Zig Zag Roads

[Hessian deserter]

Up untill now i have been able to tolerate the non-curved zig-zag road patterns but I just got to CMCW mission number 6" Evil be to him". The main road along with other roads and terrain features are covered with these unrealistic Zig,zags and squares. The main road that runs the entire distance of the map is so hidiously jagged,that I just cannot take this battle seriously.

I hope someday we will have curved roads in CMx3? It is my only complaint of this otherwise superlative sim.

[Rokko]

So true!!! 4 different angles is simply not enough.

As a mapmaker trying to recreate a real landscape you have to make compromises on dimensional correctness, truthful LOS and good looking roads/fences/bocage.

Meaning, if you stay completely faithful to the map size and the way roads go, you will get a very akward look and lose much of the real LOS (given the roads have bocage on both sides).

If you settle for straight roads and faithful LOS, you will completely lose dimensional correctnes, the map will turn up vastly over- oder undersized in some parts. An example for this is Breaking the Panzers.

Very difficult to balance those 3.

I wondered why there was no Villers-Bocage map with the CW module, but when you look at it in Google Earth you will understand why.

[Pak40]

The only way to have curved roads is to switch from a tile based mapping system to a vector based system that allows true arcs. I was hoping that BFC would implement a vector based system for CMx2 engine but obviously that didn't happen.

Most map designers have learned to rotate their maps slightly to align the majority of the roads with the NSEW axis. Still, in a European world with medieval towns there are going to be some roads that wont be accurate.

[Broadsword56]

Also, if you skew the alignment of your map to a NSEW axis, you'll get the ability to have some straight roads that would be fine for a standalone, one-off historical battle map or a fictional battle map.

But...

Beware! If you skew the alignment, you also lose the ability to line up your map precisely on Google Earth and use it as one section of a larger area -- say for a 4 km x 4 km master map, a campaign, or to fit it into a grid scheme so you can easily use the GE Path tool to draw your grid automatically, and then use the new HTML automatic mapping tool to draw your battle maps.

True, you could make your skewed map first, and then try to match all your neighboring maps to that same skewed alignment, and then manually draw a grid over all that...but you would have to try and match that alignment by hand. It's much easier to set your grid to the coordinates of a known point in real space (like the corner of a latitude-longitude box), and use that as the starting point for your mapping grid.

Bottom line -- Think carefuly first about what's more important to you and the gameplay on your map: dead-straight roads that look pretty but may seriously distort the proportions of your battlefield, or accurate proportions and scale but unrealistically zig-zaggy roads. Personally, I take the zig-zags and just live with them. Country roads are rarely straight anyway. But if your historical battle featured a railroad or a major highway and it was important that units were able to shoot along its length, for example, then it's a tougher call.

[JonS]

I believe the map for Be Evil is rotated a bit to get "the main road that runs the entire distance of the map" running dead straight, since it has no jaggys at all.

Rokko, do you really think that is THE reason why there's no VB scen? Actually, given some of the other maps, do you really even think it A reason?

[Brindlewolf]

VB.Waste of time.Roll up with your couple of Tigers and PIVs-Turkey shoot-end of scenario-Yawn.There was one in CMBO.Theres something similar in the Engel Campaign though,quite a fun scenario.The turkey shoot is only part of it-revenge for the scenario before

[Hessian deserter]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think i will move on to CW mission #7......

[Hessian deserter]

I like mission #7's map. Of course it is flat compared to the hilly map in battle #6.

[Rokko]

JonS,

I don't know, after all I'm not involved in the development process

But I've looked at it and you wouldn't be able do the map without relying heavily on zigzag roads with bocage on both sides, so some weird LOS instances would occour (I mean the main road from Caen to VB).

I think a 13 June scenario wouldn't work very well there.