Surface Editing Manual

[AEthelraedUnraed]

Hello fellow pilots,

 

Hereby, I release a first the second version of my Surface Editing Manual. It explains all the basics of surface editing inside the Mission Editor, and has step-by-step guides on how to do the following and more:

• Add villages
• Add airfields
• Add roads and railways
• Pack the above with a mission file without using mods

 

Note that it is still a work in progress, and that additional content will likely be added in the future.

 

Also note that the above definitely works on singleplayer. @J5_Matthias-Sch27b has posted a way to make it work in multiplayer as well, see https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/73571-surface-editing-manual/?do=findComment&comment=1216152. Given that I have no experience with running multiplayer servers, however, I cannot confirm his method nor help with any issues there.

 

Many thanks go to @LizLemon, @Hamaha15, @JimTM and many others that I’ve forgotten to mention for their excellent work in researching and describing the Mission Editor. In many ways, this guide is simply a collection of all the info that's already on the forums somewhere, hidden deep within other threads.

 

If you find any errors, if something is unclear or if you would like something else explained, please let me know by posting a message right here or by sending a PM. I will try to respond as soon as I can, but as I’m tied to a busy real-life schedule, I can’t make any promises

 

See the attachment to download a compressed version of the guide (the .pdf is inside the zip file; the forum doesn't allow direcly attaching .pdf files anymore. Alternatively, you can find the original, uncompressed version with higher resolution images, but a *much* larger filesize, behind the following link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/lk5ad27v7u6a379/IL2SurfaceGuide.pdf/file

IL2SurfaceGuide_compressed.zip

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by AEthelraedUnraed
New version 0.9 - 2023-01-16

[Hamaha15]

Many thanks, even without having seen the manual yet. In any case it's a great job to pull together all information dispersed in the forum.

 

Cheers

[PA_Keko_]

Thank you!!!! 

[Leon_Portier]

Awesome

[IckyATLAS]

I downloaded it and I am just in awe about this manual. Just fantastic.

I cannot imagine that this is just compilation of what existed already on the forum and trial and error. Probably some help from the dev team maybe?

Anyway thank you very much. There is a lot of stuff to try.

 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

I downloaded it and I am just in awe about this manual. Just fantastic.

I cannot imagine that this is just compilation of what existed already on the forum and trial and error. Probably some help from the dev team maybe?

Anyway thank you very much. There is a lot of stuff to try.

Thank you!

 

Nope, the Devs didn't help with this manual, although they do deserve credit for making the tools in the first place! Most information was already published in some way or another, although there's a couple of previously unpublished things of my own as well.

[Juri_JS]

Is it possible to save changes to the height map too? The height map editing menu allows saving a .raw file, but I am not sure what to do with it.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, Juri_JS said:

Is it possible to save changes to the height map too? The height map editing menu allows saving a .raw file, but I am not sure what to do with it.

Nope, regrettably not. The heightmap files are locked, meaning that if the game detects they've been changed, it'll refuse to load the map.

[Hamaha15]

Followed the instructions of the manual to pack updated surface files for a specific mission. It works perfectly well - without activating the MOD option.

It'll make sharing the scenery updates much easier e.g. by creating generic editable reckon missions for specific regions and battle scenarios that could be adapted to individual missions. Looking forward to further improve the sim...

 

Again, many, many thanks to @AEthelraedUnraed for this fundamental work.

 

Cheers

[DN308]

Fantastic job done!!!

Outstanding and so helpful to all who want to update the map for their missions and campaign.

 

Many, many thanks for that

[Imperator_TFD]

G'day.

I really appreciate that you've taken the time to do this and I'm excited at the possibilities this will open up for mission designers.

 

I have one question relating to 4.2 section 4 about .tini files.

You mention that they can be found in the Unpacked Map directory however I cannot find that or how to unpack map files.

 

Can you please provide some assistance in how to do so?

 

Disregard, I've found out how to use ungtp-il2 to extract the map data.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Imperator_TFD

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:38 AM, Imperator_TFD said:

G'day.

I really appreciate that you've taken the time to do this and I'm excited at the possibilities this will open up for mission designers.

