mjkerner
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Posts posted by mjkerner
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The contours in the linked Google image on page 2 definitely seem to be mislocated.
If they are correct, the river flows up over a 1m bulge. It seems to me that the contours would be more appropriately located a bit to the right, and up. Look at bulges in the river course. Look at the bulges in the contours. They should match up.
The house on the far right, near the fork in the road? It is probably on the crown of that 21m elevation, not on the backside. There are some more clues in the photo that show the contours are not geo-located correctly with the image. Something to think about before you invest too much time in the map.
Best of luck with the battle! Ken
Ken,
Yes, that is the way Google polygons showed the contours...that is one reason why I re-did it (several times with different contour intervals). In the latest version, I just drew the contours to follow the river banks and marsh edges to reflect reality.
I have several dozens photos of the houses, farms, and buildings around la Fiere, Cauquigny, etc,., etc., from 1944, 1998, and recently, so I'll figure the placement of everything out, eventually.
It is a lot of fun to do this, especially while we're waiting for the game. Once that gets here, I'll be playing scenarios forever, so I don't know when this will all be finished. But as I get scenarios to beta stage, I would very much like you, Broadsword56, JonS and the others interested in this and the mapmaking thread to give them a test, if you'd/they'd like.
Mark
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Hey JonS, thanks for that link! I never played CMx1 games...I was too into IL2 for many years and that game's great graphics unfortunately just put me off to alot of ground games that weren't on par. But all is good with CMx2!
I'm afraid my project is maybe heading in the direction yours did, but what they hell. It makes you want to REALLY get to know a battle at the squad level...how high were the hedgerows along the bank? what are the dimension of that churchyard? Just how many guys were likely in that platoon? etc., etc.
Broadsword, I know there are alot of people interested in this game that feel that way, which makes this crowd, and the game developers, testers, and fans special in my book. Thanks for your comment.
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Hi Fellas, I actually re-did the Google contours tonight at every 2 meters from the top of the hill above La Manoir at 21m down to the 5m mark, then 1 meter down to the marsh (0m). I also have one at 3 meters too.
I familiar with those black anchors, JonS...I got some funky looking terrain in CMSF at times if I locked them in too close in height! But I wanted to be able to see what the area looked like in profile by using the Google elevation graph. Anyhoo, I'll probably settle for between 2-4 meters, depending. Maybe 5m.
I really want to do the area right...one of the guys from my very small hometown (and my best childhood buddy's uncle) was a veteran of Sicily and Italy, but was one of the 35 or so 82nd AB troopers who landed and drowned in the marsh north of La Fiere the night of June 5-6. He was in the 505th. It's maybe a little strange or even morbid to some people, but it's sort of in his honor. Of the three guys killed in the war from my hometown (population @1000 in 1944), two were paratroopers. The other one was in the 11th AB, killed near Manila.
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Oh man, Normal Dude...you posted as I was posting. Oh well, I'll be using mine just the same. I won't compete with you, though...that'll be like going against Tyson in the ring! I'd be curious to compare the two someday, just to see how we interpreted the info. I am planning on doing a campaign for the 1st Batt, 505th over that area.
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With that raised road, we could make a map for the famous La Fiere Causeway battle fought by the 101st Airborne just after D-Day.
Broadsword, that's what I've been working on. Although there are no doubt a few scenarios in the game that cover some of these, I want to cover June 6-June 11 actions for the Ste Mere Eglise, La Manoir-the Causeway-Cauquigny-Amfreville, and Chef du Pont. I'll have to fudge until we get French armor, and wait until the first module to get Fallschirmjaeger for the actions around Ste Marie du Mont.
Not alot of change, but of course fewer buildings back then. I have a whole series of photos from Ste Mere Eglise west to Ste Marie du Mont to Bricquebec from that French photo site. I've built the causeway and environs in CMSF--looks goofy with desert buildings and terrain...can't wait to
get my hands on the game.
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Hey MikeyD, so can my soldiers drown? Or will they be unable to enter water set too deep? In CMSF, you can't enter marsh hexes, IIRC. Same for CMBN marshes?
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They (semi)recently refined how river tiles were done. Now if you paint a line of water without elevation points it'll lower the terrain beneath it for nice rounded banks. Actually banks change depending on the terrain type - marsh will be a gentler slope, mud have more fluid contours, etc. Also ford tiles are automatically shallow with a gravel bed for wading across. Of course if you drop in your own elevation points you can change the depth of the water and steepness of the banks. You can have near-vertical cliffs if you want.
Sunken roads. Well, roads do self-contour but they aren't automatically sunk. If you sink them yourself with elevation points the road surface will automatically flatten and the sides will steepen. You can go the other way too, a raised road surface that's flat on top.
Execellent...better than I hoped!
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Now that's going to annoy me. :mad: I remember a cd and a pre-CM type game, with a pseudo-3D layout, ordering individual squads followed by combat simulation. I thought I remembered it being in WWII (Normandy or some-such). It was a Mac disc. Don't suppose it's lying around somewhere so I can get an answer since we're talking about 2000 or earlier.
