FT3: My world altitude has been inverted

I have a FT3 file that I open from time to time to extract different map projections for my D&D campaign. Besides that I dont really touch the file.

Today as I opened it, what has been land since I generated the world shows as ocean, while ocean shows as land. The altitue number reflect this, so it is not a display issue.

I have not touched the file for a few months, and neither have I touched my FT3 installation.

I have tried reinstalling, but to no avail. I also tried using a method of inversing the altitudes from a tip I found in another post using global math [Roughness]=[Roughness]*-1 and while it is somewhat successful, the coastlines do not match what they looked like in earlier versions.

I am at a complete loss. There have been no changes on my end except that it has been a few months since last I opened the file.

What could have caused this flip of altitude data?

Comments

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Hi Nabu :)

    I'm not the one to solve the problem, since I don't know enough about FT3 to really help here, but I am just incurably curious...

    What happens if you click the next world button, and then the previous world button?

    I know that's not a cure - I'm just curious, that's all.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    I have never heard of that bug before. Very odd.

    If you're going to do the global math trick, then you also need to do it to the Offset (and possibly Prescale Offset) channel as well. Just applying it to the roughness channel will only invert the fractal function, not any editing that you might have made.
  • edited February 2019
    Posted By: LoopysueHi Nabu :)

    I'm not the one to solve the problem, since I don't know enough about FT3 to really help here, but I am just incurably curious...

    What happens if you click the next world button, and then the previous world button?

    I know that's not a cure - I'm just curious, that's all.
    Hi Loopysue :) unfortunately I cannot satisfy your curiosity... Looking back at my notes, the world was initially generated in a piece of software called Worldbuilder (http://experilous.com/1/products#worldbuilder) where I created a world as a grayscale elevation file. I took this file to Wilbur, did a bit of eroding, basin filling and river generation then saved it as a MDR which I then opened in FT3 (New -- binary).

    I have several versions of the FT3 file, and it seems that every saved version now shows inverted altitudes. I can reopen the MDR file and it shows the correct altitudes, but that would make me lose quite a bit of altitude remapping etc..
    Posted By: jslaytonI have never heard of that bug before. Very odd.

    If you're going to do the global math trick, then you also need to do it to the Offset (and possibly Prescale Offset) channel as well. Just applying it to the roughness channel will only invert the fractal function, not any editing that you might have made.
    Thanks for the tip. Yeah, the offset was what inverted the altitudes (typo in original post), however applying roughness as well does not seem to do much. I tried prescale offset as well but that throws an error "Unable to select a valid destination"

    The attached photo shows what has happened and attempted fix via global math
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Was your world started from a binary image? If so, you need to keep the binary image on the same path that the world was created with or you need to use Actions>>Burn In To Surface to bake the altitudes into your .ftw file.
  • Posted By: jslaytonWas your world started from a binary image? If so, you need to keep the binary image on the same path that the world was created with or you need to use Actions>>Burn In To Surface to bake the altitudes into your .ftw file.
    Thank you so much, this might help me understand what has happened and perhaps fix the issue.

    Yes, the world was started from a Wilbur-generated .mdr file, and I am positive I never ran a Burn In to Surface at any point.

    Currently my work folder contains several versions of .ftw files with varying versions/names, as well as a bunch of .mdr files. I did this work about 2 years ago and I cannot remember exactly why I saved the mdrs. I think I was just playing around.

    I assume I now have two options: 1) start from the original .mdr and do a burn in and then try to re-create my edits or 2) somehow re-attach an existing .mdr to the newest but wonky .ftw.

    So how do binary files and ftw files play along? I tried just renaming a .mdr file to the same name as the .ftw but that did nothing. Is there any way I can take my current wonky .ftw and inject some .mdr love, eh, altitude into it or is the easier course of action to just roll back a few steps and burn in from the start?
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Use File>>New with a binary world type and pick the correct MDR. That should be all that it takes to reestablish the link.
  • edited February 2019
    I might be dense, but doesn't that just create a new world without the changes I have made to the existing .ftw file? The window now says Untitled indicating it is a fresh world.

    I tried it, and I'm pretty sure it has reverted all climate data for example.

    Thanks for your help so far, even if I am not able to recover my edits, I now know to burn in the mdr data before proceeding further.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    I forgot to mention that you should hold down the SHIFT and CTRL keys when clicking the final OK from the summary page in the new world wizard to keep your editing. Sorry about that.
  • That did the trick, fantastic!

    Thank you so much for your kind help and patience :)
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