Added a page to explain the heightmap template editor.

evolvedexperiment 2019-11-19 17:32:09 +02:00
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The templates indicate what must happen to the heightmap. The template has instructions that take place
one after another, all in a list. Each instruction can do various things:
Those things are:
* Add a hill (raises surrounding land)
* Add a pit (lowers surrounding land)
* Add a range (a thin raised section)
* Add a trough (a thin lowered section)
* Add a strait (a vertical or horizontal lowered section)
* Add or subtract from all heights
* Multiply all heights
* Smooth all heights
Once you have given all the instructions, you can then run the template (process all instructions in sequence).
There are also options to save or load templates.
When running a template, the map is cleared first.
For each instruction, it can have the following values:
n - the number of times it must occur
h - the height range, from 1-100 where 1 is deep ocean, and 100 is maximum height. 20 is land at sea level.
x and y - percentage values (from 1-100) indicating where the change must take place - these are usually ranges.
x is the horizontal axis, from 1 at the left, to 100 on the right.
y is the vertical axis, from 1 at the top, to 100 at the bottom.
If you go to Custom, it will show an instruction like this:
Hill n:1 h:90-100 x:65-75 y:47-53.
This says to add 1 hill, of a height between 90-100, somwhere in the center-right of the map. y says more-or-less center 47% to 53%, and x says 65% to 75%.
To test it, change the single Hill entry to:
Hill n:1 h:20 x:50-50 y:50-50
If you click Run template, it will show a map with just a few cells of land right in the center of the map.
![Heightmap showing a single hill of height 20](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template1.png)
I suggest you enable "Render ocean cells" to see the effect it has on the ocean depths.
Now change n:1 to n:2
You will see massive change - this is because the land has been raised by 40 height values.
![Heightmap showing two hills of height 20 at the same place](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template2.png)
Now Pit is the opposite of Hill - it will create a "hole".
To test it, add a Pit so your instructions look like this:
Hill n:2 h:20 x:50-50 y:50-50
Pit n:1 h:20 x:50-50 y:50-50
Run it and you will see a hole - the exact look will vary a bit.
![Heightmap showing two hills and pit at the same place](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template3.png)
Now add a range and disable the Hill and Pit entries.
You will see it makes a short raised area.
Range n:1 h:40-50 x:15-85 y:20-80
![Heightmap showing a single range](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template4.png)
If you change the Range and enable the Hill and Pit, you will see that it combines:
Hill n:2 h:20 x:50-50 y:50-50
Pit n:1 h:20 x:50-50 y:50-50
Range n:1 h:40-50 x:50-60 y:50-50
![Heightmap showing two hills, a pit, and a range.](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template5.png)
Trough works exactly like Range, except that it lowers height.
Delete all the instructions and click on the +
The + instruction adds height - it can have a negative value to lower height.
Change the V to 20 so your whole line looks like this:
Add V:20 to all cells
Run it and it will change to whole map to land at sea-level - remember that 20 is just above sea-level.
Add a Strait - it only has 2 values, width and direction:
w - width
d - vertical or horizontal
Run it and you will see land divided by a river somewhere - note that you cannot control the location.
![Heightmap showing a strait](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template6.png)
Multiply works similar to add, except you have slightly better control to adjust small things, so multiplying by 1.1
will make raise land slightly - smaller changes to low values, and larger changes to high values. You can multiply
by decimals as well, so multiply by 0.8 will lower everything a bit.
The last one is smooth - this should probably be at the end - all cell heights are averaged by their neighbours heights.
This means land next to a pit will lower, and land next to a hill will rise. Smooth removes any spiky bits near land
and generally makes performance better on the FMG.
![Heightmap showing a strait between two hilly areas.](https://evolvedexperiment.github.io/FMGImages/images/template7.png)