Cartography: new maps, structures, backgrounds &c.

[Col_McBroom]

Dear modders, howdy to all y'all. My compliments to you for the beautiful work you've done--all the more elegant for being made by combining (relative to 2013 standards) low-resolution elements.

Since I didn't see one here already, this here's a mapmaking and new map thread. This includes buildings, vegetation, weather, lighting, anything on or about maps.

Making maps is pretty much the only reason I pay for video games. I really enjoyed the map editor in Age of Empires III, especially the huge map made possible by--a Civil War mod, strangely enough. FarCry 2 allowed more realistic geomorphology.

Scourge of War is way more tempting yet, because I've lived in these places, looked down the patinaed barrels on Lookout Mountain, and lay between the eroded limestone "tombstone topography" at Murfreesboro, imagining the WW2 Bill Mauldin cartoon where Joe says "I can't get no lower, Willie, my buttons are in the way"*.

My day job is all maps, all the time: I'm a geologist down in Texas. At work I get digital data from state and national agencies to make maps of the oilfield. Free data is available for the land surface of every battlefield of the war: digital elevation models, roads, streams, and so on.

Much of the land surface has not changed significantly in the last century and a half. Where it has, modern data can be edited to impersonate 150-year-old data: erase the interstates and access ramps, unstraighten the 20th-C road cuts, draw the drainages that were covered by lakes and dams.

I really want to see maps of Franklin, Murfreesboro, Vicksburg, the Red River campaign, and the battlefields of Oklahoma where a lot of the soldiers spoke Choctaw and Creek and not one word of English. And Bryce's gol'dern Crossroads.

Davinci says the 10-mile map, and the stock maps, were made with Power Render (no longer supported, but you can still get it). I mean to try and see if I can make these maps, or at least provide data in a format other mapmakers may find useful. At the moment, my 3D experience only includes Blender and Google Sketchup (Scatsup? :Q__ ). Can't wait to see what a mess I can make in Power Render.

Best regards, and thank you again for all your hard work!

Yr. most Ob'd't. Sv't.

Col. McBroom

*or the other way around, I forget.

[Davinci]

Davinci says the 10-mile map, and the stock maps, were made with Power Render (no longer supported, but you can still get it).

Let Me try to clarify my remark, the maps were made using the Power Render Program that Norb allowed a few modders to use to provide the community with extra maps.

This program is the property of NSD and is not available to the general public at this time.

The previous game also used the Power Render Program , but that is a completely different version than this one.

The maps have always been locked to the general public until Norb decides to release the map tools. This only happens after he has moved on to another version.

davinci

[Zeke]

Welcome to the forum Col McBroom - Davinci is correct(he usually is!!! ) the map element of SOW is not open yet to allow full map modding only Davinci, Crikey, little Powell, RebBugler and at the time the late/great John '2ndTx' Bonin have been able to release some maps but only with the express permission of Norbsoft.

If you have skills in map creation maybe PM the Norbsoft team they may be able to help. Another alternative would be to overlay a topographical map over an existing released map - have a look at the scenario generator mod which is released (new version released a few days ago including Brandy station) which is excellent

Regards

Zeke

[RebBugler]

Free data is available for the land surface of every battlefield of the war: digital elevation models, roads, streams, and so on.

Now that's gotta be the most welcome HOWDY FOLKS that's come along in a while.

Welcome Aboard

[Cleaburn]

Sounds like another great mapper on the way..... Welcome to the war.
Cleaburn C.S.A

[rudy]

[attachment]C:\fakepath\Norb Wants You.pdf[/attachment]

[Col_McBroom]

Thank you-all for the suggestions, eh?

Forgive my disappearance, I was tracing the route of the New Mexico campaign, or part of it: Socorro, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Glorieta Pass. Didn't actually make it to Ft. Union. It's beautiful country if you can speed across it in an automobile, but it would get pretty tedious ridin' on an animule.

Glorieta Pass is some messed-up country to fight on. Would love to map that whole I-25 corridor where the north-south interstate has to twist sideways to get to Santa Fe. Good place to bush whack some Texans