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Rake

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Posts posted by Rake

  1. I'm not going to open the scenario in Editor because it's a PBEM. Don't want to go peeking all the details while the game is in progress. I did check the place with all trees shown and there is no foliage there higher than maybe 20cm tall (like you see in front of the hedge).

    I can send a saved games file to BF developers if they wish.

    I think I've found the issue. After a search of the map, I'm pretty sure I found the "gate" you're having difficulty with. Once I found the gate, I went into the editor and found that the underlying terrain beneath the bocage to the right of the gate is "Heavy Woods". The terrain below the bocage on the left is "Light Woods".

    I ran a test with the terrain as it designed. The first time it approached the gate, the Tiger balked and turned to the left, driving up over the bocage on the left. When the turn was over, I replotted the move through the gate and the Tiger drove off in search of another route.

    I went back into the editor and changed the "Heavy Woods" square to "Light Woods" and re-ran the test. The Tiger drove through with no issues.

    To test it again, I edited the square back to "Heavy Woods" and tried again. The Tiger approached the gate, slowed and turned around 180 degrees. At the end of that turn, I cancelled the move and replotted with the movement line somewhat toward the left edge of the gate. This time, the Tiger slowed and lurched several times, driving up over the edge of the bocage to the left, but did manage to force its way through the opening...

    CMNormandy2013-02-11_zps2013cab0.jpg

    There's no reason I can see from the editor that the Tiger shouldn't pass through the opening. The underlying terrain at the "gate" is "Dirt". The only reason I could see for the tank not wanting to pass through is because of some overlap from the Heavy Woods which, of course, vehicles are not permitted to enter. But, someone with more understanding of how the terrain works with regard to adjacent action squares would have to confirm this.

    Is it a bug??? I dunno, but I do see that it could be annoying :eek:

  2. I like the way you've used the balcony here to replicate the real building on the right :)

    Another way that I've experimented with is to partially place a shelter (flavor object) inside of a building... this gives the sloped roof effect rather than the balcony style roof

    The problem I've had with this is that, sometimes, several of the flavor objects have "disappeared" (maybe I ctrl - clicked without knowing), but my guess is that the game won't handle flavor objects touching...

  3. Thanks Rake, that's a very useful and thorough tutorial :)

    Edit: the transition from open farmland to bocage in that photo is striking! It sort-of looks like a half-finished CM map :D

    It does, doesn't it. The field lines are still visible, but it appears that the brush is gone. I believe most of this area between Saint-Côme-du-Mont (off-map to the NNW) and Carentan was flooded during the battle; my guess is that the vegetation along the bocage was drowned and the lines we can see are possibly the berms that remained???

    I'm certainly willing to entertain other hypotheses :)

  4. Geoportail. Detailed modern topo maps of France:

    http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil

    IGN. Aerial photos of France, including a complete survey of the country made shortly after the war:

    http://loisirs.ign.fr/

    (Hmm, they've changed their site, again, and I don't speak French. I'm danged if I can figure out where the aerial photos are now, but I'm fairly certain they'll still be there somewhere)

    Macisle -

    The aerial photos on the Geoportail site... There's a link from the IGN site, but I had to poke around a bit to find it. I don't speak French either, but I can read a little bit.

    Here's how to find them:

    Follow Jon's link above... that will open an aerial view of France. Find the area that you want and zoom in. Click on Cartes (IGN) and you'll get a map rather than the aerial photography. Zoom in far enough, and you'll get the topo...

    Click in the box at the upper right that says Remonter le temps

    GeoportailScreen_zps4a69a363.jpg

    That will bring up a pull down menu from which you will pick Les prises de vues aériennes

    GeoportailScreen2_zpsfe1f7feb.jpg

    Select the 1:50,000 option and drag the handles to the 1940 - 1950 range. Most of the photos in this range will be from 1946. There should be several flight missions to choose from:

    GeoportailScreen3_zpsab37ece3.jpg

    Clicking on one of the missions will bring up "X"s inside an orange dot... these are the aerial photos. Selecting one of these will give you the option to view (Aperçu) or download (Télécharger) the image:

    GeoportailScreen4_zps8047ae2f.jpg

    Downloaded images will be in jpeg2000 format (.jp2)... Photoshop will handle these, but I'm not sure about other programs. I would think that there's some free software out there that can convert these if the program that you're using won't.

