SC4Terraformer, a tool for regional handterraforming

[prince_of_sims 0]

i have to say that i've had the Trojan.ZLob file on my hard drive, and just today found the remnants of it (thanks, threeswept). it's possible that since i worked on the readme, that the readme got infected. i'm still getting no results from my Norton Internet Security 2006. i'll keep you up to date on what's going on on my end.

[wouanagaine 86]

Hi again,; back from RL for a few minutes

pos I checked the readme, and the source html seems ok to me

My home computer is not infected, I follow the link by threeswept and did not found any of the file or keys in registery that can indicate that I'm infected.

Unfortunatly the v.08c and followings version were made at my office pc, so as soon as I can, ( in approx 12 hours ) I can check my office PC, ( seems weird as we run a corporate antivirus ). I'll keep you inform

Take care

[greyveil 37]

I have fully scanned the v.08c download with symantec av corp version (completely upto date) and found no infections what so ever, I would suspect since v.06 has not been available for download in a while that if it was infected the spread will be minimal, while it is possible it was infected thru html injection its highly unlikely.

prince_of_sims, since you already posted a pointer to this thread in the "bugs" thread, I will reiterate your message and close the topic

[Lord Kronos 0]

Hey, I was just thinking that a good tool to be added would be one that is similar to the smooth tool, but only smooths 2 opposite edges as opposed to all 4 (or 8 if using the round brush) edges. This is something that I've found I've needed as I've been shapping my coast and cliffs. It would also be an advantage if you're a person (like me) who likes to pre-form ramps that lead to bridges and the like for transport networks.

Is such a tool do-able?

regards

LK

[wouanagaine 86]

Hi all

---

Virus related information

My two pc ( office and home ) are not infected, I've done a scan with uptodate AVG and uptodate OfficeScan, and none of those 2 AV report anything

I have also follow the link provided by Threeswept and I have not any of the files mentionned nor any key in the registery that are associated with this virus

I will rebuild an installer version and I'll ask Threeswept to scan it ( I scan it but no report ), I will also built a version without installer so he can check it also ( to be sure it is not in SC4Terraformer )

---

Lord Kronos

The new version will come with new tools, and you can customize them, I m not sure you can exactly do what you want, but you will be able to come to something close to it

Romaq

I will sent you a python script that take a R16 and produce a 16bit png when the 'virus thing' will be ok

you will need to download python 2.4, Numeric latest version, and PIL latest version ( google for the link )

Take care!

[DarkLoki 0]

I have been busy with RL lately but i should reply about the virus too . I have checked my pc using the link from Threeswept and i have none of the registery keys. So i assume i am not responsible for infecting the installer. Still i can't prove it is indeed a false positive.

All i can say is:

If you download anything from my webhost it is at your own risk, as is already noted in multiple posts. I cannot guarantee that files located on it are 100% virus free.

I hope the cause of the trojan report will be found soon so this does not hold up developement.

[threeswept 12]

Hi, everyone...

As mentioned from wou, I was able to download the newest version of the Terraformer in two different versions - with the rebuilt installer and as just zip files. I ran Norton scans on both and found them to be virus free. As well, I used McAfee for additional scanning with the same results.

As I mentioned in my prior post, this could've been a false positive on my end. However, there apparently were a few out there with components of the Trojan in their registry. Whether the Trojan infected their systems from the original download, an updated version or some other random download may not be known. However, after I ran the virus scan I installed/uninstalled the programme. Then, I checked the registry for any traces of this specific Trojan and none were found. 

As Ynterboy stated, files cannot be guaranteed to be virus free. Since 2003, I've only come across one other file that contained a virus and I've personally never encountered any installer problems. So, it's definitely possible that something could've happened in this case. 

In the end, my opinion is that everything is great and ready to go again. And, I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the newest version of the Terraformer!!!

[wouanagaine 86]

I'd like to thank Threeswept for helping me figure out what was going on.

