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Fractal Terrain 2 to 3 conversion

drakondrakon
in Product Questions
Hello, I have had the software for some time, and recently upgraded from Fractal Terrain 2 to FT3.

I noted that when using an FT2 file, that the parameters of the fractal algorythim are different, but since I do not know the original parameters, the map will not reproduce correctly. Does anyone know what parameters you have to input in order to get a file orginally created in FT2, to display properly in FT3?

The original file used Ridged Multifractal
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Comments

  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    edited December 2013
    FT2 and FT3 should be compatible. The only case where they are incompatible (and cannot be made compatible) is in the case of legacy FT 1 files from FT 1.23 and earlier. FT2 has a "version 1.23 compatibility mode" flag; FT3 does not support this flag as the bug in version 1.23 was highly sensitive to CPU speed and system loading.

    If you still have the original FT2 program and file, you should be able to use FT2 to export the "special MDR" file format that will generate a binary image that can be used as input to FT3. It's not an ideal solution, but it's about as good as you're liable to get.
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  • drakondrakon
    Compatibility issues comes into play with the parameters for the Ridged Multifractal algorythim used to generate the map. FT3 gives one more control over those parameters, without the original parameters, the map does not generate correctly. The MDR import does not work. Even if you copy the seed value, the other values are not right so the map gets completely different.
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  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Which parameters are providing more control in FT3? It's been a long time since I've looked at FT2, but the parameters from FT2 to FT3 should be the same for the same fractal type. FT3 has an additional Ridged Multifractal type, but the original should still be there.
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  • drakondrakon
    For FT2: all you get is the seed value. for Lemish it is 878862511 and Ridged Multifractal.
    For FT3: there is a Fractal Function menu wht a ton of parameters but I have no idea what should be in there.
    Whatever the default settings, they generate a completely different map.
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  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Can you tell me what your FT2 and FT3 version numbers are (hold down the Shift key and use the Help>>About menu item)? Knowing the version number will let me determine the precise feature sets that you're working from.
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  • drakondrakon
    FT2 version 1.22
    FT3 version 3.0.12
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  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    FT version 1.22 is the original Fractal Terrains product (FT1), not Fractal Terrains Pro (FT2). There is a serious timing-dependent bug in versions of FT 1.23 and earlier that results in failure to consistently generate the same world. Unfortunately, the fix for the bug results in different generated worlds. FT2 has a compatibility mode for the bug, but how and how often the bug manifests depend on processor speed and number of cores, meaning that a world file would likely generate differently one two different machines.

    I can't recall if the "Special MDR" export feature was implemented in FT1 or not. If it was, the best that you can hope for is to save an MDR file and use that as binary input into FT3.
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  • drakondrakon
    there is a "MDR export" but again, it comes up with a different world when imported into FT3.

    It really is upsetting, I got the perfect planet but its stuck in the old software.
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  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    http://ridgenet.net/~jslayton/ThereandBackAgain/index.html is a tutorial for saving a world from FT (Pro, in this case) editing it in a raster editing program, Wilbur, and then opening it in FT again. Except for the Wilbur parts, this tutorial should be what you'd need to do to migrate a world from FT1 to FT3.
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  • drakondrakon
    That was it. Bouncing the file thru Wilber fixed whatever the problem was and now I can use all the new tools in FT3. Thank you, Thank you and Thank You.
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  • drakondrakon
    For anyone who cares, what this was all about, I have posted them over on the Traveller forum at
    http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=1640 and
    http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=1641

    Thank you
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