    If you download several, you can stitch them together and create a composite photo. This one probably covers the area that you're working on:

    CarentanSouthAerialPanoramaCrop72_zps55533911.jpg

    If you're interested, I have a fairly high resolution pic that I could deliver via dropbox. PM me with an email address if you'd like to have it. Nice map, btw!

    Edit: Just re-read your post and saw that your map is EAST of Carentan... my photo just goes to the south. Still, there are plenty of aerials on Geoportail in the area of your map.

  5. Putting the whole issue of just why we tend to like this kind of stuff aside for a minute, I would have to say that at 48 I have a much better grasp of it than I used to growing up.

    My father was 40 when I was born and I remember being slightly sad and a little puzzled that he didn't show any interest in my wargaming hobby. I also knew that he served in WW2 from 1942 to 1946 in the US Navy as an Aviation Ordinanceman 2nd class aboard the carriers Randolph and Bon Homme Richard. Among his keepsakes, I have a silk aviator's map of the seas around Japan- there in ink around the edge are all the names of VBF-16 men who were killed.

    I had time to reflect on all this recently, as my father lost his fight with Parkinson's on December 22, 2012. He was 89 and had a good life with five children, and lots of grandchildren. Although I did talk with him at times about his experiences in the war, I could tell that, like most vets who have seen what war can do to humans, he was still haunted by the loss of friends in their prime. Worse still is just how vividly vets remember the traumatic events that will stay with them their whole life. I can only imagine how much worse it was for the ground forces at "the sharp edge".

    From the WW1 era, the Kohima Epitaph- I imagine many of you know it as well:

    When you go home,

    Tell them of us and say,

    For your tomorrow

    We gave our today.

    You begin to understand how so many vets felt a sense of guilt that they managed to make it through the war and their belief that the "real" heroes are the ones who never made it home.

    As Ron Perlman voiced, "War... war never changes."

    Perhaps our addiction to this pursuit is through some need to relate at any level, no matter how shallow, of what it must have been like. Could we have dealt with it? It amounts to a challenge for me most times, but I freely admit that I have difficulty defending my "hobby" to others who don't share it. Somehow it makes me feel guilty for the enjoyment I derive out of it, you know?

    One of the best posts I've read on this site.

    I was reading this thread last night and thinking of posting similar thoughts. Thank you for saving me the time; I could not have expressed it as well. My own father missed WWII, but was just in time for the Korean "conflict". He shared little about his time in Korea, but the best advice he ever gave me was during the draft... he told me to enlist in the Navy before I was drafted. Thankfully, the draft ended just before I was eligible, but I still followed his advice. ;)

    As for the other matter, I believe pixeltruppen die by fire now just as they should when flame makes it into the game...jmo

  6. As I've noted elsewhere, I don't have 2.0 and have had to put a hiatus on all gaming for the moment. I just happened to check back briefly and saw this.

    In 1.0 ISTR moving the vehicles across that little bridge was always a little tricky -- you had to be sure both the waypoints on both sides weren't placed too close to the abutment and that the pathline crossed directly across the centerline of the bridge. I wonder if that particular bridge being only 5 squares from the map edge is creating a problem? -- just a blind guess though, really.

    In the meantime, you might consider deleting all the bridges in the Editor and replacing them with "culverts" by raising the terrain height to the road height.

    Thanks for the reply... I know that I don't recall seeing you post in a while, but I had not seen a post about a gaming sabbatical. Glad you checked in and hope all is well.

    If I had not received a reply, I probably would have gone into the editor, deleted the bridges and replaced the parapets with low stone walls. Thanks again!

  7. Has anyone tried this scenario under 2.0? I've started it three consecutive times and, after getting to the end of the first bridge (right at the start of the scenario) my HQ M8 stops and will move no further.

    I've noticed that just beyond the bridge, smack in the middle of the road, I get the "red, no move" arrow. I've opened up the map in the editor and there is no underlying terrain that should stop movement... clover at each end of the bridge and grass tiles below the road beyond. On the second turn, I've ordered the AC to turn and move into the field to the left, but nothing happens.

