Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Terrain Editor => Topic started by: oboe on February 07, 2016, 02:42:37 PM
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Is it possible to put skinnable aircraft and ground vehicles (trucks, jeeps) into a terrain, for example bombers parked on tarmac outside a hangar? Ground support vehicles (fuel trucks, etc) parked at various locations around the fields?
If possible, could they be attacked and destroyed as targets?
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This is the best idea ever! It would add a lot of character to the airfield, even if they weren't targets, but still looked destroyed, that would be awesome.
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I like it, maybe some destroyed tanks on beaches or bombers at the end of a runway.
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Something like this could be done on a special events terrain but it is not allowed for the MA. Apart from the normal "no custom objects" rule for MA terrains and possible framerate issues, extra planes or tanks could be mistaken for players and attacked by mistake.
One example of tanks used this way is on Bustr's gunnery practice terrain. On it he has carefully placed tanks at set distances from SPs for use as targets. These tanks are simply taken from the list of available objects in the TE and placed where needed by the terrain builder. Their damage hardness can be altered by changing a setting in object properties but once blown up there is no damaged/on fire tank object to replace it like you would get with a hangar etc.
I haven't looked but I don't think there are any damaged tanks or aircraft objects in the TE. If not, the only way to add one would be to create the object using the object editor and other editing software, and then add this object to the terrain using the terrain editor.
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Thanks, I wasn't thinking so much of tanks; more along the lines of airfield support vehicles - transports, fuel trucks, and aircraft parked outside of hangars to make locations look a little more alive for films.
Here's a transport truck in the beta hangar. So HTC has already created a 3D model of it, is it possible for it to be included in the TE available objects?
(http://i.imgur.com/6gJzaST.jpg)
Likewise, since our planes must already be 3D objects, is there a way to build them into the TE as objects that can be placed? This would allow more interesting shots to be created from the film viewer - for example, following a target aircraft taxiing away from a hangar, with the camera placed underneath the wing of a bomber on the tarmac. I think it could add a little more realism to a film.
Thanks, <S>
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If you run the TE and select the objects tab there is a tick box that says something like "list all objects". If you tick this it will show you all the objects that can be placed in a terrain. Unticked it just shows you what can be put in an MA terrain. There is at least one truck there, the one used in the supply convoys. Not sure if its the same one shown in your shot. All the planes and GVs are there too.
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AH3\Beta terrain editor tank objects cannot be destroyed with AP ammo per Hitech. But, you get a very nice explosion graphic.
I tried to place aircraft on my airfield for some photo ops. As a static object the aircraft is set on the ground leveled to it's centerline. This is fine for the nose wheel aircraft if you don't mind the main gear just a few inches sunk into the ground.
My offline gunnery practice terrain has evolved. I started aging the terrain in mind of how and where water would go as runoff. The island has become a more mature terrain as close as I've been able to use the available terrain tiles to duplicate the real world.
Here are 20 clips from the editor to show how I've evolved the terrain. I'll break them up into 4 posts.
(http://s23.postimg.org/5omooa5xn/Gun_Ils01.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/cnw59wgi3/Gun_Ils02.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/v4qk0pwgb/Gun_Ils03.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/4nmfz5oy3/Gun_Ils04.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/em7elmydn/Gun_Ils05.jpg)
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Second group of five. Water defines terrain.
(http://s23.postimg.org/8hbaukgwb/Gun_Ils06.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/3p62wvbm3/Gun_Ils07.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/dxyk2oznv/Gun_Ils08.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/vqk4akgwb/Gun_Ils09.jpg)
(http://s23.postimg.org/ylx7hfkwb/Gun_Ils10.jpg)
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Third group.
(http://s20.postimg.org/k2k2gs2rx/Gun_Ils12.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/spx9usglp/Gun_Ils13.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/cg73rw5xp/Gun_Ils14.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/3nq547kst/Gun_Ils15.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/r0o6mq0wd/Gun_Ils16.jpg)
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Last group, hmmm, one didn't upload....
(http://s20.postimg.org/zcjxnyya5/Gun_Ils17.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/c8jgvduz1/Gun_Ils18.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/9pxrup98t/Gun_Ils19.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/9v1j4dgjx/Gun_Ils20.jpg)
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I asked myself, Self why wouldn't the Vbase not flood during a really bad rain? A rock outcropping causing the diversion of the two runoff gully's.
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIlsre18.jpg)
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It is three miles to the far shore battery. See all of the tanks I placed on the tank town object. Then the second screen capture, how many tanks can you see in the trees?
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls21.jpg)
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls22.jpg)
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In the end, if you want to waste a WHOLE LOTTA TIME.....
