rocketman

Had a look at it and I think it needs new "mini" files to look good from high up. When I find time I will adapt Kieme's ground texture for plowed fields to FB.

I've been testing the bogging probability of different vehicles by driving them Fast for 1000 meters over clear terrain (grass) in damp condition, with regular crews. I also tried to correlate it with ground pressure data - it worked well for US-made vehicles for the most part, where I have data from Hunnicutt, but the rest is all over the place. I don't have good ground pressure data for British, Soviet and German tracked vehicles and what I find on the web is often contradictory/unreliable.
Bogging chance
Off-road rating
Vehicles
< 4%
5
Marder I
4% - 6%
5
Marder IIIM, SdKfz 135/1, FlakPz 38(t)
SU-76M
Universal Carrier, Bren Carrier, Loyd, Jeep
Humber III LRC
6% - 9%
4
Panther, Tiger, King Tiger, Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger, Nashorn
Flammpanzer B-2(f), Marder II, Grille, Wespe, Hummel,
Wirbelwind
T-34-76, IS-1, IS-2, SU-85, SU-100, SU-122
M7B1 HMC/Priest, Crusader III AA, Stuart III
Stuart III Recce, Stuart Kangaroo, Priest Kangaroo
German AA halftracks, PSW 231, 233
2.5ton 6x6 Deuce, Studebaker US6
BA-64
9% - 11%
3
Pz IIL, Gw. 39H(f), Ostwind, Mobelwagen
T-34-85, ISU-122, SU-152, ISU-152
M8 HMC, M18 Hellcat, M12 GMC
Sherman V (M4A4), Sherman VC Firefly, Cromwell, Challenger, Stuart V, Sexton
US-made halftracks (incl. mortar, AA, Lend-Lease, GMC)
11% - 13%
3
Pz III, Pz IV, R-35, Hetzer, JPz IV
M4/M4A1/M4A2/M4A3 Sherman, M4A3(75)W, M4A1(76)W, M4(105), M5A1 Stuart/Stuart VI, M10 GMC/Wolverine/Achilles,
Sherman IC Firefly, Churchill
M8 Greyhound, M20 Armd Car
13% - 15%
2-3
JPz IV/70(V) JPz IV/70(A), Valentine
M4A2(76)W, M4A3(76)W
Daimler Dingo, Daimler Mk II, Humber IV, Staghound, White Scout Car, GAZ 67
> 15%
2
Elefant*
PSW 222, 223
GAZ MM
 
*Elefant has off-road rating 3 but performed very poorly in tests.

Fully tracked vehicles only. Blue = American, Green = Commonwealth (can be US made), Red = Soviet (incl. some British and US made), Grey = German

IIRC from the Slitherine end of year stream extravaganza; the plan is BN to be next to Steam. No release date though yet.

Maybe this has been the case all this time, but I have never noticed; I can see (yellow signs) which of my mines that my oppo has marked (PBEM). I thought all signs stayed red to preserve fog of war. Doesn't seem right to me. This was observed in FI.

Maybe this has been the case all this time, but I have never noticed; I can see (yellow signs) which of my mines that my oppo has marked (PBEM). I thought all signs stayed red to preserve fog of war. Doesn't seem right to me. This was observed in FI.

Bonez!  Or da puppeh getzitt! 

It has been a long time in the making, and was previously known as the project "Man of the Our", but is now "Rittersprung H2H".
Scenario description:
After being severely decimated in the battle for the Hürtgen Forest, the 28th Infantry Division was sent to the rear to rest and refit. The 112th Infantry Regiment got located in the tri-country area of Lieler-Ouren-Lützkampen, spanning Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium – a six mile stretch of land on both sides of the Our river where the Siegfried Line had its westernmost fortifications, now occupied by the Allies. The 28th ID had just about recovered 100 % strength, with replacement units getting basic combat training, when the Germans launched their massive attack in the Ardennes on december 16th 1944. The crossing of the Our at Ouren would be an important part in the German advance and it was upon the 112th IR of the 28th ID to protect it as long as possible.
It is 10:30 on Dec 17th and the 112th IR was engaged in combat with German forces on the 16th and throughout the night. The morning fog has lifted but it is still misty from the cold and the wet ground. Visibility is reasonable but it is hard to make out units in the mist. Units in Lützkampen and Harspelt were swept aside on the 16th. Sevenig town was also attacked by a green force of Volksgrenadiers but was able to hold on. The Volksgrenadiers suffered a lot of casualties and many prisoners were taken. They are now presumed to be hiding in the woods west of Sevenig.
Semi-historical scenario which is aiming to capture a “what-if” combat based on units and turn of events that happened in the opening days of the Ardennes offensive.