    IIRC, this scenario was designed under 1.0, so my guess is that this is a 2.0 issue. I don't seem to have any difficulty crossing the bridge as I've seen in other reports, I just can't move once I get past it. No screens as I didn't have fraps running at the time, nor did I save any turns, but it seems pretty repeatable on my end :confused:

    I'll give it one more shot with fraps on and try a face order to move left into the field. Problem there is that I don't think there's valid exit other than the way in.

    *** After trying again, the M8 won't even move onto the bridge... the red arrow is showing up at the approach abutment.

  8. ...especially with trying to get the AI to sensibly use and position troops within a small footprint diagonal building that potentially spans four tiles.

    Point taken... I had not thought about it along those lines. But, neither did I ask of smashing anything into the editor, either... jerk!

  9. now finishing the second large map on the 2.0 editor. time for some feedback:

    1. the overlay really is the killer! it speeds things up significantly. no more need to have a second screen/computer with the map/aerial photo and a grid overlay and to count/calculate locations for elements on the map - this is a SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. a key to flip through multiple overlays would improve useability here.
    2. the draw tool needs a bit of a learning curve (it's a bit itchy on junctions and when doing long stretches it can tend to make roads with lots of edges that are not very playable - so one needs to carefully plan the roads anyway), but in the end it's a good improvement too. simplifies and speeds up a lot of things. its useability should be improved by showing the road/wall it will lay already before pressing the button the second time so you could adjust before pressing the button.
    3. the elevation has also improved - i use mostly the direct method along height lines on the map (thanks to the overlay). this method works nicely now. in the 3D view the gradient chosen by the software sometimes is a bit aggressive - means that you can have steep edges and then relatively flat elevations in between - especially when you place lines rather close to each other.

    Some improvements i feel would help the map maker even more

    • water - is still the main issue due to its elevation issues - still using marsh tiles most of the time and then having to adjust for the elevation on my own - not too much of a headache, since the gullies and small rivers i have in my scenarios usually can be crossed by infantry.
    • fill to border - creating the ground cover is now the most time consuming task (if you have a good aerial picture). usually i draw the outline of a field and then have to fill it with different brush sizes. to automate the fill part would be a big help - but would also require an undo function when you forgot to close the outline completely ;-)
    • configurable tiles arrangement on the tool bar - for a map i usually need only a subset of tiles so it would be nice to have the ground #1 to #3 tabs to be configurable so i could put my preferred tiles in the #1 bar and then could avoid flipping around the # too much.
    • oblique buildings - oblique (45 degree angle on the map) buildings should be available in the same size and variability as horizontal buildings.
    • fire walls - the editor should have an option where it places automatically a firewall without windows/doors when you put two buildings adjacent to each other.

    Excellent points all, winkelried! I was typing a similar post yesterday in Word, as I knew I'd be adding as I went along. You've covered all the points that I was going to address, and more.

    In particular, an Undo function would be sweet, especially after I do something stupid like trying to scroll in the editor as I would in 3D... with left mouse button depressed and flavor objects selected :eek: I think I placed an entire year's production worth of hay rakes, or whatever those things are... I believe there must have been one for every field in NW France! :rolleyes:

    Also, it would be really nice to have smaller buildings oriented on the NW-SE & NE-SW axes. As it is, the larger buildings can fit in all directions, but it’s impossible to line up a small building along a diagonal hedgerow or roadway. This couldn’t be that difficult to add, could it?

    You discussed the water issue in your Maps and Mods post, here (http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=108025&page=6). Marsh and mud seem like an acceptable workaround until such time as water can run downhill.

    The overlay feature is sweet! I gave up on trying to make a realistic map in 1.0 using the map/photo/grid/two computers/scale/dividers/protractor/etc. After about two days, I said "eff dis!" :D

    And, lastly, the interpolation used by the editor gets us close, IMO. I'm using a lot of locked points to get what I'm looking for. Still, often less equals more in terms of locking elevations.

  10. 57

    first "official" wargame was AH's "Bismarck" back in 1971-72, although I had marathon RISK games with friends and family for years before.

