[MOD] Rheinlands Spring Enhanced

[JamieDodger]

Hi All,

 

Here's my take on a more convincing northwestern Europe for anyone that wants to give it a try! I wanted to address what I felt were the weaknesses in this map but it's still experimental and version one - I can improve it but I've had enough for the moment.. It replaces the Spring map but I re-coloured it more like late Spring. Personally I use it for Summer too.

 

First the endless farmland/cultivation but no farms/barns - I have edited-in aerial photos of buildings/yards etc to give the impression of a busier landscape and break the monotony. Works even better when you place objects over the photo.

I have created/edited all city/town/village textures to make them look more industrial or damaged or a little more messed up in general. Works reasonably well.

Every time I've flown over the North Sea it has been muddy brown in colour (very shallow), so I have made it so. Looks good to me; the rivers are also brown and muddy, as indeed they are over winter, until about May. I live on a river and it's this colour right now! Also made a new swampy/marshland texture which suits the low countries wetlands.

I have also added my own version of part of an existing mod (MPG Factory I think - crater-repaired airfields and green buildings. Thanks for the inspiration!). Haven't quite got the camonets right yet tho!

 

Looks great in vr I don't think the screenies do it justice. It needs a few corrections but is well good enough to try out for the time being. You will need to unload any other Rheinlands/Arras mods for this to work, probably. It seems to mess with other files when active.

 

And so I would like to heartily wish everyone all the love and peace possible for the holiday season (such as it is) and for the new year when, I suspect, we will all be facing a different kind of battle!

 

JD

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/7s90x69057sn8ph/Rhinelands_Spring_Mod.7z/file

[sammydee]

Looks great!

Edit. I've always thought the rivers were too blue for NW Europe so I was keen to try this map but with only this mod enabled I still get blue rivers on the Rheinlands Spring map. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by sammydee

[Blitzen]

Terrific ! Now I might be able to break up those incredibly long flights required on this map & land and have a drink at some little Schnell Imbess ?!

[MarcoPegase44]

23 hours ago, JamieDodger said:

Hi All,

 

Here's my take on a more convincing northwestern Europe for anyone that wants to give it a try! I wanted to address what I felt were the weaknesses in this map but it's still experimental and version one - I can improve it but I've had enough for the moment.. It replaces the Spring map but I re-coloured it more like late Spring. Personally I use it for Summer too.

 

First the endless farmland/cultivation but no farms/barns - I have edited-in aerial photos of buildings/yards etc to give the impression of a busier landscape and break the monotony. Works even better when you place objects over the photo.

I have created/edited all city/town/village textures to make them look more industrial or damaged or a little more messed up in general. Works reasonably well.

Every time I've flown over the North Sea it has been muddy brown in colour (very shallow), so I have made it so. Looks good to me; the rivers are also brown and muddy, as indeed they are over winter, until about May. I live on a river and it's this colour right now! Also made a new swampy/marshland texture which suits the low countries wetlands.

I have also added my own version of part of an existing mod (MPG Factory I think - crater-repaired airfields and green buildings. Thanks for the inspiration!). Haven't quite got the camonets right yet tho!

 

Looks great in vr I don't think the screenies do it justice. It needs a few corrections but is well good enough to try out for the time being. You will need to unload any other Rheinlands/Arras mods for this to work, probably. It seems to mess with other files when active.

 

And so I would like to heartily wish everyone all the love and peace possible for the holiday season (such as it is) and for the new year when, I suspect, we will all be facing a different kind of battle!

 

JD

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/7s90x69057sn8ph/Rhinelands_Spring_Mod.7z/file

 

Good evening,

 

I'm sorry, my english is not very good

 

Your Mod is very interesting especially for cities and rivers, as well as for the settlement of the countryside.,

The first test I did of cities with your mod gains a lot in realism. congratulations, it's a big job.

 

On the other hand, for the ground colors, there is, I think, too much contrast between the aerodromes and the rest of nature.

In real aviation, even today in peacetime, finding an airfield with a grass runway in the middle of the countryside is very difficult. It is necessary to be familiar with the main landmarks such as the rivers and forests surrounding an aerodrome.

