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I currently have a map that can be successfully scanned by the Map Editor and contains elevation data along with several terrain types (urban, swamp, river), a road net, and some hex-side streams/rivers. However, the map render is still flat and does not show elevation differences visually; on the other hand, both the in-game maps and the examples from the FM show the visual elevation difference. Which tool should be used to convert from the "flat" PNG map to a stepped FC map?

Alerted William to answer this one.

The map rendering tool we currently have that converts the initial hex map (that you have) into a beautiful rendered game map is not available to the public.

However... we're just about to enter beta testing our new QGIS plugin mapping tool. I added support to generate a styled map that will produce the game map, although not as beautiful as the rendering tool, is definitely good enough for custom map makers to work with.

Got it - is this a beta test within the dev team, or will it be available to the community as well?

Zumwalt_446 wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2026 9:36 pm Got it - is this a beta test within the dev team, or will it be available to the community as well?

It's entering an alpha test with the team/contributors later this month. It will eventually become available to the wider community! Were you previously a beta tester? Message me on Discord and I'll be sure to get it to you as soon as I can.

I was a beta (alpha?) tester for FCCW last year, but I'm not on Discord; is there another way to get this plugin sent over?

Zumwalt_446 wrote: Thu Mar 12, 2026 11:32 am I was a beta (alpha?) tester for FCCW last year, but I'm not on Discord; is there another way to get this plugin sent over?

Send me an email and I'll put you on my 'waiting list' for people who are interested in an early demo. Thanks!

I've started looking into an interim method using the built-in functionality in QGIS. By using the polygon raster analysis tool on the elevation data raster, we can color-code each hex by the mode of the elevation in that hex (which seems to be the same methodology used to calculate hex elevation values in the map editor).

One thing I've noticed with this method is that hexes on the edge of terrain transitions (e.g. elevation 2 to elevation 1) will tend to have the wrong color-code in the QGIS layer (that is, the color code in QGIS corresponds to one elevation level, while the displayed elevation level in FC is a different one). Am I correct that FC uses the mode of elevation in a given hex to calculate the elevation value for that hex, or is another method used?

The elevation layer step panel in the plugin will sample each hex tile with the underlying DEM raster layer to determine an elevation step value. If the map creator needs to change that, they can easily edit that value in the attribute table.

Zumwalt_446 wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2026 1:41 am One thing I've noticed with this method is that hexes on the edge of terrain transitions (e.g. elevation 2 to elevation 1) will tend to have the wrong color-code in the QGIS layer (that is, the color code in QGIS corresponds to one elevation level, while the displayed elevation level in FC is a different one). Am I correct that FC uses the mode of elevation in a given hex to calculate the elevation value for that hex, or is another method used?

Map scanning in FC indeed uses the modus/mode (highest frequency elevation color) when assigning a single elevation value to a scanned hex.