Maps

[PZ]

I think I mentioned once in a conversation with D_B about the original Wolfenstein 3D and the ability to create different level maps.  Of course, that was on the old MS DOS 5 OS, and things were quite a bit different.  None the less, I enjoy creating map type things almost as much as playing the game.

[Art Blade]

when you take a look at the Chernarus map, on this forum's start, you see the already populated part of it. Around it, the map extends, and is empty wilderness. I reckon there will be one way or another to make use of that, perhaps build some sort of village and connect it to the main part.

[PZ]

Speaking of maps, I mentioned that I found a large topographical map of Chernarus, and I've chopped it into 9 regions, like with the FC2 maps - will upload into pages soon.  They are not as detailed as D_B's FC2 maps, but they are beautiful with the 3D appearance.  As to the rest of the ARMA2 world, what other maps have you encountered besides Utes?

UPDATE: I cut the map into quadrants rather than regions.  Click the map on the main ARMA2 page to see the large map, then click any of the four quadrants to go to the detailed view.

[PZ]

Interesting - if you do screen captures of edited features, can you get resolutions good enough to link to icons on the main maps?  If so, I'm thinking of linking to areas like with the FC2 maps.

[Art Blade]

the game offers two. Utes and Chernorus, the latter the far bigger one.

[Art Blade]

so far I haven't been using the editor much, only to place soldiers or vehicles. But you can take screenshots of the map as well as of a view in the A2 world of that part of map. There should be ways to produce something to add to the map the way you're thinking.

[PZ]

That is excellent news - the Chernarus map is quite nice to the eye, and large enough to warrant putting on the site.  I'll check out the Utes map as well.

[Art Blade]

little do I know (yet) but Utes seems to be the playground of Arma2. The bootcamp and trainings are being held there

[PZ]

A cursory bit of research indicates that Chernarus appears to be the main map - cool.... we may have the beginnings of another set of maps here.

[Art Blade]

just think of it this way: when in FC2 it took me roughly 10 minutes around half the map by car, in ArmA2 I drove like 20 to 30 minutes by car and only got from the airstrip (you see it yellowish a diagonally drawn rectangle in the upper left of the currently displayed map) to the nearby coast. And that is like nothing compared with the entire map. 225km² should be around 140mi² (sorry, I am a "metric")

[PZ]

Metrics are good - am accustomed to using them quite a bit these days - I like the system based on "10"  :-X

[Art Blade]

haha :)

here, take a look, see the cursor is showing the current part of the map, and I scrolled to the far left and down. the map continues to the right and up  ;) Just edited: at the top of the map, last third, you see the airstrip.

[smg id=910]

[Art Blade]

here is the other part

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[Art Blade]

how detailed do you need it? this is that airstrip just zoomed so it fits the screen. The editor allows to zoom in down to the size of a pebble  ;D

[smg id=912 align=center width=400]

[Art Blade]

By the way, I have no idea why the editor menue doesn't show in the previous pic, seems to be a lucky glitch, it was back when I took the next:

this is the same airfield view without textures.
[smg id=913 align=center width=400]

[Art Blade]

If you look at the above airfield, the following screenie is taken there in-game, the pilot is located at the southernmost end of the middle runway, you're looking up northwest. A good visible reference are those hangars to the right, visible in both editor screenies and here. If you now go back a few posts to the overview map screenie, find the airfield again. Then take a guess at how far it is to the coast in the south. Now you should get a picture forming in your mind how vast it is there  :)

[smg id=914 align=center width=400]

[Art Blade]

I created this topic out of two splits (see the different references in the posts) so we can focus on maps (or map-making) in a single topic.

I am not so happy with the result of how the forum software merges two topics, I admit it, but at least we have one base now :)

[Art Blade]

PZ, I was just thinking, the game editor uses a grid that changes depending on the zoom level, but it always shows x and y coordinates. like that it should be very easy to take screenshots from specific parts and stitch them together seamlessly, more or less, and the grid is excellent for referencing points of interest.

[PZ]

Looks great and it appears that we'll be able to do whatever we want.  In the mean time, I've put a few maps on the site to keep us entertained for a little while.

[Art Blade]

already checked : very, very good... that you can't get with the editor, as far as I know it.  :-X

[PZ]

At least it's a start!  ;)

[Art Blade]

Meanwhile, I played with the editor to get a look what you can build. I was hoping for streets and houses, but so far no luck. You get tents of sorts, a "bunker" which is another tent caked with sandbags and camo nets etc, a field hospital, wich is perhaps a too small to be regarded as a MASH (mobile army surgical hospital). In other words, just small stuff. Well, there are hangars, barriers, mg-nests and whatnot, but nothing like elements you could build a town with. Sad, really.

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[PZ]

Darn, I was hoping for a SimCity kind of experience - too much to hope for, I guess... ;D

[Art Blade]

hahaha, indeed  :) by the way, the bunker is stone and wood, with sandbags. It looked like it was a tent because 3d and 2d differ a lot... in 2DE you see two symbols of the bunker and a barrack (=tent) with a huge gap between them. I thought I could place two trucks between. The screenie shows that both "buildings" were nicely merged, however. It's unlike SimCity where you had a grid and the buildings would snap to it, and so forth.

In the game is a part of the tutorial I skipped so far, it deals with building a field hospital, barracks etc, and the controls menu shows keys to bind for a bulldozer... I reckon it's more or less what I just did, without the bulldozer.

[PZ]

Wow, you mean that you can operate a dozer?  In the game?  If so, for what purpose?