Forged Alliance Forever

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-09-28T07:31:14+02:00

In addition of tutorial from Morax I would say next things:

In order to start working in the World Machine (WM) program and in the future to avoid problems with the difference in the WM height map and the FAF Ozonex map editor, you need to make the following changes in the WM settings:
1) Indicate the size of the card, for example. for a 10 × 10 km map for Supreme Commander, in the map editor you need to create a 512 by 512 map. Accordingly, in World Machine it will be 512 x 512 and check the “+1” box so that the game doesn’t have a bug with edges in the game.

2) Set the maximum height in WM equal to 255 meters (in the game the maximum displayed height is 255), or otherwise there will be a problem with importing height maps. You must also set the unit in kilometers.

Statistics: Posted by MikZZ — 28 Sep 2019, 07:31

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-21T16:40:01+02:00

Rewilon wrote:
Which tools du you use to make Maps with natural looking terrain?
(I prefer unsymmetrical natural maps, not that symmetrical tournament maps.)

I only use World Machine, Photoshop, and online images (search "heightmap" in Google) to get results.

A word of caution: asymmetrical maps are tough to balance so please use care in how you design. Reference the FAF Map Vault rules here and note #7 where you could see your map set to "not ranked." For fun and aesthetic design, go nuts but just a word of caution!

Rewilon wrote:
Where should these sliders be? (Do I use the wrong version of the editor? ...or did you mean WM?)

Read over each setting here "[Terrain Settings and meanings in the FAF Map Editor Wiki]" and you will see it depends on what you want.

Strange that it does not explain the "Scale Height" setting. I would enter a value there, check the scale, and see what happens. It might be all you need to do to fix your height map import.

When I get home from work tonight, I will investigate.

A word of caution: Black plane bug
In Forged Alliance there is known bug, that lower parts of your map will become black. It happen, when height difference between the lowest and the highest point is bigger than 50.

Do not try to break this rule! Height differences of 50 not only cause this bug, but will certainly create areas for air unit path-finding, and in general messes with the camera/visibility.

Remember that a difference of more than "1 unit" in the editor is enough to make it so units cannot traverse along and need to find another path to access lower/higher areas of the map.

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 21 Aug 2019, 16:40

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-21T11:50:52+02:00

ah yeah it's different to the old gpg editor that i use(d)

try ticking scale height, i assume 0.5 would mean it will import at half the height it imports at now

Statistics: Posted by biass — 21 Aug 2019, 11:50

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-20T22:43:55+02:00

@Morax:
Thank you for your great tutorial.
I will check this and try it out.

Which tools du you use to make Maps with natural looking terrain?
(I prefer unsymmetrical natural maps, not that symmetrical tournament maps.)

biass wrote:
there "should" be two sliders around the import button in the editor, that control at what height the black and white of the "image" you're using as a heightmap appear as

Where should these sliders be? (Do I use the wrong version of the editor? ...or did you mean WM?)

Statistics: Posted by Rewilon — 20 Aug 2019, 22:43

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T16:23:55+02:00

He still needs to know what the sliders need to be set to, which is the tricky part.

Honestly, if the heightmap is only as far in progress as the one the OP showed, just start from scratch the proper way, as explained by Morax.

Statistics: Posted by Lionhardt — 19 Aug 2019, 16:23

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T13:59:39+02:00

uh so bickering aside as lionheart says kinda but in short

there "should" be two sliders around the import button in the editor, that control at what height the black and white of the "image" you're using as a heightmap appear as

if you make the values closer to one another, the difference in height decreases and thus fixes your problem

that, or you can decrease the contrast in your favorite image editor, they work the same way

Statistics: Posted by biass — 19 Aug 2019, 13:59

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T17:39:45+02:00

Whelp, I would have to say you need to adjust the altitude scaling in world machine. That's part of the file input properties, so if you want to make world machine then direct to the editor, you will need to test it, go back to WM, add clamps, modify this and that.

Eh, I just can't recommend it. As you stated, making a simple height map with the low and high value as a reference is the best practice.

Something changed in the ozone editor where the height values are far different from WM expression. I didn't know how to answer this at first because it resulted in a much closer look when I originally used it.

Now, in WM, it barely looks like any terrain is there and you have to trust something happened : /

I don't like using it anymore for this reason, but with the ozone editor you can make erosion details with the "mountain brushes" quite quickly.

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 19 Aug 2019, 13:15

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T12:16:27+02:00

Hmm... Ok? I don't know if I used your exact settings and never noticed a problem with the way I did it (don't remember exactly).

But besides that I think you did not answer his actual question anyway. I think he stared a heightmap in WM and fails to get it into the editor with the correct height scale. Your approach is essentially the same what I told him. Start with the editor then import into WM, then back into the editor.

I still think your post is valuable though. I will try your settings when I get back to mapping at some point and compare them to what I used to do.

