(He's not dead, he's only mapping.)

Some of ya'll might've heard rumors about an upcoming map release. Well, here are a few teaser screenshots.

The basic premise is that it's Jan 1945 and the Russians are getting ready to push towards Berlin through Poland. This means it's a winter map, using the After-Hourz vehicles (including the Jagdpanzer), and the Germans are on the defensive. Tuchola Forest is a large forested area in north Poland which seemed appropriate.

(I have no clue whether there was any actual combat in Tuchola Forest.)

Key points:
- Primarily designed for BAS gameplay
- Will probably support CNQ (but with an S-shaped objective path)
- CTF is also probable
- Map size is very similar to Barbarossa
- Visual conditions will change from round to round
- Beta testing will probably be in May 2006 with a Jun 2006 release
- I'm 4 weeks into the construction and about 40% complete (100-120 hours so far?).

...

Early pictures of the South Forest. This stretch of trees forms the majority of the south flank on the map. Visibility is heavily obstructed but it's still easy to drive vehicles through the trees. Infantry have the clear advantage as they are short enough to be blow the bottom branch level and can also hear vehicles approaching.







Bridge that leads west out of the South Forest and into the german area (a.k.a. the "Southwest Bridge"):



The north bridge out of the south forest (looking west). It connects north to the farm fields in the middle of the map. This bridge is actually called the "South Bridge".



German defensive position that overlooks the German #2 base area. The firing slit allows portable MGs to be setup to help guard the pak40 gunner.



There's a pass along the north side of the russians that looks like it was formed by a glacier. Haven't decided whether to simply label this area the "North Pass" or stick with calling it "Glacier Pass".












One unique feature of the map is going to be the addition of foot trails through otherwise impassable ridge lines. This allows infantry to slip through enemy lines and to help neutralize defenses prior to armor being brought forward. They also serve as escape routes for infantry that are being pursued by vehicles.














Finally, some fresh shots of the middle fields (middle area of the map and the main battleground):



















Note: Some of the screenshots above were taken during a winter storm where visibility drops to about 2/3 of what it normally is. You'll encounter winter storm conditions in about 10% of the rounds right now. There's also a 10% chance that you'll get better then average visibility which lets you see about 25% farther then normal.

I sense a déjà vu... i hope we get some more cool winter skins like that jagdpanzer

I would love to see Panther tanks Panzer V



This post has been edited by FeezyWeezy: 03/12/06 1:49am

I love the idea of changing conditions from round to round.

I think it looks great! love winter maps,is there any way to make it snow?

Mmm, probably not but there are some theories as to how to do it. But if you can show me a multi-player map with a working snow effect that doesn't kill frame rates, I'd be willing to take a look at it.

...

Probable fog ranges (max visible ranges), each has an unique ambient sound:
- 10% chance of 4000-6000u visibility (avg ~5000u)
- 80% chance of 7000-9000u visibility (avg ~8000u)
- 10% chance of 9000-10000u visibility (avg ~9500u)

Graphics performance actually gets better as visibility gets worse. This is because it's a culling fog, which means anything past the fog range does not get drawn. I'll be tuning the map for 15000u visibility to ensure good framerates even at the upper end of the fog values.

Examples of UO map fog values (second value is the max visibile distance):

Hurtgen: setCullFog (0, 3200, .32, .36, .40, 0 );
Foy: setCullFog (500, 5500, .5254, .6117, .7215, 0 );
Barbarossa: setCullFog (512, 9000, .32, .36, .40, 2);
Smolensk: setCullFog (1024, 9000, .32, .36, .40, 0);

MAY ,JUNE..................NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we want it now ,stop teaseing this is driving me mad......goner have to lay down for awhile now .

I bet you wouldn't if you were playing as Americans.... unless it''s the rear view

oh yeah, great job there Bob- I especially ove the atmosphere of winter rural maps.


This post has been edited by Hellfighter: 03/12/06 10:59am

Awsome job on the map Bob, it looks great!

Scrap, we're damn impressed and proud that you are doing this within the MOB family! You've helped all of us to better understand what makes for a great map and a great battlefield. The idea of including changing weather conditions is something I wish they had built into all the maps. This will absolutely add a terrific new dimension to our gaming.

Looks cool Bob.

However I'll be mighty pissed if I have to battle against you on this map in the future - I'm sure you've got all the pak coordinates to cause havoc with the opposition well memorized.

Wow, that maps looks great! I really look forward to playing with everyone on it.

Yep, MOB and Regs can go on our section and read a lot more about it... awesome man...

Thanks all. I may put more screenshots up this week. I'm in the middle of a heavy push to finish terrain this week and get some terrain decoration in (foliage, ruined vehicles, rocks, walls, fences).

Still a lot of detail work to finish.

Looks superb, I feel frostbite in the toes already!

Has anyone every had a mod to drive King Panzers or something really different... that'd be awesome...