Height Maps

[CybrgDragon]

I remember reading somewhere about height maps for WC3 and how to put them in maps, but I don't remember where. Basically I'm looking for how to do so.

 

[dofys]

Just go to the Terrain Palette (press T) and then you should see 5 buttons under "Apply Height". There are Raise, Lower, Plateau, Noise, and Smooth. Don't use noise because it can mess up your terrain.

 

[CybrgDragon]

I know about those, but I want to know how to import a height map, as I already have one designed.

 

[dofys]

Oh, my bad, sorry but I don't know about that.

 

[Bloody_Demise]

I don't think you could use heightmaps for warcraft3, Unless it was pure raise/lower, but if you can, I think it'd be cool to know how

 

[CybrgDragon]

You can, I remember reading a tutorial on it, but I don't remember where or the instructions.

 

[Craka_J]

There is a way to do this. Forgot exactly how to do it though.
When you first create a map, you can set it from 1-12 or something like that. By default, it's set to 2.
I think somewhere in the "Advanced" place on the toolbar in the World Editor you can set it. Not 100% sure.
~Craka_J

 

[CybrgDragon]

That's not what I meant either, but thanks for trying to help.

 

[HappyTauren]

You mean. You want to transfer terrain height from one map to another?

 

[CybrgDragon]

Sort of like that. A height map is a grayscale image where white is the highest and black is the lowest. Almost all 3D engines nowadays use them, along with shadow maps. WC3 uses them, and you can transfer one height map from one map to another if you wanted. The problem I'm having is that I don't remember how to import a height map into a WC3 map.

 

[HappyTauren]

do it with shadowflare's mpq editor, just copy file (from map to map) I think it might be w3h or something, forgot extension

 

[CybrgDragon]

It appears w3h is actually for buff data. The tutorial that I read a while back used a black and white yin yang symbol for the height map, and then in the overhead view of world editor, It actually appeared like the yin yang symbol. Unfortunately I don't remember the file type, name, or image size(like 256x256 or 128x128) for the height map.

 

[Craka_J]

If I wasn't close, then I have no clue how to work with Height Maps. Sorry that I cannot be of helpful service to you.
~Craka_J

 

[CybrgDragon]

While searching through the tools I've found the solution, so no need to answer my question anymore. The tool is called Terrain 1.0 and it converts TGA to wc3 height map(w3e) so it can be imported into maps.

 

[donut3.5]

I remember reading a tut on how to do this on the helper.net..
--donut3.5--

 

[Craka_J]

Can you inform me what exactly a "Height Map" is? Is it some sort of special pathing thing or something to do with it? I'd like an overview or detailed information what it is. Thank you!
~Craka_J

 

[HappyTauren]

Height map is file that uses bytes to create terrain height model ingame. See, terrain is one huge model actually, and every tile of it (ONE TILE) takes 2 faces. Now, upon map intialisation, vertics of terrain model are moved up/down depending on how the bytes were placed.

 

[CybrgDragon]

Or, to put it simply, a height map is a grayscale image, with white being the highest, black the lowest, and the different shades of gray in between. The height map used in almost every game now to render 3D. When you save a map in WC3 it converts the terrain hills and such into a height map.

 

[Craka_J]

Oh I see. Yes I've seen these height maps and attempted to terrain for games with them (Usually FPS games) but the Editors for all games I've played, including newer games, are no where near as great as Warcraft III's editor.

Anyway, I found height maps hard to work with. Perhaps one day I'll figure them out better.
Thanks for the info guys. +Rep!
~Craka_J