So to everyone, I want to make things clear :

First:

I'm using NullSoft Installer Software (NSIS) to build the installer

and digging for informations about viruses, here is a link about reports:

http://nsis.sourceforge.net/NSIS_False_Positives

Second:

I sent the v.09c yesterday to Threeswept so he can check if this file can report virus

the file sent was build using the same setting as v.08c for NSIS, and it happens that the scan for virus is positive

So today I rebuild the same version with different setting for NSIS ( on the same pc I did all versions ) and it happens that the scan is ok.

Conclusion:

For me, seeing thoses facts, that none of my pcs are infected, that only Norton AV report a virus ( a virus that is 1 year old according to the link Threeswept provided ) it can only be a false positive report. Users that have found components of the trojan may have been infected by others downloads.

I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience. and I hope you understand that I have not spent the last two months of my free time, to upload a virus that is 1 year old.

I hope this will close the debat

---

Now for v.09c, it will come soon.

Take care and thanks for supporting!

[Karybdis 34]

Yea. Don't worry. I've got enough false positives in my time to know to just ignore them when they pop up. This program is well worth it.

[prince_of_sims 0]

a lesson to all:

false positives are a positive reality =D

[Sim_Roxie 0]

Lovely utility. Thanks to Wou for creating and Ynterboy for hosting. My NAV also reports no infection. I've had no trojan warnings at all. The only hassle I had, was discovering that I needed the latest Directx build and Firefox didn't like MS's handy little authenticity plug-in so I had to fire up IE ...

[wouanagaine 86]

I think that the second link provided in the readme does not need any windows stufff, and can be downloaded using FF

Take care

[Sim_Roxie 0]

Er, yeah, you're right about that. I downloaded the files from the alternative source but it confused me by asking me where I wanted to install it ... I'm really rather dumb at the fancy stuff LOL

[wouanagaine 86]

Sc4Terraformer 0.9c has been released!

Release notes:

Overview window can be close/reopen Better designed Create region dialog Genesus.SC4M has been raised to look good with a 250m sea level Genesus.png has been generated ( 16 bit greyscale png ) Overview aka 'radar view', clic in it to move the camera to the point You can save the overview image Export/Import 16 bit grayscale png Brushes tools like SC4 Ingame tools All in game tools

quote>

Before downloading please read the following information:

Compatibility - Sc4Terrafomer only works with Rush Hour and the Deluxe Edition

DirectX - Microsoft directx team releases a new version about every two months so you should be sure you have the latest version. At the moment you need the april 2006 version of directx 9.0c

You can download directx from the following locations:

http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/directx.html

or

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.mspx

MSCVP71.DLL - Some users may need this file. It can be found here:

http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?msvcp71

Instalation - All you have to do is open the downloaded installer and follow the instuctions on screen. After the installer you can open the program in the start menu like this:

Start->All Programms->SC4Terraformer->SC4Terraformer v.09c

This is an external program and does not change anything within simcity.

Please note you use this program on your own risk, you should make a backup of your region and read the included readme.html

Now you can download SC4Terraformer .

Ynterboy have some RL stuff to do, so only the rapidshare file can be accessed.

This will be the last release before a long time. I now plan to play SimCity4 again.

Anyway, please report any bugs or suggestions.

Take care !

[Barf 0]

Oh man... This latest version is by far the one anyone should want to use.

It kinda saddens me that we won't see further development for some time; but I understand that there's really no point in making modifications or fan apps for a game, if you never get around to playing it! This latest rendition of SC4Terraformer had ought to be more than enough to keep anyone happy for some time to come, anyhow--especially since anyone can make custom brushes.

Thanks for all of the phenomenal work you've put into this program, Wouanagaine! It'll be a crime if you aren't remembered as one of the greats in modding history.

[HandsOff 0]

Do yourself a favour and abandon all things Symantec. Apartt from being extreme memory and virtual space hoggers they tend to be miles behind everyone but McAffee (worse because actually uses a pirated engine). Thus far I found only Trend Micro to really effective, their automatic updates are at times twice or thrice daily and they really try to stay ahead of the miscreants. None of my clients are allowed Norton or McAffee as long as they want me to service their networks..

