Lucky_Strike

Messing about with trying to create a generic muddy looking landscape for all the WW2 games - I started in RT. Replacing a few textures at a time to try and figure out the mod tags (that's another story 🙄). Anyway I've gotten to a point where I think I can make it work across ALL the WW2 titles for ALL locations and ALL seasons/weather (excepting snow for obvious reasons - though slush might have to be thunk about separately), using one generic set of ground textures to look really muddy - think Spring Awakening in RT, Hürtgen in FB, Anzio bridgeheads in FI ... you know the kind of thing.
So I was just looking at some of the textures in FI, checking how the tags work when I noticed that the generic ground grass (and ground grass yellow) texture tile looked different than in other titles (BN and RT, haven't checked FB). Further investigation shows that the Italian terrain uses a higher perceived resolution of grass tile than the other titles. Grass is one of the worst texture tiles IMHO, it is a complete blurred mess at anything close up, only really resolving into a texture when looking down from quite high up, and it looks really poor next to a nice sharp AFV for example. This may not be an issue for many folks, but I like to play down in the long grass so I find it irksome seeing the ground texture. The reason that grass tiles look so blaah is because each tile is stretch across 50 x 50 m2 that's 2500m2 - to represent the texture correctly would require a tile of 20480 x 20480 pixels - the existing stock tiles are 2048 x 2048 pixels.
Many modders have tried to improve the grass texture over the years but really there's not a lot of point as they all just end up looking either nasty at low level or weirdly out of scale from up above, this is not a reflection on the modders but rather how the game handles the texture. However, it seems that the game engine is not so equal as I thought, and that with a little tweak from on high we could have a higher resolution. I don't notice any particular hit on my GPU/frame rate with the alternative tiles used in FI so I wonder why this hasn't been implemented across the other titles? It's not like we would need to redraw maps, or anything like that, as it's an engine based change affecting how much each tile is stretched or repeated within a specific area of terrain. Plenty of the other tiles occupy much less relative space, that is, they are stretched less and repeated more often. Here's some images from RT and FI for you consideration. The ground grass tiles have been replaced with a different texture that I was considering for a sodden ground grass texture, the doodads are the same in both games (from my Hedgerow Hell mod 😉)
First RT from ground level, as close as possible ...

Nice grass shame about the boat race ...
Now FI, same distance:

That's better - notice how the blurring doesn't jar so much, it all just melds together better IMHO.
Now at camera Level 1 ... first RT ...

It's all kind of floaty ... Now FI ...

Again, IMHO the grass doodads seem more attached to the ground.
This is a matter of taste for sure. There are plenty who will not care, but for those that do, self included, it would be nice if all the games were created equal in this respect.
 

Messing about with trying to create a generic muddy looking landscape for all the WW2 games - I started in RT. Replacing a few textures at a time to try and figure out the mod tags (that's another story 🙄). Anyway I've gotten to a point where I think I can make it work across ALL the WW2 titles for ALL locations and ALL seasons/weather (excepting snow for obvious reasons - though slush might have to be thunk about separately), using one generic set of ground textures to look really muddy - think Spring Awakening in RT, Hürtgen in FB, Anzio bridgeheads in FI ... you know the kind of thing.
So I was just looking at some of the textures in FI, checking how the tags work when I noticed that the generic ground grass (and ground grass yellow) texture tile looked different than in other titles (BN and RT, haven't checked FB). Further investigation shows that the Italian terrain uses a higher perceived resolution of grass tile than the other titles. Grass is one of the worst texture tiles IMHO, it is a complete blurred mess at anything close up, only really resolving into a texture when looking down from quite high up, and it looks really poor next to a nice sharp AFV for example. This may not be an issue for many folks, but I like to play down in the long grass so I find it irksome seeing the ground texture. The reason that grass tiles look so blaah is because each tile is stretch across 50 x 50 m2 that's 2500m2 - to represent the texture correctly would require a tile of 20480 x 20480 pixels - the existing stock tiles are 2048 x 2048 pixels.
Many modders have tried to improve the grass texture over the years but really there's not a lot of point as they all just end up looking either nasty at low level or weirdly out of scale from up above, this is not a reflection on the modders but rather how the game handles the texture. However, it seems that the game engine is not so equal as I thought, and that with a little tweak from on high we could have a higher resolution. I don't notice any particular hit on my GPU/frame rate with the alternative tiles used in FI so I wonder why this hasn't been implemented across the other titles? It's not like we would need to redraw maps, or anything like that, as it's an engine based change affecting how much each tile is stretched or repeated within a specific area of terrain. Plenty of the other tiles occupy much less relative space, that is, they are stretched less and repeated more often. Here's some images from RT and FI for you consideration. The ground grass tiles have been replaced with a different texture that I was considering for a sodden ground grass texture, the doodads are the same in both games (from my Hedgerow Hell mod 😉)
First RT from ground level, as close as possible ...

