News Liste Armed Assault

Schmalfelden is a map based on actual terrain in Germany, created using a military 1:50,000 scale topographic map (for elevation datum) and a Google Earth image of the area. I selected this area for recreating realistic engagements in a European environment which might typically described as "good tank country", terrain which Soviet Forces would have sought to exploit with their tank and mechanized infantry forces had the Cold War ever gone "hot". Another reason I selected this area was because unlike most of Germany, the farming communities in this area are very smal. Usually most towns usually are at least a square kilometer or two - these are half that. Hopefully the small size of the built up areas will help the ArmA AI.

Although the ground may appear to be flat (especially from the air) there are actually differences in elevation across the area of 50 meters. Making use of the valleys and draws are critical in your tactical maneuvering.

The map is also well suited for use in WW2 European scenarios. I also find quite a bit of fun to ride around on a motorcycle and explore the roads and trails and take in the sights from odd corners of the map. Flying NOE in a helicopter is also entertaining in itself.

This is a BETA version of the map - it is not finished. Road signs, road markers, power lines, street lights and other miscellaneous objects which bring "life" to a map have not been completed. There are not doubt objects which are currently not properly placed, eg building interiors with grass floors. (these are difficult to look at completely in Buldozer).

1. This map contains over 260,000 objects at this point and requires a good system for high FPS. How many objects are in the players line of sight is the main factor impacting frame rate. Obvious solutions to help improve FPS are reducing the Visibility Range and other Graphics options, increasing the fog in your mission setup (not unrealistic for Germany) or fighting at night. A less obvious help is setting up missions so the players primary direction of focus is toward the center of the map where there are fewer forests. Keeping the forests on the west and northwest side at your back as much as possible is a good idea.

2. This is a 5120 meter x 5120 meter map, not an island - no water around it. Apart from the small size some may not be happy with, this introduces oddities on the right and lower edge of the playing area, where the overlap of satellite image segments overlaps the actual image. In effect you lose proper terrain image for some 500 meters on the right and bottom edge. Not particularly noticeable on foot, but definitely noticeable when flying. I use these areas as setup areas for AI controlled forces to enter the scenario. Additionally, the ArmA program uses the lower left satellite image segment to cover the area outside of the map playing area.

3. No airfield.

4. The forests do not have any under or edge growth. Not sure if I can do this without further hits on the frame rate. I have "roughed up" the terrain in the woods to help provide better cover (at least when prone).

5. The ArmA restriction of 4 textures per map segment (I have 6 total on the map) has required some texture fudging where there are too many texture types in close proximity. Therefore you will find some forest floors with grass instead of leaves and ferns. There are also some areas where there is light colored grass instead of preferred darker green grass.

Within the constraints of the game engine, I have attempted to make this map as realistic as possible. Here are some exceptions and other comments:

1. Buildings.
ArmA buildings are in general smaller than the real world buildings. I've done the best I could to determine the general type of structures, and the close clutter of the structures is realistic. For those not familiar with Germany, barns and other "out buildings" are usually all "in town" right next to the owners house - sometimes attached. Animals, manure piles and associated odors too.

The hangar buildings represent the common pre-engineered steel "barns" which are quite evident in the Google image.

The church in Schmalfelden is much larger than the actual church which I found a photo of, but it is more correct in architecture. An Eastern or Spanish style just didn't look right although the size would be more accurate.

Obviously I had to use some artistic license where there were not ArmA structures available to match what is on the ground.

2. Vegetation.
The forests in the area contain what might be called "lumber nurseries" where trees are harvested for lumber and the area then replanted with trees in dense rows. Different species of trees and areas with different age trees are evident in the Google image. While possible to recreate the "dress-right-dress" rows of trees, doing so adds even more tree objects than are already on the map. I opted for a random placement which restricts line of sight without using as many tree objects.

For what it's worth, I've already eliminated over 15,000 trees from the map to help improve the frame rate. I will continue to work on this, but I do not want to make them the open forests in BIS island which are not realistic for Germany.

Tree and bush placement is accurate except for the lack of bushes in the forests. Placement was simple because of the high resolution Google image. You'll see single trees standing in the middle of a wheat fields. They are there because they are really there.

3. Roads
Most German farm field paths and many forest trails are actually paved with light duty asphalt. I thought it a bit "much" to do all the roads in asphalt and have down-graded many of these to gravel or dirt tracks.

There is a lot of concrete paving around the buildings in these towns. Since ArmA doesn't have a object or texture for concrete paving, I ended up using "Mesto" to approximate gravel. The gas station in Schmalfelden is an example of where I used road segments to approximate paving. Not sure whether I really like the results.

4. Interesting Note
The quarry is know for it's excellent plesiosaur fossils. The area also has a lot of caves.

I request a little slack from German Armed Assault players . I know someone out there knows the area or even lives there, and while I am certainly open to criticism and correction, please remember I'm stuck using the buildings and objects provided in the simulation, and am using maps, aerial images, and a few images off the net to construct the map. Additionally, I have faded 20+ year old memories when I drove through the area once after visiting Rotenburg which is east of the map area. (I lived in Thuengersheim, north of Wuerzburg 1985-88 while serving in the US Army.) In any case, please do not be insulted by my failings or errors.

I would appreciate reports of errors on the map if you can provide coordinates or some description of the location. This will help me finalize the map more quickly. Contact me here.

Enjoy!
Nick Bell
April 2008