Originally posted by: prince_of_sims i have to say that i've had the Trojan.ZLob file on my hard drive, and just today found the remnants of it (thanks, threeswept). it's possible that since i worked on the readme, that the readme got infected. i'm still getting no results from my Norton Internet Security 2006. i'll keep you up to date on what's going on on my end.quote>

[HandsOff 0]

Salu; Si tu besoin quelque'un pour localiser les menus et tous ca, dis moi.. DocRorlach (aka HandsOff)

Originally posted by: wouanagaine Anyway, please report any bugs or suggestions.

[Romaq 18]

YIPEEE! I agree with wouanagaine that if you are not playing the game, all the rest of the work looses its point. 16-bit YIPEEE! Now I have some fun stuff to work with. The only thing I would note is that the in-game elevation caps out at 4000 meters. I have not attempted to build higher than that. I have also not yet found any mods that permit higher elevation, but for reference: in-game 0 is -250 m by default, which makes 'max altitude above sea level' at 3750 m. The local volcano, Mt. Baker, is 10781 ft (3286 m), and Mt. Ranier is 14400 ft. (4389 m) above sea level. But one does not normally find cities atop volcanos.

Thank you for this tool. I will now see what I can accomplish.

EDIT

Ok, my 'World Machine' tutorial, or 'steps to make a test world, and useful reference info'.

I start with World Machine, downloadable free from http://www.world-machine.com/download.html and it defaults to a perlin noise device connected to a terrace device with a file-device at the end.

I remove terracing for this test, because an 8-bit image WILL 'terrace' the result. What I *want* to know is, is this working in 16-bit, and can I create an image that will work from World Machine?

Set Terrain Color to 'Spectrum', since the color will give you a better idea of where the water and snow colors will hit on your resulting terrain when you compare this test against the SC4TF results.

Add a 'Bias/Gain' tool after the Perlin Noise, and set both Bias and Gain to 0.25% for the purpose of this test. This has the effect of making your lowest (soon to be sea) and highest (your snow covered mountains) deeper on the low end and steeper on the high end.

Next add a 'clamp' device, and only click 'normalize output'. This has the effect of making your hiest point hit '1.0' and your lowest point '0.0'. Everything else is somewhere between.

Now reconnect your 'file output' device. Select 'raw-fp32'. I don't know why the 16-bit PNG doesn't work at this time, so I had to work around it. Now select the 'set' button and make sure this output is going where you want it to go. By default, you get a file named 'output.r32'. Click the 'write output to disk' button, and it will first build the world you specified and write the file out.

The output.r32 file isn' much good until you convert it to a useful .png file. For this, I am using imgcon, a DOS Console program you can get from http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~yongyue/imgcondl.html. EDIT: I DO NOTE that the link is NOT working at this moment. You may have to look on the net for another progrm that can do this conversion. I got lucky and was able to download it when I did. The link is back up. What we *really* need is for direct import/ export between World Machine formats and SC4TF. My money is on nicely asking World Machine if they could do an SC4M export plug-in. This would be preferable to having SC4TF do the work, I think, because World Machine 'knows' what altitude setting you are using and they might be in a better position to tack on that extra bit to match the (N*64)+1that SC4 (and SC4TF) requires. END OF EDIT

This is the command line version I used to convert output.r32 to output.png:

imgcon -png -iraw 512 512 1 5 0 0 output.r32

Now I have my happy .png file, and I can DO something with it in SC4TF!

I made an 8 x 8 blue square as my config.bmp, and put it in a 'test' region. YOU MUST CLOSE WORLD BUILDER BEFORE RUNNING SC4TF! They will not share Direct X nicely, so you can not run both at the same time, or 'Bad Things Happen '.

So I start TF into my 4 big City default nothing-but-grass region, and I import the output.png image. I use '8' for my scale value, and '0' for the minimum height. It wants to rescale from 512 x 512 to 513 x 513, so I let it.