Nice grass shame about the boat race ...
Now FI, same distance:

That's better - notice how the blurring doesn't jar so much, it all just melds together better IMHO.
Now at camera Level 1 ... first RT ...

It's all kind of floaty ... Now FI ...

Again, IMHO the grass doodads seem more attached to the ground.
This is a matter of taste for sure. There are plenty who will not care, but for those that do, self included, it would be nice if all the games were created equal in this respect.
 

I do.
Great mod/mission, video coming up.

ALL the PaK bunker in CMRT have muzzle flashes that emanate from the concrete ABOVE the embrasure. This happens regardless of how the bunkers are emplaced:

Ah yes, I remember. This is the kind of thing that makes scenarios much more playable IMHO, having a terrain that is natural and reminiscent of something remembered or something seen. Basing scenarios on real topographical information makes a massive difference to this, and having something like your script to do a lot of the heavy lifting is a great advantage.

Yes FB has some very similar terrain to Normandy, much of the mod pack can be ported over with some renaming here and there. RT summer will be quite straightforward and I've experimented with autumn/spring stuff already so have some ideas. Winter is a real tough one. Specifically one of the biggest issues is how snow on tree leaf branches works. It's okay on very bare branches but with the pines the normal solution breaks down since the leaf branches have two faces using the same texture - we end up with snow on the bottom face of leaf branches. There may be a workaround with two textures but so far I haven't had a great deal of success.
Sort of, yes, been looking at some ground textures and have already made a few trees. Need to revisit a lot of the work I was doing previously with trees as so far the results are not quite what I want.
Well, first please yourself for sure, if players moan there are plenty of other choices for them. Terrain reconnaissance is an absolute must, peeping round corners, checking LOS and ground conditions are critical to success for the human player - as you say the AI has an absolute advantage, doesn't need visual clues nor tricks. We shouldn't necessarily be able to tell if ground is too soft to support a 50 ton tank just because it's a certain colour on the map and has this doodad or that.
There's a mass of ReShade stuff on YouTube and elsewhere on the web. A lot is irrelevant to CM 'cos of the age of the engine but you'll be able to learn stuff for your other games. I'm actually going to take the plunge and install a newer version of ReShade in BN then do a video from that, it'll be more relevant. Also it's very easy to uninstall and reinstall, there's no harm me trying it, just a time issue really.

Maybe ... I was thinking either on its side or just as is but chuck in a load of junk to reinforce it. I don't think the height is an issue. They seemed to use bricks and the like to reinforce them. Should be possible to punch holes in the model for busted out windows. I think adding it to something like an immobilised, invisible radio halftrack would give it just enough armour to simulate the bodywork of a tram. Add some rubble walls and bricks around it ... could it be converted into a building? I have no idea how buildings are constructed in game so this is probably a very random thought.

That's turned out really well Nigel, great work, massive improvement.
From the boxcar as well? Really looks good. Can we turn it into a barricade, turn on it on its side and stuff it with debris? We might also be able to use some alpha channels to give it some transparent windows. Though ... I can't tell on the green version, do you already have transparent windows? They both look really cool, nice going.
And there's more! An immobilised kitty. Great stuff. Your PS blur is nevertheless effective. ReShade is nice for that kind of stuff but the depth map in the game is very crude so getting it just right can be very hit and miss, least with PS you've got a lot more control.

LOLOLOLOL 🤣 Bonkers!
Look at the YouTube recommendations this threw up:
There's tons of this stuff on there. Fantastic! We need to merge games now!

LOL Just a bittafun, playing with trains in Anhalter Bahnhof... Turn the sound up for full effect.
 

