Drac's Tres Re-Exploration

[Draconisaurus]

Wow. That is a really great theory! I don't imagine I might have found it. It makes a LOT of sense, now. Anyone have a rope?

[MinePass]

Thanks, It also explains why the heli is in so many pieces, never understood why they would make something so complex.... just to have it laying in a heap in some canyon. By the way nice discovery with the missing PV road, always seemed strange that one had to go through the harbor to get to the Lab. I played it off as just an extra security measure, not like everyone would have access to such a sensitive site. And since when did we have the ORIGINAL PV level?! Looking at the walkthrough, it seems that level starts right after crossing the dam, wonder how they planned on stopping you from backtracking, maybe collapse those rusty walkways you crossed earlier. Speaking of crossings it's definitely puzzling thinking about how this direct route to the LB would kinda wrecked this level, maybe there was some Dino blocking that route promting you to go to the harbor....filled with raptors and a rex....hmm. Also according to the "shore" level you leave the plant and cross the drawbridge over the gorge (river bed 1). Based on the reading it seems like there's only one road, otherwise what's to stop you from going back? Especially when I look at the original PV theorised layout, is there only one road going through here because if not then we have the same issue with backtracking. Ugh....my head's spinning..... regardless it would seem Philip wasn't joking when he said that PV was a "giant" area.

[Draconisaurus]

Yeah, I quite like the alternate PV route too. Super hidden part of a lost version.I imagine we may never learn why there was a marker after the dino pen area.

[Double_G]

Soooo, we took a step back, last post, to cross-examine the PV TrnPlacement-00 cubes with each other. Pretty interesting stuff. In the process I decided it was the right time to investigate the secret PV terrain hidden inside the Trespasser Source, looking at its differences to the versions found in the builds. Tatu and I did a nice scout of it, the other day. Now I'll post some thoughts/analysis here.

Where can i download a TresEd compatible version of this secret PV terrain?

[tatu]

Soooo, we took a step back, last post, to cross-examine the PV TrnPlacement-00 cubes with each other. Pretty interesting stuff. In the process I decided it was the right time to investigate the secret PV terrain hidden inside the Trespasser Source, looking at its differences to the versions found in the builds. Tatu and I did a nice scout of it, the other day. Now I'll post some thoughts/analysis here.

Where can i download a TresEd compatible version of this secret PV terrain?

https://www.trescom.org/download/pine-valley-256x512/

[Double_G]

Thank's tatu. This version of PV is fascinating. In some aspects it's more interesting than what they ended up going with. I'm gonna try and see if i can take the best parts of this heightmap and combine it with the E3 one. For science

It's very cool to see how heavily they edited the island over the course of development. That early PV map doesn't really fit anywhere because ridges from the neighboring terrains have been moved around, rotated and edited beyond recognition

IJ2 even before there was a swamp


Raptors' nest and a shortcut to AS1/Lab


They must have really hated this little island. With each update it was getting smaller until it was reduced to a mere 3d model


General view of the area. It's really hard to make if fit, especially Mt Watson. Either they moved it around a lot or they moved everything else


The Plains, my favorite


Sorry for hijacking your thread Drac I just wanted to throw in my two cents

[Draconisaurus]

This is a great comparison. I didn't quite realize how different the basis of the terrain shape appears to be. We're told that a clay model of the island was built to capture the basic earth contours, but these two versions seem as if they might be two different clay models... Maybe they made a new one once the gameplay path was established.

[tatu]

Very interesting. I wonder if the scaling was changed. The mountain is way further east in the heightmap. That could explain some areas that are really different (like the PV coastline).

[MinePass]

General view of the area. It's really hard to make if fit, especially Mt Watson. Either they moved it around a lot or they moved everything else

so going back to the walkthrough it appears that after the Mayan pyramid in Ascent 1 the player begins their truck up the mountain, no further walking around the base of the mountain or switchbacks. Now going to the map table and wall version in Hammond's mansion. There exists a Y intersection at PV with the road leading straight and curving around the back, just before the switch back area.

[Draconisaurus]

I'd forgotten about these terrain comparison GIFs. Indeed they don't line up too well. AFAWK, they only ever had custom heightmaps for the island, based on the real one but using their own sculpted rendition. I suppose there might have been more than one clay sculpt, or they might have done heavy image editing after the scan, until they were happy with area distributions.