The resulting image has a peak at 2040m, and it looks flat but I'm so happy for what I have I'm not worried about that. I expect in 'normal use' I will avoid maxing out the altitude anyway, or I'll be doing touch-ups on the peaks. I notice that, compared to my World Builder 'spectrum' reference colors, the color red just going into magenta is below water. Deep blue hits the SC4TF snowline.

Now, just for fun, you could try saving the output to an 8-bit BMP file and reloading the region. You will find the result looks terraced. The 16-bit import looks MUCH MUCH better.

I regret that World Machine's 16-bit PNG isn't working, though I will certainly ask for that to be resolved. That would save me a step. Also note I am NOT using GIMP anywhere in this process. I'll loose the benefit of having 16-bit grey, so I avoid GIMP. Cinepaint (http://www.cinepaint.org/) still has not released a Windows version of their software. Perhaps you have 16-bit per channel photo editing software. You would find that a real bonus.

Anyway, I hope this is found to be useful and instructive. I'm off now to rebuild a 16-bit region with all the effects and see how it looks in the latest SC4TF.

Cheers!

[Karybdis 34]

Stunning as usual

Enjoy your game time. I don't think I've played it in over a year. heh

[zalmoxe 0]

Great and incredibly useful tool wouanagaine, thanks for making/sharing it.

[wouanagaine 86]

barf

Thanks for your support and warm words.

I hope everyone will be pleased with it and can produce great region

Handsoff

Thanks for your support !

En quel langue pour les traductions ?

Romaq

Thanks for the tuto ! I'll add a link in the front page

Now just a quik note you have not notice and that will not please you, the factor and min height are not used in the 16 bit png import.

The 16 bit png import works like the SC4M import, it expect that each greylevel represent a 10cm step.

Use the little script I sent you

Take care

Karybdis

Man, you are very dedicated to this site, I can't imagine putting as much effort as you do for helping others without playing the game!

I can't thank you enougth for the help you provided

zalmoxe

Thanks for your support !

Take care everyone, and see you soon maybe in the CJ section

[moganite 4]

if it is a 10 cm step that would limit to 3.27 km of altitude. The best use for such a PNG would be for the higher elevation areas whre the 256 levels leaves steps of 20 + m. Unfortunately it does nothing for maps using 256 levels and that is all of the maps here. The other concern is how large PNGs are, PNGs are typically much larger than Jpegs in space.

this developmet is going great BTW

[wouanagaine 86]

moganite

16bit png with 10cm step can go up to 65535 so 6.5km ( I used unsigned 16bit ) but I limit to 6000m

About the png versus jpeg, despites that jpg can't do 16bit ( to my knowledge ), a png is lossless as jpg are lossy. and using lossy compression can produce ugly result

As you may have tried with the no erosion import mod , you may have seen that it is better to import a bmp ( lossless ) than a jpg file in SC4. This will be the same with SC4TF.

the average size of a standard region is approx 950ko for a SC4M and 1Mo for a 16bit png, sure it is way larger than jpg, but you got many more informations in it

Thanks for your support

take care

[Romaq 18]

wouanagaine: Yup, careful re-reading of that README file, I got it now. ;-) How that 'scale' and 'offset' is no longer a factor, that actually makes life more simple for me. I'll make my test image as a smaller 512, and I can be assured that the same general features will be at the same Z-axis when I redo it as 8193.

I have the following information that I'm using to compare my 'fantasy region' against the area I live in, and I have the following facts which my be useful to someone wanting to use my method for creating it.

1) 'in game' maximum altitude is 3750 m (4000 m max in SC4TF minus 250 m default water level - confirmed by testing).

2) Mt. Baker, Washington is 3286 m, and Mt. Ranier is 4389 m. So the in-game 'max' is reasonable compared to local real-life terrain.

