[VonBarb.]

Hi

This is actually more of a request / discussion topic.

I was wondering if anybody had been working on mild winter sceneries for IL-2 ? While - I suppose - uniform snow-white landscapes are realistic for most maps, I, as a 'Channel' guy can't help but feel we need a mild winter option for the upcoming Channel Map(s ? )

See, in my part of the world - See Avranches in the bottom left hand corner of the Normandy map ? I'm just 47 Miles S-W of that - Winter doesn't often come with thick snow. In fact, we're lucky if it snows at all most years. I'm not an expert in regional Winters but I guess the same must be true for the coastal areas of the UK and a huge part of Normandy.
True, it does snow sometimes, but always in small amounts and it has usually thawed almost entirely by the end of the day. It certainly doesn't snow from November to March either....

What I feel we need is a set of ETO textures representing Winter fields with a rather thin frost cover and a decent amount of mud from the rains, as well as bare trees, without leaves or snow. The closest to this I have seen yet are the 'Winter Slovakia' textures, but they're still a good deal too 'snowy'.

These 'mild winter' textures would be very useful for late winter/early spring maps, a hypothetical winter Bay of Biscay and basically to add seasonal flavour to all Channel projects...

Has anybody ever gave these a try ? What do my 'neighbours' think of that ?

Cheers

Nico

[GilB57]

I think I'll work on something like that .

I recently tried to adapt new Slovakia winter texs on Ardennes map :

viewtopic.php?t=10025&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

I encountered a problem with city textures but finally decided to make newer ones (corrected to fit older 4.08 streets). It seems to work well so I'll finally release soon this newer Winter Ardennes map.

After that, I'll practice again with another "old" winter map (Kurland or Normandy) and then, I may re-do all texs with less snow for "atlantic winter scenery".

[may-bug]

Salut Porco,

I made that: viewtopic.php?t=3008&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 long time ago, never finished :mrgreen: ...
Is that sort of texture that you need ?

[kapteeni]

Those textures ar most welcome.I also want to use them in my Kt_Finland maps.

[GilB57]

I'm also coming from the west part of France : what he means is certainly something without snow (or just little patches/lines) but brown fields & naked trees ... :wink:

[VonBarb.]

Vous en r

[Guest]

Salut Porco,

I made that: viewtopic.php?t=3008&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 long time ago, never finished :mrgreen: ...
Is that sort of texture that you need ?

those textures look awesome, why weren't they ever used. We need something different from hard winter.

[Friendly_flyer]

Two pictures from Google Earth, to show ground colouration and snow pattern in "light snow" winters.

Light autumn snow, Lund, Sweden:



Winter snow, Black Sea coast, Romania:

[canonuk]

Actually, MayBugs textures got me thinking of maybe winterising the Compans textures that will be with my Channel final release and produce a winter version later.

[kapteeni]

Actually, MayBugs textures got me thinking of maybe winterising the Compans textures that will be with my Channel final release and produce a winter version later.

HI! How is the family?
I was thinking that to make textures myself, but my Photohopping skills sucks big time. I cant make decent textures

[pursuivant]

What I feel we need is a set of ETO textures representing Winter fields with a rather thin frost cover and a decent amount of mud from the rains, as well as bare trees, without leaves or snow. The closest to this I have seen yet are the 'Winter Slovakia' textures, but they're still a good deal too 'snowy'.

This is a good idea, but for most American and Western European students of WW2, "Ardennes Winter" means "December 1944," i.e., unusually deep snow and cold temperatures. I wouldn't want to replace that!

Instead, I'd suggest a new 5th "season" called "Late Fall/Early Spring/Mild Winter" or just "Mud" - suitable for any of the European or Russian maps. The map textures would have a sprinkling of snow, especially in shaded areas, with bare trees and building roofs, and mud and dead grass in open areas. As it stands, the current Fall and Spring maps show a bit too much vegetation - more like October or April than November or March.

[Murph]

I have read that winter of 44-45 in Northern Europe was the coldest and snowiest in about 50 years. Not the same as an average "post global warming" winter one might see nowadays.

[Friendly_flyer]

Instead, I'd suggest a new 5th "season" called "Late Fall/Early Spring/Mild Winter" or just "Mud" - suitable for any of the European or Russian maps. The map textures would have a sprinkling of snow, especially in shaded areas, with bare trees and building roofs, and mud and dead grass in open areas.

Beginning an late winter have markedly different snow patterns, and would look very different from the air. In early winter, freezing temperatures will have had the ground frozen for a couple of weeks (an important factor during Operation Barbarossa) before snowfall. Mud-on-snow would not be likely to be seen, and the snow would present a fine, but non-covering distribution, like the picture from Lund, Sweden. The snow would most easily be seen on open land. In the spring, snow would have retreated to all higher areas and into the forests, leaving open areas bare. The two seasons would show snow on opposite land surfaces (open land vs forest) , and in opposite formation (light general cover vs blotches).

[pursuivant]

I have read that winter of 44-45 in Northern Europe was the coldest and snowiest in about 50 years. Not the same as an average "post global warming" winter one might see nowadays.

The winter of 1941-42 was very bad, too, especially in Eastern Europe. This made the fighting on the Eastern Front even more horrific, although the Germans and their allies (especially the Italians) suffered more than the Russians.

[Friendly_flyer]

Porco Rosso brought up the subject of coloration of the vegetation in different seasons. Here's a picture from Tod, North Carolina, US, showing adjacent areas in winter versus early summer: