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Replies: 7 (Who?), Viewed: 6924 times.
Rowanrower
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Dec 2015 at 2:30 AM
Default Creating a Height Map from Real World Elevation Data
I noticed the previous tutorials for making a height map of real world places were outdated, and many of the programs and websites used in the tutorials were no longer available. I've found some alternative programs and websites that can be used to the same effect as the previous tutorials, and I've uploaded a tutorial on the CAW Wiki. Unfortunately, this method is restricted in the size of real world locations you can get, so you can get a map of a small part of Italy, but not a map of the whole country.

The tutorial also has info on converting image files to 16 bit PNG files using free programs, as none of the methods in previous tutorials were working for me.

Hope this is helpful!
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simsample
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#2 Old 21st Dec 2015 at 11:21 AM
Thanks @Rowanrower Nice tutorial! I was using terrainparty for Cities Skylines, good to know you can get nice results using it with Sims 3.
Rowanrower
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 21st Dec 2015 at 5:41 PM
Glad you like it @simsample
The results are a little jagged but I think you could fix that up in photoshop or another image editing program. I found it useful mainly for getting an exact outline of an island I want to do. It's a good base to start with. I think that using something like world machine to make the terrain more realistic could get you a really good likeness of real world locations.
simsample
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#4 Old 23rd Dec 2015 at 3:36 PM
Volvenom
dodgy builder
#5 Old 2nd Jan 2016 at 8:22 PM
The map doubles when I import it into caw. I tried with 8 and 16 bits and it's looking like below. What am I doing wrong?
Screenshots
Rowanrower
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 3rd Jan 2016 at 1:08 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Volvenom
The map doubles when I import it into caw. I tried with 8 and 16 bits and it's looking like below. What am I doing wrong?


That's generally a problem with the image being the wrong bit size. Have you checked the properties of the image to make sure it's 16 bit? Unfortunately when you download the image from terrain.party it's not in the correct format for CAW so you need to format it with GIMP. Did you follow the instructions in the tutorial to format the image to 16 bit PNG?

Let me know and we'll get it sorted out together.
Volvenom
dodgy builder
#7 Old 3rd Jan 2016 at 3:50 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Rowanrower
That's generally a problem with the image being the wrong bit size. Have you checked the properties of the image to make sure it's 16 bit? Unfortunately when you download the image from terrain.party it's not in the correct format for CAW so you need to format it with GIMP. Did you follow the instructions in the tutorial to format the image to 16 bit PNG?

Let me know and we'll get it sorted out together.


I use Photoshop. I did change to both 8 and 16 to test, but nothing changed. I may have been doing it the wrong place. I'll do some research on youtube about changing bitsize.
Rowanrower
Test Subject
Original Poster
#8 Old 4th Jan 2016 at 9:39 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Volvenom
I use Photoshop. I did change to both 8 and 16 to test, but nothing changed. I may have been doing it the wrong place. I'll do some research on youtube about changing bitsize.


I don't have Photoshop but I think it might be possible to use it to change the bit depth. If you can't get it working there are instructions in the tutorial for using a free program to change the formatting.
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