3) World Machine's max image on the $40 'standard version' is 8192^2, so make it 128^2 km (a square 128 km each side). 'Real Life', this takes me from the Canadian Border at Blaine, WA to Edmonton, WA, which is not quite into Seattle, and from the San Juan Islands not quite to Mt. Baker. In other words, the largest World Machine image I can create almost, but not quite reaches my ideal. It also covers an area of roughly three counties.

4) I am unable to work with a 128k region in SC4TF on my machine. It may be POSSIBLE, but it is NOT POSSIBLE with my current hardware. Consider too, a 128k region contains 16384 'huge' cities. That is a LOT of SC4 to play in. 'Real Life' makes this possible by having a LOT of area with nothing but farmland, forest preserve, open water and completely undeveloped area. Oh, and lots of snow & rock up in them thar mountains. But I digress. 128^2km, if I can actually CREATE the thing and bring it to SC4, might be 'realistic', but it my realistic expectations is that it would be unplayable, and my computer would likely melt into a quivering puddle of goo.

5) If I can manage to make the Mygish (My Goodness It's So Huge) region on my computer, complete with Islands, bays, hills, and a volcano or two, I'll have enough interesting terrain to keep me busy for about 16384 months or so of playing SC4. Keeping in mind, of course, 'real life' has LOTS of 'anything but developed and lived in land' between those cities, so if I make this thing 'too' realistic, I'll waste my time with lots of boring NOTHING between the 16 or so cities I'll actually invest time in. If I even do 16.

6) SC4TF can BARELY handle a 64^2 km region. Of course, this means I'm contemplating how to split my 8192^2 16-Bit world image into 4 regions I can at least view within SC4TF. I've not yet decided how best to accomplish that, but I might get away with having World Machine do the splitting for me. That's a detail I'll explain 'how I did it' when I manage to make something I'm happy with.

7) A 64^2 km region in SC4TF (or SC4 for that matter) is simply too huge to be useful. So I make a 'working' region that is 16^2 km that is an import of 16 cities I import from the region I want to 'do something' with. WARNING: Importing a city from one region to another WILL cause that city to VANISH from the region you take it from. This is a VERY IMPORTANT consideration if you happen to import a city to the wrong location, thus causing your mis-imported city to vanish. Backups are critical at each stage

In Summary, reality is stranger than fiction. Regions that are too huge to work with in SC4 or SC4TF are actually VERY TINY compared to realty. Reality has the advantage of being filled with lots of NOTHING. And finally, I now have the tools to come pretty close to generating something like my little corner of the world. ;-)

Cheers!

[Lord Kronos 0]

wouanagaine,

Thanks for this awesome tool for us to develop our regions with and I'm sure we all appreciate the time and effort you have put into making this for our use. Thanks also to the Beta testers for making sure it was as bug free as possible.

That said, I know you've said this was the last version to be published in a long time, but how easy/hard would it be to add a path tool like in the wish list. Select two points on the terain and it levels every point between them to a set height. This would cut the need for a "sunken tool" as you can then set your sunken networks at the required height.

I know it is a lot to ask, so perhaps you could release the source code and someone else could add such a tool. As it is impossible to customise one of the tools to do this as they work in % from the center of the tool.

I don't mind what the answer is, it just never hurts to ask. If you don't have the time, or it is to hard to add, we thank you again for such a great tool.

Regards

LK

[wouanagaine 86]

Romaq

You still making me wish I had listen to my english teacher better

Just to point that MallowTheCloud have made some mods to allows bigger range in elevations

And that maybe I will do a tool to just create a region from SC4M, or PNG ( ie without the 3D ).

Lord Kronos

The path tool was a great idea, and something really missing, but it will require some code to handle it. and a way to manage/display the path and how to apply a filter(tool) along it. and the way I coded SC4TF is not ready for paths. ( not that it can't be done, just that I need to recode the whole mouse system ). and as I have now start playing SC4 again, on a region made with SC4TF, I sometimes see the missing features, and if I really need it, be sure it will be done before 'long time'

But it is worth to ask, The code will be shared to someone else I'll introduce you later. For now his willing is to do more 'global' landscaping tools ( ie more like a landscape generator ).