Me too There's some kind of a "showcase campaign" on its way, with which I intend to show what can be accomplished regarding battlefield detail, and what this can mean for certain missions.

 

On 9/13/2021 at 7:38 AM, Imperator_TFD said:

I have one question relating to 4.2 section 4 about .tini files.

You mention that they can be found in the Unpacked Map directory however I cannot find that or how to unpack map files.

 

Can you please provide some assistance in how to do so?

 

Disregard, I've found out how to use ungtp-il2 to extract the map data.

Glad you found out how to do it by yourself. I've added a short section to the manual that explains how to do it, which I will publish along with a couple of other changes when I've got the time.

[DD_Friar]

Many thanks for what I suspect are many hours of intense map building to be able to produce this guide.

 

A thought just occurred to me...(without actually looking in the manual...RTFM) but...

 

With these tools and the files they generate, would we as a community be able to go on an invisible object hunt* and generate a precise location table for the devs, hopefully making it easier for them to remove?

 

*If you are reading this and do not know what I mean by this you have probably never played Tank Crew (you really should by the way) - when playing Tank Crew we can "bump" into objects that are invisible, usually around the edge of forests and woods. They can cause lots of damage if you are moving at any speed.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

Just now, DD_Friar said:

Many thanks for what I suspect are many hours of intense map building to be able to produce this guide.

 

A thought just occurred to me...(without actually looking in the manual...RTFM) but...

 

With these tools and the files they generate, would we as a community be able to go on an invisible object hunt* and generate a precise location table for the devs, hopefully making it easier for them to remove?

 

*If you are reading this and do not know what I mean by this you have probably never played Tank Crew (you really should by the way) - when playing Tank Crew we can "bump" into objects that are invisible, usually around the edge of forests and woods. They can cause lots of damage if you are moving at any speed.

No, unfortunately trees (which the invisible objects are supposed to be) cannot be edited.

 

Although, I suppose, you could add some kind of grid texture to the map, and then use that to exactly locate an object, e.g. "there's an invisible object in the middle of grid A10".

[352ndOscar]

Could you post your “updated” Guide with the UNGTP instructions identified above please.  
 

PS; I know how to use UNGTP, but some folks don’t. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by 352ndOscar

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 11/4/2021 at 6:40 PM, 352ndOscar said:

Could you post your “updated” Guide with the UNGTP instructions identified above please.  
 

PS; I know how to use UNGTP, but some folks don’t. 

I'm in the middle of exams right now, but I will once I have some time

[JG1_Butzzell]

S! All

 

I am old and blind.   I can not find the surface editor tool. Did they get rid of it?   This is my toolbar. I can not find any option to enable surface editing. I know it was there in the past. I have looked through tools, view, every option.  Where did it go?

[JimTM]

In the Surface Edit menu, choose Enable Editing (FYI, there is also an Enable Editing choice in the Maps menu).

 

Update: Sorry, I just noticed that you don't have those menus in your picture.

Edited November 16, 2021 by JimTM

[JG1_Butzzell]

TY

 

I reloaded game  and new toolbars appeared.  Saved dat and text files.   Got another question:

 

4. Likewise for textures . tini (you’ll find this file in the unpacked map
directory). Rename it into e.g. textures_hurtgen . tini.

 

I have ungp.  what map directory?  Where are these files? So I can un group them?

 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

11 minutes ago, JG1_Butzzell said:

4. Likewise for textures . tini (you’ll find this file in the unpacked map

directory). Rename it into e.g. textures_hurtgen . tini.

 

I have ungp.  what map directory?  Where are these files? So I can un group them?

Drop the .gtp file you need (most likely one of the Maps*.gtp files, although it isn't always clear which file has which contents. If you've got enough disk space, it's easier to just unpack them all) onto unGTP-IL2.exe to unpack them. You'll end up with a (null) directory inside the game directory. You'll find the textures.tini file in (null)\graphics\landscape_[mapname] (where [mapname] is the code of the map, e.g. rheinland_au for the autumn BOBP map.

[JG1_Butzzell]

ty

 

yes  that is what I need to do. 

 

 

I can not find the map group file. Nothing in the landscape file.

