:up:

Of course it can. I think the Phares des Triagoz and du Four are simple enough that they can be used as "generic lighthouses models" as well, what do you think?

If you accepted my proposal of setting lighthouses either as sea or land units rather than as simple terrain objects, it would be easy customizing them through eqp/cfg files without having to duplicate the 3D model for every slight change. Another advantage would be that each lighthouse might be given its own light beam effect, and that some of them could be given a soundsource controller simulating fog horns :D

It is just a cylinder surmounted by a truncated cone. I didnt add any other detail to it, because it would be hard spotting it anyway. The hard part was looking for a picture that I could get a good texture from, but I stealed both the model and the texture from one of my previous models with just a few changes :03:

Looks nice, but its borders might be smoother, and I think in modern charts major lights are marked as five-pointed stars with a tear-shaped beam departing from them:

http://4vector.com/i/free-vector-int..._art_hight.png

See the following link, under the Chart symbols paragraph for further reference:
http://www.sailingissues.com/navcourse9.html

It is my understanding that lighthouses are internationally classified as "major lights" :salute:

I think so, that's why I've shown them in my first post. ;)

I understand, but a land unit is always placed on the ground, so it depends on the depth ... so same LHs have to be placed at the same depth... or not, if the rock is big enough. In this case, the rock will be more or less visible above water. We have to try.

Maybe on the Hotelnau model I've sent to you, there is a glass texture for the lens.

Yes, I tried this icon first (I wanted this icon too), but the problem is that, in game, the picture has no colors (green if not black) and is bad rendered (pixelised) if it's too small, so I chose a black and more simple icon. Moreover, the icon is turned if the object is not facing towards north, as it is the case in my work (see in mission how it looks).

:up:

We have two ways to mimic lighthouses based on rocky reefs: we can raise the seabottom so to create a little island big enough to house a lighthouse set as land unit, or as I told you a few weeks ago, we could make those lighthouses into floating sea units. With the correct settings, their swinging would be hardly noticeable. Some adjustement in Terrain Editor might still be required to match the seabottom with the bottom of the rock meshes :)

No need for that, my Fresnel lens is already textured :03:

Maybe a simple black five-pointed star then? :hmm2:

Assume this didn't help with placement?

MLF

There is only one node in Lighthouse.dat in the \data\Terrain\Locations folder. I have to understand why it is working for the LH of Helgoland, but it requires further tests and I have something more urgent to do at the present time ...

with or without ...
 

tests with Schnellboot mod v2
 

http://i.imgur.com/qySmle3.png

http://i.imgur.com/UnmfNm6.png

http://i.imgur.com/QW2miQP.png

pros / cons depending on the unit type
 

Location

+ visible anywhere on the map, possible to add colors to the icon
+ always placed at the same altitude, whatever the depth of the sea

- problem of placement in the ground if placed on a land with altitude
- not possible to custom the LH with an .eqp file


Land

+ no problem if placed on a land with altitude
+ possible to custom the LH with an .eqp file

- altitude depending on the depth of the sea
- visible on the map only when in visual range, always green icon (for neutral units)


Edit : All this can be solved by this trick : if we want to put a LH on the ground, let's create a land unit with no icon, and also add it (at same placement) in the Locations folder with a blanck file but with my icon of LH !

Both good :up:
I think that if the lighthouse models are already oriented with their North face pointing to what would be the prow of a ship, rotating them in ME/TE wouldn't be required, and their icon on map wouldn't look rotated either :hmm2:

For each lighthouse model I could create rock reefs of different heights that the lighthouse would rise from. Some terrain adjustements in TE might be required.

...or as I told you a few days ago:

get a basic geometry which will provide a stable floating platform, make it invisible, set it as a sea unit, give it a huge mass, a very low center of mass and exceptionally high drag coefficients for extra stability. Attach to it (in the same file) the actual lighthouse model and add to it configurable nodes for whatever equipment might be required, including the rock "base".
Result: the lighthouse will always be at the same height a.s.l.

Store the rock "equipment" in a library file, make it high enough that it will always touch the seabottom, no matter how deep is the sea under the lighthouse, and give it a sim file with a static object controller, similar to a normal terrain object.
Result: the rock reef wont be considered by the game as part of the lighthouse itself, and collision with the seabottom wont be detected, but any other unit will be able colliding with it, just as with any other terrain object (fully tested in SH5, it should work in SHIII too).

If need be, the lighthouse itself can be made collisionable/destroyable, and I am confident, though not absolutely sure, that with the correct settings some of them can be given a nationality and a visual sensor, so that they will report any enemy unit in the vicinity :D

Mmh, that's why you absolutely want the LH to be sea units ... :know:

Not at all. I am not even sure that the statement you are referring to is going to be applicable in game without a series of side effects (lighthouses being shown in museum, them being reported by the watch crew/sonarman, enemy ships aiming their guns at them rather than at more valuable targets, etc.).

I am just telling you that LH's as simple "environnmental" sea units (like icebergs) are just another possibility which shouldn't be discarded if it makes our lifes easier, and it provides more flexibility in campaign. That's it :)

Any news ? :ping:

Hi !

I can't wait to see how your rocks and reefs look like ! :)

Not yet, your other mods distracted me from my main task... I am painting planes now but I promise it is just a temporary diversion :O::D

Just found a good tutorial on how to generate a mesh from a grey-scale heightmap using Blender.
It might come in handy for creating natural-looking small islands, rocky reefs, skerries and shoals :03: