Some number-crunching on map scales

[Felix the Cat]

Okay, so I was looking at what the relative scales of maps would be in terms of kilometers. For example, if you had a 28x28 map and you wanted one map gridsquare to be 10 meters square, how many kilometers would one side of the map be (17.92)? If you wanted a 100km square map, how many square meters does each pixel represent (9)?

Here is a small chart of my findings.

MAP SIZE (km on a side) - MAP SIZE (units) - km/unit - m/gridsquare - m/pixel

Code: Select all

140      - 28    - 5         - 78       - 9
100      - 28    - 3.571     - 55       - 6
1.792    - 28    - .064      - 1        - .125
50       - 28    - 1.786     - 28       - 3.4
14.336   - 28    - .512      - 8        - 1
20       - 28    - .714      - 11.15    - 1.39
500      - 28    - 17.857    - 279      - 35
28       - 28    - 1         - 16       - 2
10.752   - 28    - .384      - 6        - .75
17.92    - 28    - .64       - 10       - 1.25

[Buggi]

*smiles and nods*

[Maelstrom]

And what are you basing your measurments off?

[Das Bruce]

Use code tags to make it readable.

[Felix the Cat]

And what are you basing your measurments off?

Err, I apparently didn't explain it very well.

There are five columns there. Given that the map size is always 28, you can plug in any number for one of the columns and calculate what the others would equal by simple conversion using multiplication and division. I didn't base my measurements off of anything tangible, if that's what you're asking.

I'm basically saying something like "If the map were 140 kilometers on a side, and 28 units on a side, then it would be 78 meters per gridsquare on a side and 9 meters per pixel on a side" a whole bunch of times.

Why is this useful? Well, say I wanted to make a realistic mod (gasp!) with real-world maps on which to play. If an infantryman were 1 gridsquare, then we can calculate how big a map is on a side by figuring out how much space we want that infantryman to occupy. If we say that he occupies a space 1m by 1m, then the map would be 1.792 kilometers per side. If we say he's 6m by 6m, then the map turns out to be just over 10 km per side. If we say he's 8m by 8m (which means that each pixel is 1m by 1m), then the map is 14.3 km per side. So if I wanted to say that, in this battle, there would be 8m between infantrymen standing side by side (a reasonable assumption for battle, you don't want to bunch up), then my map area would be 14.3 km by 14.3 km. So now I can make a realistically-scaled map as well as realistically-scaled units.

[Torrasque]

So, it the circumference oh the earth is 40'000 km , what should be the size of the map ?

[Dragon45]

You also need to take into the account the total square area of the planet Empyrrean.

Dont worry about realism. Make it fun.

[renrutal]

So, it the circumference oh the earth is 40'000 km , what should be the size of the map ?

Basic math classes = teh win!

[Torrasque]

What's the scale of a TA unit?

[Mars Keeper]

The Flea is about the size of a volvo.
Atleast thats the impression I got from playing the urban maps in the old TA.

[Maelstrom]

I thought that a Peewee was about the size of a car?

[FizWizz]

Jeffies are apparently monster trucks

[Felix the Cat]

It should be mentioned that all of this calculating is aimed at creating more realistic maps for real-world mods (AATA, WD). Some of us don't like having our tanks being the size of several small African countries if playing on "Atlantic", etc.

Once we get the ability to make scenarios (do we already have that ability? I'm clueless here...), I'd like to make one for AATA for the Ardennes campaign of 1944 (Battle of the Bulge).

[Dragon45]

That capability is already available through LUA scripting.