Hello everyone,
today I want to tell you about the great work that went into modifying the 3D Samersberg map for the “Ski Region Simulator 2012” video game.
Since I really enjoyed the Samersberg map, which has now reached version 2 from creator pb600Wpolar, I decided to write to him because I had some changes in mind to improve the map.
The initial idea was to redevelop the lake area, creating a cross-country ski slope around it and a boat/steamboat docking station for tourists at either end.
Here is the initial scheme:
As you can see, I took inspiration from Venice regarding the boat and the boarding.
My colleague liked the idea, so we started working on it: he on the terrain map and me creating in 3D the components to be placed there.
THE VAPORETTO
First I documented myself with photos, films and plans found on the net, then from an elevation and a section of the ‘Steamer 90 series’, I started to recreate it in 3D with SketchUp. Obviously with the few project drawings available I had to make do, especially to remain light in terms of total polygons and not make the map too heavy.
Once the 3D was finalised I started looking for detailed photos to create the textures, which was not easy and it took me days of research to find everything. Using the GIMP raster editor I edited the photos to create the textures.
The boat can be driven like a cable car, you even get paid for the ride!
A few examples:
Ecco delle schermate di gioco:
THE JETTY
That is, the boat mooring with the ticket office and waiting room.
In this case I could not find any plans on the net, so I relied solely on the photos. It is a fairly simple floating structure with a bridge connecting it to land.
There are five particular textures here: the black float with the seaweed, the rope, the PC screen, the signposts on land and the tourist board.
Here are some screenshots of the game:
ROAD SIGNS
There was no shortage of road signs (in three languages) to make the map easier. Next to the church I identified a building as a school and created its sign.
THE GARAGE
The snowcat garage was designed and created from scratch, trying to fit the style of the map.
The measurements were taken in such a way that the PistenBully 400 with blade and rear cutter for cross-country skiing fits in it.
The door can be opened and closed (with MapDoorTrigger script).
The material textures created from photos are the dark main beams and the light ones.
Here are some screenshots:
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After that …
-I modified the original textures of the castle, improving the lighting and contrasts with GIMP
THE CANNON
I could not resist creating a cannon to put in ‘defence’ of the castle.
THE ROWINGBOAT
Small decorative all-wood rowing boat for lakes.
Here are some screenshots of the game:
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Then we started talking about the PDA (displays your potion on the map, indicates missions and weather) and the various options for creating a map with more definition than Samersberg V2.
I suggested to pb600Wpolar to add NewJersey’s at the end of the road after the tunnel to indicate the broken road, he also thought of adding a fallen tree!
After careful analysis of the map I found a few problems such as missing collisions on buildings, a helicopter “crashing” into the mountain, some flying trees etc to arrive at an almost “perfect” map.
THE TRAM AND THE BRIDGE
I show pb600Wpolar the tramway I put in place of the train on the Grosseck map, he likes it so I create and improve the Tramway with tracks and station to put on our map. The tramway takes a long route and connects the town centre with the village and the castle.
I have also modified the railway bridge on the standard map to allow the tram to pass over it.
THE FLOWERBED
A welcome flowerbed for tourists. Placed in the central area near the ski lift arches and the fire station.
Here the welcome ‘sculpture’ was completely invented and created
with SketchUp!!
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pb600Wpolar put the possibility of buying photovoltaic panels, billboard or antenna on the landing stage, which reduces the costs of maintaining the facility.
pb600Wpolar arranged the tramway route with also the track switch so that two trams are in motion.
We had some problems with collisions and graphical scaling of objects, but we solved it!
THE STOVE
I’ve always been fascinated by old ‘cheap’ wood stoves, so I thought it would look good in the garage.
I was inspired by these two photos to create it:
The chimney ‘spits’ dynamic smoke and from the open stove you can see the fire and hear the typical sound of burning wood. You can enjoy a moment of relaxation after parking your snowcat 😛
Here are some screenshots of the game:
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pb600Wpolar found a way to “remove” people from the boarding when closing the system and added the night position light system.
In the meantime I rebuilt the boat (Steamboat) and exported it with the new blender (to have less problems with materials and textures), now however pb600Wpolar is getting errors on the register keeping the swaying of the
boat, we opted to disable it.
I propose to insert a pontoon for the lake where the two boats are,
for those interested here is the link:
https://www.modhoster.com/mods/molo-holzsteg
The loading images have been changed, now reflecting and bringing attention to the new elements of version 3.
We are back to talking about the PDA and the various problems with the perspective. It really took many hours and various trials and methods until I managed to create the PDA in Full HD 😉
THE FOUNTAIN
I have always liked the unique design of each Alpine fountain, so taking my cue from various wooden Alpine fountains, I created one.
Here the textures were all created from photos except for the moss one which I found already done and the water one created with GIMP.
The water is dynamic and when you get close to it you can also hear the sound.
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I found a ready-made sign for the tram crossing.
I also propose a ‘flying’ eagle, this one:
https://www.modhoster.com/mods/fliegender-adler
but it doesn’t work for SRS-2012 (because it is from farming simulator, even though it has the same graphics engine), so I started to look into how to make it work.
THE CASTLE
I have modified the 3D of the original Giant castle, now you can enter the inner courtyard, also adding a well, torches for the night and armour to ‘protect’ the inner entrance.
THE EAGLE, FISH AND HELICOPTERS
After a lot of time and evenings rehearsing, I found a solution to make the eagle fly along a certain path uninterruptedly!
Also, taking advantage of this system, I added mobile fish in the big lake; replaced two rescue helicopters with one police and one private one, to break up the monotony!
CIDER PROCESSING AND SALE
I propose to pb600Wpolar to put an apple orchard with also processing and selling cider in an existing Maso (house).
PS:the hives, the deer and the fence I found on the internet (mod) the rest is made from scratch.
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I was curious to understand how the script to open doors when you are in front of them worked, so I studied it and managed to insert the mobile door in the garage of track 6 that I had already done.
THE CHURCH
We were missing a little mountain church: based on a model found on Sketchup’s 3d gallery, I created the interior and redid/reapplied all the textures, again the door opens and closes. I found a way to
put a “surprise”…Try jumping on the kneeler and see what happens to you 😛
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Idea: make part of the lakes ‘freeze’, i.e. a little near the shores and only at night. So I talked about it with pb600Wpolar, unfortunately he had to change his pc and work on the map has stopped.
In the meantime I did some research on debarkers because I was planning to create one for our map.
pb600Wpolar proposed me to render the mobile radar in Steamboat, but I would have to start again from 3D and since I had several problems with materials and textures, I had to refuse (For those who are reading this maybe they don’t realise all the steps you have to do to go from 3D to the “mod” for the game).
THE DEBARKER
Also finished is the debarker with a log-pusher arm (with door script) and a machine to create pellets from discarded bark.
THE ICE
Now I have to build the frozen banks for the lakes. I started with photo research, then created my textures with GIMP from a real photo.
Then once the screenshots of the lakes have been taken in the game, I have to put them into SketchUp and create the ice shapes in 2D (so as not to overload the game’s graphics engine).
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pb600Wpolar should now have everything he needs to finish the map 🙂
It’s been an interesting few months, we’ve learned new things and had fun improving the map, it’s turned out really well and we’re satisfied with this long undertaking 😛
You can find the map on ModHoster at this LINK
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