kohlenklau CMFI North Afrika QB map-mod project

[kohlenklau]

Please PM if you can join me in "translating" current CMFI QB maps to a North Afrika flavour....!

I am developing a folder of non-modtagged mods you plug into your z during this process. You open a QB map and change stuff according to a certain process.

The PROCESS: Tweaking elevations. Going to only certain tree and bush types. Only certain buildings. Adding certain stuff. Removing certain flavor objects.

DOUBLE CHECK THE AI plans to make sure they make sense. 

Save after rename under a new QB map filename and description. These translated maps go into your CMFI QB folder.

Fire up the QB game portal and use THESE maps to have a QB against the AI or your PBEM buddy. 

The PBEM buddy would have to have the same mod folder to see what you see...

 

[Vacillator]

41 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

The PBEM buddy would have to have the same mod folder to see what you see...

Interesting, in a Final Blitzkrieg PBEM I currently have rain while my oppo is covered with snow.  With the current weather in the UK being so rubbish, I might try to change the game to bright sunshine .

[kohlenklau]

I have 3 maps done already! But I want to playtest them first. Honestly, many folks who step up to playtest, well, they provide no feedback. 

 

[kohlenklau]

some color photos of North African battlefields

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/matthew-arnold-topography-is-fate-north-african-battlefields-of-world-war-ii

[Erwin]

13 hours ago, kohlenklau said:

I have 3 maps done already! But I want to playtest them first. Honestly, many folks who step up to playtest, well, they provide no feedback. 

 

Playtesters do occasionally get abused so...   Also, having spent literally hundreds of hours playtesting some scenarios, I simply cannot enjoy the completed game no matter how brilliant it is - other than doing it for "work", replaying scenarios usually makes me wanna vomit.

But, you do wonderful work Koh, so if you are having problems finding "victims" I would be honored to give one of your maps/scenarios a test.  I think you have my address.

[Vacillator]

On 5/22/2021 at 6:10 AM, kohlenklau said:

Honestly, many folks who step up to playtest, well, they provide no feedback.

I hope you're not talking about me my friend, I do send feedback even if it results in multiple house demolitions .  Happy to give anything you send me a go.

[kohlenklau]

33 minutes ago, Vacilllator said:

I hope you're not talking about me my friend, I do send feedback even if it results in multiple house demolitions .  Happy to give anything you send me a go.

Not you Tim. 

..and to be fair going forward, I will send along guidance for the feedback I want/need.

[kohlenklau]

I am making a HUGE ARSE map for desert warfare. It is set at the maximum of 3488 meters in width by 5126 meters in depth.

It loads for 3D preview on my machine in about 20-25 seconds.

My desert map "iconic things" checklist...anything to add?

wadi's

undulations in the sand

light scrub/brush

escarpments

some goat herders shack with a stone walled area for securing his girlfriends, I mean goats, 

the supply road with mile markers

the roadsign in the fuel drum!

a small domed mosque (working on it)

some brewed up wrecks

tank track marks left in the dirt

short telephone poles

palm trees around an oasis/well

dead camel?

barbed wire fortification with metal stakes and no wood

Edited May 25, 2021 by kohlenklau

[Vacillator]

Oases, mirages, tents, camels...  maybe I'm getting carried away now.  Looking forward to this .

[mjkerner]

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour.

[Blazing 88's]

Not a maps list thing so much as a must for the splashscreen /main menu music mod for the desert. Both sides loved the song.... Lili Marlene

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Blazing 88's

[Erwin]

Never get tired of hearing that.  Have used that as my theme in CMAK and now as the intro theme in CMFI.  I also use the brilliant spoof "We're the D-Day Dodgers" song as the end of battle theme.

https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/d/ddaydodgers.html

https://medium.com/out-of-the-shadows/the-ballad-of-the-d-day-dodgers-db72a3cda09a

Edited May 26, 2021 by Erwin

[kohlenklau]

1 minute ago, Erwin said:

Never get tired of hearing that.  Have used that as my theme in CMAK and now as the intro theme in CMFI.  I also use the brilliant spoof "We're the D-Day Dodgers" song as the end of battle theme.

https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/d/ddaydodgers.html

https://medium.com/out-of-the-shadows/the-ballad-of-the-d-day-dodgers-db72a3cda09a

Great! Did you rename the CMFI file and it plays with the game or just as separate background music from your PC?

[Erwin]

Plays in-game during loading and end of game etc.

[kohlenklau]

 

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

Plays in-game during loading and end of game etc.

Can you please "dropbox" it to me?

[Erwin]

Sure... send me a link.  The two tracks total about 70MB.  You will luv them!  (Or else!)  

[kohlenklau]

I have started the "BIG ARSE AFRIKA MAP" but I have also started and prioritized a 2000 x 1000 map of El Mechili for "Gardner's Horse". I used an old US Army map from 1941. I also used Google Earth. @Canuck21 I am taking a combination of education and inspiration from newsreels, old B&W photos and modern color photos.

 

 

[Canuck21]

Just now, kohlenklau said:

I have started the "BIG ARSE AFRIKA MAP" but I have also started and prioritized a 2000 x 1000 map of El Mechili for "Gardner's Horse". I used an old US Army map from 1941. I also used Google Earth. @Canuck21 I am taking a combination of education and inspiration from newsreels, old B&W photos and modern color photos.

 

 

Sounds good. I'll be in touch soon re this. Whatever I sent you, please feel free to use if you can. Right now I'm not in a position to take this project any further. As I say, I'll be in touch shortly  .

