Terrain importing utilities and resources in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel

(Originally published 17 August 2001.)

As you are probably aware, with SimCity 3000 we have ability to import 65x65, 129x129, 193x193, and 257x257 grayscale BMP format images into the game for use as new terrain to create new cities.

What you may not know is that GeneRally, Monster Truck Madness, Railroad Tycoon II, Tropico, and the old DOS games Terra Nova and Transport Tycoon Deluxe also have this image importing capability (Monster Truck Madness, Terra Nova, and Transport Tycoon Deluxe require third-party utilities), so the information in this article can be used for those games as well.

What this means to us is that any terrain creation or editing utility created for these games can also be used with SimCity 3000. There are also quite a few other utilities that can be used to generate completely new terrain, as well as create new terrain from USGS 7.5 minute DEM and NGDC real-world data.

The scope of this document is not for step-by-step instructions on actually creating these terrain images (nor for converting from one graphic format to another), but rather for links to the required utilities for creating them. Some of these utilities you may not have even known you could use with these games.

Here is a list of all of the freeware utilities that can be used with any of these games to create or edit BMP format images for importing as new terrains. Note that a few of these links may be outdated. If that is the case, simply do an Internet search for the specific utility.

BMP2SV0

Converts 256x256 BMP or RAW format images into Transport Tycoon Deluxe scenario files. Note that this utility does not have an option to export terrains to any standard image format, but is mentioned in this document because it also deals with terrain creation.

More information about BMP2SV0 can be found at http://www.geocities.com/c3p1models/bmp2sv0.html.

Daylon Leveller

Creates new terrain images with a variety of terrain tools with full 3D rendered views. Supports loading BMP format texture images to superimpose over the 3D rendered viewing window. Generated terrain images can be copied to the Windows clipboard, and then pasted into any image editing program.

More information about Daylon Leveller can be found at http://www.daylongraphics.com/products/leveller.

Daylon Life

Cellular automata generator that creates random organic heightfields with a variety of terrain options, inspired by John Conway's "Game of Life" program. Generated terrain images can be copied to the Windows clipboard, and then pasted into any image editing program.

More information about Daylon Life can be found at http://www.daylongraphics.com/products/leveller/demo.htm.

DEM2BMP

Creates BMP terrain images from USGS 7.5 minute DEM real-world data.

DEM2BMP can be downloaded from http://www.sc3000.com/archives/dem2bmp.zip.

DEMtoBMP

Creates BMP terrain images from USGS 7.5 minute DEM real-world data.

More information about DEMtoBMP can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/5366/demtobmp.html.

DLG Viewer

Viewer for SDTS DLG, DLG-O, DRG, GeoTIFF DEM, GeoTIFF DOQ, USGS 7.5 Minute DEM, GTOPO30, TerrainBase, and SDTS DEM cartographic data.

More information about DLG Viewer can be found at http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/viewers/dlg_view.html.

Information about using DLG Viewer to create PCX terrain images can be found at "The Red Mountain RRT2 Station" at http://www.thegrid.net/redmountain.

Firmament

Add-on plugin for Terragen (see below), allows importing USGS 7.5 minute DEM real-world data directly into the program.

More information about Firmament can be found at http://mclusky.cjb.net/firmament.

GeneRally Greyscaler Greymap Editor

Creates new BMP terrain images with a variety of terrain tools.

More information about GeneRally Greyscaler Greymap Editor can be found at http://www.pedra.altervista.org/genrally/grayse.htm.

GeneRally Height Map Editor

Creates new BMP terrain images with a variety of terrain tools, as well as viewing the resulting terrain in full rendered or wireframe 3D. Supports loading BMP format GeneRally land maps to superimpose over the 3D rendered viewing window, as well as directly loading GeneRally track files.

More information about GeneRally Height Map Editor can be found at http://www.mlynki.host.sk.

GeneRally Height Map Viewer

Java applet that displays any 256x256 grayscale GIF format terrain image in a moving 3D world enviroment in your web browser. Note that the height maps that are exported from GeneRally's track editor are 64x64 BMP format images, and must first be resampled or resized to 256x256 pixels, and then converted to GIF format using an image editing utility in order for them to work correctly with the viewer.

More information about GeneRally Height Map Viewer can be found at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/RichNagel/grstuff.htm.

GeneRally Terrain Maker

Creates new BMP random fractal terrain images with a variety of terrain options.

More information about GeneRally Terrain Maker can be found at http://home.iprimus.com.au/cragwolf/apps.html.

GeoVu

Creates PCX terrain images from NGDC real-world data.

Information about GeoVu and NGDC real-world data can be found at "The Riptrack" at http://riptrack.iwarp.com/tools.html. Note that NGDC data files for use with GeoVu can be a massive download.

SimCity 3000 Map Editor

Creates new BMP terrain images with a variety of terrain tools, including random fractal terrains.

More information about SimCity 3000 Map Editor can be found at http://www.tenermerx.com/sc3maped.

SimCity 3000 Terrain Editor

Creates new BMP terrain images with a variety of terrain tools, including random fractal terrains.

More information about SimCity 3000 Terrain Editor can be found at http://www.cyberwyre.com/Products/sc3te/index.html.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Fractal Terrain Generator

Creates new BMP random fractal terrain images with a variety of terrain options.

More information about SimCity 3000 Unlimited Fractal Terrain Generator can be found at http://www.sc3000.com/files.

SV0 Creator

Converts any grayscale BMP, JPG, PNG, TGA, TIF, or RAW format images into Transport Tycoon Deluxe scenario files with a variety of terrain options. Note that this utility does not have an option to export terrains to any standard image format, but is mentioned in this document because it also deals with terrain creation.

More information about SV0 Creator can be found at http://www.geocities.com/c3p1models/sv0creator.html.

Terragen

Terrain rendering utility (similar to the commercial program Bryce). Creates new terrains that can be exported to BMP or RAW image format, or with full 3D rendered views.

More information about Terragen can be found at
http://www.terragen.de.

Terra Nova World Editor/Terra Nova Terrain Generator

Exports PCX terrain images of the maps from the game Terra Nova, and imports Terragen (see above) PCX or RAW format images.

More information about these utilities can be found at
http://www-wjp.cs.uni-sb.de/~jofis/tn/tnwehp.html and
http://www-wjp.cs.uni-sb.de/~jofis/tn/news.html.

Traxx (for Monster Truck Madness)

Creates new random fractal terrain images with a variety of terrain options. Generated terrain images can be copied to the Windows clipboard, and then pasted into any image editing program.

More information about Traxx can be found at http://malibuco.hostme.com/DriveToTraxx/traxx.html.

Sources for 7.5 Minute Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Data

Data for DEM2BMP or Firmament (FTP) ftp://edcftp.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/DEM/7.5min.

Data for DEM2BMP or Firmament (WWW) http://edcftp.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/DEM/7.5min.

Data for DEM2BMP or Firmament (Indexed map) http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/bin/maptest/coords=55.000000+-130.000000+20.000000+-65.000000/scale=24/type=dem/zoom=8.

Data for DEM2BMP or Firmament (Indexed map)
http://www.gisdatadepot.com/dem.

Data for DEMTOBMP or DLGVIEW (Indexed map) http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/1_dgr_demfig/index1m.html.

Have fun!