Statistics: Posted by Lionhardt — 19 Aug 2019, 12:16

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T03:49:30+02:00

It's an incorrect transition, Lionhardt. I tested it on a bunch of maps and if you don't do this process fully-100% it results in that imported height map where the lows and highs are multiplied by a factor.

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 19 Aug 2019, 03:49

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-19T01:28:49+02:00

Can you post a screenshot showcasing the effect? Got no machine to run this atm but still curious.

Edit: Hm, how actually does your first post answer his question? I think you misunderstood what he is asking.

Statistics: Posted by Lionhardt — 19 Aug 2019, 01:28

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-18T19:42:03+02:00

Here is an attachment for my "general erosion" world machine device setup.

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 18 Aug 2019, 19:42

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-18T19:23:54+02:00

Hi, Rewilon,

There are a lot of pieces of info needed to get going [see entire imgur album here: https://imgur.com/a/DXDv2QG?]

1) Show your original height map in the editor so we can have a look.

Here is my settings and height map for a test.

Settings:

Spoiler: show

Height Map:

Spoiler: show

2) Export the height map to your World Machine documents folder:

Spoiler: show

3) Open the exported .raw / .r16 file in an image editing software package like Photoshop and save as a .PNG [so far this is the best known image file format that works with FA maps / World Machine].

Open the file:

Spoiler: show

Save it as a PNG (2 parts to this):

Spoiler: show

4) Set up a "File Input" and "Write Output"

Part 1, select the "File Input" from the Generator tab:

Spoiler: show

Part 2, fill up the generators, modifiers, natural, etc devices you wish to use [I will explain those in detail in a different post]:

Spoiler: show

Part 3, add a "Height Output" from output:

Spoiler: show

5) Load the .PNG file you created from image editing software through the "File Input" device:

Spoiler: show

Highlighted in blue: Keep "edge blending" very low as this function will cause issues at higher levels

Highlighted in red: Ensure that "altitude scaling" is "Natural (file) elevations" so there is no conversion of height data

Highlighted in black: Ensure that your input dimensions match you map (eg 5x5, 10x10, 20x20, 40x40 km)

Highlighted in green: This is where you load your file, and yes, you must actually click "Load" to get to the next step:

6) Load the file:

Spoiler: show

7) Check your height map at the device that precedes your "Height Output" one and ensure it looks okay. The World Machine generated height will look a little different, but it translates height with a scale that is not the same as Forged Alliance:

Spoiler: show

8) Use the "Height Output" device by double-clicking it:

Spoiler: show

9) Write the output by clicking "Write Output to Disk":

Spoiler: show

10) Import the height map in the FAF editor:

https://i.imgur.com/ZO9McKs.png

11) When you select import, browse to the World Machine Documents folder [or wherever you selected to save] and find the export .raw / .r16 from World Machine's Height Output:

Spoiler: show

12) Open the height output file and you will have your World Machine generated height map:

https://i.imgur.com/LWbUrA6.png

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 18 Aug 2019, 19:23

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-14T13:56:15+02:00

Adjust the max height and min height in the editor upon importing. The mapping from grayscale values to height values of WM does not necessarily match the scale of the editor. To work around this I always first export a heightmap from the editor with a plateau of the minimum height I want and a plateau of the maximum height I want. I integrate these numbers into the filename when exporting the heightmap, so I always keep the information bundled with the file itself. Then I edit with WM and import again with the same height settings into the editor. If you don't change the height settings upon export, the only thing you need to do is importing into WM said map with the reference plateaus.

If you started from WM I don't know of a way to get the information needed from WM to put the correct height values into the editor when importing. But in principle there should be a way to get that information. Possible start:

1) Query your maximum and minimum height in WM (don't know how)
2) Measure your maximum and minimum gray scale value of the exported heightmap in PS or something.
3) Adjust your heightmap in PS to cap out at either black or white. Meaning, increase the brightness until the pixel with the highest previous value has value 255 or decrease until the darkest pixel reaches 0.
4) Hope that this translation is linear.
5) reimport into WM
6) measure max and min height again
7) import into editor with the same numbers you just measured + an arbitrary constant

No idea, if that works though.

Statistics: Posted by Lionhardt — 14 Aug 2019, 13:56

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-13T21:09:09+02:00

I'm not sure, what information is needed...
I used the unchanged standard settings in both tools. (As far as I know...)

Statistics: Posted by Rewilon — 13 Aug 2019, 21:09

Re: Problem with importing heightmaps

2019-08-12T15:54:40+02:00

Hey there!

It's quite a process to export, import a height map using these tools, so if you want help files and setup will need to be known.

I recommend also joining the M&M discord where a host of people could offer insight: https://discord.gg/eTEYdqT

Statistics: Posted by Morax — 12 Aug 2019, 15:54