[Fractal Terrains 3] Help Converting An Existing Fractal 'Donjon' World Map
Hello all,
I've been trying to follow the instructions here and in this similar thread. I am messing up somewhere, though.
I'm starting from a fractal world map created using Donjon tools. The map was originally created in 2014, and has been in use with my small writing RP, so I do want to keep it as close to the original as possible, but I realize some change may be inevitable. FT3 seems like amazing software and I think it would help add depth to the world map (both literally and metaphorically).
My original map
My best failed attempt
Am I screwing up something obvious, perhaps?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I've been trying to follow the instructions here and in this similar thread. I am messing up somewhere, though.
I'm starting from a fractal world map created using Donjon tools. The map was originally created in 2014, and has been in use with my small writing RP, so I do want to keep it as close to the original as possible, but I realize some change may be inevitable. FT3 seems like amazing software and I think it would help add depth to the world map (both literally and metaphorically).
My original map
My best failed attempt
Am I screwing up something obvious, perhaps?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Comments
The simplest way to fix the height values would be to check the "signed" box on the Binary data dialog in FT during the import phase. The next simplest way would be to use MDR as the transfer format from Wilbur to FT (you need to remember to flip the image in Wilbur before saving it as MDR because I screwed up the MDR translation at one point).
There is one other point that you might consider: what are you going to do with the map? If you just want to reproject it, you can import your original color image directly into FT as an image overlay.
If you can color-reduce the image (an operation called "posterize" in many image editing tools) to a manageable number of levels (say, 16), then you should be able to import the color-reduced image as an image overlay and then use FT's color to altitude conversion tool to associate altitudes with the colors on the map.
However, is there a way I can improve the level of detail it retains? Something in the settings maybe?
For instance, I have a small group of islands that almost entirely disappears.
The overlay
After 'Color to Altitude'
FT uses a cubic interpolation technique, which can result in overshoots and undershoots at sharp steps. You may get cleaner visual results by using the raw height field option (Map>>World Settings, Secondary tab, check the Raw Height Field checkbox) after converting your color image to altitudes. The Raw Height Field option ignores everything except your offset editing channel and uses a linear interpolation operation that avoids overshoots and undershoots.
Sorry for all the newb questions, but thank you again for all of your help. I'm normally the type that doesn't mind spending time experimenting with settings to see what all I can do, but I just couldn't find a solid place to start from.