Re: Height Maps
 

The map tool assumes 10 meters / level (see the adjustable number 10 next to ↕ character). If you change that to 6 it should produce these numbers. Back to the days when I started there wasn't a definitive guide so I assumed that height is metric and the unit is one meter and went on with that.

I may change the default to 6 meters now, tho.

By default the system uses the lowest point of terrain as the lowest level (height 0) and then converts the terrain features into WinSPMBT map by the said conversion logic. Any height exceeding will be "clipped", that is made to be level 15 if it's higher than 160 meters from the lowest point (or 96 meters on 6 meter step setting). Additionally if you download the source code and run it on command line you can have a manually set lowest point.

For your terrain, you'll have two options:
* compress; set the terrain level to be 200 m / 16 = 12.5 meters
* clip; let the highest points in the terrain be flat level 15 areas and work it with the terrain settings but making the peaks impassable

Re: Height Maps
 

Just checked the source code, unfortunately the clipping is not the default but compression. I'll probably modify that when I can make sure the level parameters work properly.

Re: Height Maps
 

Updated the code; fixed the bug where the level setting actually had no effect to the produced map terrain. The map that is produced is still always compressed, so highest peaks should be level 15 unless the terrain hasn't that much height difference (< 96 m total). I will include that change in the next version because the absolute level height is something the map makers can easily set themselves.

Re: Height Maps
 

It may just be my server ATM but it seems very slow resizing and showing the map area now. Zooming the map out takes much longer now to redraw all the areas

Re: Height Maps
 

The map tiles are cached but in case of cache miss they're loaded from the source which unfortunately seems very slow at the moment.

Re: Height Maps
 

We will be looking for a way to allow water to be added to maps that will only fill in the level zero area with water with the press of a button that leaves all terrain >0 untouched. This will allow maps with island and/or coastline to add water without it being nearly so much the chore it can be now...it's "on the list" and it seems doable but we will see, hopefully, we can get it to work.

Don

Example This is what is generated for Latitude 45.41 Longitude -80.33

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1532537442

This is what the code change we are looking into would do

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1532537497




Also there seems to be a new problem. I tried to use the info generated in the txt file

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php#45.41,-80.33,0

but all I get when I try to use it is a spot on Antarctica not 45.41,-80.33

This is what it should be....at least according to the info the map shows when I get the area I want

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php#-80.33,45.41,0

so lat and long are being reverse in the txt file info or the generated info

Re: Height Maps
 

I'll fix the incorrect order when I have a little bit of idle time at hand...

Re: Height Maps
 

I was trying to use height maps to create a general map of Chicagof Harbor, Alaska for a scenario. When I clicked download I got this:

Any idea on how to fix?

I am a totally newbie to using this. I have generator a map once or twice with contours but this is a first.

Re: Height Maps
 

Was zoomed in a lot, so I zoom out and still get similar errors as above post.

https://i.imgur.com/1ABySXn.png

This is the place/area:
https://i.imgur.com/xMJIJ4K.png

Re: Height Maps
 

I ran it for that location and didn't get an error report ....... I didn't get anything so I entered in something "safe" 20 and -50 then zoomed WAY out......found Alaska then zoomed in on Chicagof Harbor........ try that

however the height of the mountains is greater than the 15 levels the game can handle so you need to use something >10 for height level but even at 30 it still gives you flat topped mountains so you might have to do this one the old fashioned way unless you want to stick close to the water and even then that map would be beyond the range of the game. I tried everything from 1 to 50 for the height and didn't get anything that looked worthwhile

Re: Height Maps
 

Many thanks DRG, entering in manual and imagination mode lol

Re: Height Maps
 

So I have been trying to use the map contour tool to capture a port city in China, maybe that is why its not working?

Keep getting:

No matter where in the area I try.

Trying this url essentially:

http://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php?...78590747&rot=0

(Chongjin, Korea I)

Or:

http://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php?...78590747&rot=0

Chongjin, Korea II

Level 10 in both cases, but it always generators the error thingy.

Thoughts?

Chinese are blocking this app?

Re: Height Maps
 

Try

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php#129.7234,41.7670,0

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1545428898

Re: Height Maps
 

Thanks! That worked like a charm!

Got to figure out why some of my maps won't generate.

Re: Height Maps
 

Are you guys close to adding water to the maps?

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php...159999999999,0

Here is the result after loading in the map editor after pressing "strip map,"

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1550432570

I have started to draw the map in Extended Map Editor, it is a painstaking process indeed.

If anyone is interested, the Dinh Tuong zip has relevant files.

