JM´s Corner

[JM Stuff]

New test 

 

Result not with a normal map but with some relief !!

 

Personly I found this really really nice !

Ps I don t test it with shader and all specials effects only some reliefs ! bluffing !

Thank you very much for this advice !

 

JM

Edited September 24, 2021 by JM Stuff

[Erwin]

BTW:  I looked thru all my mod folders and did not see (or recall) any road mod by Mord.  You could ask him as I think he still lurks around here.  

[slippy]

JM 

To be honest, I can't remember exactly how it was implemented. I did have a go myself, but with limited knowledge of graphics software it's not something that stuck in my mind mate, old age and all that .

Yes your results look very good. Some good results were obtained n Il2, especially on grass tiles, as it gave it a good 3d relief.

 

I'll see if I can find the info and post it up over the weekend.

Well done JM, great work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JM Stuff]

18 minutes ago, Erwin said:

BTW:  I looked thru all my mod folders and did not see (or recall) any road mod by Mord.  You could ask him as I think he still lurks around here.  

Thank you Tony don t worry probably I missing @Mord mods   no joke was probably somebody els e, but no joke missing new version of CMBN portraits Mord hola are you there ?!

[JM Stuff]

19 minutes ago, slippy said:

JM 

To be honest, I can't remember exactly how it was implemented. I did have a go myself, but with limited knowledge of graphics software it's not something that stuck in my mind mate, old age and all that .

Yes your results look very good. Some good results were obtained n Il2, especially on grass tiles, as it gave it a good 3d relief.

 

I'll see if I can find the info and post it up over the weekend.

Well done JM, great work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big thanks to you to push me to created a relief effect, I have probably to manage a little more cos this could be too strong or too deep and can created distortion when we want to use some shadders ??!

I will check on different tiles also cobllestone !

 

JM

[benpark]

Road joins are the ultimate horror.

Those look good in the linear textures. You could grab the "trolley tracks" I did from RTFR as a guide for line-ups. That's the only one I can think of from the road textures where you would have a set of linear information to follow.

Photoshop Guides will help line stuff up a bit, otherwise.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Maybe soften or blur the track marks a bit more?

[Erwin]

I think the tracks look good as is.  But no harm in blurring/softening em so we can compare (or have 2 versions).

[JM Stuff]

2 hours ago, benpark said:

Road joins are the ultimate horror.

Those look good in the linear textures. You could grab the "trolley tracks" I did from RTFR as a guide for line-ups. That's the only one I can think of from the road textures where you would have a set of linear information to follow.

Photoshop Guides will help line stuff up a bit, otherwise.

 

1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Maybe soften or blur the track marks a bit more?

Thank you guys to yours advices, I will check in details what I can do !! 

[JM Stuff]

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

I think the tracks look good as is.  But no harm in blurring/softening em so we can compare (or have 2 versions).

Yes I will try to make them more soft !

 

 

Just to compare the green tile in the front is black tile !

Reduce the relief and push the  blur !

Edited September 24, 2021 by JM Stuff

[JM Stuff]

3 hours ago, benpark said:

Road joins are the ultimate horror.

Those look good in the linear textures. You could grab the "trolley tracks" I did from RTFR as a guide for line-ups. That's the only one I can think of from the road textures where you would have a set of linear information to follow.

Photoshop Guides will help line stuff up a bit, otherwise.

I got it Ben thanks !

[Lucky_Strike]

14 hours ago, JM Stuff said:

The circle in color give me advise when this is another kind of road crossing, corner or only straight...this is my way to work to don t be lost myself in the street !

Great idea. These are like registration marks used in printing, very clever. Thanks for explaining JM.

12 hours ago, JM Stuff said:

What a mess !!

The dark blue tile is almost finish and this was already a chalenge, but the little path left and right cannot be used pity !

Yes I recall there's only the one tile for this. I tried to make a track with grass growing in the middle. Fine in a straight line but when you get to a corner it all goes Pete Tong.

One of the game's brick walls...

12 hours ago, JM Stuff said:

I dont have perfect graphic card but I am happy with the result 
remains to be seen if these bmp files will really help in graphics given their weight ?? !!

I dont know, this is my opinion ???

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the normal maps are only employed when the game runs in regular mode, not when the movie mode is employed. I also don't think they have a very high overhead as they are rendered on the fly by the GPU, most modern cards (by the game's standards anything from about the last 7 years or so) can handle normal maps with ease. There are many textures in game that don't have normal maps, much of the terrain for instance. I think BF took a decision not to add them where it was felt they wouldn't really be noticed that much. I have wondered about adding them for tree trunks etc, but it's a little more complex as U think they might need to be added to the 3D model .. don't know will have to add it to the list of things to try 

[JM Stuff]

 

Ok guys because a picture or videos are better as a  text let me show you these ones !

 

 

 

Overview from my dirty roads in normal view !

 

Overview of the same video in movie view !

 

Sorry in advance to the bad way to created it, I am not an expert to make some movie of games !

 

I want only to show you the reworking tiles, these ones are more soft and more blurry as the first try and I think is acceptable to the eyes, in case, I can provide a softly version with not so much dirt !

I think this can give a little touch of fun, and the files used are without normal map, only a relief and a touch of blur, and are not heavier as far as the original file !

Waiting to yours advices critics recommadations...hope this will be helpfull !

 

JM

[slippy]

Hi JM

Heres some info i found on BumpH files from Il-2 

https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,15200.msg169577.html#msg169577

I am not sure if CM actually supports BumpH files at all, as i remember in Il-2 you would have the original file and its associated BumpH file, which gave it the 3D appearance.

 

Videos looking good though mate

[JM Stuff]

28 minutes ago, slippy said:

Hi JM

Heres some info i found on BumpH files from Il-2 

https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,15200.msg169577.html#msg169577

I am not sure if CM actually supports BumpH files at all, as i remember in Il-2 you would have the original file and its associated BumpH file, which gave it the 3D appearance.

 

Videos looking good though mate

One thing important is 

" first to darken the texture before creating the BumpH file" 

thanks to these precious infos, of this link, I will try to do "something similar" for my own ones hope like you said that CM will accept it ?!

 

Thanks to you comments !

 

JM

Edited September 25, 2021 by JM Stuff

[Warts 'n' all]

You've obviously put a lot of work into this. But, two things spring immediately to mind.

1. The track markings are too "black". They look like the tanks have driven through oil over and over again. Using different shades of brown would look more realistic.

2. Some kind of mod tag or variation similar to Falaise's June, July, August method might be handy. A road that has seen no previous tank traffic is not going to look the same that one that has seen weeks of use.

[Erwin]

I very much like where you are going with the tracks.  Most of the time one looks at the map from level 3.   And from that level they tracks look very good.

The road itself seems a bit wide for a small road or "trail".  Am wondering what the tracks would look like on a narrower path.

 

[JM Stuff]

Thanks guys for yours welcome comments !

At the beginning I did not think to making a mod accessible for all, but now that I see this idea is good welcome,  I do it now for the community, and that is why I asked you all, for comments, and yours opinions, thank you in advance I read them carefully!

 

1 hour ago, Warts 'n' all said:

You've obviously put a lot of work into this. But, two things spring immediately to mind.

1. The track markings are too "black". They look like the tanks have driven through oil over and over again. Using different shades of brown would look more realistic.

is true that I also find the tracks too black now, my intention was to reserve a darker part more or less in the middle of the road making think of the passage of a convoy, the sides being reserved for the tactical situations.

Giving another color to the traces would be a huge job for me, because the whole trace is not represented but only a form of imprint that I delete some part left and right, what I can do is simply soften it.
In addition I would have liked to add some traces of wheeled vehicles I will see what I can do.

Now I can also reduce the effects of dirt but again my intention was to give an impression and a moment to use the corner like hidding position with some shoots...letting also vehicles loosing some stains of oil...(too much imagination...) 

I have to reduce and make a choice !

1 hour ago, Warts 'n' all said:

2. Some kind of mod tag or variation similar to Falaise's June, July, August method might be handy. A road that has seen no previous tank traffic is not going to look the same that one that has seen weeks of use.

Very good idea to use a modtag for certain situation, I will think about the question, I like this idea a lot, and it will give the choice to the players, according to their situations and saisons.

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

I very much like where you are going with the tracks.  Most of the time one looks at the map from level 3.   And from that level they tracks look very good.

Thank you, I take good note of it and will do my best.

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

The road itself seems a bit wide for a small road or "trail".  Am wondering what the tracks would look like on a narrower path.

 

Regarding the dimensions of the tanks tracks, I took a model on the Sherman, so everything is based on it, also the curves difficults to to realise, for the moment, I think the road is too narrow to allow vehicles to circulate in opposite directions, but as I say, I took a model on the American tank, which just falls in his own footsteps, and this is nice to see when he move on, this is why also why the street is so dark from traces cos it was difficult to stick it always on the same traces...the German player will have probably larger gaps between the tracks, so I have to make a choice, or make two sets an allied,one axis, for a single choice of tank of course, but I would like include wheeled vehicles or minum halftrack.

The only tiles available for a mod with tanks tracks are the roads, and nothing else, I don t have any others possibilities, and this is already a good thing, but not sufficient.

