Summervegetation

[Beton]

Hi..

some of you may have taken notice of the release of the summervegetation replacementpack some days ago. In the releasenotes i mentioned that we would be releasing an addonversion for islandmakers.

Since after some days of more or less only positive feedback we(Bushlurker and me) decided to release the addonpack. This means every Arma 2 plant including clutter is available in summerdress now.
This addonpack is only of interest for mapmakers for now as there is no island/map released which is using it. Thats why i am releasing it here.
When i created wintervegetation for a map i realized that this would become a very big file... so if everey mapmaker made his own summervegetation this would result in many big addons, what is not very good. I thought it would be better to have one communityaddon every mapmaker using summervegetation could rely on.
This addon is meant to be a cornerstone for an addon from the community for the community. This means everyone is welcomed to contribute all kinds of vegetation to create one foundation for hopefully many mapmakers using one addon.
To make this addon suitable for multiplayer we need a key. This key is for now located on my hd so any new files added to this addon have to go through my hands at the moment. If anybody feels this should be changed and has a suggestion on how to organize colaboration.... feel free to say it.

Note please: this is not the replacementversion but a standaloneversion which yet is not in use on any released map
Usage of this addon is explained i the readme.

So hopefully this will be the start ....and grow...

http://www.mediafire.com/?2tvajpj44q5c11u
http://www.mediafire.com/?e9e1892u487nd1d
http://www.mediafire.com/?2av206hx41gg0dl
http://www.mediafire.com/?uimtt43qgbnq3xb

have fun...

[[APS]Gnat]

OK, sounds good.
So I've started downloading, but
- Total MB ?
- Class names changed or a list of class names?

[Bushlurker]

Hi all...

Sorry the links aren't very specific... I'm not entirely sure myself of the individual sizes - around 400mb in total for them all... I do have a list of contents though... here we go...

Pack consists of summer textured versions of the following stock BIS A2 vegetation...

Bush

b_canina2s
b_corylus
b_corylus2
b_craet1
b_craet2
b_prunus
b_salix2s
b_sambucus


Clutter

c_autumn_flowers
c_blueBerry
c_caluna
c_deadGrassBunch
c_fern
c_fernTall
c_GrassAutumn
c_GrassAutumn_t
c_GrassAutumnBrown
c_grassBunch
c_GrassCrooked
c_GrassCrookedForest
c_GrassCrookedGreen
c_GrassDryLong
c_GrassDryLongBunch
c_GrassTall
c_leaves
c_MushroomBabka
c_MushroomHorcak
c_MushroomMuchomurka
c_MushroomPrasivky
c_picea
c_PlantsAutumnForest
c_raspBerry
c_SmallLeafPlant
c_stubble
c_TreeSmallForest
c_weed2
c_weed3
c_WeedDead
c_WeedDead2
c_wideLeafPlant
cr_leaf
cr_leaf2
cr_leaf3


Plants

lopuch_podzimni
p_articum
p_carduus
p_Helianthus
p_heracleum
p_Phragmites
p_urtica
pumpkin
pumpkin2
sunFlower
**lopuch podzimni and sunflower are part-finished BIS models included with A2 but not actually used** articum and helianthus seem to be the "finished" versions)

Trees

t_acer2s
t_betula1f
t_betula2f
t_betula2s
t_betula2w
t_carpinus2s
t_fagus2f
t_fagus2s
t_fagus2W
t_fraxinus2s
t_fraxinus2W
t_larix3f
t_larix3s
t_malus1s

I'm not 100% sure about whether all the clutter included is summer versioned - Beton made them as a last minute addition to the Summer Vegetation pack - so I've not looked through them all yet - however - all the rest of the contents are basically the same as the current SummerVeg pack (clutter too probably)...

B

[IceBreakr]

Beton & Bushlurker: what is the total filesize of this addon 7zipped? Usually a mission maker doesn't need all the vegetation? What are the rules of using the pack for any new islands?

[Beton]

Hi icebreakr..

as this pack contains all arma2 vegetation the size is about 398 mb at the moment. As stated before the aim of this addon is to be a base for more than just one island. I think it is kind of unnecessary when every island carries it´s own bunch of vegetation which is/could be used by other islands too. Of course not all vegetation is needed by everyone but it would be nice if there was one big pack of vegetation every mapmaker can use and know that it is accepted by many servers. If people want to contribute their work to this pack to make it easily accesible to other mapmakers that would be great. I could think about berghoff´s and mikebart´s trees or your ibr_plants inside this one big plantspack. Therefore this pack is not called beton´s or bushlurker´s summervegetation but just summervegetation and with everycontribution added we can give a new versionnumber so a mapmaker can state version xx or higher is needed for the map and he can rely on compatibility for the future. The servers on the other side just have to make sure to have the latest version and everything will be fine.

Thats the basic idea behind this effort... so you and every other mapmaker can use this addon and be shure it is provided with an accepted key and none of the plants inside will be removed in the future so compatibility is guaranteed.

[IceBreakr]

I wonder what BIS will do as Arrowhead will probably we stand alone. Hopefully they won't leave behind bunch of stuff from A2 and make a double DVD release this time. With the space available they could throw in A1(CAA1) and summer vegetation?

[shezan74]

Hi..
To make this addon suitable for multiplayer we need a key. This key is for now located on my hd so any new files added to this addon have to go through my hands at the moment. If anybody feels this should be changed and has a suggestion on how to organize colaboration.... feel free to say it.

So hopefully this will be the start ....and grow...