Thanks for your support

Take care!

[moganite 4]

woanagine that partly why i had the 1/4 erosion plugin made to show people what it could do and the fact that Jpegs are lossy in thier nature. My normal recomendation is to use a remove Jpeg artifact filter and save as BMP before importing. Also as I have updated my noerosion plugins recently as i found a major flaw in what was done( all files in some sets still did the wrong erosion).

If you have worked with DEM data you have probably noticed that somewhere there is an error bar in the elevation (quoted in m). For the STRM that is freely available it is 16 m vertically so most of the time the errors in the topography from the taking of the measurements is the largest error by far and mostly overwhelms the much smaller jpeg lossy compression errors until you get to realy large elevation ranges.

You also have interpolation to make up the missing points which adds a small and tiny error as a result of curve fitting this is a variable error as in it varies acros the entire image and cant be corrected easily unless you have acess to the raw data.

I think that we can't get much better until we find a better source of DEM data for real world places

This is great for making large scale alteration to a terrain and seeing the results quickly the traditional way takes much longer.

[Romaq 18]

moganite: I wish I could pull up a map, like http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/terrain/protected/terrain_02.php promises but doesn't deliver, and place a series of small, medium, and large blocks, say 'make this region for me', and then have an accurate render of the area from the San Juan Islands to Mt. Baker. If it were that easy to do, I would have created my 'Mygish Regionn' (My Goodness It's So HUGE!) that way. It would be a great way for me to become more familiar with the local terrain, and play 'what if'.

Unfortunately, while I *can* get the DEM data for Whatcom County, I am not clear on 1) how to figure out what maps go where, 2) stitch the maps together, 3) have the elevations 'stitch' correctly at the borders. I would cheerfully slurp (slowly download) all the required maps, but I am at a loss as to how to generate a 4097^2 16-bit elevation map I could use in SC4TF to import into SC4. I really do not want to suck down such a region 'city by city', if http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/terrain/protected/terrain_02.php were to actually work. It also appears the USGIS DEM data stops at sea level, so I would have to 'plough my own water depth'. Water has terrain 'features', just like land. SC4 makes use of those 'features', and I would be reluctant to use USGIS info that won't produce altitude below sea level.

Anyway, I'm going to poke at World Machine and see what options I have on generating a plug-in that writes to SC4M format. A direct problem I have is that World Machine uses 2^N*32 for all N=0 through 8 while SC4 uses (N*64)+1 for all N=1 through 128. Or to put it in simple terms, World Machine will always leave me one pixel column short no matter what I pick. So I am contemplating how I might cheat to add the extra column of bits to the right and bottom of an 8192^2 image, and then splitting that image into four 4097 images that will at least render in SC4TF. Once I have the render, I'll be able to pick out my first 256^2 region o work with, and start building. Woanagine sent me a python script that will convert a raw 16-bit output image from World Machine into a 16-bit PNG, but I don't really know Python, so I will have to learn enough to make the script accomplish what I want. I have a friend I could refer the problem to as well, and not be a further pest to woanagine. ;-) The best option would be if World Machine could do the work for me with a SC4M output plugin that simply does it all, and then we can encourage SC4 users to purchase their software and have 'direct output', and save the lot of trouble.

So... I'll work various options and see what turns up.

EDIT: Ok, I have more on what turns up.

1) World Machine will save to Terragen format.

2) http://koti.mbnet.fi/pkl/tg/TerraConv.htm will cheerfully read in a Terragen format image, and then reformat it to that odd-numbered image size needed by SC4 AND export this to a 16-bit TIF image, ready to load with your 16-bit image editor that SAVES into 16-bit PNG.

3) CinePaint 0.16 from 2003 is still available, links from http://www.cinepaint.org/press/cinepaint.windows.2003.3.12.html which may be used for direct image editing, cropping, whatnot. WARNING: This is 3 years old, it doesn't have the toolset available in current Gimp 2.2, and I would suggest spending the money on Adobe Photo Shop.

