phaeden released an updated public beta of his
MCAGCC 29 Palms island on the
Armaholic forums.
This terrain is based on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center base in California.
Quote phaeden :
This map is technically still in BETA as there are some things that are not yet complete but it is nearly done.
As for changes, there are many but the highlights are:
- Updated models (improvements and enhancements) - I've compromised the low poly count of the first models with a call for higher poly buildings
- mountain terrain is more rugged in the central mountain region (as a test) and makes it much harder to drive a vehicle through the actual mountains - it also makes fighting against infantry all that much harder and more rewarding
- additional settlements and significant changes to former built up areas
- reworked the satmap and heightmap for better alignment and more realistic looking terrain
- all addon files now have BI signatures¨-list*
I've been working on some missions but they are not quite yet ready for a release as well (I could use some testers if anyone is interested). If you are willing to help with making missions, please let me know and I will include them in a mission pack to be released soon. Also, if you're a mission maker that would grant me permission to modify your mission for this terrain, please just let me know.
If you're part of a large squad based group (e.g. ShackTac, 15th MEU, 1st MSOB) and have missions you'd like me to convert, please just let me know where I can download the missions and I will work on converting them.
As always, your feedback is encouraged and greatly appreciated. Hopefully, you'll see how former input from you has resulted in changes to this version.
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Feels like Christmass! Cant wait to try this !
Just to let you know most buildings roadway's are off a bit you go to walk up the stairs\ramps and you stop and have to step over to gain access to the stairs again some I can't access most you need to step over.
I know your trying to keep low poly models but it seems all the same look if you get me,
I think you might of been better off using what's already made the arma2\oa buildings as it feels like an ofp island, im sure you can just swap models over rather than replacing them 1 by 1 if you do decide to swap them over.
fps isn't all about buildings and low poly models its about terrain cell size and the amount of models used to make the terrain that effect fps.
this is simply beautiful!
Glad to see the progress here, the terrain is pretty much unparalleled in my opinion, it really genuinely looks like the mountainous areas of California. The last version I tried had a bunch of undeveloped settlements, so when I try this I'll be focusing on any changes there.
Also, I'm inclined to agree with smokedog6969 on the buildings issue- I believe there was a test map that generated obscene amounts of objects (fauna I know, not sure if buildings were used as well) and it proved that it really doesn't affect FPS as severely (which surprised me). I'll PM the author more feedback when I get to trying it.
Keep up the good work tho!
Smokedog and headup:
Im sure Phaeden know what brings FPS down or not. The man has been around the community since the very beginning. Either he isnt done with what you critique (beta) or he wanted it that way because the map is more for air than ground. Im not sure myself, but just throwing it out there. ;)
Cheers Phaeden. Looked forward to this!
Thanks for the comments everyone!
I have been around since the beginning but I definitely don't know everything. :) I do know that the higher the poly count, the more work the CPU/GPU has to do to render everything. I also know that textures (size, parallax, etc) play a role in FPS.
I based my buildings/terrain on several things:
- I wanted the lowest possible strain on the computer so that mission makers can increase the size and complexity of a mission while still enjoying large view distances
- I have studied the psychology of simulations and part of what I've learned is that for a human that is actively engaged in "combat" activities, the brain will fill in a tremendous amount of data and all that is really needed to "immerse" the player is enough to get the brain into recognizing it as a static object (the down side of this is if the player is sight-seeing and leisurely strolling down the street, it will be immediately obvious that the buildings are very low quality)
-I wanted to create environments that haven't been done (or not done very much) in other ArmA islands/terrains
All that being said, this is a Beta (and I expect to make corrections and improvements). Also, if the community at large wants higher poly buildings, I will do what I can to make that happen.
If there is data out there that supports high FPS is not dependent on poly count, please send it my way (not in a sarcastic tone - genuinely interested).
Smokedog6969, I will look at the roadways/paths and see if there is a way for to make them seemless and unobtrusive. As for using OA buildings, I have heard this from a few other people as well and maybe, once this one is improved, I will see about replacing everything to OA objects - it is not out of the real of possibility.
Thanks dbelnomi!
In general, I can use help, have always accepted help and will never turn anyone away that can make this terrain or the buildings better!
Thanks for all your comments (and keep in mind that I read the BIS forums more frequently). Thanks again!
Fantastic update, i love this terrain, thanks phaeden!
I am interested in downloading this just to see how close it is to what I remember of being there more times than I would like! Looks good from the screenshots wither way, good luck with this one.
How about the classcial maps from BF2,and then for Arma2?
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