[kohlenklau]

1 hour ago, Canuck21 said:

I also used Google Earth. @Canuck21

This is the part I meant to emphasize. Have you connected Google Earth with CM map making yet? It is an entire thread. If you have NOT done this I will look for the thread and shout it out to you.

[Canuck21]

Oh yeah, I use that. To be honest, I prefer winging it. GE is great for current geography, but things have changed a great deal since WWII as you know. I do use Street View to get an idea of elevations though. 

[Combatintman]

3 hours ago, Canuck21 said:

Oh yeah, I use that. To be honest, I prefer winging it. GE is great for current geography, but things have changed a great deal since WWII as you know. I do use Street View to get an idea of elevations though. 

More practice required my friend.  Can you overlay period topographical maps onto Google Earth or any other map such Open Street Map which have contours?  Do you know that there are tools out there that will give you a fairly accurate contour readout.

Have you used the historical imagery tool in Google Earth?

Hannover 1943:

1950s topographical map image overlay of the same place:

Hannover now:

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Combatintman

[Canuck21]

3 hours ago, Combatintman said:

More practice required my friend.  Can you overlay period topographical maps onto Google Earth or any other map such Open Street Map which have contours?  Do you know that there are tools out there that will give you a fairly accurate contour readout.

Have you used the historical imagery tool in Google Earth?

Ok, looks pretty cool. After reading this I've been trying to find out more about Google Earth/Pro. I'm seeing conflicting information in my search. First is, do you need GE Pro or can you do this in GE only? I'm simply going to the web based GE and I'm not seeing any of the features that are described in various videos so I assume you have to have the app installed. If it's GE Pro, one search result said that as of 2015 GE Pro was free, and another thread said in 2016 that there is a cost associated with it. Unfortunately for me, I'm a senior on a very fixed income so paying for another subscription isn't in the cards. Last question (for now) is can you get the topo map info (particularly contour lines) from GE/Pro itself or is that another source I need to locate?

I'm definitely interested, but need a bit of info to make it happen  .

PS - I should also add that I've used overlays of maps in CM several times, but given we are constrained to 45 degree increments for things like roads and whatnot, I found it near impossible to get a decent representation for the actual layout of the land at times. I don't know how to fix that, unless you start bending roads every few metres or so, and that creates other problems (such as for transports). Is that just something we have to live with or can that be adjusted somehow as well?

 

ADDENDUM - Actually, I found the info I need for Google Earth. My question still remains though, on getting the topo map info, particularly contour data. If you could clue me in on that, it would help. Thanks.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Canuck21

[Combatintman]

37 minutes ago, Canuck21 said:

Ok, looks pretty cool. After reading this I've been trying to find out more about Google Earth/Pro. I'm seeing conflicting information in my search. First is, do you need GE Pro or can you do this in GE only? I'm simply going to the web based GE and I'm not seeing any of the features that are described in various videos so I assume you have to have the app installed. If it's GE Pro, one search result said that as of 2015 GE Pro was free, and another thread said in 2016 that there is a cost associated with it. Unfortunately for me, I'm a senior on a very fixed income so paying for another subscription isn't in the cards. Last question (for now) is can you get the topo map info (particularly contour lines) from GE/Pro itself or is that another source I need to locate?

I'm definitely interested, but need a bit of info to make it happen  .

PS - I should also add that I've used overlays of maps in CM several times, but given we are constrained to 45 degree increments for things like roads and whatnot, I found it near impossible to get a decent representation for the actual layout of the land at times. I don't know how to fix that, unless you start bending roads every few metres or so, and that creates other problems (such as for transports). Is that just something we have to live with or can that be adjusted somehow as well?

I've got GE pro and I'm certainly not paying for it.  I can't speak for GE as I don't have it but I'm pretty sure that most of the tricks and features would be available in GE.

Making overlays just requires you to find your map first.  Once you've got your map you save it as an image file and then create an image overlay with it.  You just need to match the map features with the satellite image features.  It takes a bit of skill and practice and you'll probably never get a 100% match but it is doable.

The roads thing is something you just have to live with, most people rotate the image to get the best match up of the main roads but you will never ever be able to trace a road exactly as it is shown on the ground so you just have to make it run in a way that captures the general flow of the road/ground.

[Canuck21]

Ok, I have GE Pro installed and working. I looked for an area near the mouth of the Orne River, which of course was easy to find, and clicked on the Historical Imagery button. It would only take me back to 1985, and even that wasn't of any use as I was trying to see the detail near a village there but the image was so blurry that nothing came into focus until I was about 20 km up. So, I did some searching on the web to see how to view historical data going back to 1945 or thereabouts (give or take 10 years), but drew a blank. Just to get me going initially, can you advise me as to how to go back to that time period (roughly)? I did pull up the drop down menu where you could manually input the date but it only went back to 1985 as well.

Insofar as making overlays, yes, I have that part figured out and have done it for most of my current scenarios, so I'm good there.

Thanks.

[Combatintman]

@Canuck21 - GE does not have full coverage of 1940s imagery - if they have it then it will be there.  Otherwise it is a simple case of searching around.  There are some threads across the boards with links to various imagery and historical map sites - the CMBN board is probably the best for this.  Otherwise it is a simple case of using your Google-Fu to find stuff ...

Sometimes you won't find exactly what you want - maybe the nearest image is from the 1950s and the corresponding map is from the 1930s - you then just have to make educated guesses or design decisions.