Extracted from my old notes file when investigating META data of concrete pillbox object. Maybe someone can figure out or confirm further details. I mainly compared META data with object (vertex) data in 3D space. Switching to Blender´s bounding box view mode is of help here.
Concrete shelter bunker German
Middle point shift to Action Spot (object turns/rotates around this node relative to its set object origin)
y = +3
x = -1
"hull" Object   MDR
meta1_0     Overall height ?
meta1_1     X coordinate (Depth)?
meta1_2     Y coordinate (middle/center point)?
meta1_3     Z coordinate (high point/center of mass)?
meta1_4     Overall width ?
meta1_5     Center of Mass X coordinate?
meta1_6     Center of Mass Y coordinate?
meta1_7     Center of Mass Z coordinate?
Bunker Hull
         Width    Depth    Height
         Y           X            Z    
Meta Unkn1    [5.645, 5.560, 3.536]        (bounding box, unknown purpose)
Meta Unkn2    [6.624, 6.568, 4.069]        (bounding box, unknown purpose)
Y/2= 2.822, X/2= 2.780, z/2= 1.768
Y/2= 3.312, X/2= 3.284, z/2= 2.034
 

The same in CMFB. and CMFI

Pillboxes not providing cover vs Arty in certain conditions
 

This is interesting - how long after sbobovyc 39 had published his Blender addon was this. I wasn't really paying too much attention to this at the time.

Or there's some hard-coded stuff that needs looking at ... I've added it to Artkin's giant bug thread lets hope someone notices it eventually 🙄
No I don't think he did. IIRC It was on his todo list along with moving the script to a newer version of Blender. There always seem to be two 'unknown' bits of metadata attached to the mdrs when imported, at least on the models I've looked at to date. I'm loath to get into changing metadata as I know how long it would take to test it all, and the margin for error just exporting is an added unknown. I still haven't even noticed if what I do changes any of the metadata, it's so hard to compare a before and after as is - maybe if there's some way to collate it all into a table it might be easier.
 

Exactly. There´s always a handful that I never have use for. Or very rarely. But I like some their properties to be used for something else, like mentioned marsh to boggy grass (looks). HH is quite ready for CMFB injection as is. Add some tags (cold, autumn, spring) and here you go. 😎 Just dumped my own bits of customized all rubble related textures in there. CMRT should be no different in this regard. So looking forward to when you publish your winter version(s) some day. 🤩
Ah so you´re working on (more) CMRT stuff already. 😎
That´s the idea. Whether many players will like that, I don´t know. Will mainly use stuff like that for my own missions. But map play choices will increase and thus replayability IMO. Also adds requirement to make bits more of a terrain reconnaissance, both for attacking and defending players. The AIP won´t care since it´s always aware of actual terrain under the hood, but can be guided by proper scripting  in (different) AI plans.
Reminds me that there s/b couple of YT videos dealing with Reshade stuff already. Got to look and maybe find something I need knowing. ATM I´d like having DoF FX for some my hurtgen forest stuff I´d just revived.
Edit: Bits of read in Reshade Wiki and other places. So my likely issue re DoF is related to certain depth buffer settings. Made some changes and now I´m on right path I think. Still some fiddling required and that on various maps with different weather settings etc. 🙂
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/ReShade

Thanks for the update Dave, glad you're back up and running.

Ok, RT works now. I wish I knew why, however, what worked was starting it (right click "Open" to bypass the Mac OS security), let it "run" for about 30 minutes with nothing happening, Force Quit it, started it from the menu bar again and it started right up. 🤷‍♂️
So, all good, with some fiddling. I did not test SF2, since I don't currently have it installed. I would expect it to be the same as the rest.
I did reinstall RT as part of this (that wasn't the problem though) and there was no change from the latest Mac OS rigmarole of right clicking, Open, Open anyway, etc.  
Dave

Yes we're all desperate 😣 But praise where it's due. Anything you can deliver, just anything, please ... 😉
Don't know - with the state of our economy this could be gainful employment, pay per click ...
I don't understand how this (the contour generator) wasn't included, and at least a randomising paint brush for terrain features, or the random map maker as @Vergeltungswaffe mentioned. It's kind of a no-brainer IMHO - sorry BF but in this instance I really think this was a corner cut too many. 
Let's hope it's noticed.

