Converting map to be seasons compatible.

[Robbh6]

Hi there guys.

I'm attempting to convert a map to be seasons ready before getting in too deep with the creation of my own map. (wip coming soon)

The map in question is lawfolds. One of my favourite maps from when I was playing on Xbox.

So I've been following the instructions from the realismus modding website.

So far I've changed all the trees from whatever they were to ones I've exported from The West Coast (I hope you don't mind BullitBill) using the replace all function. Adding the snow mask using the tipColInfoLayer (although it still needs a lot of work) . And tested each time I've made a change.

Here's a screenshot of the tree's with a layer of snow I added via the command console.
So far no errors so I must be doing something right.




Still snow in every building.... I did warn you the snow mask needs a lot of work....

Need to change some hedges and other bits and pieces, and also work out how to get the winter texture for the grass. Maybe add some more textures?

And I do have a question. Once I've changed hedges and added the winter grass texture, Is that really it? Have I missed anything? It seems too simple for something as complex as seasons.

Disclaimer : I will NOT be sharing this, The changes I've made are purely for personal use and it will not be uploaded anywhere.

[RODHA]

Disclaimer : I will NOT be sharing this, The changes I've made are purely for personal use and it will not be uploaded anywhere.

This broke my heart deeply
When I see your thread and started to read, I got that cosy and warm feeling.
Lawfolds might be getting seasons... That would have been one of the best things in FS17.
This map is just brilliant and I loved every min of playing on it.
I wish you could have the chance to make it a public map
Anyways, I'm pretty sure it will be amazing and you will enjoy every moment of it with seasons.
Hope everything goes smooth as butter Nice work...

[Robbh6]

This broke my heart deeply
When I see your thread and started to read, I got that cosy and warm feeling.
Lawfolds might be getting seasons... That would have been one of the best things in FS17.
This map is just brilliant and I loved every min of playing on it.
I wish you could have the chance to make it a public map
Anyways, I'm pretty sure it will be amazing and you will enjoy every moment of it with seasons.
Hope everything goes smooth as butter Nice work...

Sorry RHODA. I too was the same. Just wished it had seasons when I was on console. Which is why I'm having a go now I'm on PC.

If I ever managed to get the permission from the original author I would love to share it. Or even have the original author update it. But I don't think anyone here has seen Stussy or heard anything about him since Lawfolds came out. Which is a shame as it's a great map. Just my respect for the author.

But anyway. This is kind of a step towards making my own map. And it's quite a learning curve.
I have already started my own map. I have got as far as getting real life terrain data onto the starter map, smoothing it all out, and starting marking everything out using what will be the PDA image enlarged as a guide and painting it onto the terrain.

Then the scale of things hit me and kind of put me off a bit. And it's only a standard size map!

So I'm hoping this conversion for myself will give me some more incentive to get on with my own map.

[RODHA]

No problem mate Making a map or converting it is a huge work. Even when I look at it from my very limited understanding of modding, it is a huge work. I can't even imagine how hard it is in reality.

It is just about Lawfolds. Somehow, that map is amazingly laid out and designed. I've played on it may be 4-5 times all starting from scratch. It is that good. And I just couldn't help myself and hoped my be you can share it. But even if you can, making it a console map is a completely different stroy.

I wish you the best of luck and truck loads of patience with your own map. If you decide to complete it and if you also decide to make it for consoles too, I would really like to play on it

[Robbh6]

Thanks RHODA. Appreciate it buddy! will need all the luck I can get....


Anyway, made some progress into the wee hours of the morning....

Snow mask is pretty much done.




And managed to get the winter bush textures working. All I had was an XML file missing.



Still have a fair bit more to do however. Changing the original bushes over to the ones from the west coast left the positioning a little to be desired. See screenshot below.
So going round the entire map moving everything is fairly time consuming. Go into the game, take a drive, find another bit that needs moving. Lots of tweaking involved.




Only thing I'm struggling with now is getting the extra foliage layers to look... Well... Wintery. They look too alive as if it were still summer.
This is probably where I screw something up big time.

Oh and another thing I've changed is the field price scale to be a little more realistic. Altered from 0.5 down to 0.2.

[RODHA]

So going round the entire map moving everything is fairly time consuming. Go into the game, take a drive, find another bit that needs moving. Lots of tweaking involved.

There must be so many things you have missed the first time and noticed later. That could get seriously frustrating right to the point of rage quit

Congrats on the progress please keep sharing photos and how it is going on. You are gonna make me re-visit Lawfolds even without seasons

[Robbh6]

That could get seriously frustrating right to the point of rage quit

It's safe to say it's extremely frustrating.

Not the most frustrating however. That was when I tried adding another foliage paint layer. (after doing the snow mask)
Got an error when opening GE and it wouldn't open the fruit density file. So no crops textures anywhere on the map or even in the foliage layer drop down.
I almost lost it...

I spent hours trying to work out what I messed up and almost got to the point where I was about to start again. But after a little light reading found out it was actually quite simple. Too many layers!

I deleted one of the foliage layers from the XML files I didn't like and then GE loaded the fruit density file again.

This is definitely a huge learning curve.
And I'm glad I'm learning this sort of thing now before making a map that could potentially be full of errors.

Anyway, here's a couple of autumn screenshots of the main yard.

[Guil]

I don't think there would be any problem releasing the map BUT you would have to get the original author's permission first.

[Robbh6]

It would be nice to release it so others can enjoy it with seasons.
But wouldn't even know where to begin to track down the original author to get permission.

[Guil]

You could send an email to Giants and ask them to contact the author I think, his name is on the map on modhub.

[Robbh6]

Thanks Guil. I will send an email and ask. No harm in asking.
The original authors name is Stussy.

[RODHA]

Do I see a faint light of hope on the way of a probable release?
That would just be awesome. I hope it would be possible in terms of permission and applicability Robbh6