I made already some tests of the others  terrains but one tile only is by categorie of terrains availaible, agains, 9 tiles for the roads tiles, exemple of 9 for the paved road 1, 9 paved road 2 9 paved road 3...and the size is totaly different.

It’s a pity I would like too liked to see engulf and see the tracks of the tanks in small winding paths.

Perhaps the famous CM3 will give us more possibilities Sigh !!??

 

Thanks for now 

 

JM 
 

[Erwin]

11 hours ago, JM Stuff said:

my intention was to reserve a darker part more or less in the middle of the road making think of the passage of a convoy, the sides being reserved for the tactical situations.

Good idea...

11 hours ago, JM Stuff said:

the German player will have probably larger gaps between the tracks, so I have to make a choice, or make two sets an allied,one axis, for a single choice of tank of course, but I would like include wheeled vehicles or minum halftrack.

I really do not think people will notice or worry about this detail after the first few seconds of playing a game.   Maybe there are a few such detail-oriented folks, but if one is actually playing the game, tactical issues dominate, not spending time "rivet counting".

Am surprised that you think the road is too narrow.  A large road would be paved so one wouldn't have that much muddy tracks.  Most country roads back then would have been narrow.  Your mod seems best used for single track roads which may be gravel or muddy.  You may want to try your mod on a single track road to see the effect.

[Warts 'n' all]

7 minutes ago, Erwin said:

A large road would be paved so one wouldn't have that much muddy tracks. 

You're wrong I'm afraid. Firstly you're forgetting that vehicles having gone off road and then returned to a "large" road would deposit mud on it depending on the weather conditions. And secondly, paved roads in Normandy hadn't been particularly well maintained during the depression and German occupation, and were fairly quickly ground to dust after the D-day landings. Add, allied bombing and arty fire and you soon got roads looking like this... 

[Warts 'n' all]

... or this. And there are plenty more examples where that came from.

 

[Erwin]

Look how narrow they are.  JM's roads look like major roads with two+ lanes.  Those would be better maintained than the narrow country roads and lanes most often encountered in CM games.  With narrow roads, I would agree with you re the poor condition.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

16 minutes ago, Erwin said:

JM's roads look like major roads with two+ lanes.

That's because of the tile spacing.....If you want bocage on either side of the road that's as tight as it can be (hedge tiles overwrite road tiles and vice versa as anyone familar with the editor would know).

However it's quite easy to make the sort of urban scenes in those images, again within the limitations of the tiles.....TBH countless map-makers have done so.

PS - IMHO making hillside villages is where CM falls on its face somewhat.....It's a nightmare task!   

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Lucky_Strike]

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

Look how narrow they are.  JM's roads look like major roads with two+ lanes.  Those would be better maintained than the narrow country roads and lanes most often encountered in CM games.  With narrow roads, I would agree with you re the poor condition.

I'm with @Warts 'n' all on this one. The roads in JMs videos are about two Sherman's wide which is what both pictured town roads appear to be, the first is probably a bit wider still.

I don't think that we should see paved roads very often in Normandy, cobbled town and village streets for sure, but 30-odd tons of AFV is going to wreak havoc with your cobbles. I much prefer to see hard dirt roads or something like what JM has produced.

I have toyed around with a compacted chalky surface for roads but I think these are only good for very dry conditions. What I think would be good are mod tagged roads that can be employed with different atmospheric conditions - dusty for hot weather, muddy for wet, with puddles for raining ... this should be possible with the current texture system. We could also then deploy weather shaders to change the overall tone of the landscape to reflect the colour of the weather - darken greens and browns for wet weather etc, etc. I don't know if shaders can be tagged, not tried ... The game does seem to do this to a certain extent, but roads always seem to remain too light in damp or wet conditions. It's quite a bit of work though, another project in itself.

[Falaise]

@JM Stuff has already been in the Red Army !!!!

I am not convinced of this mod for CM Normandie or possibly for certain scenarios or campaigns concerning Goodwwod Cobra or the Falaise pocket
on the other hand it is in my opinion essential for muddy roads CM Final Blitzkrieg with tank imprint for the autumn and winter fights
I was interested to know what the roads of Normandy looked like in 1944
The majority of the dual-track roads were tarred and the original color shade in the game is pretty much the real thing, slightly pink (I even looked at an abandoned stretch of road from the 1950s to get the color)

although I think that like today there was a many shade of color
no paved road except in big cities and still not everywhere, especially in squares
the streets of towns and villages were generally tarrred
the countryside and the secondary roads were covered with MacAdam, a mixture of limestone and white lime

I tried a rainy road
but that need to load the mod according to the scenario or to make a rain tag
what was missing are the famous trackprints
if  @JM Stuff can make relief imprints in the mud then and in particular for CMFB it will become essential