First of all... GRAZIE! This will be a great step ahead into map making! A complete framework of old (redefined) and maybe new plants will be a great addiction to all of us. The way, if i'm right, it's to have something like a framework like ACE2, that could be shareable between various projects.
This is a great new, and i will give it a try for sure I'm crashing my head on a fence generator evolution that will place trees in a specific way i need (based on gradient and altitudes on the map).
Small question: i've screwed up everything on my map when i've placed tons of trees. Are your plants "lighter" for GPU than the default trees of A2?

Another way of work could be a SVN project hosted somewhere, with an official page for downloading and collaborative instruments for sharing sources (and uploading new plants, for example).

Uh... second thing... make a backup key

[shezan74]

Got it... 398 Mb... it's a HUGE file

[Bushlurker]

what is the total filesize of this addon 7zipped?

398Mb RAR, apparently (thanks shezan ) (although rar proved problematic during this release - I've suggested 7z to Beton and will be adopting it myself from now on I think)

Usually a mission maker doesn't need all the vegetation?

A very good point which we - as islandmakers as a whole - really should discuss and reach a consensus on... more on this point later...

What are the rules of using the pack for any new islands

Personally - I hate even the smell of the word "rules" , but this and the previous question is all tied up with Betons concept - which I think is a good one...

I wonder what BIS will do as Arrowhead will probably (be) stand alone.

Exactly one of my thoughts as I pondered the future of island releases... currently - we can comfortably expect to be able to use stock BIS everything - veg, objects, houses, etc... but if Arrowhead IS completely standalone - can we be assured that those misguided unfortunates who buy into the franchise at the Arrowhead stage - and who don't immediately buy A2 as well - will actually be able to use our islands with only Arrowhead installed??? (I'm thinking of my fave A1 island Panthera here - and the struggle Ice had because A2 included some, but not all, of the A1 content required... obvious stuff too - like bridges!)
Okay - that was the BIG leap from A1 to A2 - the leap to Arrowhead shouldn't be so bad - I hope.... but still... it's a concern...

This will be a great step ahead into map making! A complete framework of old (redefined) and maybe new plants will be a great addiction to all of us. The way, if i'm right, it's to have something like a framework like ACE2, that could be shareable between various projects.

Yup - not only is this Beton's concept - right on the nail! - but also possibly the best unconscious island-making pun ever!!! - New plants IS an addiction... I could probably add another 100Mb to this pack right now - with specifically Scottish stuff I've been making - like six shades of dry grass, about six different varieties of heather (erica), dogrose (canina) in flower, thistles with proper purple tops, etc etc etc... none of which are included in the pack as yet...Still to come are gorse bushes, scottish crop plants like tatties 'n neeps (potato and turnip), barley (essential whisky ingredient ), and several more...
(I've also been working on poppy plants and a couple of other more exotic plants)...

As Beton says... there's two basic choices for us here... we can all reinvent the wheel - make our own variations (or share them) - and release our own associated plantpacks with our islands... essentially what we've all been doing so far... Ice's previous point is valid here... if you've made a 5x5 or 10x10 island - say a coupla hundred Mb - using a restricted subset of available vegetation - as most islands do - do you really want to saddle your 200mb download with a "required addon" that is already double that - and liable to get bigger???
Thats a valid concern...

What would be the benefits?
I think the benefits are basically twofold...
Firstly... reinventing the wheel... Island making takes long enough without everybody having to recolour all their veg individually - if retextures are available, why not use them? OK - everyone wants their island to look unique, but a birch tree is a birch tree and, if people actually do contribute variations as is hoped, then there may ultimately be many variations of each item to choose from, and individuality can be achieved purely by the selection of variations you choose to employ...
Theres a "core" of recolours here already - instead of recolouring 15 items for your island, you may only recolour and contribute 2, but use 13 from the pack - ultimately = less work for the individual island maker...

Secondly... standardisation... As Beton also says... if multiple islands are released - all using the "summerpack" as a requirement, then anyone who downloads and/or uses multiple islands will actually end up downloading less in the long run...
If servers have the latest summerpack plus key installed, they need only worry about the individual islands and their associated objectpacks - if any... less confusion for server admins = they're more likely to host games based on alternate islands.
From an individual user point of view, anyone who downloads an island or two will only have to download the one plants pack to cover all the islands they use...

OK...
Theres a lot to digest there, so I'll shut up for now...
I'd like to think of this release as an "initiative"... the concept will only work if we - as a loose association of island makers - choose to adopt it...
I think the concept is a good one in principle... I'd really like to hear what everyone else thinks - all suggestions, criticisms, potential practical problems, everything and anything relevant you can think of... lets discuss the idea, and - if we all agree - we'll make it happen - and hopefully save each other a lot of extra work...


B

[Beton]

Very well spoken Bushlurker,

it´s always better to have a native speaker explaining things.

About the concern regarding Arrowhead i think i read somewhere arma2 can be started as a mod. If Bis does not change their attitude towards using content from older games there should be no problem using this plants addon as it has any data needed to be used. At least this addon should work. I don´t know what will be with the rest of things used on our islands. maybe bis will give away arma2 for little money then and the arrowheadusers go and buy arma2 as a kind of extension... but this is all speculation.

So best would be now to say your opinion and maybe think about contributing your stuff to make this a success...

Concerning the rar/7z discussion: I have not tried 7z yet but if it has any advantages or is prefered here i have no problem to switch, sorry Bushlurker really forgot to change to 7z