Arena map available + Q for the HTC crew + Replies

[-raxx-]

Oosik,

I am waiting too but I figure that Pyro or HiTech are kinda flooded with requests to be Terrain Editor beta testers.

In the meantime I've been refining the techniques for producing topo maps and found that increasing the x and z scales produces a much better image from a targa file than I had previously, (I was thinking to small and now scale the image over 100 times it's original size).

Spotcha in the Air,

raxx
 

 

[Voss]

Raxx, are you using MegaPov or standard Pov-Ray?



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- Voss -

[glars]

But raxx are you producing something that resembles the actual terrain?

I assume you're still using a screenshot of the clipboard map?

If so I can't see how you can get accurate altitude data from that, no matter how much you've zoomed the map before taking the screenshot as there's no corellation between the map's textures and altitude.

To use extremes, what happens when you map:
- 13,12,7 (Mt Pizza)
- A6. Does the map show completely flat except for a few small hills to the west?

If you can't take a map and have it tally up with the virtual terrain then it's not really a map is it?

The answer is in those HTC files.

Glars

[Voss]

Originally posted by glars:
But raxx are you producing something that resembles the actual terrain?

I assume you're still using a screenshot of the clipboard map?

If so I can't see how you can get accurate altitude data from that, no matter how much you've zoomed the map before taking the screenshot ...

<clipped>

Screenshots would work, with a lot of effort. The original triangle mesh would be best. Perhaps, once the terrain editor is released, we will have the mesh (.dxf or whatever).


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- Voss -

[-raxx-]

Voss,

POV-Ray for Windows v3.1.  I scale a 640x640 .tga file <100x,5y,100z> at present, (the original file is treated as a 1x,1y,1z image) then use a box at varying heights to intersect the height field and produce the "banding" of the terrain.

Glars,
 

But raxx are you producing something that resembles the actual terrain?

<snip the rest>
I've been looking at the zoomed clipboard map and down to a single grid square the terrain is accurate enough for height fields.  I've been looking at field 1 mainly and with a little blurring and editing of the field numbering and gridlines it's starting to come together quite nicely.  The images I put up before were to show what can be done with height fields on a recognisable image.  Once I am happy with the results I'll post them but not before.

You'll be shocked at how easy this is to create.  At present the entire POV-Ray file is 25 lines of code, (even less if I take out the comments and simple enough that I can carry the entire program in my head =).

Spotcha in the Air
raxx  

[-raxx-]

If anyone is still reading this thread,

Looking at the map for Mt Pizza, (Beer Mountain or whatever), I did a snap shot of the grid and ran up a very rough topographic map.  Editing out the grid numbers took about 90 minutes.

I've put in links to four jpg files below showing the progress at each stage.

ahss1.jpg is the 13.12 grid square with it's neighbours showing (30Kb).

ahss0.jpg is clipboard image that the height field is built from (32kb).  This image has been zoomed for maximum colour seperation from the clipboard image and had the grid number removed.

topotest.jpg is the view from the south with the banding applied, (the colours are a bit horrid but contrast to show the range of heights).  The colours at the lowest point (brown), range upwards through yellowgreen, blue, purple, olivedrab, forrest green, olive green to bright green at the peaks.

topotesta.jpg is a 50kb satellite view of the topotest.jpg above.  The dropoff in elevation to the Southeast is shown rather well and the mountain pass that runs SW through 13,12,7 and turns SE through 13,12,4 can also be see quite clearly.  Mt Pizza intrudes into 13,12,4.

Overall the process is becoming simpler to arrange as I become more familiar with the tools.  The longest part to organise now is the editing of the snapshot to remove the grid numbers and field numbers.

Spotcha in the Air

raxx  

edit to fix the URL that failed on first port

[This message has been edited by -raxx- (edited 04-23-2000).]

[Oosik]

Go -Raxx-
       
Your doing much better than I am, still can not convert file to something useful  

Oosik