And since the Germans had become experts in the camouflage of their installations, (house sheds and painting of the barracks including the painting of the concrete runways, 

 

I therefore made the MPG Factory mods from period photos.

http://axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1115

 

http://axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.1122

I have yet to review the aircraft and artillery shelters which are too yellow for the Bodenplate and Normandy maps to come.

 

To correspond to the period of the Mod carrer of the game which goes from the end of February to the end of March 1945, I prefer to use the more pastel textures, moreover it is a period where the leaves on the trees only appear from mid-May in northwestern Europe.

The ideal will be to have leafless trees and spruce texturing in early spring.

 

- So I installed your mod with JSME first.
- Then I superimposed the texture MOD "Rheinland Texture Mod v1.0" from @PicksKing on it, so I have more pastel colors for the ground.
- I then superimpose my mods "MPG complete skins pack for all airfields buildings, 1944 - 1945" and "MPG_Concrete-camonet-NWEurope_V4"

 

This allows cities, rivers, roads and textures to be combined separately, so I have camouflaged airfields that merge into the landscape as the Germans knew how to do.

What do you think??

 

I will continue to work on the combination of these mods which all have additional benefits but for now I am busy working on aircraft skins.

Edited December 22, 2020 by MarcoPegase44

[JamieDodger]

22 hours ago, sammydee said:

Looks great!

Edit. I've always thought the rivers were too blue for NW Europe so I was keen to try this map but with only this mod enabled I still get blue rivers on the Rheinlands Spring map. 

If its the only mod you have enabled I'll have to have a think about that! I know that the Bo60_new_rivers mod overrides mine. It might be something like that.

 

@MarcoPegase44 Yes I left the airfields less saturated because I wanted a worn-out look (heavily used and abused ground, repaired damage, faded grass etc and less resources available to repair camo). I agree airfields can be difficult to spot - I've been flying/gliding most of my life but its usually farm/private strips that are hard to find, I don't recall large airbases being so difficult to find (flown into many RAF airfields). But I do understand what you're saying about the Germans and late-war camouflage.

 

This is only the first version, I know there are many refinements to be made but after spending weeks messing with it and experimenting I need a break!!

 

I liked your mod btw but found that the buildings looked black or strange from a distance (mipmaps?). Did you fix that?

Edited December 22, 2020 by JamieDodger
addition

[MarcoPegase44]

59 minutes ago, JamieDodger said:

If its the only mod you have enabled I'll have to have a think about that! I know that the Bo60_new_rivers mod overrides mine. It might be something like that.

 

@MarcoPegase44 Yes I left the airfields less saturated because I wanted a worn-out look (heavily used and abused ground, repaired damage, faded grass etc and less resources available to repair camo). I agree airfields can be difficult to spot - I've been flying/gliding most of my life but its usually farm/private strips that are hard to find, I don't recall large airbases being so difficult to find (flown into many RAF airfields). But I do understand what you're saying about the Germans and late-war camouflage.

 

This is only the first version, I know there are many refinements to be made but after spending weeks messing with it and experimenting I need a break!!

 

I liked your mod btw but found that the buildings looked black or strange from a distance (mipmaps?). Did you fix that?

I think I have solved the problem of mimap but I am not sure.

What setting do you use? I use "BOX"

I too am a glider pilot and also with the tow pilot plane

 

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by MarcoPegase44

[sammydee]

1 hour ago, JamieDodger said:

If its the only mod you have enabled I'll have to have a think about that! I know that the Bo60_new_rivers mod overrides mine. It might be something like that.

 

@MarcoPegase44

Thanks for your reply JamieDodger. Yes I've been trying various things all day. Whenever I install a new mod and there's a problem I initially go through the JSGME install and yours is perfect so nothing wrong there, then as I said I disabled every other mod I had installed and checked my other graphic files and couldn't find anything finally I downloaded and reinstalled the mod again but no go. It's a great mod and the rivers aren't a deal breaker for me but I hate it when I can't figure out the problem. Thanks for your work.

Edited December 22, 2020 by sammydee

[JG_deserteagle540]

I really like this Mod! It really has a lot of potential.

 

Thank you very much for this great work.

 

@MarcoPegase44 & JamieDodger  May I make a suggestion? It might be a good idea to work together and merge both MODS into one super MOD

[JamieDodger]

@sammydee I would try copying the river_deep.dds file into the landscape_rheinland_xxxx folders in your main game folder? I find the game often has stuff left behind from previous mods that messes things up.

 

@JG_deserteagle540 Yes I initially used the MPG mod with mine and it was good but I didn't want to include it without permission so thought I'd have a go at it myself. It's easy enough to combine both. And I have no problem with people using my work and building on it. I just want more realistic maps!

 

@MarcoPegase44 I'm using GIMP with the same settings you have shown but I don't have the 'box' option. Seems to work fine.

Edited December 22, 2020 by JamieDodger
addition

[sammydee]

@JamieDodger. Ok thanks I'll try that. ?

[JG_deserteagle540]

3 hours ago, JamieDodger said:

 

 

@JG_deserteagle540 Yes I initially used the MPG mod with mine and it was good but I didn't want to include it without permission so thought I'd have a go at it myself. It's easy enough to combine both. And I have no problem with people using my work and building on it. I just want more realistic maps!

 

Hear hear

[MarcoPegase44]

10 hours ago, JamieDodger said:

@sammydee I would try copying the river_deep.dds file into the landscape_rheinland_xxxx folders in your main game folder? I find the game often has stuff left behind from previous mods that messes things up.

 

@JG_deserteagle540 Yes I initially used the MPG mod with mine and it was good but I didn't want to include it without permission so thought I'd have a go at it myself. It's easy enough to combine both. And I have no problem with people using my work and building on it. I just want more realistic maps!

 

@MarcoPegase44 I'm using GIMP with the same settings you have shown but I don't have the 'box' option. Seems to work fine.

It is a beta version of gimp, but beware it is unstable

https://www.gimp.org/downloads/devel/

[Almenas]

Any news?

[jollyjack]

PS the axis and allies site is down it seems ...

[JG7_X-Man]

Nice work! My biggest issue is with the topography of the Rhineland map. It looks more like the plains of Kansas but my guess is there was a frame rate tradeoff.

[MarcoPegase44]

12 minutes ago, JG7_X-Man said:

Nice work! My biggest issue is with the topography of the Rhineland map. It looks more like the plains of Kansas but my guess is there was a frame rate tradeoff.

The north west of Europe is very varied.
On the holland side, belgium is very flat towards the west and to the east towards Germany much more rugged. and Towards the small mountain Ardennes

Very green landscapes with a lot of water, I don't know Kansas to compare

[JG7_X-Man]

56 minutes ago, MarcoPegase44 said:

The north west of Europe is very varied.
On the holland side, belgium is very flat towards the west and to the east towards Germany much more rugged. and Towards the small mountain Ardennes

Very green landscapes with a lot of water, I don't know Kansas to compare

 

https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/3ct4/Rhineland-Palatinate/

 

Rhineland:

 

 

United States Mid:

 

[I.JG3_CDRSEABEE]

I tried this but not working it seems. Rivers still blue. Using JSGME and picking Rhineland spring in Quick Mission.

[Sakivano]

1 hour ago, CDRSEABEE said:

I tried this but not working it seems. Rivers still blue. Using JSGME and picking Rhineland spring in Quick Mission.

Same here

[MarcoPegase44]

10 hours ago, jollyjack said:

PS the axis and allies site is down it seems ...

Hello,
The new site "axis-and-allies-paint"  works. and the download links work again without change of address

Edited January 11, 2021 by MarcoPegase44

[sevenless]

18 hours ago, CDRSEABEE said:

I tried this but not working it seems. Rivers still blue. Using JSGME and picking Rhineland spring in Quick Mission.

 

Same for me.

 

On 12/23/2020 at 12:38 AM, JG_deserteagle540 said:

@MarcoPegase44 & JamieDodger  May I make a suggestion? It might be a good idea to work together and merge both MODS into one super MOD

 

Yep. Good Idea. Maybe someone is also willing to integrate the pine trees of Battle of Moscow into that mix? About time european woods start to look more realistic. Per statistic NWE woods have aprox. 50% conferous trees and in the Rhineland map we are still at 0%.

