Spherical Earth Map

[Antonisrho]

Hi all!

After the "2023 and beyond" update I cannot stop thinking about the spherical earth map that will cover the entire planet. For me this is the biggest thing to be hyped about as for me there will trully be no limit for DCS then! I'm searching each day to see if there's any update, any estimate for initial release, any more details about its technology/quality, will it be photoreal with satellite images or pure autogen like fsx/p3d! Will 3rd party developers be able to enhance it (eg ORBX like in MSFS) with payware addons? So many questions...I really cannot remember any other time being this hyped with a DCS announcement!!! 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Antonisrho

[Dniwe125]

As far as I know, in DCS right now there is a spherical map of the earth, if you fly up to 100 km, you will see that the planet is round, and there is a real position of the celestial bodies of the Moon and the Sun, or do you mean that the map should be filled in like in MSFS?

[draconus]

7 hours ago, Dniwe125 said:

if you fly up to 100 km, you will see that the planet is round

It's only gfx effect.

[Antonisrho]

According to their announcement and previous interviews back in November 2021 it will be filled properly like msfs. What we don't know is will it be photoreal needing internet connection or more like p3d with autogen and generic mesh textures? Will we be able to use in mission editor? How will the aircraft maps in navigation/situation display work? What's the weather going to be like/set?  How will existing maps be incorporated? How CPU/GPU/RAM demanding is it going to be?

 

And most importantly..... what's their timeframe estimation for initial release? How close to a beta stage are we?

Edited April 24, 2023 by Antonisrho

[skywalker22]

Check this out: 

 

[Northstar98]

I'm expecting that it'll probably be a low resolution base map with low-ish resolution satellite textures, largely relying heavily on landclass and autogen. I'd expect at least major aerdromes would have the correct layout, but maybe using generic structures and textures.

But what I'm hoping is that we still get terrain add-ons that overwrite the areas they cover (kinda like most civilian flight simulators), which would also allow for historical maps.

[GUFA]

I think this is the last Big (huuuggggggeeeeeee) Priority that should be on ED's list. Once all the maths is done, a way of handling eras resolved and the current maps are integrated onto it. I daresay it becomes way easier for ED and third parties to bring maps to us customers. They (ED+third parties) will drown in money.

[Silver_Dragon]

from 2023 Newsletter.

Quote

DCS Core
...
Spherical Earth Map
2022 saw great progress creating the tools and technologies to support a precise spherical Earth map for DCS. Because this map will be based on current day, it will operate independently of the current and future regional maps that allow historic maps such as World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and other scenarios. Spherical Earth efforts will continue in 2023.

 

[GUFA]

So wouldn't be worth ED's time to re-use Items such as buildings, topography data and plants & trees? Would have thought that would save you guys a ton of time and money? I wont matter to me and other customers if the old maps are overwritten with the globe? Us users then simply define the area we want to use X km * y km and our system only generate that.

[GUFA]

7 minutes ago, GUFA said:

Us users then simply define the area we want to use X km * y km and our system only generate that.

In terms of how we use our old mapped areas

[Antonisrho]

Dare I say....even release tools for modders to improve scenery!  MSFS is fully moddable and open, SDK released and still there are tons of 3rd party companies developing constantly and making money! Imagine the added value and playability of making it open! Bring us the world as soon as possible! I have seen other sims in the making (eg NOS....however I'm afraid will not be commercially available, but you never know) and they will be modeling the whole world (NOS with Unreal Engine 5!) I would be more than eager to jump to any new combat sim that will simulate the whole world for ops, even if sacrificing whatever I have paid so far in DCS.

[Silver_Dragon]

9 minutes ago, Antonisrho said:

Dare I say....even release tools for modders to improve scenery!  MSFS is fully moddable and open, SDK released and still there are tons of 3rd party companies developing constantly and making money! Imagine the added value and playability of making it open! Bring us the world as soon as possible! I have seen other sims in the making (eg NOS....however I'm afraid will not be commercially available, but you never know) and they will be modeling the whole world (NOS with Unreal Engine 5!) I would be more than eager to jump to any new combat sim that will simulate the whole world for ops, even if sacrificing whatever I have paid so far in DCS.

ED dont go to open the TDK(Terrain develop Kit) to the modders, they need convert on 3rd parties to get access.

[Antonisrho]

Indeed, which I believe hampers the potential for a truly open world combat sim, ultimately keeping their profits down as well in my humble opinion. The community with mods could have taken it to the next level (or levels) - the community already enhances it even with very limited tools at their disposal!  Imagine if someone develops a combat sim which is open to modding, and covers the whole globe. I would be the first to jump jump ship! 

 

See MSFS, with all those quality addons like Fenix and PMDG which I have bought. Not to mention numerous sceneries from third parties. Why still all the limitations with DCS? Anyway, I feel I'm digressing. GO SPHERICAL EARTH MAP!

