Fractal Terrains Features
Simon Rogers
Administrator, ProFantasy Traveler
Which features would you like to see in the next version of Fractal Terrains?
Simon Rogers
Administrator, ProFantasy Traveler
Comments
I remember that 180 degrees longitude causes problems, so if its waaaay too much to fix, I'll settle for just a CC3 export.
An easier jpeg export option which just exports the map rather than the map and a lot of background would be great.
Joined forum just to report that problem, found this thread instead. Lucky me
That is it for now. I love this program.
Great program,
My "ultimate" version of FT would have the ability to do many instructional overlays for a blank map: outlines for the continents and islands, lines for the where major rivers should be, outlines for lakes, and suggested terrain heights for plains, hills, and mountains... and then hit a button and have FT "randomize" within the desired parameters. Then I could really go crazy!
But of course, that is more than a feature, that would be a major undertaking I suspect.
Perhaps moving selections (this one's kind of iffy, but what I have in mind is possibly using it to emulate wind currents by modifying rainfall and/or temperature downwind of features, so you would select your initial area, then move it X distance in Y direction).
Selecting by Lat/Long ranges could be handy for weather manipulation too.
These may not be of interest to anyone but me though. I like automating tasks with scripts.
The scripting text file does not list things like Fill Basins or Incise Flow. (Never mind those two, found them in a different scripting file) Access to all of the menu options through scripts would be great too, if any are missing. Being able to Save or Save As the file from a script could be handy too, to avoid running out of memory during a long string of commands.
I am not entirely sure how this would work, but having the ability to work on subsets of the map would also be great. The fractal functions work to any granularity, depending on the settings. But the pixel map limits the resolution of work you are able to do. If you can define a region and create a sub-file with it's own pixel map, work and edit that sub-file and save it, then have your changes there condense back up to be reflected in the main file (could be as simple as averaging the values in all sub-pixels back up to the main pixel). There is a potential problem if two sub-files are adjacent or overlap - some way of coordinating between them would be optimum. Mind you, I am not sure *how* you would do all this.
(I keep editing this post as I figure out things I've posted are possible, or as I think of new things)
What I would like to see is a bit more access customization. Such as making the toolbars on the top bottom and sides collapsible with a tap staying to bring it back (giving a cleaner feel and bigger viewing/working space)
Some of the tools were way too big for what information they showed so maybe when you have a tool free by itself it would be capable of being shortened or lengthened.
The Globe Tools could be made a part of the work area by getting rid of the background on it and making it transparent when the mouse is not on top of it, and it could be improved by being able to select specific sides of the globe(front, back, left, right, top and bottom)
Another thing is that when you are viewing the planet as a globe you could click and drag it to rotate it.
And lastly Terrain tools such as cliffs, valleys, water falls, lakes, volcanoes and pits(sinkholes?)
- Being able to create/export contour lines
These next ones might start to be scope creep outside of FT's intended market, but:
- Ability to place points on a map (cities or other location markers)
- Ability to draw borders
.AVI animations however - would be much more versatile for users to integrate into their own larger media projects. VRML export is nice, but many more folks use more popular and widely used video formats for integration into media projects and animations. VRML is (in my opinion) becoming less mainstream - and more academic and specialized, particularly since special viewers and browser plugins are often required to get VRML files to function. You could even have the option of exporting jpeg images representing each individual frame of the spin animation automatically to a user selected folder - that way the user could assemble their own animation using Windows Moviemaker, The WAX editor, Adobe Premiere, or any number of a thousand other video apps allowing frame by frame image pasting operations.
It would also be nice (although not a critically necessary thing - just an afterthought) if you could improve the ability to import and use a few more of the same filetypes that WILBUR can import.
Also - I'm sure your already working on the preliminaries of this - but improving CC3 integration would also be an idea, although not by crippling the app's ability to function as a "stand alone" prog.
Another point would be improved and expanded image editing / painting tools for tailored terrain. Random Gen is quicker - but making the terrain tools a little more versatile, intuitive, and expanded (more options) would expand the market by causing the app to be more attractive to those who might prefer "hand crafting" their terrains.
I have also noted several users making comments about "Ice Caps" and free floating Ice Formations as a desired option. You could accomplish that by somehow tieing in a well measured graphics effect subroutine with the map's climate plotting methodology, such that Ice would appear in Ocean Areas based upon temperature versus mean annual precip for specific geospatial plot points that fall into the "Cool Zones". This should be a function that can be switched off - however - should the user prefer a more straight forward map.
1) When you are filling out the dialog, it would be nice to have an indicator giving the scale the maps at that level would be. I realize that the scale actually changes the farther away from the equator you get, so I would give the scale as it is at the equator, or as close to the equator as the View being used gets.
2) A checkbox at each level for putting in a scalebar on each exported map. While I would only use miles, I'm sure there are plenty of users who would want km instead, so you would probably want to let them pick. The scalebar should be approximately 5-10% of the image width, rounded to the nearest neat integer.
Map Viewing:
1) The ability to zoom to a view that matches an exported slice of a map, or possibly a text file with each map exported (or embedded in the accompanying html file) that gives the dimensions of that slice. Coordinate boundaries, scale, width and height in miles/km, that sort of thing. So that if the user wanted to look at a section of a map in FTPro that matches one of the map slices that was exported out, all the information to duplicate it is available.