WIP Updating the Island Models

[Armada]

Happy to do my bit to get this stuff working.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

And there was me thinking we'd have to wait until after Beta 3 to get Capture Colonies done.
Beta 3 really WILL be an epic release on all accounts!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Armada, would there be any chance at all of an updated Aruba and/or Nevis island model for the Beta 3 release coming weekend?
Those are the only islands that are still missing their town models altogether. Just a pier will be enough for Aruba.
Nevis would ideally require a fort, because the town model itself has a fort too.

 

[Armada]

I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

No worries. Anything you can get done will be welcome.
And if not... well, we have done without for years anyway. We'll survive a bit longer.

 

[Armada]

Does anyone happen to know where the Charlestown location model came from?
I can't find any matching location models in CoAS, so I don't know where I can find an island that I can merge with Nevis.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Aren't Nevis and Aruba the same? Of course Aruba has nothing either.

 

[Armada]

The Nevis and Aruba island models do look similar, but what I'm trying to do is modify Nevis so that it matches the Charlestown location model.
For that, I need to know where we got the Charlestown model from so I can find an island model that does match it, and then merge that island with Nevis.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I can't find any matching location models in CoAS, so I don't know where I can find an island that I can merge with Nevis.

I just checked again and the Charlestown model in PotC is also the Charlestown one in AoP 2.
The files aren't exactly alike, but they do look the same.

Looks like the PotC location was originally sourced from Age of Pirates 1, where it is used for Tortuga port.
However, the island model there does NOT match up with the town model. So I suppose you should look at the CoAS Nevis model.
When I looked at that myself, it seemed like they used the REAL town model there as the miniature.

Aren't Nevis and Aruba the same? Of course Aruba has nothing either.

Nevis has the pier for the Pirate Settlement on the island model and Aruba doesn't. They'd different models.

 

[Armada]

I should say I've already checked the AoP2 Nevis island and locations, and although the buildings do match up, the shape of the terrain and the fort's location do not.
It's really the terrain shape that I need to replicate, so it sounds as though I need that AoP1 Tortuga island model. Could you upload that, if possible?
I can sort out the port buildings once the terrain is in place.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

As I said, the AoP 1 island model doesn't match up at all. But see attached and judge for yourself.

 

[Armada]

Ah, I thought you were only talking about the town, not the rest of the terrain. Indeed it doesn't match properly.
So it looks as though I'll have to use the actual Charlestown location to create the necessary terrain on the island model.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Afraid so.

 

[Armada]

OK, I've now made some good progress on merging the Charlestown terrain with the rest of Nevis. So far it seems to be turning out rather well.
I'm currently only working with the terrain and fort, and will add the town buildings later.

Here are some screens from Maya showing what I propose to add to the island (in the first one, white represents new terrain and green is the fort):

The first thing you'll notice is that it's on the other side of the island. I figured having an English fort too close to the pirate settlement would be a little unfair.
Of course, what might be of concern is the narrow passage leading to the harbour, which would make it very hard to reach with either a large ship or a headwind (or both).
I'll probably place the port reload locator close to the mouth of the passage to compensate.

So what do you think? Is it in a good position? And if so, should I remove the sand where the existing Charlestown port is?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Wow, that's really cool!

I like that little river running inland. And good thinking to move the port locator at the entrance. That's what rowboats are for, right?
Good idea to move it further away from the Pirate Settlement port too.

As for removing the sand on the old town location, you could indeed to that. At least nobody would then be confused to think there is a shore there.
I doubt anyone is ever going to add a second shore to the island anyway. There isn't really any need for that.

In real life, Charlestown would be on the West side of the island and not on the East.
But especially the stock game islands don't even remotely match up with real life anyway.
We'll just have to file that under "suspension of disbelief", don't you think?

Would the worldmap need updating for this one as well? That sounds annoying.

 

[Armada]

Realism has indeed gone out the window for this one. The island was the wrong shape to begin with, but at least it's in the right place.

The river does look cool, though I suspect it may be a problem when the sea gets rough. We'll see how it goes.

I guess the World Map would technically need an update (even the current Nevis isn't quite represented properly).
Would that be needed pretty urgently, or is it something people aren't likely to notice?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I guess the World Map would technically need an update (even the current Nevis isn't quite represented properly).
Would that be needed pretty urgently, or is it something people aren't likely to notice?

Would it be possible to move the town coordinates around so at least they vaguely match up?
Other than that, I don't think it is a priority issue.

 

[Armada]

Moving the coordinates would be easy, so that's not a problem.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Wow!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I think I'll ZIP up the final contents archive when I wake up tomorrow afternoon. (Sleeping in, of course! )
It'll take many, many hours of uploading anyway. It will still be possible to include last-minute updates in the installer EXE itself.