On this thread I will keep track of my biggest map project yet: Skeleton Coast The Skeleton Coast is a remote stretch of coast in south-western Africa where the Namib desert meets the Atlantic ocean. Its name derives from the many skeletal remains of whales and other marine animals and the wrecks of countless ships that ran aground on its hundreds kilometres of shoreline. Despite its eerie nature as one of the harshest environments on earth, the skeleton coast is home to a diverse fauna, including seals, penguins, desert adapted elephants and unique plants. This makes it a worthwile destination for adventurers, nature enthusiasts and offroaders. Most probably know this place from the "Beach Buggy Boys" Grand Tour special. The plan: My goal with this map is to bring some of the Skeleton Coasts fascination to BeamNG.drive. The map is based on a custom heightmap where I tried to include some of this landscapes more interesting features. The rocky coastal cliffs, valleys and ridges aswell as a large dunefield. Map size: There is the base map, which is 8x8km. By "base map" I mean the high detail, multi material ground on which all BeamNG maps are build upon. Compare this to Johnson Valley within the fences and map boundaries. The map extension: Outside of the base map there is a large, drivable map background. Compare this to the highway and saltpan on Johnson Valley. A terrain which has far lower details but is a lot larger. In this case 60x15km, which adds up to an area of 900km². There is a highway going through this terrain which connects to a small town at the end of it. The distance between the 2 main towns on the map, one being at the coast, the other being in the backcountry, is over 70km, which makes this one of the longest point A to point B trips in BeamNG. Progress: There is no release date yet. You can follow the progress here on the forum. You can also keep track on this roadmap This is a project I am very passionate about. The final version will be free. However this is a very time consuming task that I am already in for well over a thousand hours. To help me continue this work you can support me via Ko-fi - any help is greatly appreciated! Screenshots of the ongoing project:
Looks well made, Sandy Wasteland will be perfect for Mad Max 4: Fury Road.. I look forward to jumping the ships.. Wait, it that a Toyota Land Cruiser I see? It sure is ugly aye.. I look forward to being able to experience this map..
Well, most of Mad Max Fury Road was filmed there so... Yes I got some Land Cruisers, you should find these on google, if not dm me I can send them to you
Thanks for the Toyota tip, I hope the Meo 500 cubic inch drag spec V8 Big Blower can be added to the Toyota config like I've done with the Nissan Patrol GQ Y60 mod I downloaded from this site, Then add the R4nking Turbo Everything + Twincharge Everything mod along with the CJD Special tunes 7spd seq box to unleash the beast within.. too much power no grip so better grab the IYB custom wheel/tires 15x25 Draggers should help.. as well as the 4 or 7 other mods I mix together to create Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde configs ;;-)
Speaking of Mad Max, I don´t know why I didn´t think of this myself but you´re right, this map is actually perfect for this. Also draining the ocean does magic...
Last weeks progress: Added a workshop New tracks in the dunefield Finished the dirtroad along the costline. Total length: 11km, takes about 25 - 30 min to drive don´t get stuck on the beach when the tide comes in
Looks good! My one critique from looking at the screens is that it's very monochromatic. The inland sand dunes could probably use a slight splash of color, maybe something akin to a golden yellow/orange. My brief overview of photos of the place suggests that there might be some sparse greenery, too.
Thanks for your feedback! At the moment there are no asphalt roads planned. I´d like the roads to have some purpose, so no random roads that lead nowhere that are just there to be driven but every road to lead to some place. And since everything on this map is very remote and small, it kind of makes no sense to have paved roads in this area. I was thinking of adding a highway somewhere in the back, similar to Johnson Valley, I will see about that as the map progresses.. Yes that is a good point I agree to. I am also not entirely happy with the colour scheme, I will probably change some things here and there. Since the actual skeleton coast stretches for several hundred kilometers, I can´t include all of its landscapes. My plan with this map is to somewhat resemble the area around the town Lüderitz. Here are some comparisons between the map and real photos: ad vegetation: there is going to be a little vegetation in some areas like in small canyons and such, where it is more likely for some plants to grow. It is actually not easy to find some balance between keeping a map as close to the real place as possible but also making it more suitable for the gameplay. Since most real places aren´t necessarily the most fun to drive around there needs to be some changes. I am still not entirely sure about that. For the moment I try to keep it very close to reality but I´ll see where it goes. What is very important to me is the scale. While most video game maps have a high variety of places in a rather small area, I want these maps to not only feel vast but actually are (within the limitations of this game). It always annoyed me that in most games you would drive 2 minutes and are in a different area or even climate zone. I want maps where you can drive around for hours and never drive a road twice while still being in the same kind of landscape. But this also means there will be some repetitiveness and less details since I am doing this alone in my free time. We´ll see how this goes..
It just looks like an antenna... its just an object I placed there in the editor to make the screenshot look more like in the movie.. but it would be a nice addition to the actual mod if someone did it..
Some progress... The Tsau Khaeb Desert Lodge. So you have somewhere nice to stay after wrecking your precious Land Cruiser in the dunes.
cool, now theres two south african maps --- Post updated --- i just saw your other map! im glad theres more south african stuff here
Squatter village near an old mine. Watch for gang members on the lookout towers. Probably not a good idea to stop there.
The atlantic coast of southern africa holds one of the world largest diamond deposits. Accordingly, most beaches are turned into some post industrial wasteland by the mining activities over time. It is the largest (and only) industry in the area. Some reference of the strip mining on the beach:
Wow! This is impressive. I like your style with overlapping reality and fantasy. Also the assets and their creative arrangement is fascinating. Great work! I am eager to see what else is to come...
