Maybe I'm just getting old, and maybe I am confused between SC4D and ST, but didn't there used to be a Mapping Tutorial here (on SC4D) that explained how to create accurately scaled region maps for our game from data acquired from the USGS web site? I know there was one on ST because I printed it out years ago, but I really thought there was a similar tutorial here, too. However, if that's so, then I can't find it, despite having looked for over an hour. Looking this afternoon at Heblem's mapping tutorials, I find lots of good info about how to use Mapper and Terraformer, but nothing anywhere about how to convert the 1 or 1/3 Arc Ned/DEM GeoTiff files we can download from USGS to 1.) 8 or 16 bit greyscales in .png format or how to convert the .bil file type greyscales downloadable from the USGS site to .png format, either. Also, no info on how to scale RL USGS map info to an equivalent scale for our game region maps.
Obviously lots of folks know how to create scale accurate game maps from RL map info, one need only visit the LEX or the STEX to find literally hundreds of RL locations that have been successfully made into regions we can play on in game. So where did folks learn how to do this? I would dearly love to learn this skill myself, as I am constantly finding interesting RL locations that I would like to play on in game, but so far I am dependent on others to create my maps for me and I fear I am becoming a bit of a pest to them because of this. Can ANYONE point me to where I need to go to learn this skill? I would be eternally grateful and I'm sure those folks who are semi-constantly being bugged by me to make me a new map would be also!
Lora/LD
I think I know what page you are talking about. This Page is not it (http://www.wuphonsreach.org/Games/SimCity4/HbgPA/creation.shtml), but I think it has the info you need.
The only time I got serious about making a map happened to be on the same day the Sattelite site was under repair.