CMBO was such a major step up it was like night and day. Getting old has some serious side-effects but I can't remember what they are.
Sounds like John Tiller's West Front/East Front/Rising Sun games, by HPS.
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Water Tiles: Do these have a minimal bank?...in other words, when these meet land tiles, will there be a small natural bank if the scenario/map makers don't "dig" a lake/river/pond/stream bed?
Sunken roads...do we make 'em, or do they come, like many people I know, especially those waiting for the Game/Demo, slightly depressed? I didn't see "sunken road" in the manual's editor selection screen, so I asume we make 'em, but I seem to recall a long-ago thread where BFC said there was a slight depression along the side of cetain road tiles.
Thanks.
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stikkypixie,
Man, whatever the backstory to your handle is, it's gotta be freaky.:eek:
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Try it in a battle and see how easy it is
Keep all their immediate Section and Platoon HQs as close as possible and out of the LOS of the enemy.Steve
I will, as soon as you release the Demo or the Game.
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@Broadsword...no doubt there is, it took me aloooong time to get good at Paint Shop, so I probably missed that. Thanks.
@the Vulture...you bet!
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I love accurate and detailed visuals like that!
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Broadsword, now I'm confused...a normal occurence, btw.
"To locate any point, just match the coordinates of a particular grid square to the corresponding x/y coordinates of a map tile in the CMBN editor."
But how can I do that if I don't know the coordinates of my Paintshop grid map? I can number them manually across and down, which I will do if necessary, but that's still a pain if I have to type text in 100 or more squares. There must be an easier way...
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Dear BFC:
I was browsing the internet and ended up knowing about CB:BN. THUS I HAVE NEVER VISITED THIS SITE BEFORE. I'm new to this kind of game, and I'm not really sure I'll buy it. Certanly a demo could help me to evaluate the product and decide for a future purchase.
...but my (new--no wait, this is my first, yeah, that's right, my first) guess is Demo next Monday, Game Tuesday.
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I had the same problem as Ian, but I fiddled all day yesterday and finally figured it out. You'd think Google with all its cash and staff could come up with a more intuitive program but still, once its working, the polygon/elevation system is pretty cool. I now have my topo, gridded map in 8m x 8m squares ready for the map editor.
My thanks to Broadsword56, Ian, JonS and DaveyJJfor your help and inspiration.
P.S. Does anyone know if there is any way to auto-number the squares in Paintshop Pro? Not a big deal--I'l just number down one side and letter across the top, and do the old SL/ASL routine.
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One thing that concerns me (I know, it's just a beta!) is the number of immobilized Shermans. I realize that it's raining and they're on dirt roads, but it sure doesn't look like the kind of terrain that would tend to bog a tracked vehicle so easily. The ditches on the sides of the road don't seem all that deep, and the map is generally pretty level.
Oh, so that's why the Ami are not moving!
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Another Live 365 listener. There are several WWII -themed shows, and I mostly listen to OTR. Jack Benny and Fred Allen shows are my favorites.
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I used to listen to circa 1940's "radio" when on a flight to and from missions in IL2 Sturmovik. It played softly in the background, so you still heard the action. I assume we can mod CMBN--say, replace the bird .wavs?
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Bump. More action.
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Yes, yes! Please!
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Thank you very much, Broadsword. That helps alot.
Merci, DaveyJJ!
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@Broadsword56, practising for CMBN, I tried your method last night in CMSF on the area around La Fiere bridge--Cauquigny. I used multiples of 8--so the Google map I saved was 800 meters by 1600 meters and I set the image to 800 pixels by 1600 pixels because at 1:8 ratio which you used the image was just too small. I'm new to actually working with Google maps, so the grid adjustment system took me a bit of trial and error. I finally ended up where at 1:1 in Paintshop Pro, I had 16 x 16 meter squares, but zoomed to 2:1 they are 8 x 8. Now I have to start working with the polygon system.
@ JonS, looking forward to seeing and gaming on your map.
By the way, I can't get maps from that French website. I tried the translator, but still no joy. I'm going back in to try again, but any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks to both of you for all the information on your mapmaking procedures!
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My granddad was in the Royal Artillery, went through a lot, but I never heard him him say any worse than bugger. He passed through New York on his way back from the pacific and made comment on the foul language the dockers used! Now what he said around me and what he used with his mates, was I'm sure a different case.
Good anecdote, LuckyDog. In my Dad's defense, I should note that he never knowingly said anything worse than "damn" in front of us kids, and rarely even that. But when we listened through the upstairs heat register to him and his friends talking in other parts of the house when they thought the kids weren't around--different story!
Keep all their immediate Section and Platoon HQs as close as possible and out of the LOS of the enemy.
A few words from your sponsor
in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy
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I''m with freeemen...this is the holy grail for WWII squad level simulation as far as I'm concerned. After nearly a 40 wait....
Thanks for the message, Steve. Severe kudos to you and the whole Battlefront family and testers.