[CzechTexan]

Introducing a work in progress Caucasus map. This map covers the region east of the stock IL2 Kuban map and is, I believe, sorely missed in the IL2 community. Area included is Sochi and Maykop in the west, Armavir in the north, Grozny in the east, and almost to T'bilisi in the south. Scale is 1:1

In this map you can see the area where the Germans made their farthest reach into Russia, just a few miles west of Grozny at a place called Ordzhonikidze (present Vladikavkaz). The Germans also tried to cross the mountains further to the west to reach the Black Sea but were stopped in those mountain passes as well. This was all during the summer and fall of 1942 at the same time as the Battle at Stalingrad. After the Germans were stopped the Russians went over on the offensive and pushed the Germans out of this area (during winter and spring).

(History places so much emphasis on Stalingrad that the other major battles fought simultaneously (Rzhev and the Caucasus) have become forgotten battles. We must not forget the actions and sacrifices of men (both sides) who took part in these battles. The purpose of this map is to remember this history).

Fighting was heavy and the German army was well equipped with tanks and mechanized vehicles. Railroads were also in use and these all make for good targets in the Sturmovik. The Luftwaffe was not as strong in numbers as they were at Stalingrad but nevertheless made a formidable foe. The VVS was weak at first (after a long retreat during the summer) but eventually gained more strength in numbers. U.S. Lend-lease equipment (such as the A-20 [Boston B-3] and P-39s were also starting to arrive in this area).

Progress: Basic rivers and texturing. Still needs tweaking. Much more to be done. Two weeks be sure! j/k!!


View over the battlefield near Ordzhonikidze looking east...


View of Ordzhonikidze location looking west...


View from Black Sea coast looking northeast...


View looking to the Black Sea looking southwest...


Same mountains looking opposite direction...


Comments, information, constructive criticism is welcomed.

[P/O W. 'Moggy' Cattermole]

:O

I love mountainous maps, with an airfield really high up on the mountain... With the runway ending on a cliff so's if you overshoot, your suddenly hurtling off the side of the mountain!

[walter_solito]

Great map mate!!

This corner of the world is really needed for operation 'FALL BLAU' entusiast!

Have a good work!!!

cheers

walter

[Batbomb]

Is Georgia on it?

*GeorgiaFan*

[Lejo]

Introducing a work in progress Caucasus map. This map covers the region east of the stock IL2 Kuban map and is, I believe, sorely missed in the IL2 community. Area included is Sochi and Maykop in the west, Armavir in the north, Grozny in the east, and almost to T'bilisi in the south. Scale is 1:1


Comments, information, constructive criticism is welcomed.

Okay, here we go... :twisted:
(just kiddin')

First of all I like the 1:1 scale.
And now some comments/ constructive criticisism:
On screenshot 1 and in the far distance on screenshot 4 I see the repetitive pattern of textures. Hopefully that will be solved.
I noticed you use some of Compan's textures and they work quite well on your map. I edited some of his textures and used them for my own blend on the stock Stalingrad Summer Map and it looks great but from high altitude I have the same problem with repetition.
I also noticed you use Phasmid's textures (as on Zipzapp's Alpen map) but the colour of the trees on that rocky textures doesn't match very well with the forest. Maybe it's an idea to adjust the too greenish colour?

[Jabo]

Look'n Great!

[CzechTexan]

Lejo, good tips! The repetitive texture you see has already been replaced and looks much better now.
The "green" trees on the rocky surface is a good idea to tone that down. I thought of that myself but didn't think about changing it. Maybe I ought to, unless someone has already done it?

I too noticed the trees have the earth too dark so that will be changed. Looks like we see things the same!

I have also thought about making a texture of a shallow river or dry river bed. I wonder if this has been done already?
Would be nice to replace some of the smaller Map_C rivers with only a texture to fit more to scale.
I've never made textures before so maybe I should give it a try.

There still more that needs to be done with textures but I just wanted to show the general idea of how things would look. I have a better understanding of how things work now after the BurmaLower map thanks to KevinP's tutorial and more experience.

[farang65]

Good Job,

I hope you have alot of fun texturing the map as I had making it.
will look forward to this project eventhough I am not much of a ETO fan.
Great to see it all happening for you.

Cheers Kirby

Lamphun

ps I still don't like this ownership thing with mods. If someone makes a mod and makes it freely available it should be available for people to improve on it more so.
Just think of me as a ghost map maker.

[CzechTexan]

Kirby, this project is only possible because you got it started by making the starter map.
Without your work this would not even be possible so thank you again.
I love this map!! :lol:


Hi Batbomb, only the very northern edge of Georgia is on the map. The south edge is almost to Batumi.

[CzechTexan]

Update: 9-28-09
Much of this map is done except for populating with buildings and adding more airfields. Have some of the large cities and some smaller towns/villages populated by using the copy/paste method. That's when I learned about the limitations of the actors.static file which in unlocked FMB can only be about 400kb for me.

So decided I better learn how to use the auto-pop method and was in the process of almost learning it when I hit another roadblock... my graphics card is on the blink and is not even letting me get into IL2!!!
EDIT: graphics problem fixed.

Airfields are looking good. I'm using more of the brown ground plates instead of invisible plates which makes it easier for landing and taxiing. These plates blend in nicely with the Romania/Bessarabia airfield texture.
I've even made a couple smaller fields for the Night Witches and their trusty Po-2s/U2vs. I'm thinking about not having plates for their fields to make them more rough but the U2 can handle it. More testing required.

Will post more screenies later.

[felix_the_fat]

Hi Czech Tex
this is a fantastic map - thanks from all of us for your efforts.
A question: according to my old school atlas here, your map will need to reach a max. altitude of 5633 metres, just south of Kislovodsk. But I thought this was well beyond the Il2 altitude limit?
Look forward to flying this, regardless.

[CzechTexan]

Felix, some of the taller mountains like Elbrus have their tops flattened at that height. You'll have to overlook it. Otherwise it's a really great area to map.