[WIP] Suomenlinna 2x2km terrain

I'd like to use my 100th post to announce a small map that I've recently started work on.

I originally planned to do Monte Argentario, an island off the coast of Italy but lack of time at the moment has pushed that one to somewhere next year. However I don't want to get rusty and forget what I've learned so far so I squeezed in this one. Once this is done I'll be releasing it and it's source file with a tutorial.

First up some background info on Suomenlinna and the characteristics of my Arma version:

Suomenlinna

Background:

Suomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori (Finnish), or Sveaborg (Swedish), is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands (Kustaanmiekka, Susisaari, Iso-Mustasaari, Pikku-Mustasaari, Länsi-Mustasaari and Långören) and which now forms part of the city of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomenlinna

Characteristics:

• Heightmap: 1024x1024 px
  
• Horizontal scale: 2 meters
  
• Map size: 2x2km
  
• Sat map resolution: 5120x5120px
  

Sources:

Height data

Courtesy of the Finnish government, very accurate heightdata and ortographic photographs. Why don't do all governments do this?

https://tiedostopalvelu.maanmittauslaitos.fi/tp/kartta?lang=en

Sat map

I stitched together screenshots from Google Maps instead of using the photographs mentioned above as GM had a better quality.

Roadmap & Progress

Touch up satellite map texture in Photoshop - 75% done

Draw attributes mask - 10% done

Create custom terrain textures - 30% done

Sculpt and refine terrain shape - 5% done

Lay down roads

Place objects

Place trees, bushes, rocks, etc.

Write tutorial

General info:

I'm only doing the four bigger islands as I initially thought there were only four (turned out there were six). Creating custom buildings is something I've decided to do :P It's just gonna look wrong otherwise.

First update: Made good progress on touching up the sat map, only have one island to go.

Second update: I took a good look at the sat map last night and it still needs a few hours of laboured love before it's presentable. It wouldn't do much good posting it up in it's current state but let's just say I'm getting there.

Small but very dense islands map, I see !! Looking forward for the release :)

Yeah, I'm not sure if the map will be fun to play at all. It's more of a practice thing for me to do everything that needs to be done to make a map and I hope to make it as close to RL as possible. I do seem to be making some Finnish friends of mine happy with it though :)

every map is fun to play, if there is no 'good' location mission maker can create his own - and 4 islands might be nice to use boats to move around :-)

If you need them, I have a few photos from my last visit ( when I managed to get inside the Navy Officers Academy by mistake ).

If you need them, I have a few photos from my last visit ( when I managed to get inside the Navy Officers Academy by mistake ).

That would be great, thank you! I've already gathered quite a few photos but the more reference material I have, the better. Just prepare to be added to the credits :)

wow. visited this island last summer. looking forward doing that again in the armaverse ;)

I can see it being great for TvT. Looking forward to seeing more :)

Looking forward to the island and tutorial:)

Good luck with the project. Can't wait!

I can see it being great for TvT. Looking forward to seeing more :)

Funny, I said the same thing to a friend last night when I was looking at photos :) There's a few spots where you get a good overview of all four islands once I've added the fortress walls. I've already decided to do custom buildings but I'll probably use A2 buildings as placeholders first so people can go have fun on it, new maps are always nice :3

@Mustangdelta: Thanks, I hope to get everything done by the end of January at the latest.

Have you considered using any of the MBG building packs as well?

Have you considered using any of the MBG building packs as well?

Hadn't thought about that yet. I'm not too familiar with them but aren't they for Arma 2? The killhouses seem to have been ported but I can't find any info on this one: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14828 which would be the pack I'd use until my custom buildings are ready.

If they work in A3, then cool, I'll definitely give them a look.

Hadn't thought about that yet. I'm not too familiar with them but aren't they for Arma 2? The killhouses seem to have been ported but I can't find any info on this one: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=14828 which would be the pack I'd use until my custom buildings are ready.

If they work in A3, then cool, I'll definitely give them a look.

Celle 2 uses the same building pack, and we have Celle 2 in our group's repo along with some more MBG stuff (like cindercity). They work great :)

Thanks for the tip then :) I'll grab the pack from Armaholic and take a look at them in the editor.

That would be great, thank you! I've already gathered quite a few photos but the more reference material I have, the better. Just prepare to be added to the credits :)

Maybe not the best photos ever ( I had limited time there ) but I think that are quite descriptive. I uploaded them in max resolution so you can zoom as much as you want.

The map that says Merisotakoulu stands for Naval Academy ( Meri = sea, Sota = war, koulu = school ). And Suomenlinna means the fortress of Finland ( in fact Soumi = Finland, Linna = castle ).

Here is the Mega link ( 100 MB )

Thank you MistyRonin. These are definitely going to help. I already see little details that must be added like the mooring ring that's embedded in the rocks and the slope leading up to one of the buildings in the playground square picture. Awesome :D

I owe you one!

Snow would be awesome. :D

You picked a nice location. Looking forward to seeing more information about the project, and eventually playing it!

Keep up the great work!

Snow would be awesome. :D

After seeing 19thCype's terrain (here), I decided I'll probably do a winter version of it as well so at some point, I'll have you covered ;)

You picked a nice location. Looking forward to seeing more information about the project, and eventually playing it!

Keep up the great work!

Thanks, I'm currently wrapping up my first iteration of the sat map and hope to post a preview of it this weekend :)

this looks like an amazing idea i look forward to seeing the completed map keep up the good work :)

There is a secret tunnel going from island to mainland and pops up in one of Helsinki parks.
Dont need to do that, but just as a side note.

This place worked as a prison during our Civil War 1918 and after that.

As a fortress it was a failure. It had 5000 men defending it when russians came 1808.

Despite all the money and efforts in capitulated after russians fired few shots from neighbour island.

When king visited the project earlier, he even mentioned that should the neighbour island also be fortified ?

They never did that.

Its a lovely place in summertime.

This. This is one admirable project and then some 

If you manage to include the underwater topography around the islands too so that shipwrecks and other underground objects can be positioned later, I can almost certainly guarantee this map will see attention from marine archaeology personel and other cultural heritage types.

This map would also greatly benefit from a 3D model of a U-2A class submarine. I'll start asking around and will send one your way if I happen upon one ;)

EDIT: Didn't realize this was a dead topic. Why, oh why can't the forum topics auto lock after some set time and only the original authors or mods revive them. I hate this necrophagy. I hates I hates I HATES IT! *Crawls under the computer desk to sulk*