 

 

found it in careers file    yea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by JG1_Butzzell

[jollyjack]

On 11/16/2021 at 6:31 PM, JG1_Butzzell said:

S! All

 

I am old and blind.   I can not find the surface editor tool. Did they get rid of it?   This is my toolbar. I can not find any option to enable surface editing. I know it was there in the past. I have looked through tools, view, every option.  Where did it go?

 

I still don't understand why Surface Edit, Height and Map dropdown  menus are mission for a long while now, they used to be there 2 years ago.

But i noticed they are there always if you boot the ME without the marker "Open Last Used Mission On Start" set active. (Tools dropdown menu).

 

ADDED December 25th: With the 4.701b hotfix Surface Edit is back, and in my case something works better; the ME does not crash anymore that often, as it did until 4.605.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by jollyjack

[No.23_Gaylion]

Could one potentially take a spring map and change it to winter????

[AEthelraedUnraed]

37 minutes ago, US213_Talbot said:

Could one potentially take a spring map and change it to winter????

Yes. In fact I did make an autumn version of the Arras map for this FC1 campaign:

 

[No.23_Gaylion]

Duuuuuuude!

 

Now could this be used on an mp server???

[AEthelraedUnraed]

3 minutes ago, US213_Talbot said:

Duuuuuuude!

 

Now could this be used on an mp server???

That's what I'm trying to find out, check my opening post

 

If you're in the position to try, please let me know the results.

[No.23_Gaylion]

Will do. I'll let you know. Can you send me that template and I'll experiment on our training server?

[352ndOscar]

2 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

That's what I'm trying to find out, check my opening post

 

If you're in the position to try, please let me know the results.

I just tested this MP thing yesterday with the “Parker’s Corner” mini-campaign.  Created a folder structure for MP\dogfight, put the three surface files in there.  Edited the 3 missions to make them death match and pointed them to the surface files tini, edited the surface files for path corrections, then added them to the MP folder, combined in the lua folder then made a copy and put it in JSGME mods and loaded it from there.  Fired up a server and ran mission 1….scenery was there, but a lot of the “animation” from the single player was’t working……something to explore……. BUT, the scenery provided was there and functional.

Edited January 1, 2022 by 352ndOscar

[No.23_Gaylion]

That's great news.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

1 hour ago, 352ndOscar said:

BUT, the scenery provided was there and functional.

That's great news indeed, thanks for testing! Do you also know if the scenery was there for other players, or did you test while hosting the server yourself?

 

3 hours ago, US213_Talbot said:

Will do. I'll let you know. Can you send me that template and I'll experiment on our training server?

If you're interested, the files are here:

There's no need to have the files inside graphics\landscape_arras_sp. If you're going to include it in a mission, you might be better off just putting all the required files inside the mission folder. It works just as well, just don't forget to update all the paths in the configuration files.

Edited January 1, 2022 by AEthelraedUnraed

[No.23_Gaylion]

Will try my best. What I'll do is copy all our training map stuff onto it and see what happens.

[352ndOscar]

14 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

That's great news indeed, thanks for testing! Do you also know if the scenery was there for other players, or did you test while hosting the server yourself?

 

If you're interested, the files are here:

There's no need to have the files inside graphics\landscape_arras_sp. If you're going to include it in a mission, you might be better off just putting all the required files inside the mission folder. It works just as well, just don't forget to update all the paths in the configuration files.

I tested this myself, and I can do a quick one with our group tomorrow to retest, but, if everyone loads the missions via JSGME (getting the surface files I turn) and the missions themselves are run on the server the same way, then when the mission is run, each player downloads on top of a copy of the same thing they already have in MP and the path/file structure would be the same, and everyone already has the surface stuff in the correct paths.  Hoping you’re understanding what I’m saying here….  I will pass along tomorrows result…..but I’m sure it’ll work no different that when I hosted it.

[No.23_Gaylion]

Would it have to be "mods on?"

[352ndOscar]

No…. Because they would be in the JSGME bundle and only used when those missions are run.  It’s a pathing thing done with the edited surface txt and tini files.  AEthelraedUraed knows what I mean….I think.  It’s a slight derivation of the extended instructions already in the “surface Editor” manual.

