FTPro - Random World Mapping for Fun and (no) Profit

[waldronate]

FT decouples the fractal function from the world editing features. This characteristic has its good and bad points, but one of the bad points is that operations that work with altitudes (like fill basins) must work at a constant resolution that's different from the fractal function. The net result is that a filled area will be full of tiny holes. A small blur may help to smooth them out, as would selecting the nearly-flat areas and raising them slightly.

[Master TMO]

Good to know. While I have owned a copy of FTPro for years and years, I've only recently really started to use it (if 1 map every 6 months or so counts as 'use' ), so there's a lot of subtle interactions like that one that I'm not familiar with yet. I build my worlds using a size of 4096 pixels, the max the system can handle, iirc. Is there a magic resolution size where the fractal and altitude functions line up, or is it a function of the math that they'll always be just slightly out of sync with each other? I have enough of a math background that I have a vague concept of how complex the various functions of the program must be.

Also, on another topic, which tool is best for manually filling in those smaller holes? I've been using Pre-scale editing, but I (finally) noticed that the Fill Basins command was post-scale. Once a post-scaling tool has been run, would it be better to switch to the regular altitude-editing tools, or is the pre-scale offset tool still best?

Thanks for the responses! I'm going to try and remove the word tutorial from the thread title, since I don't think this qualifies any more, but it was still quite worth posting, as I am learning from it. (edit: I could change the thread title within the thread, but not the global title. It was worth a shot. )

[ravells]

No worries, Master TMO, I'll remove the 'tutorial' title for you. I use FT Pro too, but not to this depth of complexity!

best

Ravs

[Master TMO]

Much obliged.

[waldronate]

Good to know. While I have owned a copy of FTPro for years and years, I've only recently really started to use it (if 1 map every 6 months or so counts as 'use' ), so there's a lot of subtle interactions like that one that I'm not familiar with yet. I build my worlds using a size of 4096 pixels, the max the system can handle, iirc.

FT has a hard upper limit of 8000 in the software; I use 4096 because it's a convenient size for me to work with. 32-bit windows has a hard limit of around 3GB to work with (2 GB for most programs) and all the editing data with undo levels must fit within that footprint. It's pretty easy to get FT to run out of memory when using large editing settings. You'll know it's run out of memory by the helpful "illegal operation" dialog box and a catastrophic shutdown. Letting FT handle huge editing areas would require either (a) a 64-bit version or (b) clever programming. Either of these options would take a fair amount of effort.

Is there a magic resolution size where the fractal and altitude functions line up, or is it a function of the math that they'll always be just slightly out of sync with each other? I have enough of a math background that I have a vague concept of how complex the various functions of the program must be.

The editing things are effectively an image of the size specified. The fractal function is an arbitrary construct that doesn't really have a fixed resolution. It will eventually run out of new information when zoomed in past roughly lacunarity to the octaves power, but the system will continueto generate interpolated results right on down to the numeric precision of the machine.

Also, on another topic, which tool is best for manually filling in those smaller holes? I've been using Pre-scale editing, but I (finally) noticed that the Fill Basins command was post-scale. Once a post-scaling tool has been run, would it be better to switch to the regular altitude-editing tools, or is the pre-scale offset tool still best?

I really ought to get around to making some of the offset tools work with the prescale offset things.
The primary advantage of the prescale offset editing is that it occurs before the final exponential operator that's responsible for the continental shelf. Even if you use tools that do post-scale editing, I would still recommend doing the basic raise/lower operations with the prescale tools. You'll need to remember that you have a contribution from the post-scale channel, though, when you start getting odd results. It's kind of a mess having the two different editing channels (and one of the reasons that the prescale editing was a late addition to the software - I was really avoiding it as much as possible).

[ravells]

<s> bless, Waldronate!

[Master TMO]

Letting FT handle huge editing areas would require either (a) a 64-bit version or (b) clever programming. Either of these options would take a fair amount of effort.

Well, since I'm running 64-bit Win7, I've got a shiny new rep point for you in return for a 64-bit version.

[Master TMO]

Another possible trick to make cleaning up those below sea-level lakes is to change the color scheme to something more high-contrast, so you can see them better.

[Master TMO]

Heh. The biggest problem with the black and white map when you're scooting along the coastline is suddenly forgetting which color is land and which is sea.

[Master TMO]

Here is the current state of the map, in glorious Black and White. I haven't done any erosion on it yet, just filled in the coastlines.


This map does have a couple interesting island-filled bays. I can see ships are going to be very important to the various cultures, although erosion will probably change those bays pretty drastically, so it may wind up not quite so central to the civilizations. I haven't come to any solid decisions yet as to natives, but I'm currently leaning toward a semi-traditional fantasy world, with a different race being the primary on each continent. Say, somethiing like humans on the central main continent, orcs on the top left, elves on the right, and maybe savage trolls on the bottom left. There is plenty of room on that central continent though for all kinds of folk. It spans from 68 degrees north to 45 degrees south, and is about 120 degrees across from side to side. That makes it bigger than Asia, and possibly Asia+Africa. Hard to tell for sure. FTPro doesn't do surface area calculations.

It's an interesting world so far. It's fun seeing what just trying things out to see if they work can result in.