Water defines everything about terrain in one way or another.
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls23.jpg)
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls24.jpg)
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls25.jpg)
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee508/KDavis6030/GunIls26.jpg)
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Beta6 the Eruo terrain set tiles were changed. I had to repaint the island and make some adjustments for the new trees.
Updated aerial view.
(http://s20.postimg.org/deb2b2txp/B6gun_Ils01.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/iynjlpsst/B6gun_Ils02.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/fucvoxc0d/B6gun_Ils03.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/ri6xjh159/B6gun_Ils04.jpg)
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So none of you bothered to ask why I have that giant rock wall next to the airfield. The flattened top is 400ft under the path the drones fly around the airfield. And there are two 37mm, an 88mm, and a GV spawn up there. None of you ever wanted to be able to practice offline shooting at fighters at the same fly over or fly past alts that they attack the fields you defend in wirbels or ostis? Or practice more realistic shooting at cons with the 37mm or the 88mm. There are two other 88mm locations on the terrain that give you 7k shooting ranges at the drones. Along with positions on those flat areas to shoot at tanks and learn how to range the gunsight. And tank spawns on the same ranges to learn how to range with the GV sights.
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Beta6 Waffle changed some of the trees. Now they are more realistic for lower elevations.
Remember this before and after? All those tanks out in that tank town Hogan's Alley to shoot at.
No Trees.
(http://s20.postimg.org/b6y3f1qtp/B6gun_Ils05.jpg)
Hello trees, see any tanks?
(http://s20.postimg.org/mlukjo365/B6gun_Ils06.jpg)
We love our long range sniping of GV spawns and pitched battles. The two white lines are the GV spawn points I laid down on the TT object. If I move them a few feet behind the trees, now your tank up on the hillside is exposed for anyone under the trees looking up. The terrain builder would have to create places with slightly less trees due to how thick trees are now. If you fill in a 1x1mile square with trees, it becomes a maze allowing you to see only a short way between the clumps. No straight line paths to drive your way out. You end up having to navigate with the clipboard to keep generally zigging and zagging in the right direction.
Trees turned off to show tanks and spawns.
(http://s20.postimg.org/hlx4bpxjh/B6gun_Ils07.jpg)
What looks like green tanks in the near ground along the wash is a new bush Waffle introduced with a change in terrain tiles with Beta6.
Trees turned on, where did all the tanks go?
(http://s20.postimg.org/iqr6h3k0d/B6gun_Ils08.jpg)
Here is how thick the trees are. 800 yards away is an airfield.
View from inside the tree maze.
(http://s20.postimg.org/e15u68idp/B6gun_Ils09.jpg)
Trees off and an airfield 800 yards away.
(http://s20.postimg.org/4s3nw49hp/B6gun_Ils10.jpg)
Top view of my location. Look at that maze. Now imagine trying to drive a mile through it. I bet Lancaster become the new spotting plane tagging whole forests with 1000lb general purpose marker bombs...... :O
(http://s20.postimg.org/lv6frmq6l/B6gun_Ils11.jpg)
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I like that we now have a clutter-free grass tile and a very densely-cluttered forest tile. An SP can be placed in a patch a forest which makes camping it difficult. So long as a path clear of dense forest is left between the SP and the target base then the player has the choice of a slow, relatively safe journey or a faster but less safe one through less-cluttered tiles.
The new tiles have mucked up a few things in CraterMA so I am busy re-clearing the runway ends and SBs of trees, as well as ensuring there are forest-free paths from SPs. There are 135 bases, so its going to take a while.
The non-snow-covered clutter on the snow/rock tiles is my only real gripe with the new tiles. Having summer foliage in a winter landscape just looks wrong to my eyes. Really hope HTC change the top three tiles back the way they were.
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I've finally gotten the hang of below 7000ft, working rock down into water run offs with Beta6 tiles. Does this mean Waffle is going to add another layer of driving me nutz again.... :O
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Greebo,
I like the stone\tree tile sets in Beta6 Eruoset. They have better transitions down into the full lower level forest. Little gratuitous tail dragger object pitching going on at the same time. Hitech gave me a hand with object pitch.
(http://s20.postimg.org/7c5rwzuod/B6gun_Ils14.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/rv0o228lp/B6gun_Ils13.jpg)
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Bustr,
I'm very happy to see the B-17 sitting there! Thank you to Hitech for help with the object pitch. I assume this means aircraft can be built into terrains now - set up on hangar aprons, etc as props for movie makers?