<br>

Re: Height Maps
 

We have added the ability to flood fill areas of the map that show up from Venhola as zero elevation and it will be included with the next patch for CD owners

https://i.imgur.com/ltO6FkJ.png

Re: Height Maps
 

That map you included is useless for that function as too much of the area has been set to zero elevation so it will need to be regenerated with Venhola with the elevations adjusted so your water is zero and the shorelines show up more than that otherwise you get what you show but mostly blue with a little pimple of land

.....but it only works when there is a defined shortline.... if most of the land near the water is barely above water level Venhola cannot differentiate land from water and we have no magic wand to make it do that so there WILL be cases this flood fill cannot work. There have to be contour lines above water level for it to do what you want

Re: Height Maps
 

This was my 5th try and the contours were set to 2.... the land is just too flat
https://i.imgur.com/VEs1ggn.png

Re: Height Maps
 

This is a start you can take it from there..... in cases like this you may need to generate a number of maps with progressively lower contour numbers to get the result you want. This used 2 IIRC which gave the river but perhaps made the land too bumpy

Re: Height Maps
 

here's a section of Norwegian Coastline using Vehola and the new flood fill water feature. Try to imagine how long that would take by hand just to get to that point.....


https://i.imgur.com/MyHZH4y.png

Re: Height Maps
 

Something I'll never use, I just don't do this kind of thing since my focus is elsewhere. That being said to see the development to the final process I can most certainly appreciate the effort and time many of you will (Have.) put into the use of this new feature.

The end product looks AWESOME!!

Regards,
Pat
:capt:

Re: Height Maps
 

A section of Greek coast at Alexandroupoli
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1550494987
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1550495093
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1550495361

Re: Height Maps
 

The flood fill was a wee bit tricky until I figured out how too get the edging done properly. The regular fill with water code just slams in lake hexes and nukes adjoining land - so large areas left you with having to do the bulk by block fill and then the edges painstakingly by hand hex-by-hex. Once I had it sorted to not nuke adjacent land, it worked excellently.

It'll not be a common tool for map makers, but it fills in good sized rivers just fine as well as the large bits of open water.

Re: Height Maps
 

That is exactly what I am doing at this moment from the fill DRG performed on the Dinh Tuong map, by hand leveling the adjoining land river hexes, then block fill large land areas.

A great project, much anticipated enhancement, my thanks to the dev team.

<br>

Re: Height Maps
 

When the upgrade is released and you have the chance to use the feature be aware that if the coast has a large beach but not a lot of elevation the Venhola may record that as the same elevation as the water and the flood fill will cover it with water so in cases like that the beach will need to be put back in manually ( it's still easier than putting in all the water manually .....) but any place with even moderate elevation changes from water level the flood fill works great

Re: Height Maps
 

Hey dmnt,

i've been looking at the outdoors map a bit closer, since it gives some nice contour lines and by doing so, stumbled upon the vector map.

I'm a bit rusty, but doesn't mean "vector": it's not a "flat" picture, but got all the elements saved as entities? Like a XML file of the map containing location, size, shape and type of all elements (different layers)?
There is a road on XY, there is a built up area on XY shaped Z way and the like so you can style these elements the way you like? (https://www.thunderforest.com/docs/t...t.outdoors-v1/)

If so, shouldn't this make a more or less automatic map creation possible? Way beyond the elevation data?

Since tile request is limited, use it only for the "backend" download creation.

Edit: https://openlayers.org/en/latest/exa...tile-info.html <3

Re: Height Maps
 

I'll try and look into this when I get a bit of free time on my hands. The biggest issue with map generation is that I have to work "in the dark", so not knowing the actual way how the map binaries are built. And reverse engineering it is slow and cumbersome way of figuring it out.

I'll check what I can do with the beach map building. I'll update my SPMBT version today and the backend already supports things like setting the level offset: I could tweak it to always keep water as 0 and then land would be 1-3 at the lowest level if that is enough to create the land/sea boundary properly.

Re: Height Maps
 

Is the venhola tool or server down?

I was just using it last week and was trying to access a location in Siberia:

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php#106.45,50.35,0

It just comes up white. Also when you zoom in and out nothing but white.

?

Re: Height Maps
 

I am just getting white too :(

Re: Height Maps
 

I had that happen as well a couple of days ago. I had hoped it was just temporary

Re: Height Maps
 

FWIW I just tried DLing one, kinda / sorta blind and I got a map from an area somewhere near Vienna so with perseverance and luck you might get something but there is definitely a problem with that server

Re: Height Maps
 

This one is from an area around Munich and it looks pretty good and might be useful to someone as it is a seriously interesting map


http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1578442424

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/mbreLjx.png[/IMG]

Re: Height Maps
 

So the bottom line is it does work it just takes some patience to make it work

Re: Height Maps
 

I got another one that's even better than the first. The river course is really obvious

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1578444050

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/QWeVZ9U.png[/IMG]

Re: Height Maps
 

Man I am still having massive issues with this wonderful tool.

