Specific terrain map creation?
by Taslim Dosunmu · in Technical Issues · 09/15/2007 (11:43 am) · 6 replies
Ummm how do i create a specific terrain map using a drawing and how do i tell torque how to make it.
i've drawn the picture in my notebook but i dont kow what to do now any suggestions?
an idea of what the land loks like is a mountain (the top's got an opening to a lava city)
thein next to it theres a forest (mainly flat land ill model the trees for torque)
nxt to that is a hilly dessert, and connected to that is another mountainthis mountain has an opening on the side. then more flat lands. all this land is in a circle and its surrounde by the ocean. how would this look and how would i make torque create this land. also if you're really good at scripting check out my what are the types of datablocks and collisions post.
THank you,
T.J.
i've drawn the picture in my notebook but i dont kow what to do now any suggestions?
an idea of what the land loks like is a mountain (the top's got an opening to a lava city)
thein next to it theres a forest (mainly flat land ill model the trees for torque)
nxt to that is a hilly dessert, and connected to that is another mountainthis mountain has an opening on the side. then more flat lands. all this land is in a circle and its surrounde by the ocean. how would this look and how would i make torque create this land. also if you're really good at scripting check out my what are the types of datablocks and collisions post.
THank you,
T.J.
#2
Having said that i need to back it up by saying... I believe (not certain) that you can import a grey scale map and use it as an elevation map.... regarding his drawing... if he's been using some very good artistic shading techniques then it's possible that it could be used as a height map...however I doubt it.
What you need to do is scan your image into a photo program, change it to grey scale and add dithered shadeing. Usually black=low and white=high... so shades of grey are in-between.
But hey I'm just a modeler so I'm not 100% on anything ;)
09/21/2007 (9:58 am)
Well... I believe that what he's asking may not be impossible.Having said that i need to back it up by saying... I believe (not certain) that you can import a grey scale map and use it as an elevation map.... regarding his drawing... if he's been using some very good artistic shading techniques then it's possible that it could be used as a height map...however I doubt it.
What you need to do is scan your image into a photo program, change it to grey scale and add dithered shadeing. Usually black=low and white=high... so shades of grey are in-between.
But hey I'm just a modeler so I'm not 100% on anything ;)
#3
09/21/2007 (10:39 am)
But wouldn't a height map need to be a top-down view? It sounds like he drew a side view of his world.
#4
09/21/2007 (11:37 am)
Yea a height map does need to be a birds eye view, so to speak. If it was drawn from an "elevation" view (as in looking at a cut away side view)....well then he's SOL. In that case, I'd draw topology lines horizontaly across the picture, then create a top-down view above that drawing using verticle lines to map out the cutoffs in the topology lines... then use those as a guide for topology circles... then import the drawing to a photo editor. Using the topology rings, I'd start at the lowest elevation and color it black...then in the next set of rings color it a dark shade of grey...keep doin that till the peeks are white. Then use that as a height map and apply a smoothing when needed. 
#5
Use a picture editor, like MS Paint, Corel PaintShopPro, The Gimp, or Adobe Photoshop. It doesn't matter which.
The finished product should be 256 x 256 pixels. Make it greyscale if you can. Save it as a BMP file (but it's huge) or a PNG. I think you can also save it as a GIF or a JPG, but sometimes JPGs are lossy and your terrain may be messed up.
Use the terrain editor inside TGE to import your terrain map into Torque.
09/21/2007 (1:00 pm)
Listen to @Akkuma; he's got the technique down. Here are some additional technical details.Use a picture editor, like MS Paint, Corel PaintShopPro, The Gimp, or Adobe Photoshop. It doesn't matter which.
The finished product should be 256 x 256 pixels. Make it greyscale if you can. Save it as a BMP file (but it's huge) or a PNG. I think you can also save it as a GIF or a JPG, but sometimes JPGs are lossy and your terrain may be messed up.
Use the terrain editor inside TGE to import your terrain map into Torque.
#6
09/21/2007 (2:26 pm)
Kind of related question: how do they render the minimaps in games like Starcraft and, I hate to say it, World Of warcraft? Is it simply a picture that gets scrolled depending on the characters position, or is it something more sophisticated, like it actually takes all terrain in a x yard radius and generates a cool map. 
Torque Owner Ted Lilljegren