    I'd neither seen, nor heard of a wargame (other than Risk or Stratego) until 1969 (I would have been 14 at the time). Then, one night after a CAP meeting, a couple of the guys were playing Midway. Next day I came home from the hobby shop with Blitzkrieg and I've spent far too much money on wargames ever since...

    My name is Rake and I'm an addict... ;)

  11. Winkelfried... Incredibly stunning work. In just the short time I've been working on a map of the area north of Mortain, I gained more than a considerable appreciation for the time involved... even with the new overlay! My sincere congratulations and I look forward to release.

    Your patience with using the available tools must be far greater than mine, especially considering that water must be at only one level. Placing the rivers on your Marsanne map would have driven me back to drink.

    On the other hand, these appear to be larger rivers and the adjacent areas may be significantly flatter than I am dealing with around Mortain. Most of these watercourses appear to be springs or wet weather branches... I'll be reviewing LLF's earlier posts about his Le Mare-Le Carillon for tips on dealing with these drainages... looks like lots of marsh and mud for me unless there just happens to be that one elevation... Nahhh! That would never happen :D

  12. Okay, after dinner and a movie last night and an afternoon of Netflix movies, the SO has departed and I have a few more pics...

    Looking NW toward St.-Barthélemy; it's starting to flush out in the center of the map. Lots of trees, but the relief and use of low bocage means there are some long, keyholed LOS's:

    NWtowardSTBarth_zpseaac680d.jpg

    Langotière:

    LangotieretowardSE_zpse0558d38.jpg

    Lastly, for today, looking south along D5 from just south of St.-Barthélemy. This is roughly the position of Guns 1 & 2 of 3d Platoon, Co. B, 843d TD Battalion. The LOS from this point is roughly 1100 meters. Of course, on the morning of battle it was only 20-30. A lot of tricking out to do in this area still:

    D5LookingSouth_zps7e5e39e7.jpg

  13. Looks great! A bit more hilly than I would have imagined; always makes for nice surprise encounters. The patience it must take to complete such a grand design eludes me; however Im sure Ill download it and steal some sections for my own battles...hehehe

    If you think this is hilly, you should have seen the map when I first got started... I had my scale off by a factor of three. Imagine these elevation differences compressed into one square kilometer :eek:

    Note to self: Don't try to set the scale from the Geoportail scale bar :rolleyes:

  14. Don't worry Rake. I myself am now pretty unhappy with my own St.Barthelemy map and my motivation to continue is slim.

    I would suggest not to rely on modern sources too much.

    Don't worry, I'm not ;). I do have the '47 aerial photos and am trying to rely on those as much as possible for positioning bocage, buildings, etc. A lot has changed in 68 years... but somehow, much still remains the same.

  15. I’ve finally taken a stab at the Editor and begun a map of the St.-Barthélemy. Unfortunately, I noticed too late that Rokko had already made a map of this ville for a campaign (http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=100414). It seems like every time I start thinking about making a realistic-based map, someone has beaten me to the punch. In any event, the map I’ve started is rather large and I’m too far along to stop now… although it’s probably only 5-10% complete.

    The map is roughly centered on St.-Barthélemy. It extends from La Tournerie in the east to just south of La Tête à la Femme. I may, depending on just how long this takes extend it another click to the west toward Juvigny-le-Tertre. It could also stand to grow at least another half Km to the north to cover the area north of Bois du Parc and the activities around 3rd Platoon of B Co. I could also extend it to the south to try and match the north side of the map that JSB was making around L’Abbaye Blanche… although his last post on the subject was over a year ago and he mentioned a crash that cost him a bit of his work.

    Here’s a part of what I’m working on:

    First the topo…

    StBarthelemy_topo_zps7b5fd94f.jpg

    And a top down of the central portion of the map (and the only part that has any detail other than the topo). St.-Barthélemy lies at the top left; most of the buildings a just place holders for the time being. In the center is Langotière and Sablonnière is along the southern edge:

    St-BartsTopDown_zpsaf7fc0e9.jpg

    The southern entrance to Sablonnière…

    CMNormandy2013-01-0515-08-36-63_zps65284a41.jpg

    … GE from today…

    LaSabloniere_GE_zpse8cb8bd2.jpg

    There isn't a lot of photography on Google Earth except right along the main roads... and literally nothing that I can find from Panoramio. So, a lot of the interior is going to be guesswork and my own decisions as to what this place may have looked like in 1945. I do have the aerial photo from 1946, but all that helps with is the placement of buildings, bocage, etc.

