Fractal Terrain 3 beginner
PsiDragon
Newcomer
I was playing around with settings just to see what different things do after watching a tutorial on creating my first world. I have changed a setting that made my maps appear, well.. like this.
Basically I was wondering if there is a way to restore the default settings of the program. I have completely uninstalled and tried reinstalling to a different location, yet still the settings are not what they were when I first installed the program. I just want to get back to the basic appearance. I have no idea what I did to make it appear like this. I am completely new to mapping, but it is something that has piqued my interest for a long time.
If anyone can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Comments
Hi PsiDragon :)
The map is currently showing in Gaia mode. There are several different views available under the Map menu. All you have to do to get back to the Altitude view (the actual default) is to pick that one from the same menu, or hit SHIFT+A.
Thanks for the response, LoopySue!
So, when I create a new map, this is what it looks like. Is this the actual default? I don't seem to recall it appearing this way on my first go-around.
I know I can change the roughness to get rid of a lot of the "noise" on the map, but it still seems ... "off" ... somehow.
I have tried all the different views (elevation, climate, etc.) and none of them seem to even remotely resemble what I started out with.
I'm just confused as to what settings have changed that I can't change back, and why they don't reset when I uninstall and reinstall the program.
Ok. It looks like you've been having some fun with the World Settings.
Open the World settings and the Selection tab. Pick the Default, and click Load, then Apply. You should see the default world appear right before your eyes.
Altitude colours can be similarly set back to default by opening the Lighting and Colour dialog and doing the same thing there. (You won't necessarily have all the same settings as me in either of these dialogs, since many of these are my own home-made settings, but you will always have the defaults and the standard alternative settings)
Remember that in both cases you must first click Load, before you hit Apply.
If you want to change the way things are I recommend playing with only one thing at once on the World Settings Primary tab and clicking Apply each time you change something. That way you will get used to the feel of what everything does.
Then if you get into a tangle with it again you know how to get back to where you were.
Once you have the settings just right I would save them, but to do that you must have opened FT3 by right clicking the icon and picking Run as administrator, or you won't have authorisation to save the new settings.
Thank you SO much! It appears that when I uninstalled and reinstalled, the directory for both of these settings was set to an empty folder, so those settings weren't available. I had to manually set them back up, and voila! I was going CRAZY trying to figure this out!
I now have a normal looking world again! LOL
I am curious about one thing, though. I had exported my world into multiple files for CC3+, and when I load them, it takes forever, and lags like crazy when I try to even scroll or zoom on the lowest level of map. I know my computer is outdated and in need of more RAM, but is there a way to minimize the lag? I guess my question is this: What are the optimum settings for the lowest workload on my computer when I'm exporting for CC3+?
And thank you so much for the quick (and insanely helpful) responses! It's always comforting and encouraging when using a new program to get help quickly and not have to wait hours or days for a response.
You're welcome :)
Exported CC3 maps are usually pretty huge, and CC3 is currently only a 32-bit app, so it has a limit of about 20-30 thousand nodes in a single map. That might sound a lot, but when you consider that a hi-res output from a hi-res FT3 world might have several times that many nodes you can see why there is a failsafe that causes the more extreme exports to open up blank. If that ever happens to you edit the export settings and lower the resolution one notch in the final dialog, or alternatively ask for fewer contours.
Once you have a CC3 export there are several things you can do to stop the map itself from crippling the performance. The first is to copy only the things that you actually need across to a fresh new CC3 map in your chosen style, and the second is to explode any multipolys and use the SIMPLIFY command. When you type SIMPLIFY on your keyboard and hit return your command prompt line at the bottom of the CC3 window will offer you a default number. This number represents the minimum space between nodes in any polygon you modify using this command, and you can either accept that default value or change it up or down. Bear in mind here that FT3 exports are really big as far as map units go, so 10 might seem like a big simplification factor, but you might barely notice it on the map. So you hit enter to accept or modify the number and then click each of the polygons in your map. If the simplification factor is too big you can use undo and try again.
Yeah, I feel like I asked a question that was far ahead of my knowledge level. lol
I'll go back to watching videos and trying to learn some more. While that didn't make zero sense, there are things that I feel like I should have known before I jumped into FT3. Like a LOT of things. I just thought it looked like a fun way to create world maps for D&D. I suppose I just didn't expect the learning curve to be this steep. Wondering if I jumped in over my head. lol
But, thanks again for the response. I will chop down the maps to what I need to lessen the workload on my computer, and take it bit by bit instead of trying to do the whole world at once. :)
No sweat.
Most of what I just said is available in more easily digestible bit-size pieces in the help tool you can open from within FT3, so you can take your time to learn stuff.
Exporting smaller regions might help a bit, though I'm not sure if it will help as much as you want it to. Whatever resolution the export is set to is the one you will get, whether its a whole world, or just a small continent.