Edited January 12, 2021 by sevenless

[blue_max]

1 hour ago, sevenless said:

 

Yep. Good Idea. Maybe someone is also willing to integrate the pine trees of Battle of Moscow into that mix? About time european woods start to look more realistic. Per statistic NWE woods have aprox. 50% conferous trees and in the Rhineland map we are still at 0%.

I would love an integrated mod! There are a couple of improvements of the BoBp map floating around but I don't really know how to make it into one nice package... And yeah the lack of pine trees bothers me, since that's mostly what you see in the Ardennes.

[MarcoPegase44]

 

the right solution I think is the one I use by layering the mods of 3 authors in the following order.

 

- So I installed thé  mod  @JamieDodger un first

- Then I superimposed the texture MOD "Rheinland Texture Mod v1.0" from @PicksKing on it, so I have more pastel colors for the ground.
- I then superimpose my mods "MPG complete skins pack for all airfields buildings, 1944 - 1945" and "MPG_Concrete-camonet-NWEurope_V4"
 

by superimposing the modes in this order, I find the result very nice

to make a single mod, the 3 authors will have to give their agreement.

 

moreover I applied the same method for Rhineland autumn Et Rhineland spring

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by MarcoPegase44
Modif

[Stonehouse]

Rhineland autumn? I can see the spring retexture mod from this thread but no autumn (beyond the one in PicksKing's mod) specific retexture. Search gave nothing so if someone can point me to it if there is such a mod?

 

Or did you mean something else MarcoPegase44? 

 

Thanks

[MarcoPegase44]

6 hours ago, No457_Stonehouse said:

Rhineland autumn? I can see the spring retexture mod from this thread but no autumn (beyond the one in PicksKing's mod) specific retexture. Search gave nothing so if someone can point me to it if there is such a mod?

 

Or did you mean something else MarcoPegase44? 

 

Thanks

Hello,

Yes I apologize, I was not very clear and my English is poor.

I found @JamieDodger's "[MOD] Rheinlands Spring Enhanced" mod great for towns and streams and the general look of soil and forests.

 

So I had the idea to use what could be used for the other seasons except winter.

 

in the Graphic folder of the mod I have copied 2 times the folder "LANDSCAPE_Rheinland_sp" and renamed to "LANDSCAPE_Rheinland_au" and "LANDSCAPE_Rheinland_su"
I deleted the soil and drill texture files because I am using the mod next @PicksKing , it is a manual selection of files.

 

Then I deleted the "Arf" and "block" folders because instead I use my airfield mod.

 

The visual result is really nice for my taste.

 

I will be able to upload the pack I am using for you to try, but I will need the authorization of @JamieDodger.

and that I go to my son who has a fiber connection, with my pc to do the upload because my mod pack is very heavy and my internet connection is very slow.

[Stonehouse]

2 hours ago, MarcoPegase44 said:

Hello,

Yes I apologize, I was not very clear and my English is poor.

I found @JamieDodger's "[MOD] Rheinlands Spring Enhanced" mod great for towns and streams and the general look of soil and forest...…………..

 

No problem at all. I just thought I'd missed seeing a new mod. If you are eventually able to upload the compilation I'd be very interested to see it. Thanks!!

Edited January 13, 2021 by No457_Stonehouse

[MarcoPegase44]

On 1/11/2021 at 1:09 PM, jollyjack said:

PS the axis and allies site is down it seems ...

Thé new site ‘axis and allies ‘is ok

[JamieDodger]

Hey guys - you have my approval to do what you want with my mod. No problem! Anything that improves enjoyment of this great sim is fine by me! {A mention would be nice of course!)

 

I will say that I'm constantly trying to make stuff better when I can, so I may post updates etc at some point - this is when things start to get complicated tho...

 

I've about finished an Arras Summer version of this mod too but I'm trying to figure out why some people aren't getting the muddy water texture. I suspect mod enablers aren't loading/unloading textures properly.

 

btw I tried the Moscow tree initially and they look great from the air but from the ground the treetops seemed to be cut off! Need to learn more about modding this game, obviously!!

