[WIP] The SH5 EcoMod

[Jeff-Groves]

New Obj to Raw converter script.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/42x3i7...bj2RAW.7z/file

This script will scan the file for any zero vert and convert it so as to avoid the above mentioned issue.
It also pops up a save dialogue when the script is done.

010 will do a conversion to a hex int but not to a hex float.
So a Float of .0000000 is only converted as a 0 in hex instead of 00000000
Will be asking them to consider that in the next version.

[Jeff-Groves]

Exchanging e-mails with SweetScape about a possible update to print out hex floats now.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

New Obj to Raw converter script.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/42x3i7...bj2RAW.7z/file

This script will scan the file for any zero vert and convert it so as to avoid the above mentioned issue.
It also pops up a save dialogue when the script is done.

010 will do a conversion to a hex int but not to a hex float.
So a Float of .0000000 is only converted as a 0 in hex instead of 00000000
Will be asking them to consider that in the next version.

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

Exchanging e-mails with SweetScape about a possible update to print out hex floats now.

Thank you Jeff, I will test the new exporter version ASAP

P.S: how difficult would be making your script to generate directly the .raw output, without need of the manual steps? Indeed I can live with them, but I know you like challenges

[Jeff-Groves]

That is something I'm working on and talking to the Devs of 010 about.
The main issue is the conversion to hex that the Import step does.
There is no function to do that at this time.

I'm looking at doing a command line option right now.
The Script would call batch file to open a command line window to 010 and complete the manual steps with nothing done by you.
I'm also adding code so you do not need to type in a name for the file.
It will grab the file name and use it for further processing.

[excel4004]

Hi Gap! Hi Jeff-Groves!
Iam so happy that you both work again on this mod! Thank you very much.


Thanks for the long answer to all my questions Gap. Iam so excited for the upcoming version(s). A better terrain is what this game still needs, it would be again a step, to make SH5 greater and in this case more beautiful.


And beautiful is always i nice thing to have.


You and Jeff are great, much appreciated.

[Jeff-Groves]

I hope gap gets the itch to do more work on his Mod.
I'm just trying to give him the Tools to make it easier.

[gap]

Originally Posted by excel4004

Hi Gap! Hi Jeff-Groves!
Iam so happy that you both work again on this mod! Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

I hope gap gets the itch to do more work on his Mod.
I'm just trying to give him the Tools to make it easier.

Maybe it is time for an update by me. I will report back in a few hours, just the time to gather some information on what I am currently working on

[Muckenberg]

I can't wait to see another mode update. I'll wait until "Happy Time" ends and I will start the next part of the campaign after the update is released. I'm really curious about Helgoland.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Muckenberg

I can't wait to see another mode update. I'll wait until "Happy Time" ends and I will start the next part of the campaign after the update is released. I'm really curious about Helgoland.

First off, I am sorry for having been son quiet lately, but during the last few days all of my free time has been used for modding, and I must admit that I was so absorbed by the work on this mod, that every time I tried posting some update here I ended up looking at the files and... getting back to modding.

Answering Muckenberfg's question: except for the red cliffs (whose texture now is based on an HD picture of the real thing), the addition of the Lange Anna sea stack, and the absence of trees (I plan to replace them with low shrubs, but I don't know if they will be ready in time for the next release), don't expect too much from Helgoland.
A total rework of the island - including terrain and buildings - is in my todo list, but that's a complex task that I thought I would better leave for one of the next releases.

In order to check the validity of the terrain-editing method that I, Jeff, OldCoder and Pintea have been discussing over a year ago, I decided to focus instead on some smaller geographical feature that I could model from scratch without risking to mess with other mods. The occasion finally arose when I noticed that the Chausey Archipelago (a group of islets and rocks located in Lower Normandy, NE of St-Malo) was not featured in the stock game. Below are a couple of maps squeezed to fit in the SH world that show Grande-Île, the main island, together with the many islets and rocks composing the archipelago:



With the help of those maps and of real world height data that I could import in game thanks to Jeff's scripts, I was able to bring the said islands in game. This is the result, so far:











I still plan improving portions of the main island and some of the rocks, so to make their height profile too look more steep/sharp, and I want to improve the mapping of various textures on their surface (dev's Terrain Editor will be my tool of election for those tasks), but so far I must say that I am quite satisfied with the result.

