[agracier]

This is a view of the French countryside to the east of Verdun, near St. Mihiel and Meuse. It wasn't taken for any Il-2 purpose, but I couldn't noticing how colorful the landscape looks with all the different colored fields of crops.

I was just wondering if something like this couldn't be made as a texture?

It's not a satellite photo, but I suppose the idea is clear to see. It is a spring-time photo, made today May 1st. I especially like the yellows and brown in the fields, which gives it all a different feel than usual.

[img][/img]

[mandrill7]

I have this landscape as a mod of some Compans tiles with added colourwork. Unfortunately, they are difficult to use as the bright colour contrast makes repeats very obvious, unless a lot of work is done to break up the pattern.

I would be happy to share if you are interested.

[agracier]

I have this landscape as a mod of some Compans tiles with added colourwork. Unfortunately, they are difficult to use as the bright colour contrast makes repeats very obvious, unless a lot of work is done to break up the pattern.

I would be happy to share if you are interested.

Please do share. There is always the possibility of fixing it up with some work. I've also noticed that if you fly your missions relatively low, up to 1500m above the terrain, then the tiling repeats are not always so obvious and such textures can be very good looking even.

Bright colors in textures can also be muted somewhat by flying at dawn or dusk, which is a colorful time of day to be in the air anyway ...

And besides, it's always worth trying out.

[RRuger]

That is a beautiful picture agracier, the only thing missing is the sexy cute French milk maiden

[mandrill7]

Here are a couple of shots of my mods of the Compans textures. These are more summer than spring with some mature crop fields as well.

[pursuivant]

I think that the default Europe summer textures depict drier conditions, with the light-colored bits representing nearly mature fields of grain or hay. I agree that late Spring textures could be made greener and more vivid.

Keep in mind, however, that those bright yellow bits in the original picture are probably rapeseed (AKA Canola) and the darker green bits might represent soybeans and maize, all three crops were very rare in Europe until the late 20th century. During World War II, fields would have been planted with more grains (i.e., food for people), fields would have still even smaller, and there would have been more hedges and fences. Like everything else, the European countryside has changed over the last 60 years.

[VonBarb.]

What pursuivant said. Most of the crops in the picture would be completely out of place in a 1940s context, especially rapeseed. Wheat would also be much more widely represented, with some crops reaching maturity as soon as mid/late Spring. Generally speaking, there were also much more trees, bigger forest areas, and more snow until later in the year.
Some landscapes have changed quite dramatically since the 40s and it's hard to use modern pictures to get an idea of how thoses places looked like. Just Google Okinawa in Google Maps...

Cheers

Nico