[REL] CSL Custom Map Colors

[ColonelSandersLite]

Color:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20color%20b.jpg_zpsfqlwcgkx.png~original http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20color%20a_zpsloat6uw3.jpg~original

Historical:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20historic%20b_zpsvtvkngog.jpg~original http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20historic%20a_zpsnzbrqaei.jpg~original

Classic:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20classic%20b_zps39n0cmbe.jpg~original http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/ColonelSandersLite/map%20classic%20a_zpshj17rf16.jpg~original

What this does:
Real depth charts are color coded the other way around from the stock game. Corrected so that light blue is deep and dark blue is shallow.

Improved contrast on the depth colors so that it's easier to tell some depths apart.

Adds elevation information to land (except historic variant). Inspired by the standard height map color scheme that was on every general purpose map I ever saw growing up. Green is sea level, progressing to yellow, then brown, then finally black for very high altitude areas.

This mod comes in 3 variants:

Classic - A slightly tuned version of the original release of this mod. This version uses the shader from TMO 2.5. Included for your convenience.

Color - An improved version of the classic variant. I modified the stock shader so that everything isn't as yellowed out as it is with the stock variant. I don't know what the game developers obsession was with making everything look like an antique.

Historical - this version is as historically accurate as possible within the limitations of the game engine, based on actual charts from the period. Color is only used to mark very shallow waters. Historically, well known harbors would have had numeric depth labels in places, and there is no way to replicate this. In reality, most of the pacific wasn't charted particularly well anyways so not having particularly accurate information in enemy controlled areas is completely realistic with very few exceptions. Historical maps also show contour lines on land near the coast with hilltops labeled for navigational purposes. Again, this is not possible within the limitations of the game engine. Given that submarine position is always accurately known in silent hunter, this is a non-issue as far as functionality goes.



Compatibility:
Should be compatible with all other mods that do not do the same thing. It only alters two files that only effect the way the maps are drawn.



Installation:
JSGME ready
Install using the normal JSGME method. If you want to be 100% sure that no other mod will overwrite this one, install this one last.



License:
I made this mod primarily for personal use and I really couldn't care less what you do with it.

Download:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=4772

[Webster]

address removed for basic safety and common sense reasons :timeout:


please dont ever put your address in a public forum, there are just too many crazy people in this world.


i strongly recommend you remove it from your mods read me as well

ps - it wouldnt hurt to remove the (****) stuff too

[ColonelSandersLite]

As stated in pm, it's not my address, but the address of the guy who wrote the license and is part of the legal document.
(http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/)

[Webster]

the mod looks great :up:

[etheberge]

I love it, good job!
:yeah:

[cdrsubron7]

Nice job! Thanks for your efforts. :yeah:

[banjo]

Very nice. I particularly like the land mass colors. I have to say though, the ocean colors seem backwards--I would think the deeper the water the darker blue, and the shallower the lighter (kinda like RL). Personal choice I guess.

Well done.

[Sevrin]

Cool, like the elevation colors as well.

[ETR3(SS)]

Very nice. I particularly like the land mass colors. I have to say though, the ocean colors seem backwards--I would think the deeper the water the darker blue, and the shallower the lighter (kinda like RL). Personal choice I guess.

Well done. That's actually the way real charts are color coded. Check out NOAA's online chart viewer. :up:

[Fish40]

That's actually the way real charts are color coded. Check out NOAA's online chart viewer. :up:



I was wondering about that. I know present day charts are displayed like this, but what about in WWII? It's outstanding work, and a huge improvement, but being a realism buff, I need to ask about the historical accuracy of colored depth charts in WWII. Mabey there was. I don't know. I don't even know if the charts we have in the game now are accurate for the period. Probrably not. That would be a good project for one of our mod wizards!:yep:

[ETR3(SS)]

I was wondering about that. I know present day charts are displayed like this, but what about in WWII? It's outstanding work, and a huge improvement, but being a realism buff, I need to ask about the historical accuracy of colored depth charts in WWII. Mabey there was. I don't know. I don't even know if the charts we have in the game now are accurate for the period. Probrably not. That would be a good project for one of our mod wizards!:yep:I would imagine that period navigational charts would be hard to come by as they are superseded by more accurate ones. But much older charts have been in brown to tan colors.

[ColonelSandersLite]

But much older charts have been in brown to tan colors.

Careful with that. White paper turns "brown to tan color" over time. ;) Especially when exposed to significant amounts of moisture over a long time period.

Anyways, I can't say I'm a period chart specialist, but I have seen just a few pretty dang old charts, though I don't know their year. Those where actually plain white (no colored pigments at all) with labels printed in black. No way to do that in game though.

On the subject of them ever being color coded as in the stock game at one time or another, I have to say that this is unlikely. There's a somewhat noticeable habit of not changing the way things are without a *good* reason. When putting pigments on charts to represent depth became a practice, there was probably some mixed practices (think beta vs vhs or hd dvd vs bluray) but once things started to go a certain way, it probably just stayed that way. There's really just no point to changing the color coding on your depth charts after 20 years just to confuse people. I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason charts are printed like that came from an early cost analysis that said, "Hey guys, we can save pigment, and thereby money, if we make deep light blue (or even plain white) because around 2/3 of the planets surface is deep water!" Sure doesn't make much of a difference on an individual chart's cost, but when you're printing a few million of them...

The way I've got it set up in this mod is probably as close to period American charts as you're going to get within the limits of the game. I say American, because it's not out of the realm of possibility that other countries have totally different conventions.

[sergei]

Using this now - really nice job mate :up:

[Rockin Robbins]

Good job CSL! As far as historical reality, RFB has the corner on that with their charts. However, there's plenty of room for dispensing with strict historical reality in favor of clear and easy to read charts made in agreement with modern chart-making methods. You are correct about the reversal in colors.

If you check out the RFB charts, you can see that they also reverse the colors. There was much less detail in the depth rendering and very little detail on land mass elevation rendering. Often the WWII guys had no real charts at all and used National Geographic insert maps. Therefore, even RFB maps are not historically accurate in many areas.

I don't know that there is any way to simulate the use of different charts of various scales and accuracies, with some areas of the Pacific not having any charts at all, as the real subs had. Certainly, there are no historically accurate coffee stains on any charts I've seen!:D

That being the case, there is no such thing as "historically accurate" here and you have a blank check to do as you please! I really like your charts.

[ColonelSandersLite]

I don't know that there is any way to simulate the use of different charts of various scales and accuracies, with some areas of the Pacific not having any charts at all

No, there isn't. The way the game renders the map is strict true elevation. It then picks a spot from the gradient.tga (which is what I edited) to corespond with a given elevation. That's exactly what I took advantage of with this chart mod.

[Hitman]

Real charts I have seen from the 40s (And I also have some at home from my grandfather) had the depth mainly indicated by lines with a label for depth. No "colour" codes except to differentiate land and water, and no indication of elevation on ground (Was unnecessary for navigating)

But the mod is nice and I like it for some uses. Thanks for the job :rock:

[ColonelSandersLite]

No "colour" codes except to differentiate land and water

Yeah, that's what I was talking about earlier. No pigment, just printed labels on *old* charts. Not possible in game though. I have no idea when they started color coding them. I would guess it has something to do with when printing technology made it cost effective.


no indication of elevation on ground (Was unnecessary for navigating)

Saying it's unnecessary for navigating is not strictly true actually. If you can identify a landmark, you can get your exact position without having to consult the stars and whatnot. Basic procedure in a nutshell:

If only one landmark is available:

Note your course and speed
Identify landmark and get an azimuth to it.
Draw a line on the chart from the landmark on a reciprocal heading of the azmith.
Wait any arbitrary period of time or until the landmark is at a specific azimuth.
Draw a line on the chart from the landmark on a reciprocal heading of the new azimuth.
Your submarine is on the only possible path between the two lines that matches both your heading and speed.

If two or more landmarks are available:

Get an azimuth to each landmark.
Draw a line on the chart from each landmark on a reciprocal of the azimuth measured.
You are where the lines intersect.


These will give you your exact position on the map, the azimuths you shot are accurate.

Upside is that it doesn't require you to be able to see any celestial bodies and does not have to be taken at any specific time. The downside is that you have to be able to see land.


Of course, what landmarks are of use for nautical navigation are somewhat limited. Usually one of: Lighthouse, prominent mountain or rock formation visible from the sea, or an area where land meets the water in a distinct fashion such as a "point".