When I go to a location (using the correct coordinates) it just gives me a white page and then if I zoom almost all the way out, eventually the map will paint. But then when I zoom back in the map stays the same size and then eventually turns to white. And when I download a map it's empty.

Just trying to get a part of Dublin for a scenario I am making (Near the Court House) but having absolutely no luck in getting this great tool to work anymore.

https://www.venhola.com/maps/geo.php#-6.266667,53.35,0

Re: Height Maps
 

Have you tried entering the exact co-ordinates you want then DL the map and check it ? It will work it just won't show the location exactly so you have to pick the precise centre of the area then enter the coordinates. I use Bing maps for that as you can right-click on the spot and the Lat and Long are displayed without having to do another step like Google.

Think of it as IFR flight. There is something wrong with the server to make it that slow. Treat it like it's 1990.

But yeah, it's NFG ATM

Re: Height Maps
 

Don thanks that was a brilliant suggestion!

At least I got a nice strip map of the area I wanted.

Thanks!

Re: Height Maps
 

I have found when you get the white screen is you keep zooming out you will eventually pick up the map and then can zoom in and maintain it but it will be fuzzy so you don't have the fine control but you can get close and with practice, close enough in most cases. It can be frustrating but at least it's not entirely dead in the water.

For all the brilliance this thing can bring to the game (and that map example I posted is a good example. To create those contours by hand would take a week of manual work )....... the "map centring" routine is tedious after awhile. It would be much better to be able to lock on the map boundary and move it to where you want rather than moving the map to it

Re: Height Maps
 

Also, I just discovered that the 'M' and 'S' buttons work (map and satellite), just an FYI.

Re: Height Maps
 

Yes, you can click on that until the satellite image appears and see what you need to see so it's more usable than it first appears to be

Re: Height Maps
 

Thank you for creating this great tool! I am underway creating my first map but am having difficulties placing things in the right hex. I may be a little bit stupid, I know. But could you maybe add an option to display the coordinates in every hex? I don't know how difficult that would be to code etc. so I'm not demanding anything. It would help me greatly though!

Re: Height Maps
 

Mr9million, well it's mostly there its just a little bit of counting on your part. It's not too difficult to use once you get the hang of it:

https://i.imgur.com/gctk2Bb.jpg

Re: Height Maps
 

Ok, I have started using my school laptop and it increased the speed tenfold. I have the venhola map on my laptop and the editor on my computer. Wish I had thought of that earlier... :D

Re: Height Maps
 

I'm unable to download Venhola maps now. It worked for me about a month ago. Anybody else have this problem?

Re: Height Maps
 

Where do we get Venholda Map editing program at? I can find a link and I get a white screen with some buttons and a box in the middle but nothing else.

Re: Height Maps
 

Re: Height Maps
 

So using that link I posted above (yes it's all blank boxes you have to fill it out), here is another link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons

Click on the link on the far right that shows the coordinates:

https://i.imgur.com/3IH1vve.png

Then on that GeoHack page (says Geohack - Battle of Mons on the left), pick your poison, I'll use Google Maps and click on that Map link, that brings up google maps.

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

Now just copy the coordinates:

50.450000, 3.950000

I paste that into both boxes and edit them like so:

https://i.imgur.com/hAu2Sad.png

Then click go!

Your pretty much all set.

Now just click the M on the right to toggle the imagery...

https://i.imgur.com/ALGdCPr.jpg

and zoom in...

https://i.imgur.com/df75UKd.jpg

Re: Height Maps
 

Then just download the map?

Re: Height Maps
 

You get the height contours of your selected area drawn on the game map.

Everything else you will have to manually add yourself - roads, woods, water, urban areas etc. But, the hexgrid in the Venhola program corresponds to the one in the game so it is a great help when map making - even if it is time consuming should you go for crazy detail and the map is complex.

I recommend using a second screen of some kind, one with the venhola map, one screen with the game to speed things up. The last few maps I've built I used the TV (HDMI cable) as my second screen.

Buut - Venhola is not working for me anymore... :(

Re: Height Maps
 

It works...... mostly

If the bottom button shows M and the screen is white........
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1605650403

Press it and it will turn to C and you will start to see the map
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1605650561

Press it again and the map will be clear

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1605650652