Not Q&A - but maybe resources for some folks

[gryff]

I notice that there has been some discussion recently about heightmaps and the BJS tutorial suggests getting heightmaps by using  " software such as “Terragen”, or ”Picogen”.  Well this is an intro to a very easy to use way to get greyscale heightmaps.

terrain.party

Once you get to the page you are somewhere in Finland, but click on the magnifying glass (top left) and type in the name of a city/town/village. It takes you to the local area. Now adjust the zoom (top left +/-, or scroll wheel). With mouse in the blue grid you can drag the grid. With mouse outside the blue grid click drag to move the geography (like google maps). On the right of the screen are +/- buttons to change the size of the blue grid (8-60km). Now download - gives you a greyscale heightmap of the area you selected in the blue grid.

I have tried typing in small village names and get good results - though essentially names the are "english". Try Beddgelert - a real tiny village in Wales of myth and legend - or for Wingy "Bessemer"

And just to show you an example :

RSD

The red cube is a tiny place - but they made a film about events that happened there - any guesses??. If you open your console it prints out the number of meshes in the scene (should be 17). One is the red cube, the other 16 are the 4x4 subdivision of the terrain.- and er .... no seams. This particular terrain is 8x8 km - so the tiles are 2x2km.

And if you want to create your own terrains look at L3DT. The free addition alllows you to save heightmaps 2049x2049 pixels. The "Pro" edition (indie and commercial - above or below $250K) allows 131,072 × 131,072 pixels - which is a big terrain

Maybe of use to some people.

cheers, gryff

[Wingnut]

Hey, thanks Gryff!  This is very cool!  

(Be sure to type 'Bessemer, MI' to see Wingnut's town.  The Bessemer in Alabama is just a cheap imitation of the REAL one here in Michigan)