So, let me present my first mapping project, Neufchâtel.
*** Warning: completely irrelevant stuff. Read at your own risk.
Spoiler
About a year ago I decided that I wanted to learn mapping for FH2, but unfortunately didn't get very far. I couldn't get past how clunky it seemed compared to the CoH Worldbuilder. However, now that enough time has passed that I don't remember a thing about CoH mapping anyway, I've found renewed strengh to face the harsh mistress that I've been told the BF2 Editor is.
I've always wanted to see the 1940 Battle of France campaign in this mod, but as I understand the devs have other priorities. So, applying the age old: "If you want something done, do it yourself", I set my sights towards finding a 1940 scenario that would be simple enough for me to do while also being interesting.
After considering various scenarios, like Montcornet (ditched because I felt the battle itself wasn't very intresting, and probably too small for FH2's scale) and Abbeville (ditched because I'm too inexpirienced to make a fun map out of the terrain around Mont Caubert), I decided to do Neufchâtel.
*** Irrelevant stuff ends here.
Now for the actual map.
The Battle of Neufchâtel took place the 22nd of May 1940. After the allied forces in Belgium and northern France had been surrounded during Fall Gelb, the 2nd Panzer Division was assigned with the capture of one of the 3 channel ports in the pocket: Boulogne. One Kampfgruppe approached the city from the south, eventually reaching the crossroads town of Neufchâtel, where the french troops, lacking any AT-mines, had erected some barricades and emplaced 8 AT guns in order to slow down the panzers and allow the evacuation to proceed.
I based my map off this sketch from an edition of "Les dossiers de l'histoire boulonnaise".
Spoiler
(https://s32.postimg.org/th0qo0htt/Neufchatel_combats.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/th0qo0htt/)
This is the layout that I had in mind for the map. Flag positions are only orientative.
Spoiler
(https://s31.postimg.org/4rt9shinb/Planf.png) (https://postimg.org/image/4rt9shinb/)
The playable area fits within a 1kmx1km box. Would it be adequate to do a 1:1 scale map? Or would it be too ambitious for someone who's just getting started? Tedium and hard work don't scare me, but I want to keep my expectations realistic.
Spoiler
(https://s32.postimg.org/siuhm9gfl/square.png) (https://postimg.org/image/siuhm9gfl/)
Another thing that worries me is the distance between flags. Can any experienced mapper tell me what distances work best? I want to avoid frustrating players by making them play a walking simulator instead of an FPS.
Spoiler
(https://s32.postimg.org/da0fefbtt/distance.png) (https://postimg.org/image/da0fefbtt/)
I'd be really grateful for any criticism. I know that this project has small chances of ever being finished, but if I have to fuck it up I'd rather do that in the editor than in the planning stage. In my opinion, a badly executed idea can be eventually fixed and polished, but a bad idea can't be patched together no matter how hard you try.
Check the typical maps. 200-250 m are quite good even for a map with a mixed infantry and vehicles gameplay. I dont fear this map to become a walking simulator. Depending on the terrain, placement of houses etc, gameplaywise the layout looks promising.
Thanks for the heads up. In that case I'll probably end up moving the Axis main a bit further up the road, probably behind the farm building, and add an aditional axis spawn in the D215, the road where the tree barricade is located. We'll see when I actually get a closer look at the terrain in google earth.
I can't wait to start designing the flags and flag approaches, although first I need to finish Ferning's tutorials, then start learning "modular maping", as in creating random roads, farms, towns, etc. before actually working on my heightmap. In other words, real, showable progress is still a long way off :P .
:D cool idea !
i'm from this region !
thx you for promoting 1940 !
go take pictures and report back pronto!
:P
I've found some interesting fotos of the battle itself in Axishistory.
One of the 25 mm AT guns at the crossroads:
Spoiler
(http://forum.axishistory.com/download/file.php?id=151392&sid=dce5be2b8f567fea655eaca742cc40a0)
This things had quite a punch, in spite of the small caliber. Just ask the couple of PzIII's knocked out.
Spoiler
(http://forum.axishistory.com/download/file.php?id=151393&sid=dce5be2b8f567fea655eaca742cc40a0)
From another angle.
Spoiler
(http://forum.axishistory.com/download/file.php?id=151319&sid=dce5be2b8f567fea655eaca742cc40a0)
Also, the French decided to block the road to the trainstation with UE chenillettes, load them with oil barrels and set them on fire.
Spoiler
(http://forum.axishistory.com/download/file.php?id=151395&sid=dce5be2b8f567fea655eaca742cc40a0)
To be honest texturing is (of the few things that I've learnt so far) the part of mapping that I understand the least. My only previous experience was with the CoH worldbuilder (I know, apples and oranges...) and the one map I made there, painted in-editor, looked like shit. So I understand why painting everything in-editor might not be a good idea.
I'll try to learn tpaint. I still don't know how I'm going to texture in the end, but editor+photoshop sounds like a good compromise. Terragen is pretty much out of the picture, since you need the paid version to work with 2048x2048 files IIRC.
Anyway, I imported the aerial fotograph I'm using as reference as the hemimap until I figure out how to import it as colourmap.
Spoiler
(https://s31.postimg.org/qywqjhrs7/hemimap.png) (https://postimg.org/image/qywqjhrs7/)
Small update.
Spoiler
(https://s32.postimg.org/c4ttri6b5/terrainwork.png) (https://postimg.org/image/c4ttri6b5/)
I think all the major terrain changes I had to make are done:
- Changed the TerrainHeight setting to make the one hill in this map more prominent.
- Made depressions where the ponds would be and added the water, they don't look very good (water and slopes don't mix very well) so I'll probably come back at them at some point.
- Judging by google maps images, the factory area is flat and doesn't slope downwards like the rest of the terrain, so I did some work with the level tool. I hope it doesn't look too unatural. Like everything else, it probably needs a thorough check and polish with the smooth tool.
- Added earth mounds to the northern side of the railway, to act as sort of natural fences. When I get to undergrowth and overgrowth, I'll be adding bushes and trees along the mounds.
- Ditched the whole bridge-over-railway idea, at least for now. It required to edit a lot of the surrounding terrain and in my opinion was too much work for an area that will be out of bounds anyway. The time I saved on that can be used in other tasks.
I also started work on the splines. I have already added and smoothed the main roads. I'll be doing the smaller roads, dirt paths and the railway in the coming days. I was thinking of having the main roads being made of tarmac and the small ones made of concrete (since that's pretty usual in small towns around the part where I live), but I found out after looking at some photographs (http://www.notrefamille.com/cartes-postales-1900/pas-de-calais-62/neufchatel-hardelot-62152-69539/la-place-436341.html) that Neuchâtel's roads were made of dirt.
BTW, I know that my in current terrain the factory area doesn't match quite well the aereal photograph (in the image you can see some of the factory buildings sloping down) but I've decided to make the Cement Factory flag much smaller than it really is. The reason is that there aren't a lot of industrial statics (that is, not counting the very interesting but untextured ones :-X) in the mod, so if I did it in 1:1 scale it would just be a row of the Totalize factory buildings.
At any rate, I'll have to reconsider or redesing the Cement Factory flag. I though there were cement slab stacks ingame, but apparently I was thinking about the wrong game (those are in STALKER :P).