how to find/use/import heightmaps?

[sitasama]

hi all,

first of all, sorry for my low level of english

so, i would like to redo the 100km2 part of where i live (lausanne, switzerland)

I see that it is possible to have an grayscal heightmap, a real one, and import it in to the map editor.

That is AWESOME !!!

My problem is, i have no clue about where to find that type of maps etc...

can someone help me with this? can google map does that?

Last question, a grayscal heightmap is a map in grey with some line that represent the height, is that right?

[Greygor]

http://terrain.party/

Move the little blue square to the area you want and select download to get heightmaps of that area.

From Reddit

http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/2y6yr4/

[sitasama]

Wow, amazing.

thx you a lot Greygor, your a nice person.

[Freki]

@Greygor - thanks mate!

[treveready™]

some really good links here :)

http://gisgeography.com/best-free-gis-data-sources-raster-vector/

http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=27052

http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdem/microdem.htm

using these links I have put together all sorts of heightmaps ready for later on :)
have fun

[bullet in ur f. face]

does it really work ? too good to be true.

[sitasama]

In french: MERCI LES MECS

(thx budys)

I am now ready, but still, the game is not released yet....waaaaaarrrrgggg lol

[sitasama]

I exported this, it s incredible...i can't wait to test them out.


terrain.party README
====================

Hooray! You've exported some stuff from terrain.party v1.2!

If you should want to export this again for any reason:
http://terrain.party/api/export?name=lausanne+et+environs&box=6.744384,46.645594,6.443423,46.438982

Now: what did you get?


Height Maps
-----------

* lausanne et environs Height Map (ASTER 30m).png

ASTER is the most recent public survey of elevation on Earth. It has high
coverage and high (~30m) resolution. However, the instrument can get
confused by high concentraions of clouds and mountains, creating gaps in
the data that need to be repaired by hand.
http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem.asp


* lausanne et environs Height Map (Merged).png

[!] If you look at one height map, look at this one. [!]

This is a mix of ASTER (~30m), USGS NED (~10m), and SRTM30+ (~900m). It
provides good global elevation data (ASTER) and better US elevation data
(USGS NED) with hole-filling and bathymetry from SRTM30+.


* lausanne et environs Height Map (SRTM3 v4.1).png

SRTM data was originally provided by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
but SRTM3 v4.1 is the result of considerable effort from CGIAR-CSI. It has
a ~30m resolution in the US and a ~90m resolution elsewhere.
http://www.cgiar-csi.org/data/srtm-90m-digital-elevation-database-v4-1


* lausanne et environs Height Map (SRTM30 Plus).png

SRTM30+ data is very, very coarse (~900m). This might be useful if you'd
like to follow the general contours of the land (and seafloor!) without
having every single contour. (But really, it's here because... why not?)
http://topex.ucsd.edu/WWW_html/srtm30_plus.html


Elevation Adjustment
--------------------

The original elevation models for this area contained elevations ranging from
342 through 951 meters.

These elevation values need to get transformed into a grayscale images. This
section describes how that translation was done in this particular case.

(The game isn't yet released, so what follows is a guess, but I think it's a
pretty good guess. If this turns out to be wrong, please use the link above to
re-export this data once we figure out what the deal is.)

Cities: Skylines supports terrain from 0m to 1024m. It represents elevations as
16-bit unsigned integers, which can be read directly from 16-bit height maps.
Each level therefore corresponds to 1/64th of a meter: 0 is 0m, 64 is 1m, etc.
Cities: Skylines maps default to having sea level at 40m, with typical terrain
starting at 60m.

These heightmaps were adjusted such that 342m (actual) is equal to 40m in
game. All other elevations are relative to that.

Again, the lowest point in these height maps is now 40m in game; all other
terrain is even higher. You will likely want to adjust the water level as a
result.


Enjoy!
http://terrain.party/

[Darkalloy]

There's a moment when using that tool that you realize either real life cities and CS cities are either:
A. So compact you can't breath.

B. Some odd ratio scale with each other.

C. Not that small as the tool is broken somehow.

My choice is A., but that could be due to living in the country side for a long while.

As a side note my front yard is a 10th of one of the skylines tiles. My subdivision is 4 of them and there are only 25 to 30-ish homes here.

Edit: The moment when you look over at the side of the tool and notice it set for 9km and not 18km is a facepalm one... still the above choices remain firmly in my mind as the right ones.

[olElLI]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Johnny5clowna:

So, How do I use the maps when I get the game? do i just move the ZIP FILE to a mods folder for this game or what???

Without knowing the folder structure, it should be a matter of exporting the files to the correct folder containing the default height maps, be that region/maps or whatever.

[darkrajin]

Cheers <3

[RustyNails]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Johnny5clowna:

So, How do I use the maps when I get the game? do i just move the ZIP FILE to a mods folder for this game or what???

I believe you use the map editor to import the map. Quill18 had an overview of it.

[Vandalen]

you still have to add water, freeways and trains before you can play the map.

[sitasama]

im pretty sure that we can use a menu in the editor to import the map.

[sitasama]

ho, and for my last question, it s a yes and a no, lol

[Greygor]

Yeah, getting the height map is just the first step.

I also think if the area you choose is heavily urbanized the height will include the tops of buildings.

Not completely sure about this, will need to try it out.