[WIP] Atolls & Allies

[Crannogman]

I have been putting together a small, terrain-based mod to augment the Pacific experience. I generally found the stock atolls to be rather ho-hum, with rare islands (of ridiculous elevation) and a lot of open water, with sub-wrecking sub nets strewn about. Other areas are similarly devoid of their real-world navigational hazards, turning treacherous waters into areas where the main concern is simply "how deep can I dive?" I presume this has to do with the curious reality that there is no terrain height between 4m ASL and ~30m BSL.
Inaccuracies extend to the man-made realm as well. Midway, for instance, harbors an enormous battle fleet. Corregidor is toothless, while the batteries protecting Pearl Harbor are placed fancifully. In other places, harbors are completely misplaced.

I have been using the GWX Terrain Extractor to build accurate atolls and reefs, with a hopefully pleasing result. The reefs will still include sub nets, but their location will be much more evident from the navigation map. Not only will this force the player to use the actual channels, but hopefully it will help keep the AI from running aground. As progress is made, the campaign files are being "fixed" to route shipping properly.

I have been adjusting other campaign files to more accurately reflect port locations - Cavite, Honolulu, Tulagi, Wellington, Seattle, and others have all gone under the knife. Major lighthouses are being added, partially as an aid to those who practice "real navigation" in treacherous places like the Torres Strait. Existing pre-war fortifications and mobile units (eg the marine Defense Battalions) will be modeled.

I am also planning on revising the locations (and types) of sub tenders and other auxiliary vessels. Capital ships of both the US and Japanese navies (and perhaps the British, in the future) will also be relocated - no more carriers docked at Midway, although you might find the occasional battleship being repaired in Noumea.

Some the US battleships had odd secondary armaments, and so these have been revised based on the historical record. These and other files may be released pending permissions from the RSRDC team.

I can't speak too much to time-frame. The terrain files are divided into 1 Degree by 1 Degree squares, each of which takes me about an hour to modify depending on how much atoll is present. I obviously only plan to fix a relatively small fraction of the Earth's surface; still, it has taken me most of July to do the Marshall Islands and a few other high-interest points. Other campaign files will await permissions from other modders, as much of the shipping I have adapted from RSRDC. I do hope to have this ready for release in a few months, and hope to have it available for incorporation into Capn_Scurvy's upcoming Day of Infamy mod. But I thought I would go ahead and put this out there in case anyone is also interested in fixing these inaccuracies.

~Crannogman