4) The PGM and TGA output from World Machine WILL NOT load into CinePaint 0.16-1.

5) The imgconv program appears to convert my raw-f32 output file into 8-bit PNG, according to CinePaint. This also explains 'stair-stepping' and '8-bit-like' behavior that SC4TF would have when trying to import my test files. So DO NOT USE imgconv. Use the TerraConv program and link I suggested above. Then use your 16-bit image editor, such as CinePaint, and SAVE the 16-bit PNG.

6) The CinePaint 0.16-1 version you may download today is useful for converting your 16-bit TIFF to 16-bit PNG, as well as crop the image 4-ways (a requirement to convert a useless 8193^2 to four 4097^2 almost useful image sizes.) And that's about it. Or buy Adobe Photo Shop for about $650. It's well worth it, I just don't have $650 to throw at the problem at this time.

7) Woanagine has a python script that will convert the raw unsigned byte image to a PNG file. Unfortunately for me, I don't QUITE trust World Machine to produce an unsigned byte file that will work properly, and I *still* have to split the file into quarters 'somehow', so I would have that 'use an image editing program' step along the way anyway.

If I behave really well and do my backups at each step, Cine Paint 0.16-1 MIGHT permit me to do direct edits of the image file before import without crashing, but I'm not sure I am that well behaved. I expect I'll be using SC4TF for detail work that I don't get out of World Machine.

I hope this all comes up useful for someone else. It has certainly been an interesting learning experience for me. :-)

MORE EDIT!

The Mygish Region (128^2km) is too huge in World Machine to finish building. Fortunately, I can change the scaling and use math, so I have worked out how to build the region in quarters. There is some trickery involved in keeping it all in synch. But in the end, if tihs really does what I want then I can cheerfully share the ~8k World Builder file with instructions on how to recreate it for reference to those interested.

Woanagine: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=120&threadid=73279&enterthread=y&STARTPAGE=1 seems to be the link that refers to the mods you speak of, but there is no link in the entry, and I can't seem to find any mods by MallowTheCloud. While I can't be certain without the mods, it appears they change the import altitude without necessarily changing the maximum altitude GOD MODE allows one to build.

It may also be possible to edit some setting within SC4 directly. I have given it some thought, however, and I find that 3750 m (4000m minus 250 m for below sea level) is quite sufficient for anything I would want to build a city upon. Denver, Colorado's altitude is around 1610 meters (http://www.pierobon.org/export/ch5/altitude.htm).

In summary, 3750 m. is sufficient, but I wish to have my mountain peaks attain that height which is comparable to the area I live in. At this time I am happy with World Machine's ability to create natural looking terrain, and I am currently attempting to modify the process so I have deeper water (while still having underwater terrain) and steeper mountain areas. Above all, I'm having fun, and I am extreemly greatful for SC4TF. Thank you for a great product, woanagine!

Cheers!

[moganite 4]

My noerosionset conatins mallows plugins and it is based on themso it uses identical parameters and can render up to 5000m i am thinking of extending it but if we can use 16 bit importing it would be alot better and this is where woanagines SC4TF is much much better with it i think we could also force much deeper areas like ocean trenches if so desired

[wouanagaine 86]

Romaq

I was pretty sure that the god limit in SC4 is easily modable using SC4Tool or Reader, as moganite said, it is located in the import terran examplar.

For test I have done, the god limit is applicable to what you can terraform in SC4 or what you want to build in SC4, ie you can terraform up to 6000m SC4TF and it will be correctly shown in SC4 until you try to built or terraform it in SC4

Moganite

Deeper ocean, you will need to mod the waterlevel so that you can have more than 250m deep.

Personnaly I don't see the need of deeper ocean, but that is my personnal taste.

Anyway there is nothing in the game that prevent a huge ocean and huge mountains, ( still I have not test a negative value for elevation ), the minmial and maximal height can be modded to suits your needs. but now SC4TF can't terraform that.