I plan to post this in its own thread when I have it complete, but essentially I have used the demorecord and a combination of mathematical graphing to create a very accurate positioning system for the maps of CoH. I'm not sure if this is what you're aiming for but here's what I did, I'll use AP as an example:
1) I mapped each corner of AP using demorecord and got the following coordinates for the map, using "top" and "bottom" in coordination with how the map looks in the view window in game. Positions are in x,y,z with x being the horizontal, z being the vertical (when looking at the map from birdseye view) and y being the height of the object on the map:
Bottom Left: 2815 -25.843838 1023
Bottom Right: -1792 20.917597 1023
Top Right: -1792 16.555946 -2432
Top Left: 2815 18.061245 -2432
For purposes of mapping I ignore the Y coordinate as that can be determined through basic trial and error when mapping later on, as far as I can tell each integral is equal to about 1 foot so you can use your zone knowledge to think "oh, that bridge is about 20 feet off the ground", etc...
2) I took a picture of AP's map from the wiki and pasted it onto a simple square in Google Sketchup - a program that allows you to accurately build shapes based on feet measurement which, as stated above, seems to be the rough estimate for each coordinate integral in the game. Using the above coordinates we can determine that AP is 4,608' by 3,455'. But based on the positive to negative ratio the map is actually read 180' opposite from how it appears in the view finder in game, so the bottom right of the map in the game actually belongs in the top left when viewing it as a graph, if that makes sense.
3) Using either a demorecord or math, I calculate 0,0,0 on the map and center the Sketchup model so that 0,0,0 corresponds with the center of the x,y,z plane. And the result is this:
Now you can accurately find a coordinate (x,z) anywhere in AP using the measurement tool in Sketchup. So if I want to place a character at, say, the tram station, I can measure out:
x-coordinate:
z-coordinate:
Now I put them into the demorecord, assuming that the tram station is probably about 74 feet up from ground level (actually I cheated, I guessed 70 but when I tested the record I noticed I was off a few feet) so my position would be 690, 74, -1399. I make a simple demorecord:
You'll notice I placed the camera a dozen or so feet further on the x plane, so that Evangel would be in view. Also, I'm not going to bother explaining the PYR functions right now as this is just an example to answer your question... albeit a lonnnngggg example
Once I dump that demo I get this pretty little record that has Evangel placed nicely where I wanted him:
If that helps at all, I do plan to post a full thread with links to files people can download to use this for demo-editing post sunset, so capture all your characters' skins and such so you can "play" after the game is done! If this doesn't answer your question at all then at least think of it as:
Go. Hunt. Save CoH.
Evangel | Infinity Server