[No.23_Gaylion]

Thanks. Will try my best at it tonight. Never messed with this before however.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

1 hour ago, 352ndOscar said:

I tested this myself, and I can do a quick one with our group tomorrow to retest, but, if everyone loads the missions via JSGME (getting the surface files I turn) and the missions themselves are run on the server the same way, then when the mission is run, each player downloads on top of a copy of the same thing they already have in MP and the path/file structure would be the same, and everyone already has the surface stuff in the correct paths.  Hoping you’re understanding what I’m saying here….  I will pass along tomorrows result…..but I’m sure it’ll work no different that when I hosted it.

I think I get what you're saying, and yes, I think it should work. What I'm very interested in, is what happens for people who do *not* have the mission pre-downloaded. If you join a server, obviously some files are shared between the server and client, such as probably the mission file. What I'd like to know is whether the additional surface files are also downloaded. Will it work? Will it show the default surface file instead? Will it crash?

 

1 hour ago, US213_Talbot said:

Would it have to be "mods on?"

As 352ndOscar says, Mods On is not necessary as long as the mod doesn't overwrite any of the stock files. Basically, all that Mods On does is control what happens on a file conflict between the unpacked/modded contents of the various data folders, and the packed contents of the various .gtp files. E.g. if you've modded graphics\landscape_arras_sp\surface.dat, with Mods On that file takes precedence over the packed file in Maps7.gtp. With Mods Off, the packed file takes precedence.

[No.23_Gaylion]

Hmmmm. I run the dedicated server for our squadron. I think the easiest way to try this, seeing as I have very little map making experience, would be if you could package up that map with a single field to spawn on in a spadxiii, team deathmatch mode. 

 

You could email it or host it on Google drive etc., and I could DL it and try it out with a friend. This would alleviate any errors I would cause fumbling around with setting up the map itself. My dedicated server is all set up and I know people can join it with no issues. I would simply have to point it to the new mission in dogfight folder.

 

If that's not possible I'll give it my best effort.

Edited January 1, 2022 by US213_Talbot

[352ndOscar]

26 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

I think I get what you're saying, and yes, I think it should work. What I'm very interested in, is what happens for people who do *not* have the mission pre-downloaded. If you join a server, obviously some files are shared between the server and client, such as probably the mission file. What I'd like to know is whether the additional surface files are also downloaded. Will it work? Will it show the default surface file instead? Will it crash?

 

As 352ndOscar says, Mods On is not necessary as long as the mod doesn't overwrite any of the stock files. Basically, all that Mods On does is control what happens on a file conflict between the unpacked/modded contents of the various data folders, and the packed contents of the various .gtp files. E.g. if you've modded graphics\landscape_arras_sp\surface.dat, with Mods On that file takes precedence over the packed file in Maps7.gtp. With Mods Off, the packed file takes precedence.

Will test…. But I’m making a guess that the surface files will not download from the server for those without it.  I’ll let you know….

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, US213_Talbot said:

Hmmmm. I run the dedicated server for our squadron. I think the easiest way to try this, seeing as I have very little map making experience, would be if you could package up that map with a single field to spawn on in a spadxiii, team deathmatch mode.

Well, seeing as I have literally zero experience making multiplayer missions, I don't really know how to set that up ?

 

However, you could download the Cambrai 1917 campaign I linked above; its creator included all the mission files along with it. Just open one of the mission files, delete all content you don't need, and add or change whatever you need for a multiplayer mission. That should be a relatively quick way to get a working mission

[Gambit21]

On 11/27/2021 at 12:03 PM, jollyjack said:

 

ADDED December 25th: With the 4.701b hotfix Surface Edit is back, and in my case something works better; the ME does not crash anymore that often, as it did until 4.605.

 

 

 

Here’s you over the last few years...

 

The editor crashes

it doesn't crash anymore

oops it still crashes 

it doesn’t crash as much

it doesn’t crash at all - I solved it!

it still crashes

it hardly crashes at all now

it still crashes 

it no longer crashes - I solved it!

oops it crashes still

i solved it

it still crashes

it no longer crashes

 

...wonder what’s next.

 

 

spoiler alert - the editor has been and remains unstable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Gambit21