[WIP] Lighthouses mod

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

But this does not match #1

LLH_LaPlate.cfg

[Unit]
ClassName=LHLaPlate
3DModelFileName=data/Land/LLH_LaPlate/LLH_LaPlate
UnitType=408
MaxSpeed=0.000000
MinSpeed=0.000000
Length=7.5
Width=7.1
RenownAwarded=1

[Anvar1061]

Originally Posted by Kendras

LLH_LaPlate.cfg

This you had to fix Tourelle de la Plate alpha v12 and in the Roster folder, and I did not have to rack my brains.

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

This you had to fix Tourelle de la Plate alpha v12 and in the Roster folder, and I did not have to rack my brains.

Sorry, no definitive nor official mod has been released yet, we are still working on it. So use at your own risks !

For generic lighthouses, I think they should be very simple 3D models, and we should be able to rescale them easily (different separated parts, easy scaling on Y axis to change only the height). The texture applied to them should be easily tweaked in order to have different textures for the same model, depending on the lighthouse). For example, Le Four and Les Pierres Noires are very similar, but the texture must be different.

[Anvar1061]

Originally Posted by Kendras

Sorry, no definitive nor official mod has been released yet, we are still working on it. So use at your own risks !

No problem! I am a tester of your mod. But, if I put everywhere UnitType = 408, I get CTD. So I change it in Mis.file to 407! So that you know.
Good luck!

[gap]

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

No problem! I am a tester of your mod. But, if I put everywhere UnitType = 408, I get CTD. So I change it in Mis.file to 407! So that you know.
Good luck!

@ Anvar1061

there are UnitType settings in three different files:

- LLH_LaPlate.cfg in Land/LLH_LaPlate folder
- LHLaPlate.cfg in Roster/France/Land
- Lighthouses.mis in SingleMissions/English/Lighthouses

The three of them need to be matched, or the game will CTD on mission loading.

Tourelle de la Plate alpha v12 contains its own testing mission. If you run that mission, everything should work just fine with no tweaks required. The mod should already be compatible with most megamods / mod loadouts, since we have made our best not to include in it stock files which are also modified by other mods (two important exceptions to this rule being Zones.cfg and Sh3.sdl though).
Of course you can still customize the mod, or test it with your own test mission, but then don't complain with me or Kendras if your game happens to crash. All in all, my suggestion is to consult us before you make any modifications, specifying what is your purpose and what mod soup you are using; I am pretty sure that in most cases we will spare you a good dose of brain racking...

Thank you for taking your time and test our work BTW. Your help is very much appreciated, but let's coordinate our relative efforts

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

So, maybe the easiest way is to keep the current paint sheme.

I am afraid the yellow/black cardinal mark system has been introduced after WWII. In any case, the historical picture you have posted here a few days ago seems to discard it. Pity, because it looked very cool

Plain (dark) green, plain red and red with a central black band, all are likely alternatives with their own pro's and con's. Unless we find information on the paint scheme actually used at the time, I have no real preference for one or the other. Most of my remarks on the subject are more me thinking out loud, than actually suggesting/discarding any of the aforementioned options

Originally Posted by Kendras

Thank you, that was a good exercice.

I am impressed by your work

Originally Posted by Kendras

Now, we have to find an average shape for each group.

More than looking for an average shape, I would rather choose a lighthouse for each category which fits better the caracteristics of the group. I would then model it as accurately as possible, but stripping it down as much as possible of any non-shared feature. Any accessory/specific parts can be stored in the library file, and set as configurable equipments that we can switch on and off at wish.
The advantage of this work-flow is that, within one model, we get an accurate representaation of at least one of the lighthouses in the group, and a generic representation of all the others

Originally Posted by Kendras

You return to Senegal ?

No long trips on the horizon, for now

Originally Posted by Kendras

For generic lighthouses, I think they should be very simple 3D models, and we should be able to rescale them easily (different separated parts, easy scaling on Y axis to change only the height).

In general, I think we should not waste too much of our time in customizing the generic models. If I had to focus on making a generic model to resamble more closely to a specific lighthouse, I would rather model that lighthouse, maybe using the generic model as template.

That said, I hope to use stripped-down versions of specific lighthouse models as generic models, setting them as "proxy clones" (a "proxy clone" is an unit pointing to the dat file of another unit). This is a method used in SHIV and 5 for representing some sibling aircraft/ship classes, but it should work in SHIII too. Using this method, unit type, equipments and textures can be easily customized for each copy of the main unit, but unfortunately there is not way to customize its height, unless we divided the main model in slices, the lower ones being set as configurable library equipments (but that would be a very unhortodox approach lol )

Originally Posted by Kendras

The texture applied to them should be easily tweaked in order to have different textures for the same model, depending on the lighthouse). For example, Le Four and Les Pierres Noires are very similar, but the texture must be different.

No problem for textures, but remember that not always modern paint schemes are indicative of the historical ones

Originally Posted by gap

I am afraid the yellow/black cardinal mark system has been introduced after WWII. In any case, the historical picture you have posted here a few days ago seems to discard it. Pity, because it looked very cool
...
No problem for textures, but remember that not always modern paint schemes are indicative of the historical ones

I think, our method should be this one : we create lighthouses with colors and light signal of nowadays, unless we have precise informations about how it was during WWII.

Originally Posted by gap

More than looking for an average shape, I would rather choose a lighthouse for each category which fits better the caracteristics of the group. I would then model it as accurately as possible

In general, I think we should not waste too much of our time in customizing the generic models.

If I had to focus on making a generic model to resamble more closely to a specific lighthouse, I would rather model that lighthouse, maybe using the generic model as template.

I have put a green color on groups that we should focus on first. In these groups, a lighthouse's name is sometimes also green, meaning that this lighthouse should be modeled first, and used as generic lighthouse for all the lighthouses of the group.

[MLF]

Returning to La Tourelle de La Plate

Originally Posted by gap

I am afraid the yellow/black cardinal mark system has been introduced after WWII. In any case, the historical picture you have posted here a few days ago seems to discard it. Pity, because it looked very cool

Plain (dark) green, plain red and red with a central black band, all are likely alternatives with their own pro's and con's. Unless we find information on the paint scheme actually used at the time, I have no real preference for one or the other. Most of my remarks on the subject are more me thinking out loud, than actually suggesting/discarding any of the aforementioned options

I emailed the Service de l'Inventaire du Patrimoine Culturel Direction du Tourisme, du Patrimoine et des Voies navigables who replied with a b/w photograph from 1950 (possibly has already been seen on this thread) which shows the tower with a dark top and light coloured bottom. They also referred me to the following web site:-

http://www.dirm.nord-atlantique-manche-ouest.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/sites-des-subdivisions-des-phares-balises-a62.html

From that web site I emailed the address given there and received a reply and a scan of a notice to mariners dated 31/03/1922 basically stating that the light, which had been reported extinguished, was now back up and working.

There is also a section on the notice - Renseignements (Information) which states the following:-

Nature:- Permanent gas light
Shape:- Turret painted in red surmounted by a reservoir and a lantern
Colour of Light: Green


As, I believe, this department is responsible for the painting of these light towers, this is about as close as we will possibly get to knowing the colour of the tower

Regards,

MLF

[Anvar1061]

Originally Posted by gap

@ Anvar1061

there are UnitType settings in three different files:

In single missions I forgot to do the necessary correction.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

In single missions I forgot to do the necessary correction.

If you use the mission included in the mod, you don't need to do any correction, unless for some reason you want to change unit type from 407 (as currently used by our lighthouse) to something else.