Map: Height Maps

[jp10]

I am posting this here since i am working on a map generated from the Venhola map tool.

From the WINSPMBT Game Guide:

Terrain, hills and LOS

Each level of hill in the game is broken down into 10 units. Ground level terrain that is "5" high is midway to being a level 1 hill. Level 1 terrain that reports as being "15" high is midway to being a level 2 hill etc, etc to the top level ( level 15 )

The game does not block LOS behind a "bump" in the map until it gets to be 4 higher than the base height for that level ( ground level would be 4, level 1 would be 14, level 2 would be 24 etc etc. ). It will allow you to see over and behind any "bump" 3 and under so any terrain 3 and under above the level you are on will offer neither cover nor concealment.



For example.....



If a unit is at zero height directly behind a 4 high "bump" that is three hexes long , LOS will be blocked for 2 hexes behind the bump. If that 4 high bump is 4 hexes long, LOS will be blocked completely right across the map. If the bump is 5 high even one hex will totally block LOS.



We are currently considering that each unit of height roughly represents 24 inches or .6 meters. As a simple rule of thumb this would make each hill level represent roughly 20 feet or 6 meters of height


So:
Height 1 = 20 feet/6 meters
2 = 40/12
3 = 60/24
4 = 80/30
5 = 100/36
6 = 120/42
7 = 140/48
8 = 160/54
9 = 180/60
10 = 200/66
11 = 220/72
12 = 240/78
13 = 260/84
14 = 280/90
15 = 300/96

The reason for my seemingly grognard questioning is I am working on a map that highest peaks need to be 656'/200m and I need to set the ratio to translate the scale to WINSPMBT height system. I am calculating that if level 15 300'/96m will be simulating the 656'/200m then each 100'/33m of real height should be a 2.5 level increase on the map. Sounds good?

[Imp]

This map does have level zero terrain as well?
Ask as hill heights needed are those between min & max terrain height.

Messing with vertical scale has issues, namely blind hexes produced.
The game produces blind hexes based on the height per level set by the game, increasing it means it should block less hexes if looking over lower terrain.

You are wrong regarding 4 height bumps they do block LOS but not by much because its a bump. Even do so from a slightly higher hill so long as the bump is not close enough to see over.

Put a unit on a level 1 hill and make some level 4 bumps 20 odd hexes away they will block LOS to the hex behind them.
If the bumps are closer guessing 8 or less hexes they will not block anything as close enough to see over.

From the same level view can change radically over a bump if other hinderance terrain comes into play.
View can also change due to visibility level with this type of feature, hinderance terrain combinations, smoke etc block LOS far quicker in low visibility compared to high.
Put some high grass on a flat map position units to see across 3 or 4 and adjust the visibility to see this.
This type of terrain can be great for units with vision aids as it might be enough for them to see more.

[dmnt]

Originally Posted by jp10

I am posting this here since i am working on a map generated from the Venhola map tool.

We are currently considering that each unit of height roughly represents 24 inches or .6 meters. As a simple rule of thumb this would make each hill level represent roughly 20 feet or 6 meters of height


So:
Height 1 = 20 feet/6 meters
2 = 40/12
3 = 60/24
4 = 80/30
5 = 100/36
6 = 120/42
7 = 140/48
8 = 160/54
9 = 180/60
10 = 200/66
11 = 220/72
12 = 240/78
13 = 260/84
14 = 280/90
15 = 300/96

The reason for my seemingly grognard questioning is I am working on a map that highest peaks need to be 656'/200m and I need to set the ratio to translate the scale to WINSPMBT height system. I am calculating that if level 15 300'/96m will be simulating the 656'/200m then each 100'/33m of real height should be a 2.5 level increase on the map. Sounds good?

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