap is 50% of original size. Also since map is made in four parts seperate parts, to give some mercy to my computer, you can unfortunantly see unfinished seam very well

Also swamp part looks kind a horrible, but I needed to make some difference on normal snow.

Not to forget houses are way too big and not all houses are there, we need to see if we remove them from final satmap and give Ozgu better picture of house placement.

You certainly found quite a few notable places and few not most notable places.
Missed Kansakoulun metsä thou

Map will be made with Visitor 3 as its pretty much requirement, however satellite map for it needs to be made otherway and since Google earth and co. cant provide data good enough we have to do it on old maps from 1930's and color it up. Resulting my awful satmap attempt, but it does its job.

My part of this with photoshop/paint shop pro is pretty easy, just time consuming. Ozgus part with Visitor will be much more demanding.

Yeah, I know that my Winter War knowledge is much weaker than Continuation War knowledge. I'm personally acquainted more to summer of 1944 episodes

OK, now I'll get to business: When we'll approximately see some ingame shots of these auspicious islands?

Good topic to non-FWW2 part of forum

Well since satmap is only half done and heightmap is not even started, meaning visitor part hasn't even begun, so it might be quite a while before there is something to show.

And finally I am done with satmap. As promised I post preview version of it.



Soon we can start working on it with Visitor.

I think it's great that you actually made a real taipale island, in OFP there were only simple islands with names of known (finnish war related) battlefields.

It was actually easier to do this from topographical maps than try to use my miserable imagination to create completely new island from scratch. However this map has a lot of "artistic liberty" in it. However it did turn out pretty ok as satmap.

Map is planned to feature Schmalfden type "island", so it will have land mass around it (assuming we wont run in any problems) and ArmAs editor engine makes it possible to build up surroundings beyond map limits which makes it possible to create custom places (with limitation on rivers, hills and lakes) on ready map by adding objects in there.

We make all map objects avalaible for mission editor so people has chance to use everything in map to full extend. This should add replay and map variation value on map (with cost of mission makers patience of course).

This all makes making new villages, towns, forrests, fortification lines etc. possible and easy access for mission makers.

Or so is planned, but with ArmA tools its never so certain, so don't take it as promise quite yet.

i'm ready to use this island!

Still in progress, but I would love to receive some mission plans from you in freelancer/consulting board.

rgr!
plz wait 3 days!

Boys, what about new screens

Thats depending of Ozgu, don't hold your breath on it.

Can I hold my breath soon? Last screen I saw from Taipale map was amazing. And who would have ever guessed this: My soul needs food and that means more screens from Taipale map!

Ozgu is no longer working for the mod and last screenshot you saw was work of Steelexia. Without a doubt best man we have on this project, he has artistic vision we rest seem to lack.

For screenshots I suppose you have to wait for Steelexias input regarding it.

Cool map, but it's a shame that map ends right before the village of Kelja. I think it would have been amazing to have the Battle of Kelja in FWW2, although the result of this battle was pretty uneven Maybe in a distant future?

What sources did you use while making the map? I have mapping experience only from Battlefield 1942 and I have used Karjalan kartat webpage to get topographical maps from different locations.

As it seems at the moment we wont be expanding the area, unless Steelexia gets super boost on map making when we move to ArmA2 or we get somebody who has map making skills on ArmA games.
I was weighing possibilities between Summa, Taipale, Ihantala, Vuosalmi and Ilomantsi. I came to conclusion that Taipale has as all around choice best land features. It is supposed to work as generic area for Kannas, but should serve fine as river crossing and open field battles as well.

Essentially the same site or its database, it wasn't in that fancy google world view back then, just basic maps cut out. Still same 1:20 000 Topographical map.

Is the island topographically also in a same scale, like 10 meters high hill in real life is 5 meters high in this game?

It should be topographically accurate and height map is in between of 5-100m, which lowest is "ice" level and highest is hill in left bottom corner area. So 10m hill is 10m hill in game too.