SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

SimCity 4 General Discussion and Tutorials => SimCity 4 General Discussion => Topic started by: Highrise99 on July 13, 2010, 07:38:55 PM

Title: Terrain Problem
Post by: Highrise99 on July 13, 2010, 07:38:55 PM
Terrain Problem

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg683%2F1131%2Fterrainproblem.png&hash=110692710871707e99afa8d889e83a5b5f1701ca)
The picture explains most of the problem: what should be a mesa is an ocean.  Perhaps I should explain in more detail what happened before the problem.
I created a terrain image.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, a good tutorial is here (http://www.tdsoftware.co.uk/content/view/13/40/).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg51%2F8913%2Fbritannicaterrainimage2.png&hash=8d989ac7430fd4b6e893b495f8f501319bf6de69)
This is the 24 bit terrain image.  The darkest grey has a value of 75, 10 under sea level.  The regular mainland has a value of 95, 10 above sea level.  The supposed mesa has a value of 185, 100 above sea level.  However, when I converted it into an 8 bit bitmap, this happens:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.imageshack.us%2Fimg52%2F9874%2Fbritannicaterrainimage8.png&hash=430ac022bfdfbcc5d8a60f3492b2e407458c223e)
This is not the problem, as the unavailable color is converted into an available color with the same value.  It still works the same when you load it into SC4.  But the seemingly unaffected area turns into ocean when loaded in game.  That is the problem.  It is supposed to be a mesa, but it is an ocean.
Title: Re: Terrain Problem
Post by: SC4BOY on July 14, 2010, 01:24:42 AM
Just a thought.. you keep suggesting that sea level is 85.. this is not the default.. the default sealevel is 250 as I recall. I believe you can reset that in the .ini file, but I haven't fooled with that in a long time.. but that may put you on the right track.. Your 85 would be way below "standard" sea level.
Title: Re: Terrain Problem
Post by: Highrise99 on July 14, 2010, 01:02:41 PM
The 85 is the grayscale value, not the actual value.  As 255 is the maximum grayscale value, 250 is definitely not sea level.  According to the tutorial, 85 is sea level.  Thanks anyways.
Title: Re: Terrain Problem
Post by: dobdriver on July 22, 2010, 02:05:27 PM
G'Day Highrise99,

Your original image is ok, but it is a few shades too dark (sea and plain). The second image is actually index colour (an 8bit colour palette) rather than greyscale.

I have included a zip with an ingame pic and also a grey version of your original. The grey values were 78% sea = 165m; 71% plain = 220m; 34% mesa = 504m

The new grey values are 69% sea = 236m; 66% plain = 262m and I left the mesa as was. Change this as you like.
Remember when working with greyscale we are talking percentages not RGB values

Leave it as a png as the game came import 8bit png's ok like jpeg's and bmp's.

Hope this helps you.

Cheers
dobdriver
Title: Re: Terrain Problem
Post by: wouanagaine on July 22, 2010, 03:05:15 PM
To help you with dealing with greyscale, 8bit, RGB etc, use SC4Mapper or SC4TF which will take your original image and use it as a 'greyscale' without any convertion to an 8-bits antic area paletized picture
Title: Re: Terrain Problem
Post by: Highrise99 on July 23, 2010, 06:01:26 AM
Quote from: dobdriver on July 22, 2010, 02:05:27 PM
G'Day Highrise99,

Your original image is ok, but it is a few shades too dark (sea and plain). The second image is actually index colour (an 8bit colour palette) rather than greyscale.

I have included a zip with an ingame pic and also a grey version of your original. The grey values were 78% sea = 165m; 71% plain = 220m; 34% mesa = 504m

The new grey values are 69% sea = 236m; 66% plain = 262m and I left the mesa as was. Change this as you like.
Remember when working with greyscale we are talking percentages not RGB values

Leave it as a png as the game came import 8bit png's ok like jpeg's and bmp's.

Hope this helps you.

Cheers
dobdriver
Thank you so much!  It worked just as I planned it to.