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[kapteeni]

Ha ha ... if only ...

You know odd you should mention him. Robert Capa is maybe the only person I've ever considered to be a personal hero ... if there was ever anyone I wanted to be, it was like him ... except for the landmine thing in French Indochina of course ...

And I don't think this is any big secret, but Kapteeni did some war reporting of his own ... Il-2's own Robert Capa ...

Little OT:
I was studying video/film/photography at Finland and Ropert Capa was our hero too. I did few tours to middle-East and Africa + Former Yugoslavia (first one - It really blew my mind) and South East Asia. But i mostly photographed politicians and other boring stuff...It was hard to get to the frontlines. I was once in a crossfire at  Southern Thailand. LOL. Some general was opening a bridge near Malaysian border when islamist guerrillas attacked against  our car convoy. Nobody of us reporters/photgraphers was wounded, but all  the guerrillas were killed.... Man, it was scary. I was only few meters away from action. Under a car and praying. But i mechanically took pictures all the time..
Middle-East was another thing...It was a mess...
And Africa. I was at Ethiopia and Gombe area. saw some ugly things down there...
But i also talk with Jane Goodall.
Zillions of stories comes to mind...
I also suffered posttraumatic syndroms. Like nightmares and stuff like that for several years..
After getting married, i quit ( i was about 38 .) I started to take photos about nature. And WE went back to Africa, Asia and America. hahaaa.
But that was fun...

Spanish Civil war was also a testfield for new cameras and propaganda. It was the first feally welll documented war.
I find it hard to watch documentary films about any wars, but war is like drug..
When you are there, you miss home. When home, you want to be there....
Making maps to IL2 is also a therapy for me.... LOL. Believe or not.
And if you are a history geek like me, it makes studying more fun, when you actually recreate the airbattles.
Spanish Civil war maps are needed badly.
Have you guys read Antony Beevors book about SCW. It is really good.
http://www.antonybeevor.com/spain/index.htm

[agracier]

Have you guys read Antony Beevors book about SCW. It is really good.
http://www.antonybeevor.com/spain/index.htm

Oh yes, a very detailed book on the subject.

In Spain many other fine books have been published these last years. I usually go for the photo books. They are easier to read and give a sort of instant gratification to the eyes ... and they tell stories in their own right as well. And many of these are quite inexpensive since they are written from an urge to recount history, not necessarily make a profit.

For lighter reading, but a fictional story embodying all the major historical events through the characters pitfalls and misfortunes, I'd also recommend 'the Return' by Victoria Hislop.

http://www.amazon.fr/Return-Victoria-Hislop/dp/0755332954/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1286991844&sr=1-12

It's written by a woman and gives a different approach to things, but is very suitable for people who have only vague ideas about the conflict.

[WhiteCat]

Wow guys... I'm from Madrid and that map touches me specially. I now live in London but keep a small flat very near la Almudena and Palacio Real. Amazing work. Specially realistic are the red tile roofs, very typical in old Madrid, in contrast to grey roofs of Paris for example. Ah, and try to make Manzanares river as narrow as possible, poor guy is more a stream than a river

Keep the good work! Hopefully very soon I will repay you with some work over the Pacific maps I have almost finished, when real life leaves me a small window of time for Il2

[agracier]

try to make Manzanares river as narrow as possible, poor guy is more a stream than a river

I know that most rivers in Spain are rather narrow and/or dry. I spent several tries experimenting with making rivers narrower, placing them on special layers, not blurring them so much or blurring by hand ... but it's not a process that leaves a lot of latitude. You need to make them 3 pixels wide, because if you make them only 2 pixels wide, then you end up with a succession of watering holes in a line, rather than a narrow river ... ha ha. Doesn't look very good at all.

There are also river objects, from either the Burma or Thailand maps, but this doesn't work very well either. They are quite long as objects go, but whenever they are placed on terrain that is not as flat as an airfield, they sort of hang in the air over lower areas ... looks absolutely awful.

So, until someone comes up with a different technique for making rivers, it will have to be 3 pixel wide rivers or nothing ... it's a shame really, but there you have it ...

[Dakpilot]

This is looking really great, thanks for everyones hard work!

@ Kapteeni.

"We have heaps of new maps, but not too many missions or campaigns. So missionbuilders are really needed too."

you have a very valid point, there are many beautiul maps available but some with not even one campaign, without campaigns
a beautiful new map is but a fleeting joy!

[agracier]

A few more screenshots of Madrid ... after this I'll get back to finishing the map ...


in the word's of Ernst Busch, Brigadista and singer: Madrid die wunderbare








on the road to Madrid




A finely made template by Lejo of a farm, using a good combination of flat-roofed houses and terracotta.
In the distance dogfighting between Nationalists and Moscas in the skies near Madrid.

[ftarquisa]

impressive, I am really awaiting to fly over Madrid, y the way, there are some bunkers left in several areas, like "casa de campo" and near "las rozas", i.e., all over the stabilized front areas. They are small, concrete and half buried...typical.

[agracier]

impressive, I am really awaiting to fly over Madrid, y the way, there are some bunkers left in several areas, like "casa de campo" and near "las rozas", i.e., all over the stabilized front areas. They are small, concrete and half buried...typical.

Once you know where to look, you can find remnants of trenches, bunkers, strong-points, graffiti inscriptions and such in many places. In Aragon around Huesca and the Monegros area they are very prevalent. In one place we've been going to several years, there are rather deep, man-made caves running into a hill under the village church. I never gave them a thought, maybe they were something medieval, an old quarry or whatever. Turns out they are air-raid shelters built by the Republicans during the SCW. And they are still open and accessible - and clean as well! No garbage, no graffiti on the walls. And of course no signs indicating what they are either ...

In another village I found out there were still a number of bunkers left. When searching for them, I asked a farmer driving by if he knew where they were. A look of utter surprise was the result (or else my Spanish was that bad ... ha ha.) I showed him the book where I had gotten my info from and still he didn't know anything about bunkers. Then about 100 from where we talked I found them all nicely preserved, 5 or 6 concrete bunkers ... they are nothing more than concrete hindrances for farmers apparently ...




air raid shelter caves - in Alcubierre, where George Orwell was stationed in 1936

[agracier]

impressive, I am really awaiting to fly over Madrid, y the way, there are some bunkers left in several areas, like "casa de campo" and near "las rozas", i.e., all over the stabilized front areas. They are small, concrete and half buried...typical.

Could you maybe indicate more or less where these are? It doesn't have to be very accurate - just something like in the northern part of the city, across the river to the west or something like that.

It would have been nice to add some trenches, but I think that would effect frame rates just too much. Trench sections are very small objects and you need a lot of them to be able to see them ... but maybe a few sections with bunkers ought to be doable ...

[mpetrov]

Is the map still on its way?

[agracier]

Is the map still on its way?

If you are asking about the Madrid map, then it is not only on the way, but it has arrived some time ago already.

Madrid can be downloaded here:

https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,9939.0.html

[mpetrov]

Thank you.