Edited January 13, 2021 by JamieDodger
addition

[sammydee]

@sammydee I would try copying the river_deep.dds file into the landscape_rheinland_xxxx folders in your main game folder? I find the game often has stuff left behind from previous mods that messes things up.

This was the advice JamieDodger gave me and when I initially tried it I thought it still wasn't working but I was looking at the rivers from a distance and found the nearer I was getting so the mod was kicking in until finally flying directly over them any river directly below me was brown and faded back to blue as I flew away from it.

[Stonehouse]

On 1/13/2021 at 7:06 PM, MarcoPegase44 said:

Hello,

Yes I apologize, I was not very clear and my English is poor.

I found @JamieDodger's "[MOD] Rheinlands Spring Enhanced" mod great for towns and streams and the general look of soil and forests.

 

So I had the idea to use what could be used for the other seasons except winter...………..

 

Thanks for the details MarcoPagase44. I finally had time to do as you described in your post and the end results do look very good.

[MarcoPegase44]

3 hours ago, No457_Stonehouse said:

 

Thanks for the details MarcoPagase44. I finally had time to do as you described in your post and the end results do look very good.

Please let me know if there is anything to improve

[AWC]

On 1/13/2021 at 7:06 PM, MarcoPegase44 said:

I will be able to upload the pack I am using for you to try, but I will need the authorization of @JamieDodger.

 

 

Is this 'supermod' of three authors available to download yet? Thankyou for your work!

[MarcoPegase44]

H

4 hours ago, Lemsip said:

 

Is this 'supermod' of three authors available to download yet? Thankyou for your work!

Hello 

 

The links for the 3 mods , install in this order:

 

It is 5 download for my method with JSME:

 

1°)[MOD] Rheinlands Spring Enhanced

 

Link for download;  https://www.mediafire.com/file/7s90x69057sn8ph/Rhinelands_Spring_Mod.7z/file

 

2]°) [MOD] Rheinland Texture Mod v1.0

Link for download; https://drive.google.com/file/d/10PyLjtqGhEoCXacyf7qWVswx9f0rCsQO/view

fix Link for download; ; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LEyc9-M_SzYAivIueo0ec88qnEHBJtPB/view

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

3°) [Buildings] MPG Skins factory - MPG skins pack for all BOPB airfields buildings, 1944 - 1945.

and [MOD] MPG Factory - Mod Skins camonet , plugged bombs holes airfield and concrete. for NW europe airfields-Cancels and replaces V2 & V3 by V4

 

Link for download;  http://axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/download/download.php?view.1115

 

Link for download; http://axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/download/download.php?view.1122

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by MarcoPegase44

[Tom25briklebritt]

Tried this but my  Rivers are still blue.. hm

[bzc3lk]

On 1/22/2021 at 5:59 PM, Tom25briklebritt said:

Tried this but my  Rivers are still blue.. hm

 

Add the "river_deep.dds" file to your IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Moscow\data\graphics\LANDSCAPE_Rheinland_xxx folder and you should find your rivers in the modified map folder displaying the colour shown below.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by bzc3lk

[Stonehouse]

I think that file is part of Rhineland Spring enhanced...………...

[GADDY]

On 12/22/2020 at 5:07 PM, Blitzen said:

Terrific ! Now I might be able to break up those incredibly long flights required on this map & land and have a drink at some little Schnell Imbess ?!

 

They are long aren't they, some of them? I'm on the 'On the offensive' stage and if I set compression on X8 and use autopilot, you can bet I run out of fuel 40 miles from touchdown. The only thing I have found works for me (unless I'm missing the reserve fuel for the Mk14 Spitfire) is to fly out at X8, but manually and with as little throttle as I can get away with - without losing my element - and the same on the way back These seek and destroy mission have you fly a long way out, THEN patrol that red triangle area, to markers approx 50 miles apart. It's this that ensures you are almost certain to be Bingo fuel on the return home. 

[WitchyWoman]

On 12/22/2020 at 9:07 AM, Blitzen said:

Terrific ! Now I might be able to break up those incredibly long flights required on this map & land and have a drink at some little Schnell Imbess ?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1rThfJVxss

 

Poor Johnny☹️

Edited January 31, 2023 by WitchyWoman