[virtualpender]

If it might help, here are some example charts from 1941 showing coloring palettes used:

1941 NEW LONDON SUBMARINE SCHOOL (http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/tiled_jpgs_done/zoomifyURLDrivenWebPage.htm?zoomifyImagePath=359_5-1941)

1941 KEY WEST SUB BASE (http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/tiled_jpgs_done/zoomifyURLDrivenWebPage.htm?zoomifyImagePath=3261_ 2-1941)

Nice job, BTW. Looks good.

[ColonelSandersLite]

Those are some fine charts. Really good find. Notice that only the very shallow areas are pigmented while the rest is just depth marks using numbers. Cannot be done in game.

[Sailor Steve]

Those charts are a good vindication of the way you did it. I hated RFB's maps because I didn't like the dark=shallow method, but I see I was wrong.

Just to confuse the imperial vs metric debate more, the soundings are in fathoms. A fathom is six feet.

[ETR3(SS)]

That's one thing I never liked about these "charts" in SH4. There's no depth soundings on the chart. Also all the soundings are taken in feet not fathoms.:shifty:

Edit: ya beat me to it by 5 mins steve about the fathoms.

[Sailor Steve]

That's one of the problems with older charts. In the game we have world maps that we can zoom in on. In real life they used smaller local area charts as well. The problem there was that only known areas were sounded, or even accurate. Everyone had good information for the North Atlantic areas, but as RR points out the Pacific had lots of areas that had never been properly charted. I didn't know about them using National Geographic maps, but it's a great idea!:sunny:

[ETR3(SS)]

You're spot on there. The Pacific to this day isnt fully charted out. They still find sea mounts on a daily basis. The San Francisco, in particular, found one the hard way. :cry:

[ColonelSandersLite]

If anyone wants it, I can do a quick 2 tone depth chart so that only the very shallow (currently dark blue) areas are marked in tone, while everything else, regardless of depth is white. Would probably still be more accurate than the charts they would have had for most areas in WWII. If you're a total realism nut, that would probably be as close as close as the game can get in the chart department.

It would certainly make that depth under keel button useful, as it is it's mostly worthless once you figure out the depths for each color code.

BTW, Dunno for sure if it's modified by my mod or not, so just to state the depths here:

Band Depth
1 0-85 feet
2 85-177 feet
3 177-340 feet
4 340-540 feet
5 540-780 feet
6 780+ feet

Also, it may spoil it for some, but the depths as rendered in the game's map are actually at that resolution. Meaning the transitional areas are smoothed, but the ocean floor in game is rather "stepish". If you're in depth 2 water, and order 85 feet, you will never run aground except possibly right where the game transitions from depth 1 to 2 (which will show the about to run aground warning on the status bar).



As a note for anyone interested in why the game renders the map the way it does. I'm a programmer by trade, and I have to say that the simple height map render that they use for the map is simply the easiest and cheapest method of accomplishing it.

The other way would be to make a separate map texture that is not related to the actual game world. This map would have to be hand drawn by artists which is, of course, labor intensive (ie expensive). You would also have complaints when people run aground despite the map saying that you are in the clear.

Honestly, neither method is perfect, but the latter is probably more realistic. If you do use the latter, not including the former method in the mission editor would make things a real pain for mission editors though.

[virtualpender]

CSL - I'd love to have a version like you describe with only the shallowest water showing up in color. Would it be possible to also shade the land areas that pale yellow color as in stock? That would look pretty close to the historical charts.

Thanks for all of your work and investigation.

[ColonelSandersLite]

I'd love to have a version like you describe with only the shallowest water showing up in color. Would it be possible to also shade the land areas that pale yellow color as in stock? That would look pretty close to the historical charts.

Alright, I'll be busy for the next couple of days, but when I have some free time I'll put it together if someone doesn't beat me to it. It's actually really easy to do.

[virtualpender]

Thank you!

[ColonelSandersLite]

Just to confuse the imperial vs metric debate more, the soundings are in fathoms. A fathom is six feet.

Was looking at those charts in more detail, and no the soundings are in feet at mean low water. It's labeled on both maps just under the scale.

[ColonelSandersLite]

Rereleased!

Another variant added and uploaded to subsim.