09.11.2008, 07:12
There is a heigt range select tool in my mapping tools now. Start to create sixs or seven or so masks with different height levels from sea to the highest mountains, import them to gimp as layers.
Assign to each layer a special texture. Take a rocky texture for the highest reagion, for the lowest take a green one.
Of course the result is boaring.
So start to diversify each layer. Use the rgb-noise in gimp, for example. Select some points and assign other textures to them. For example textures from the next lower and naxt higher region at the beginning. The rest rechange to the orignal texture than.
There might be steep areas even in lower areas. There is a filter "Find edges" or somthing like that (Don't know the english version) with a filter "Sobel" (There is also an other "Sobel" in the filters, that is useless). The Sobel you need is not in the latest gimp version but in V 2.4.5.) Sobel shows the contrast of your map_h. Contrast is a function of the height difference. So step areas will be white there, flat black. Select step areas. Assign some rocky textures or others to some pixels there with the rgb-method in a new layer. Due to the progessive character of the map_h you should create different sobel masks for different heights. Use the height range tool again here.
Select areas suitable for fields and woods with the same methods.
To avoid anoying repetition of the same texture (Have a look at the stock normandy map or the italian map - terrible) always mix textures with the rgb-noise method or something similar. Use that also to delete randomly pixels.
To avoid trees on roads and rails extract them to a layer (But you will already have one). Duplicate it, move the new one one pixels up. Duplicate the original again. Move that one one pixel to the right. Duplicate the original a third time. Join all duplicates to a "no-trees & fields-with-trees-here layer." Do the same with your river layer and join it with the "no-trees-here." Select all not painted areas, inverse the selection, paint roads, rails and water red or what ever you want. Select them. Delete all tree textures here and exchange field textures with trees to one with no trees (...tga,2).
At least create a layer for special textures for special regions, if you want.
I had underlaying textures for diffent heights with only one texture in my Alpen map. Then i created a lot of additional layers with texture variations. One for each field type, some for woods of different density, for steep slopes and so on. At last it were more then 60 layers. Its a good idea to consider the right sequence when joining them ;-)
Assign to each layer a special texture. Take a rocky texture for the highest reagion, for the lowest take a green one.
Of course the result is boaring.
So start to diversify each layer. Use the rgb-noise in gimp, for example. Select some points and assign other textures to them. For example textures from the next lower and naxt higher region at the beginning. The rest rechange to the orignal texture than.
There might be steep areas even in lower areas. There is a filter "Find edges" or somthing like that (Don't know the english version) with a filter "Sobel" (There is also an other "Sobel" in the filters, that is useless). The Sobel you need is not in the latest gimp version but in V 2.4.5.) Sobel shows the contrast of your map_h. Contrast is a function of the height difference. So step areas will be white there, flat black. Select step areas. Assign some rocky textures or others to some pixels there with the rgb-method in a new layer. Due to the progessive character of the map_h you should create different sobel masks for different heights. Use the height range tool again here.
Select areas suitable for fields and woods with the same methods.
To avoid anoying repetition of the same texture (Have a look at the stock normandy map or the italian map - terrible) always mix textures with the rgb-noise method or something similar. Use that also to delete randomly pixels.
To avoid trees on roads and rails extract them to a layer (But you will already have one). Duplicate it, move the new one one pixels up. Duplicate the original again. Move that one one pixel to the right. Duplicate the original a third time. Join all duplicates to a "no-trees & fields-with-trees-here layer." Do the same with your river layer and join it with the "no-trees-here." Select all not painted areas, inverse the selection, paint roads, rails and water red or what ever you want. Select them. Delete all tree textures here and exchange field textures with trees to one with no trees (...tga,2).
At least create a layer for special textures for special regions, if you want.
I had underlaying textures for diffent heights with only one texture in my Alpen map. Then i created a lot of additional layers with texture variations. One for each field type, some for woods of different density, for steep slopes and so on. At last it were more then 60 layers. Its a good idea to consider the right sequence when joining them ;-)