Oddity with Map

[111thGameBn]

I have been doing some feasibility studies regarding historical scenarios I might try making and I came across something weird when preparing overlays in Google Earth. When I placed the enclose map and lined it up with the towns and other landmarks, I noticed that the scales didn't match up. The land area in question is indicated to be larger on Google than in the map. What did I do wrong?

[Combatintman]

What does it look like in Google Earth - and how big is the discrepancy?  I do this a lot and have never really noticed any marked differences between mapped areas and the GE area.  The only think I can think of is that the map in your picture above is playing fast and loose with the scale, it is after all a sketch map rather than a navigational map ... oh and have you checked that your GE scale is set to miles as per the map scale?

[Combatintman]

Ok - I've just tried to plot this on Google and my analysis is that the map is cr@p.  I've just had a quick scan for better mapping and not really come good - the link below gives you the Right Hand side of the map in 1:50,000:

Unfortunately the adjoining map is not available and the US Army 1:100,000 scale sheet  (Sheet 161) that you need irritatingly is not available.  Personally I think you can just bodge this by boxing off the area using the named towns as the reference and use the map above to get the road layout right - although looking at the dimensions, the schematic and the feature on Google Earth, I'd just map the lump of the mountain where the battles took place which is a big enough task as it is (approx 5.3 x 2.4 which you will probably have to crop to get the thing to load and play).

[111thGameBn]

Wow, thank you. I've been at a total loss when it comes to topo maps for that area. I haven't entirely decided to do this particular battle. I've been focusing on it for now because I could get information on the movements of individual companies. As I mentioned, I'm still in the feasibility stage. I'm looking to do something with the 36th Infantry Division. I volunteer at the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry so I thought it would be an interesting project to do. I've made scenarios using Master Maps before but creating a map from scratch is new to me.

[Combatintman]

4 hours ago, 111thGameBn said:

Wow, thank you. I've been at a total loss when it comes to topo maps for that area. I haven't entirely decided to do this particular battle. I've been focusing on it for now because I could get information on the movements of individual companies. As I mentioned, I'm still in the feasibility stage. I'm looking to do something with the 36th Infantry Division. I volunteer at the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry so I thought it would be an interesting project to do. I've made scenarios using Master Maps before but creating a map from scratch is new to me.

@111thGameBn no worries mate - making scenarios can be an epic process and all of us approach it differently.  The important thing is having a passion for the thing you are creating but that will need to be tempered by what you can achieve in the engine.  My preferences are for historical actions and real terrain but they don't often make great scenarios.  

Having had a cursory look at it - CM doesn't do mountains well and drastic changes in elevation, which will be the case in doing the whole mountain, and will eat up processor power - I wanted to do Kham Duc ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kham_Duc ) for  @37mm's Heaven and Earth Mod for Shock Force 2 which started off as a 4x4km map - I've cropped it twice and it still won't load due I think to the elevation changes and the number of trees.  I would focus on the area of the main action, which hopefully will be no more than 2km x 2km and recreate that.  Be prepared to smooth out some of the contours, so long as the thing looks right you should be alright.

Feel free to PM me if you have any trouble or want any more advice - or continue the discussion here.

[nathangun]

Try this site: https://www.falk.de/stadtplan/venafro?data=eyJncyI6ImJpY3ljbGluZ09zbSIsImdwIjoiNDEuNDI0NTUzLDE0LjA4OTUyOSIsImd6IjoiMTMuMDAiLCJjIjoiNDEuNDgyOTAwLDE0LjA0NDY0MCJ9

EDIT:

and use this site to resize your browser page to get the screenshot you want (remember to to click on custom URL and paste the above link and resize the pixel width & height) and then use a 'snap shot' browser extension like Full Page Screen Capture to get a screenshot of the area you want, and remember with Full Page Screen Capture make sure your bang on in the middle of the browser page.

Edited July 8, 2020 by nathangun

[111thGameBn]

 

4 hours ago, nathangun said:

Try this site: https://www.falk.de/stadtplan/venafro?data=eyJncyI6ImJpY3ljbGluZ09zbSIsImdwIjoiNDEuNDI0NTUzLDE0LjA4OTUyOSIsImd6IjoiMTMuMDAiLCJjIjoiNDEuNDgyOTAwLDE0LjA0NDY0MCJ9

EDIT:

and use this site to resize your browser page to get the screenshot you want (remember to to click on custom URL and paste the above link and resize the pixel width & height) and then use a 'snap shot' browser extension like Full Page Screen Capture to get a screenshot of the area you want, and remember with Full Page Screen Capture make sure your bang on in the middle of the browser page.

Thanks for those links. It's a lot more readable than the scanned maps.

@Combatintman I'm pretty much ready to give up on Italy for the reasons you mentioned. 

[rocketman]

@111thGameBn Don't give up on Italy just yet. Many mountain regions in Italy are arid with few trees which is very much possible to do in CMFI. Just look at the Polish campaign in GL and "Ramparts of the Pallikoi" in the base game.

@Combatintman is the main problem the elevation itself or the sheer number of set elevation points? Would load be less if "unneccessary" elevation points are eliminated?

[Combatintman]

To be honest mate if I knew the answer to that I'd have Kham Duc up and running.  The manual or received knowledge (I can't recall which) does however clearly state that the more 'direct' elevation inputs you make in the editor, the more impact it has on load times/processor power.

[nathangun]

Here are some decent maps of the lower Alpine region in Italy, even tho the war didn't go that far north but they give a good flavor of terrain for map making, you can always change place names.

 

https://dolomiti.webmapp.it/

 

http://brenta.webmapp.it/#6/46.140/10.784