Heightmap Discussion

[KuKulzA]

people are tired, people are asking what is taking Vvardenfell so long to make a heightmap... what can i tell them?

Axen, I think I have been ignored before but I will say it again...

we need a heightmap as soon as possible. Which means before the end of October, that being the deadline. We can PR, but we have nothing substantial without the heightmap. If you don't want to be told to make something done, please step down. There are people who want to make the heightmap for TES4 Vvardenfell, but cannot since you hold the position. I haven't seen any progress, despite repeated asking by me to please do it. I don't like to put people in a bad situation, but truthfully, i think you put yourself in it. I bear you no hard feelings except I am disappointed in the way you handled your heightmapper job.

Because of what has happened, I ask you give up your position. Let others who will do it without letting down the mod-team take up this job. I am not insulting you, or angry, but I don't need this mod to go any lower than it is...

please respond within 24 hours

[Axen]

Cajomi at the GeoControl forums
It is not easy to say, when the next version will be released.
But I think, december is a bit to early.

Then I can't wait for v2, anyway. I'll get started on the heightmap. Seems there's been a few nice user-made desert filters made recently (obviously not a REAL desert dune filter, those are extremely complicated since sand is like ocean waves, but they look pretty damn convincing), and it looks like someone might make a lava cracks filter (he said something about using voroni noise for that). First, though, I'll need to do some quick tests to get my paint-heightmap-in-erm,-Paint-and-filter-it-in-GC method working fine. Then I will do the heightmap like this:
1) Paint at 1024x1024 resolution in Paint. (And yes, I'll be painting it rigidly, not blob-like. That goes for all the Paint steps.)
2) Upscale it to 2048x2048, paint detail to edges, as well as some smaller detail in areas.
3) Upscale to 4096x4096, add detail to edges and other places again.
4) Upscale to 6144x6144, paint detail yet again. I'll add slightly higher elevation dots to mountain tops to make the erosion more detailed.
5) Divide it into 4 4096x4096 images (so yes, all of them will contain areas that are already in one or more pieces, and I will be filtering each of the pieces completely. The redundant areas will be blended into each other (probably not just a completely smooth interpolation, a slightly more random one to make it look more natural) to remove seaming.)
6) Apply bling filters in GeoControl, and add more detail not possible in the Paint stage.
7) Merge all heightmap pieces. That includes the weird nifty blending process of doom I talked about above.
8) Split the heightmap into 1024x1024 RAW images, making it ready for the CS and stuff like that.

I can't guarantee before the end of this month, but if I can't make that, it shouldn't be very far at all into November anyway. If it turns out I am unable to make/finish the heightmap, I'll let you know and give what I have to whoever picks up the position.

And I'll be designing the coast in the Inner Sea region to reflect that the separation of Vvardenfell from the mainland was a supernatural occurance. Of course, still taking all those years of erosion into account.

[KuKulzA]

it's been too long a wait Axen, I would suggest you get to work and get it done before end of October
I know you care about the team, and the team/mod needs this to be done good and fast, thank you

[nerbod]

Thanks axen, I hope you'll make it

[X23]

I agree that we should get the heightmap done soon (sorry Kukulza I was afk on aim, and couldn't respond when you asked me)

[Axen]

Hmm... seems that cut tool is actually pretty damn different than what I assumed it was before. What it seems to do is crop a section out of the heightmap, and upscale it to the size of the heightmap it was cut out of. I'll probably want to rethink how I'm gonna do the heightmap due to this finding.

[nerbod]

you mean in paint?

[Axen]

No, GeoControl's cut tool.

[nerbod]

will it delay the progress?

[Axen]

What? No, it'll probably speed things up.