[Tom Kazansky]

is this a "Spherical Earth Map"-teaser? So I would name it: "The whole world"

[Migratingcoconut]

Quote

Dare I say....even release tools for modders to improve scenery!  MSFS is fully moddable and open, SDK released and still there are tons of 3rd party companies developing constantly and making money! Imagine the added value and playability of making it open! Bring us the world as soon as possible! I have seen other sims in the making (eg NOS....however I'm afraid will not be commercially available, but you never know) and they will be modeling the whole world (NOS with Unreal Engine 5!) I would be more than eager to jump to any new combat sim that will simulate the whole world for ops, even if sacrificing whatever I have paid so far in DCS.

I was going to make a topic on this, but wasn't sure where to put it. I really would like to have the ability to touch up existing airfields like the one I live near to be as true to life in a similar manner as the SDK kit given for MSFS2020. It doesn't hurt sales in any meaningful way and allows users to develop skills in which they might one day put to use as a proper addon developer. It's a great thing to give to the community. I believe as ED mentioned, the world map will be treated as separate from the rest, so such an SDK kit should only be usable on the earth map. It takes a lot of work to make something pay ware worthy and most of us probably just want to make small changes that are passable to ourselves for the most part. It could be used to spice up fictional scenarios for missions we share with each other as well which would be awesome.

[Xilon_x]

Making an Atlantic crossing and sailing for a long time requires making corrections during navigation, precisely because the earth is round, the flight is not in a straight line but in a curved line. for World War II pilots it was a feat to do so.

 

[PawlaczGMD]

I don't think this is a good fit for DCS. MSFS focuses on civil aviation, so long haul transcontinental flights need a full map. In DCS, most of the planes can barely cross the maps we have, and there is little gameplay/simulated reason to do so. That's not what military aircraft generally do, unless they're just relocating to another base. It's better to have more detailed, smaller maps like we do.

[draconus]

6 hours ago, PawlaczGMD said:

In DCS, most of the planes can barely cross the maps we have, and there is little gameplay/simulated reason to do so. That's not what military aircraft generally do, unless they're just relocating to another base.

Can't agree. Most jets can easily fly across the maps we have but it's rarely just straight flight there and back. Any decent realistic mission can take 2 hours or more and AAR is a thing. Some missions IRL can start thousands of miles away from AO. Even just relocation is a job to be done and don't forget we're about to get Herc.

[Crash *]

A whole globe for DCS. Sounds good at first, but there are so many things to consider.

Will it be a Googlemap-like globe divided into areas? Where each manufacturer can then break down their area in detail like today's maps? Like a round scrapbook?

How will it be with the time zones? It wouldn't be nice if someone crossed the border in their WWII plane and suddenly landed 70 years in the future because the airfield was in a different zone.

Will the mission editor still work? It is a powerful part of DCS. I wouldn't appreciate it if it was removed in favor of a wallpaper map.

How does it look for the helicopters. They don't fly at 15,000 feet. A pixel mash wouldn't be a solution either.

But ED are not beginners either and love their product, so I am quite confident that they will find and implement a workable solution. Although I don't really think that will happen in the next few months/years. It's just a feeling.

In general, I think the idea of a whole world is very good.

 

[draconus]

@Crash *From little info we got the whole world map will not replace our smaller detailed maps. ME is not going anywhere either. Obviously it's not really meant for helicopters but still, you can use it if you want. And finally, no, there will be no time change just because you flew into other map area.

 

[Crash *]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb draconus:

@Crash *From little info we got the whole world map will not replace our smaller detailed maps. ME is not going anywhere either. Obviously it's not really meant for helicopters but still, you can use it if you want. And finally, no, there will be no time change just because you flew into other map area.

 

Good news for me, beside the part with the Helicopter, but this is probably due to the program mechanics.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Crash *

[Dragon1-1]

We don't know, maybe helos will work fine with it. It's not impossible that it will be detailed enough for ground ops. Civilian sims model the whole globe. There's very little specifics on this, so it's still up in the air, so to speak. 

[Tree_Beard]

If ED's idea is that they are going to release a comparatively low detail globe like it's just any other terrain, and then continue to sell the individual flat maps totally separately, then that would be a pretty big disappointment in my opinion. 

I would suggest that if/when the global map is ever finished and released, it needs to become the foundation of all future DCS terrain offerings. 

So the base, modern period global map comes with the free to play game, and then you pay for more detailed areas or historical layers that you can install and uninstall as desired, but you are always flying on the same global base map. I haven't played MSFS but my understanding is that they do something like that. 

It would be great if they shared some information about what their vision actually is. 

 

[draconus]

2 hours ago, Tree_Beard said:

If ED's idea is that they are going to release a comparatively low detail globe like it's just any other terrain, and then continue to sell the individual flat maps totally separately, then that would be a pretty big disappointment in my opinion.

Well, that's the plan at least for a start last time they said anything about global map. The detailed maps are here to stay both for backward compatibility with missions/campaigns and for their detailed and interactive nature needed for the simulation of warfare and looks.

[Northstar98]

Personally, I'm hoping for something similar to what's been found in other flight simulators for years - have a base spherical world map that facilitates addon terrain that replaces a certain area - facilitating areas depicted as they were historically (such as WWII) and more detailed terrains.