Help with my Grayscale Region...

[Dannibee 138]

Hello Simtropolis,

My freind towerdude sent me a grayscale map of an area I requested

img825.imageshack.us/img825/52/dannisgrayscale.png

I do know how to render it ingame by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R becuase I have done it several times before without any issues on other maps. However when I try to render this one after locating the file and such, I click 'ok', the window closes to region view and does nothing, as if I never tried to render it. I have no idea how to fix this issue, also here is the config.bmp

Can anybody help me with my problem and/or test this on their PC?

I would be very thankful.

THIS IS A VERY LARGE REGION SO BE WARNED

DanniBee

[Yuu Caa Sim 55]

Are the files you posted the same as your friend gave you? It's always possible that imageshack changed the image, but the grayscale needs to be a 8 bit, 256 color grayscale .jpg image. To mark as grayscale, you can use Irfanview, Photoshop, or Gimp). Config has to be bmp, not png. The size is also wrong - the grayscale I got was 800x800, but the config is 30x30, which would mean a grayscale size of 1921x1921. The grayscale I got was also completely black without any sort of color or terrain changes... are you sure the grayscale you uploaded was the right one?

It's also faster to render a region without any plugins in the folder (except for a terrain texture mod, water mod, and a import mod if needed). Try taking out all other plugins and try again.

If the problem isn't solved, I think there were some threads that had similar issues. Try using the Google Custom Search for this website.

[Dannibee 138]

Hmm, that's strange, the config I uploaded was a .bmp. The grayscale does have some terrain at the bottom though your right it is too black. I'm not too sure how to fix it then, I have changed the size and converted it into a 8-bit grayscale, or I could do 8-bit palate?

[EDIT] This is better, though it still won't work... img684.imageshack.us/img684/4443/shouldworkthistime.png

[tungston 19]

The image needs to be a 8 bit, 256 color grayscale in jpg format, not png, or bmp.

[GMT 389]

Originally posted by: tungston

The image needs to be a 8 bit, 256 color grayscale in jpg format, not png, or bmp.quote>

Not quite right. I render my greyscale regions with bmp files. I've done it with png aswell. no problems as long as the 8bit greyscale and size rules apply.

the thing is, depending on your picture editing program, jpg turns out as a pure compression mess (just think of ms paint jpg quality to get an idea).

in the above case, as yunxiang already said, the problem is definately the size of the picture vs the size of the config.

the original greyscale in the first post is not entirely black, it has terrain data albeit it's very dark.

also the mountainous area in the map looks sort of wierd, but that's another thing.

so, make sure your picture is definitely an 8 bit greyscale (most picture editing softwares offer an option to turn a picture into greyscale, that's the way to go) and that the size is correct in relation to your config.bmp.

1x1 red pixel equals 1 small city tile, 2x2 green pixels equal 1 medium city tile and 4x4blue pixels equal 1 large city tile.

the correct size for your grayscale, if its wrong, will be displayed upon trying to import it into sc4. (an error promt image size is blablabla should be thisandthat). basically, 1 grid square in city view (NOT region view) should equal 1 pixel. and add 1 pixel in total size.

eg your region is 4x4 large city squares (a 16x16 pixel blue config.bmp that is) you're image should be (4x256)+1 = 1025 pixel high and wide.

to sum it up: a true greyscale image with the correct dimensions and a correctly sized and color-coded config.bmp is the key to have fun with custom regions.

[Sam 163]

Sea level with no height mods is a grey value of about 86. So any land you want to be almost sea level should have this value or just above. Your first image looks too dark, your second one looks to bright.

I think any 256 colour palette should work as it is the position in the palette that determines the height, just don't use 16.7 million colours as the game won't know what to do with it.

[Dannibee 138]

Hmm, strange. When I converted the dark image to 8-bit it actually rendered but it was all underwater, when I raised the land there was some sort of terrain there. So I'm still not sure that size is an issue..

[blade2k5 1,523]

Originally posted by: Sam

Sea level with no height mods is a grey value of about 86.quote>

Sorry, but that is incorrect.  Sea level without a height mod is a grey value of 84, not 86.

Originally posted by: Dannibee

Hmm, strange. When I converted the dark image to 8-bit it actually rendered but it was all underwater, when I raised the land there was some sort of terrain there. So I'm still not sure that size is an issue..quote>

Then you need a height mod, which one I couldn't tell you as I haven't dealt with rendering maps the old-fashioned way in more than 4 years.

[Dannibee 138]

Originally posted by: Sam

Then you need a height mod, which one I couldn't tell you as I haven't dealt with rendering maps the old-fashioned way in more than 4 years.

quote>

Can't I just change the brightness to make the land higher?

[blade2k5 1,523]

Originally posted by: Dannibee

Can't I just change the brightness to make the land higher?quote>

That never worked when I tried it, so I'd say that's a no-go.

[Dannibee 138]

Hmm, I might knock this on the head, I'm completely inexperienced at these things. Is it al right if I request a new map here for that area? Because it's imperative that I get it to work for my CJ  Thank you for trying to help guys, anybody know who makes really good accurate maps that is currently open to requests?

For the record, here is the area I would like www.ptfponypower.com/images/map_new_forest_physical.jpg Just the dark green bit would be nice, and I would like it accurate. If anybody could do that it would be wonderful 

 

[Dannibee 138]

The problem is now solved, no need to keep this topic open any more. Thanks guys for the help!

[tungston 19]

Topic closed.