As you can see some of the rocks raise a few meters above the sea level, while others are hidden below the surface, so make sure you will keep away from those U-boat-traps once the upcoming version is released!

Well, I must go now, but more updates are coming so stay tuned guys

[NIDGE2112]

You guys Rock, keep up the good work

NIDGE

[Jeff-Groves]

That is pretty fantastic!

[propbeanie]

Wow fellers... We want this for SH4... - Vielleicht ist gap Doktor Frankenstein?

[gap]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Wow fellers... We want this for SH4... - Vielleicht ist gap Doktor Frankenstein?

I wish that could be possible, but I am afraid it won't happen without hacking SH4's code.

I explain: while the bulk of the SH5 terrain files are in common with SHIV - which means a grid resolution of 200 m between an elevation point and the next one and just 256 height levels between the highest and the lowest point (8,000m and -1,500m respectively) - SH5 gives us the possibility of patching map areas of special interest. Each 'patch' or height mask covers a surface of 25 (5x5) sq. km, with height data set 25 m apart (i.e. 8 times the resolution of regular height maps); moreover, data stored in those files is encoded as float rather than grayscale values, thus enabling a much smoother and accurate transition between an height level and the next ones. The only disadvantage of the said height masks, new to SH5, is that unlike the 'regular' ones, they can't be edited directly with a raster graphics editor but, following the tricky but effective method devised by me and Jeff, they require the conversion of real world height data into a 3D mesh, which, on turn, is converted in the float format accepted by the game using the OBJ to RAW converter by Jeff.

Conversely, what can be partly converted from SH5 to SHIV and SHIII, is terrain type settings which control the different tree types and terrain textures mapped on the SH globe, with a maximum number of unique combinations amounting to 256. In this respect, one advantage of SHIV and SHIII over SH5 is that they can use more than 8 tree types per terran type, and that their trees can be actual 3D objects rather than flat billboards. If anyone wants to port parts of this mod to any other game of the SH series, he has all my encouragement

[gap]

Such a dangerous place for the navigation as Chausey shouldn't be left without maritime beacons signaling the hazard. Actually the main island is home, in its SE tip, to a relatively small lighthouse which is my intention adding to the game together with several houses, a jetty, a Napoleonic fort, a castle, a chapel and a semaphore. The following map shows clearly the location of each building on the island:

http://geologie.discip.ac-caen.fr/pr...sey/cartes.htm

If any willing subsim mate wants to volunteer for creating some of those models, I will happily accept his contribution
In the meanwhile, I am working on a model of the lighthouse which some of you might have seen in an early state, as I started working on it long ago but then I put it in standby. This is how it looks after several additional hours of work:



I will add for reference a few historic views and a modern picture of the real thing:

 

As you can see, even though still unfinished, my model reminds quite closely the original.

According to the essay "Les phares français pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale" by Jean-Christophe Fichou, though with dimmed lights, French lighthouses kept in service until the Fall of France, when the occupying German forces ordered the deactivation of all the minor lights not essential to their shipping, starting from the offshore installations and from the lights that were facing the English Channel.
For this reason, I will set this lighthouse as a land unit rather than a terrain object and I will set its light effect as eqp-file-controlled equipment. Doing so, will enable us to switch its light off when the right time comes, with the additional advantage of being able to use a LOD model (terrain objects don't have those). There a few more advantages in this approach which I will discuss later, but there is also a a big con though. If the method I am suggesting is followed, a new campaign layer will be added where I will store lighthouses and similar units, but the game will read them only when a new career is started or, at best, on changing campaign.

What do you guys think?

[Jeff-Groves]

Is the newest files I did working out OK?
I'm busy running an important job right now but have started a newer version for 010.
That will be the final prototype for a stand alone version of the conversion scripts.