LOL, CM health warning: Not tested on animals, just retirees

Cool, thanks will have to look into this.
Well of course I had to go and try. 😡 Didn't work, or at least I couldn't make it work how I expected in RT. I thought it was working at first. I made a [muddy] tagged grass which I thought showed up when I did muddy conditions, I'm certain it worked. But this may have been in summer. I then thought well if that works I'll get the muddy conditions all set up for operation Spring Awakening in March 45. Cold, muddy, raining. I made a quick muddy ground dirt, ground yellow grass, ground dirt road etc. Nada. I think what was happening was all the cold tagged stuff kicked in instead. Made the weather warm, still no dice, which suggests cold is also season/date related. I then added a cold tag [cold muddy] which does work. It might just be 'cos it was late, but I think it sort of works depending on theatre, year and season. I think the automatic tags that are used by BF are kind of half-baked, [muddy] should employ muddy textures for everything at anytime, with alternatives for seasons if needed, cold, spring etc. When I got it to work it looks good, but it means tagging the scenario and doesn't just happen like I'd hoped for. I think this also means QBs can't benefit from it as they do with say snow. Also means muddy vehicles driving around in non-muddy-looking conditions, which is harder for the player to comprehend esp. re bogging risk - if something looks muddy chances are one ain't gonna risk taking one's trucks across it. Need to experiment some more cos I really liked how it looked.
I'll have to take a look at my setup for you, I don't think I'm using SweetFX DoF. I'll find out what it's called and post you some screens to show what I needed to set up to get it working. It's very cool when it works, focus shifts as the viewpoint moves from near objects to far objects.
I know, I should just focus on what I can do, not what BF missed and likely won't fix or improve in CMx2.
Yes, OGL is very old now and I'm not even sure if much of what we'd desire is possible.
The new Enfusion engine that ARMA 4 is going to use looks astonishing. I hope that BF takes notice of it for CMx3.

LOL 💸 < I have no idea, someone please explain what this is.

Je te remercie infiniment mon brave Lucky.. 
I am sure I am not the only interrested about mds files, I know already one guy and this is...
tic tac tic tac...
This begin by @  frenchy and ended by 56, bingo @Frenchy56I am sure when he will read the post or another guys they will try, hope only that whatever guys that find the solution will be kind and share it.
Couple of days and I am home...I will try the link...I will try the link...
JM

I took the plunge and updated to OS X 13.0 (Ventura).
Good news - CM *mostly* works fine, eventually.
Bad news - you'll have to be patient. I had to force quit and restart each CM title several times before they started up. The first couple of times they hung up, and showed "not responding" in the CMD-OPTION-ESC quit box. I don't know why this is.
EXCEPT, so far I can't get RT to start at all. It just hangs up. The first couple of times with a not responding message, and since then it just doesn't ever start up. I'll be doing some investigating to see if I can find any error messages in system logs. 
Good news - Once they did start up, they ran just fine, and continued the PBEM game in FB with no problems.
I'll post here if/when I figure more out. Keep in mind this is just one hour of playing with Ventura, but figured I'd give a heads up so people don't just throw up their hands.

Dave

Great work! 😎
Re water level I´d just include the ground level one and leave the upstream height changes to be dealt with by map makers. It´s the games hardcoded nuisance anyway and I think it can just be dealt with by means of modding. I.e mud or marsh terrain tiles looking like water or similar ideas. Off course it doesn´t have similar properties like real CM water, but that can be dealt with in various ways. And the smaller the stream/river is, the easier the adaption. So something between small creeks (which we do have in game already) and canal size maybe.
Re terrain steps and contour lines. Height differences between adjoining action spots of 5m or more should be avoided.  These create "cliff" (impassable) terrain. So i.e when 10m contour lines are beeing used, make sure you´ve at least 2-3 AS between different height lines so the games auto mesh height adaption can avoid placing 5m ones between them. Placing roads or its far lesser visible brother "foot path" can bits of smooth out things, as well as canceling the "cliff" status. I do this a lot for my own hand drawn maps if I think "what..that 5m intervall is impassable? Ridiculous and unrealistic"...again. 😛 So properly building Ardennes or hurtgen forest like hilly terrain is doable AND playable (even for AIP if doing certain things). Lots of work though, but if one wants sort of terrain like that and not having cliffs placed all over the map, worth the efforts IMO.
Examples:
Editor view. Lots of 5m+ steps between AS´s in here. "Smoothed" with foot paths.

looks like (no cliffs)

and canopy on