    And, finally, a shot of Sablonnière from the road from St.-Barthélemy (looking SE)…

    LaSablonnierefromNW_zps77aa202f.jpg

    Still lots of detail work left to do just on this small farm. If anyone’s interested, I’ll follow with some additional closeups after I take the GF to dinner and a movie...dammit! (I'd put a grin here, but that would exceed the 5 pic limit)

  16. I've spent the last hour searching for a thread that had some info about limiting the range of fire into and through woods. Someone had posted with photos showing ranges through woods using different terrain beneath the trees. I know I just saw this thread in the last day or two, but I haven't had any luck finding it with the search feature.

    I've primarily tried searching by usernames of some of our more prolific mapmakers, but... I can't remember whether this was in the CMBN forum, CMFI or either of the Maps & Mods. I usually bookmark these helpful posts, but I obviously missed this one. :o Meanwhile, I'll go back to work on a map of the area around Saint-Barthélemy.

    Thanks in advance

  17. Looking great!!

    For gripping reading and scenario/map source material, I highly recommend:

    Saving the Breakout: The 30th Division's Heroic Stand at Mortain, August 7-12, 1944 [Hardcover]

    By Alwyn Featherston

    @Broadsword56: I just ordered the book you are referring to.

    I'm about three-quarters of the way through Featherston's book and must say that it's been an excellent read. I've just received Victory at Mortain, by Mark Reardon, and have read that this account is among the most thoroughly researched books on Operation Lüttich; unfortunately, it sounds like it might be a bit of a slog.

    I'm working on a 3x3 km map of the area roughly centered on St.-Barthelemy. So far, it's just the majority of the topo and roads... not too much to show right now. The south edge of this map will be just south (200 meters, or so) of La Tête à la Femme.

    The toughest going so far has been trying to align the major roads. I've rotated the base map to align D5 (from La Tête à la Femme to St.-Barthelemy) in the north-south direction. This puts D977, from La Tournerie, at roughly S60°W which is well off of the cardinal-ordinal axes allowed by the action squares.

    My head tells me that it's far more important to preserve the lengthy, straight lines-of-sight that some of the roads in this area provide rather than to attempt to follow the actual road location by placing multiple, short bends in the road. Still, attempting to straighten the road will mean placing bends in locations that aren't actually there. Otherwise, this road will wind up off the map in someplace it shouldn't. ;) Fortunately, there appear to be places where the topography will let me "hide" these bends... I'm guessing that the topo will have to move somewhat with my final roadway configuration in order to approximate what may, or may not, be visible from certain areas.

    Google Earth isn't real helpful in this area, except right along the major roads. And, a trip to France is out of the question right now as work picks up again on Wednesday :rolleyes: :eek:

    Any mapmakers with suggestions? Thank in advance... Mike

  18. Sorry Rake, but this is wrong. Only the creator of a QB needs the map file.

    Hmmm :confused: I had a problem loading a pbem when I did not have the map in my CMBN directory... it went away after I loaded up the map. I just assumed the issue was as I stated previously. We all know what happens when I ass_u_me :rolleyes:

    Thanks for the clarification. Honestly, I don't play enough QB's as it is; I should have let someone else answer the OP.

  19. Okay, I've been playing with this since my last post. The only way I can get the whole team to stay next to the bocage is to not give a deploy order. Once I do that, the gunner and at least one other team member bug out. Typically, the gunner will move one action spot away while the other guy goes off toward the last action square.

    Right now, I have not given the deploy order and everyone except the gunner is next to the hedge. The issue, other than the mg not being deployed, is that even though the team can see the American squad, LOS appears to be tracked from the HMG and I can't give a target order to the HMG team... LOS is "blocked" about one AS from the hedgerow:

    MGNotSetUpAdjacentToBocage_zps15dc28ae.jpg

    There is obviously room for the gunner to move up in the line next to the bocage, but no matter how many times I ask him to move, he always returns to the place he is in the picture :confused:

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