Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire > Bug/Patch Discussion

Generating maps based off PNG heightmaps?

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Flygon:
Oh hey! I just noticed this forum existed... so much for posting at CGN! Anyway, I'll just quote the thread I made on CGN below, since it's 1:45AM and I can't be stuffed rewriting the post to make sense for this forum.


--- Quote ---Oh hey, a sudden absolutely random post from Flygon! Anyway, I'd like to inquire about a question. Specifically, the ability to generate 'random' maps based off greyscale heightmaps. If this sounds at all familiar, it's because I am ripping the idea completely from OpenTTD, and as it turns out, SMAC/X and OpenTTD generate their maps using the exact same method. :p Except, of course, SMAC/X can generate much smoother heightmaps with actual 3D tiles.

Of course, the major impediment to this whole idea, is, of course... there no tools for converting PNG files into a heightmap-only SMAC/X scenario file. So, I'd like to ask... is there actually any tools for achieving this? And if not... where is scient and when can I beg him to help make the suitable tools? :cool:

It cannot be all that difficult, given it's a 2D heightmap... right... right?

Edit: Going by my calculations, it should be possible to generate maps based off PNG heightmaps to just every 1.5ish 10 meter segments being off by 10 meter. Given how absolutely minimal this is... well, it's pretty darn good. And it's extremely easy and simple to generate greyscale heightmaps based off real-world locations anyway.
--- End quote ---


I know this is a bit of a whacky first post, and I'm aware an external program isn't exactly a mod... but given the overall context of things, this seems the right place and way to do things.

Nice spambot protection, by the way! ;3

Buster's Uncle:
The bots don't give us any trouble, to the extent that my partner doesn't want me going to the trouble to hammer them.

This is interesting research; I'm a creative guy, not a technical one, so I have little to say, but will pass it along to scient and be following this with great interest.

Flygon:
Excellent! It has been too long since I've spoken to scient... finding this community has been a godsend!

Only real huge concern I have with the heightmaps are that PNG's are based on a horizontal-vertical grid... Alpha Centauri has a grid-type that'd only find a diamond-shape of that PNG useful (it's hard to explain) unless the grid was rotated on a 45 degree angle first... but given how the heightmap system in Alpha Centauri should work anyway, and how easy it is to get high-resolution heightmaps that can be rotated and scaled-down accurately anyway without any issues... sorry, rambling on a bit here. I'll need to get off my ass and find the IRC channel. :P

Buster's Uncle:
Check the top of the page - third item.  I hear you have to hang around a while to get a conversation going on IRC.

Kilkakon:
Good to see you again Flygon. :)

Yeah IRC seems to be a bit of a stakeout operation at times to get anybody. Still, good luck doing it. :)

If the SMAC map format has been posted somewhere, it shouldn't be too hard to convert an image to it though (I could do that if I had specifications to look at)

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