AutoDEM --- Topo maps to Contours

[Mraah]

All,

Here's something interesting I read from the a2simulations forum (Battle of Britian II) ...

There's a freeware program that can convert DEM data to a contour map ... sounds usefull for getting real world 3D data into a heightmap for MapMaker.

AutoDEm website .... http://www.autodem.com/

I'll copy over the post (and screenshots) that Rummy did from the other forum in the following posts.

Rob

[Mraah]

original quote from Rummy ...

Doh, my old ISP finally caught on that I was using their space 2 years after I left . Anyway, back to the contours, I have managed to find a free application that can convert dem to topo lines. While I can do the same with Arcmap that doesn't help others. Auto dem can manage a few type of formats for dem and after converting the dem to contours and the back to dem as a raster you can successfully export 1 px topo lines or points. These still won't work without cleanup, but it's a start. In pic below I have converted a block of land to contours and loaded into photoshop. You can also in Auto dem edit the color pallete, not messed with that much. I can say from the Wake Is. test that coloring these areas is easier since you can use a paint bucket set to contiguous and in all honesty most major land types are a product of elevation, annual rainfall and distance to stream. Cultural Landuse is a whole other ball of wax.

[Mraah]

Another screenshot from his post using photoshop ...

[Mraah]

And a final screenshot using photoshop ...

[Mraah]

Another interesting bit of info ... from the autodem website, "what it can do" ... convert "DEM to regular or irregular (TIN) mesh generation and export".

Now, "TIN" is 3D Triangle Irregular Network ... I have the ability to convert TIN mesh to directX mesh but I haven't tested it.

Rob

[Mad Russian]

And now for the stupid questions....what the heck is a dem????????????

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mraah]

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian

And now for the stupid questions....what the heck is a dem????????????
Good Hunting.
MR

MR,

Sorry for the delay in replying ... it's not a stupid question ... I know because I'm the authority on dumb question asking ![;)]

Anyway .... it's Digital Elevation Models.

It's really just a gee-wiz kinda thing that I thought I'd post with regards to constructing terrain that might be usefull ... albeit more complicated and yet more tools to confuse the average user.

Anyway ... I had this off-the-wall idea that the entire Eastern Front can be digitally converted into a (huge) height map database that Pck could use and "grab" small bits of data to dump into a 1km or 2km map. You see, instead of having random maps you could have random "locations". Plus, if they had the means, they could have a "scrolling" map where you would advance across the terrain with a more dynamic objective type of deal ... In other words, you can start at Smolensk and work your way to Moscow over elevation and terrain that would be real close to real world ... not perfect , I know.

Just a wild idea ... as usual, coming from me.

Rob

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: Mraah
Anyway ... I had this off-the-wall idea that the entire Eastern Front can be digitally converted into a (huge) height map database that Pck could use and "grab" small bits of data to dump into a 1km or 2km map. You see, instead of having random maps you could have random "locations". Plus, if they had the means, they could have a "scrolling" map where you would advance across the terrain with a more dynamic objective type of deal ... In other words, you can start at Smolensk and work your way to Moscow over elevation and terrain that would be real close to real world ... not perfect , I know.

Just a wild idea ... as usual, coming from me.

This is the ideal. I said it elsewhere that there are really no random maps on Earth. There are random locations on the real earth. Some sort of extraction and auto build of any 1x1km to 2x2km map would be the absolute best way to have random battles.