Is it possible to make custom maps (i.e., new geography)?

[Shikikan]

Is it possible to make custom maps (i.e., new geography)?

 

I've checked the forums and other places on the Internet, and all I can find is a few community-built guides that discuss how to use the Mission Editor (BOSEditor) to create custom missions, and in some cases make limited modifications to the terrain itself in an existing map.  I've poked around in the Mission Editor itself, and I can see things in "Mission Properties" such as "Landscape info," which specifies a "Height Map," "Textures," "Forests" to use.  However, it isn't clear to me how I can customize those things, or even if it's intended to be customizable.

 

I'm curious to know if it's possible to make a custom map, not just a custom mission for an existing map.  I'm aware that you can create custom missions using the existing maps.  I'm curious about creating entirely new maps, with entirely new terrain.

[jollyjack]

Been asking and searching 'bout this for a while ...  maybe possible if you have the right tools, but an awful lot of work.

I don't know what the tools are for this alas. BTW it was seemingly possible with IL2 1946.

 

Great Battles: I would like to be able to correct heights f.i. the Dutch coastline, add working harbors, roads and get rid of wrongly placed trees.

 

You can however implement fake roads, railways and towns etc. and even create airfields,with Surface Edit but that's about it.

Seethe Surface Editor manual posted elsewhere for this.

[THERION]

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

Been asking and searching 'bout this for a while ...  maybe possible if you have the right tools, but an awful lot of work.

I don't know what the tools are for this alas. BTW it was seemingly possible with IL2 1946.

 

Great Battles: I would like to be able to correct heights f.i. the Dutch coastline, add working harbors, roads and get rid of wrongly placed trees.

 

You can however implement fake roads, railways and towns etc. and even create airfields,with Surface Edit but that's about it.

Seethe Surface Editor manual posted elsewhere for this.

 

I don't think it's possible to create new maps from scratch in IL2GB at the moment - all tools and options in the Mission Editor are quite limited as far as
I can judge and from comments made by mission/campaign builders, the surface of existing maps can be modified, yes. But you can't build brand new
maps for now.

There is actually a map included in IL2GB which is not built by the official dev team - Velikie Luki or Lapino? - anyway one of those two maps was built
by some community crew and I think they might have had access to some more powerful tools to create these maps. I can't imagine they did it with
the official Mission Editor.

[jollyjack]

2 minutes ago, THERION said:

There is actually a map included in IL2GB which is not built by the official dev team - Velikie Luki or Lapino? - anyway one of those two maps was built

by some community crew and I think they might have had access to some more powerful tools to create these maps. I can't imagine they did it with
the official Mission Editor.

 

Interested in who dunnit ... . Novosokolniki map maybe?

[THERION]

6 minutes ago, jollyjack said:

 

Interested in who dunnit ... . Novosokolniki map maybe?

 

I don't know who did it and as I stated in my post, I'm not 100% sure which map exactly it was. Maybe the Novosokolniki map?

[Juri_JS]

Novosokolniki and Velikie Luki were created as 3rd party projects by Zeus, who now works for the devs.

 

When creating maps most of the work is done in graphic programs like Photoshop or GIMP. Only later you will need the official tools to convert your work into the file format used by the game. The tools in the mission editor are only used later to work on details.

 

If anyone is really interested in map building for Il-2 GB I would suggest to learn the basics in RoF. I think tutorials and tools can be found on the Russian forum:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.ru/topic/493-вопросы-и-ответы-по-изготовлению-карт/

 

When you know what you are doing and can show the devs some results, maybe you will get the official conversion tools for Il-2.

[CountZero]

There was also atempts to make Murmansk, Odessa and Leningrad maps, it went nowhere, basicly you can make maps and look at them in Mission Planer but only devs can add them to game, i highly doubt any new user made maps will be added to game, and for 100% not like map mods.

Edited May 8, 2022 by CountZero

[Juri_JS]

If I remember correctly Odessa was adopted as an official project, but wasn't finished because of work on Kuban map.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?do=findComment&comment=378896

 

Instead of starting a new 3rd party map that will take years to finish it, I would like to see the Odessa map completed. Maybe it can be done as a community project?

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Juri_JS

[AEthelraedUnraed]

8 hours ago, Shikikan said:

I'm curious to know if it's possible to make a custom map, not just a custom mission for an existing map.  I'm aware that you can create custom missions using the existing maps.  I'm curious about creating entirely new maps, with entirely new terrain.

Nope, sadly it isn't. Believe me, I tried. The map tools linked by Juri_JS are for RoF whose map format, although similar, is not entirely compatible with that of IL2. And even if you'd somehow were able to edit the maps, they're CRC checked so the game refuses to load them.

 

1 hour ago, Juri_JS said:

Instead of starting a new 3rd party map that will take years to finish it, I would like to see the Odessa map completed. Maybe it can be done as a community project?

If anything were to be started, count me in! I'd love some early-war Eastern Front action, and the best thing is that the map could be used for 1944 as well!

I like to think my work on documenting the surface editing side of the Mission Editor shows I've got the necessary qualifications

[Shikikan]

Thanks for the quick reply!  That confirms what I suspected.

 

[LizLemon]

Maps can be made with the RoF tools but only loaded in the mission editor.

[Juri_JS]

4 hours ago, LizLemon said:

Maps can be made with the RoF tools but only loaded in the mission editor.

Isn't this just because new maps have to be enabled for the player's account in Il-2 GB, which means devs would have to give you ingame access to a map you've created? 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

6 hours ago, Juri_JS said:

Isn't this just because new maps have to be enabled for the player's account in Il-2 GB, which means devs would have to give you ingame access to a map you've created? 

Certain files within the game are locked, probably by some kind of a CRC check. You can check this by copying one of those files from the unpacked .gtp files; as long as you don't change anything, it works perfectly. If you change just one byte, you get an error.

 

The same happens if you change the map file. I guess that it calculates the file's hash, checks that with a list of pre-calculated hashes and returns an error if it doesn't find a match.

[LizLemon]

I think its the heightmaps (.dat) themselves that the check is run on. Everything else I swapped worked.

[Jason_Williams]

On 5/8/2022 at 2:27 AM, Juri_JS said:

If I remember correctly Odessa was adopted as an official project, but wasn't finished because of work on Kuban map.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?do=findComment&comment=378896

 

Instead of starting a new 3rd party map that will take years to finish it, I would like to see the Odessa map completed. Maybe it can be done as a community project?

 

 

 

Was never an official anything.

 

Jason

[Avimimus]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:27 AM, Juri_JS said:

Instead of starting a new 3rd party map that will take years to finish it, I would like to see the Odessa map completed. Maybe it can be done as a community project?

 

It'd be pretty cool if the community could put together a team to upgrade the Rhineland map (as efforts have been tried by several people). Whether it'd be more trouble than it is worth for the developer to support such a project is another question.

 

That said - I think it is totally understandable if the devs feel it is simpler not to use volunteers for such complex work.