 
It can be downloaded here: http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/uncategorized/rittersprung-h2h/
Enjoy, and all feedback is very welcome.

Wee update.
Overview of (slow) progress from first post. Spent time creating village of Jasienica. Which is the long village bottom centre of the image below.

Comparison with the map I'm working from (its a Russian 1:50 000 but also x-referencing with Polish 1:25 000 just contour inof and other stuff was easier to work with using Russian map as basis for overlay). I'm also checking in with Google earth but this place has changed a lot since 1944. It also shows the compromises I've made in creating the map within the game engine constraints. Few wee techniques used though. 'Dirt lot' tiles make good hard surface dirt roads you can run at any angle. With short grass at the edges it blends in well. Tad wider than required but means easier for player to plot movement orders. As I said I tend to avoid zig-zag roads from personal preference and aim more for the 'feel' of the road/track etc.

View of Jasienica - looking NW.

View of Jasienica - looking west along the main drag of the village.

Looking SE towards the village from the northernmost railtrack.

Overview of the map looking NE towards Tluszcz.

Ground level view from NW corner of the mpa at the railtrack looking south.

Oh and I intend to place lots of craters and then go back over and damage everything....

Houses are 'baked in' to maps. If a map had been put together early in the Beta process subsequent changes to the building code won't fix it. You've got to go in to the map, delete the offending building, then replace it with another building. This caused us endless headaches in CMFI, I recall. If you've got a QB folder with more that 700 maps its difficult to guarantee every single one of the buildings on the maps will be problem-free.

I have never seen this before, but on this QB map, which was used for a scenario I previewed, several Level 1 buildings lack walls. And sometimes if viewed from different directions some walls appear and new ones disappear.

What is even more strange is that if you try to move infantry into the building you get the "Roof" option which is never shown for Level 1 buildings. But you can use it and....

...your infantry appears in the new "roof" level, floating in mid air. I haven't tried if they can fire from this position, but this is bad enough already.

I tried the scenario from both sides, previewed the map in the editor and even changed the year of the battle to see if buildings differ from year to year, but it all looked the same.

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0

That's really neat. I wish the same could be done not only for tracers but also for the sounds of mortars firing ... displace the seeming origin by a 100 metres or so in a random direction to prevent the other player from pinpointing the location. Come to think of it, the same would be nice for snipers and even guns firing

Dropbox share invite sent.

I found something with regards to smoothing terrain in the editor. This might be common knowledge to experienced map makers, but here goes...
 
Sometimes when there is a steep rise in elevation over a short distance, the editor produces not very real life looking "peaks" that really break immersion for me.

 
However, if you cover the area in mud, it smooths the entire area out. How about that!
 

 
I haven't tried all types of terrain features to see if it has the same effect. I can do tests if this isn't already common knowledge.

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0
 

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0
 

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0

I have made a mod for ploughed fields in snowy conditions that produces much less annoying moiré patterns. The ploughed fields ground texture is also used for some of the crop fields. Here is an overview what it looks like under sunny conditions (click and enhance to expand for a closer view):

The mod is the same for Final Blitzkrieg and Red Thunder but I made seperate folders for convenience. Note that there is a seperate one for Fortress Italy. All three can be found here for now, and maybe @Bootie can add them to CMMODS later on.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1cyq3wnr79ym0mb/AACTEp1VWL0H-3zUaiCzSxC1a?dl=0