JonS Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 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. Yup. At one time I was a walking compendium on an obscure battle in Tunisia. I carried around a mental map of the place in my head, I knew the names of all the platoon, company, and battalion commanders, I even knew how many artillery rounds were fired in the opening fireplan. I got over it. Sort of. I still want to go to Tunisia and walk the ground 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 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 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseltaylor Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 JonS - you should have mentioned Takrouna earlier. I might see if I can arrange at least one serious battle : ) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Yup. At one time I was a walking compendium on an obscure battle in Tunisia. I carried around a mental map of the place in my head, I knew the names of all the platoon, company, and battalion commanders, I even knew how many artillery rounds were fired in the opening fireplan. I got over it. Sort of. I still want to go to Tunisia and walk the ground OMG, me too! About two summers ago, I made an El Guettar map/scenario for TOW2 Africa and lost myself in the details of that battle and terrain, etc. Now I hardly think about it, but at the time that project was almost as much fun and absorbing as playing the actual game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzermartin Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Does water splash when hit with bullets/artillery? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 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 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 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 That's why I think trying to get as fine as 1m elevation changes from Google Earth are probably not a good idea. I'm going to stick with the 5m countours (and maybe even those are too imprecise) and then use common sense when I can see the 3D preview in CMBN to make sure water doesn't "flow uphill," etc. (This is also the reason why it's ususally a good idea to make terrain contours first, then water, then the road net, then the hedgerows and basic terrain types and finally place the objects like trees and buildings. If you don't take time to get the basics right initially, a lot of the later detail work will be wasted). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 (This is also the reason why it's ususally a good idea to make terrain contours first, then water, then the road net, then the hedgerows and basic terrain types and finally place the objects like trees and buildings. If you don't take time to get the basics right initially, a lot of the later detail work will be wasted). That's basically the order have used in CMSF maps (I only made them for myself, but turned out to be good practice for CMBN), and in the one I just did for practice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Personally, I don't think Google Earth is a very good place to get contour information from, notwithstanding the very nifty polygon trick. Geoportail has the maps for all of France at 5m increments, which is ample detail for CMBN. And, you could overlay a Geoportail map on Google Earth anyway, if you wanted to 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 JonS, coincidentally, my order from this place [http://www.ww2dday.com/bigotshop/25000.html] for reproduction military maps came yesterday, and the maps are beautiful! On the back of the Ste Marie do Mont is the legand, covering all the various German weapons that had been located and marked on the map, the terrain, etc. The large type heading is: "Martian Defense Plan" I can only assume that either the Martians had actually landed on Earth in '36 (New Jersey having been a feint, apparently), or it was a code name. But the thing is, the cities, towns and villages were in their real names--no attempt to disguise them as being in Normandy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I must've been in a nasty mood when I came up with that one. You've been hanging out with rune too much lately. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I still want to go to Tunisia and walk the ground If I were 40 years younger and had the jingle, there are enough places in N. Africa I'd like to visit and explore that I could easily use up a decade doing it. Pity Libya is in such an uproar at the moment. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 If I were 40 years younger and had the jingle, there are enough places in N. Africa I'd like to visit and explore that I could easily use up a decade doing it. Pity Libya is in such an uproar at the moment. Michael Don't go to Casablanca. It was a foul smelling disappointment. Imagine diesel fumes, rotting garbage and urine. Then the dead dogs left by the side of the Souk, yeah a fun trip thank goodness it was business. Rabat is much nicer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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