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Sorry I Bogarted your post. I was hoping to generate curiosity about the beta and AH3 with pictures showing the terrain while talking about it. Unlike the skinners, terrain guys don't often share screen shots of work in progress to help the community understand their hard work. Terrains in progress are just as much fun to look at as skins. Creativity for the game inspires players to feel confident about their game.
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You adjust the pitch in the oba file after you set the object down and level it to the nose or main gear first.
Tail draggers use positive numbers, the number for me that angled the B17 correctly was 0.1400. If you have to pitch the nose down I think it will be a negative number.
The only way I could look at my changes was to get up close in the TE.
1. - Guestimate by the gap to ground distance. Have the oba file open.
2. - Add\sub a bit, save, then restart the TE.
3. - Then maneuver all the way back to look at the change in the tire to ground gap.
Those inputs are not exposed in the object gui, so you have to start a new TE session for it to read the manual entry in the oba file.
Now I have to revisit my hidden tank hulks in my two Hogan Alleys.
F01STR016, b17g, -1916.548, 2009.500, -6999.064, 0.0000, 0.1400, 1.5708,
From Hitech:
Entry->Name,
Entry->ShapeName,
Entry->Pnt.x,
Entry->Pnt.y,
Entry->Pnt.z,
Entry->Att.Roll,
Entry->Att.Pitch,
Entry->Att.Yaw,
(Entry->Flags & tobjTOF_EDIT_SETABLE),
(int)Entry->CountryOrField,
(int)Entry->ObjectType,
Entry->Hardness,
Entry->DownTime,
Entry->PointValue,
Entry->ObjectID,
//Entry->GroupID,
0,// No longer Used
Entry->ObjectData,
(int)Entry->ZoneNumber,
Entry->ParentIndex);
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@ Hitech. What is Entry->ParentIndex now?
I like that the props aren't bent back on the B17 now. Most players won't notice, but you still see the damage on the wings and fuselage.
I'm unable to post the jpg in here.
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I'm placing down all the planes in the game on my terrain at this airfield so I can do some photo ops and maybe a film to show our offerings. Then I'm deleting them all. The more of them you place on the airfield, the more FPS you give up.
(http://s20.postimg.org/btgien2fh/lineup01.jpg)
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We have a lot of rides these days in the game.
(http://s20.postimg.org/s5qk4dgr1/lineup02.jpg)
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Yeppers, a lot of rides in the game.
(http://s20.postimg.org/aq0zgf765/Rides01.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/4qd8crmdp/Rides02.jpg)
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@ Hitech. What is Entry->ParentIndex now?
I like that the props aren't bent back on the B17 now. Most players won't notice, but you still see the damage on the wings and fuselage.
I'm unable to post the jpg in here.
If you have one object on top of another, then the child object is also destroyed when the parent is. We havn't had to use it manually in a long while, but it is used automatically on objects created with the object editor, or ones we created like the ships.
As example the guns on a CV.
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nm
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Oboe,
If you are still determined to use static aircraft, I can give you the pitch for all aircraft in the game now. A few won't eat FPS, but, that hits you quickly before you realize it if you want the realism. You would need to have a small group of players with varying levels of hardware grunt to test the effects on FPS. Just making the films with all of the planes on the field reduced my FPS down into the 20's. I run the beta with the defaults and 4096 texture mode and normally get 50-60. Even moving the work space around rapidly at times created stutters.
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Hey Bustr,
Thanks for checking into this. I still think it would be very cool to have static aircraft at fields, both as props and also destroyable targets. I'm sure that's not allowed for an MA terrain but I wonder about the AvA?
Hang on to the pitch numbers. I dont' know the first thing about creating a terrain, but maybe someday will learn to build one for films. So much I'd like to learn to do!
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the AVA has a terrain with static aircraft..... just saying. I think they're even destroyable.
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Yes it is possible and we have done it before on some SEA terrains. However, it depends on what you mean as skinnable. If you mean can you say put down a P47D11 as a static ground object (park on a tarmac) and then have a way to change its skin from one to another available skins for it when you load up the terrain I don't believe so. But would have to double check. If you want to just put planes and tanks down you can place them as objects. Or you can always build a new custom object and insert into the terrain. That is how Hawaii had the actualy Arizona battleship on battleship row. I think we might also have had a PBY or two on Ford Island.
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When you place the P-47D11, can you choose the skin or it? Or is it automatically the default skin?
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You can place it but there is no option for changing / selecting skins AH3. However, back in AH2 we used to be able to embed a default skin for planes to use -instead- of the default. That is how we reskinned several lend lease planes to Russian markings for example. Not sure if embedded a different skin in the terrain for the P47D11 if that would be used then by default or not since I have not tried that in AH2. I have not tried embedding skins for planes at all AH3 yet.