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Automatic Terrain Generation Tool For D&D

An automatic random height map generator to bring an extra layer to your D&D games.

Hi! welcome to my page, this is the first project I've uploaded here so i'm always looking for feedback!
Please be careful when using this item as each of its operations takes about 1-2 seconds and spam clicking on any buttons will cause the terrain to break and generate strangely.

The save and load feature is slightly buggy currently so please allow up to 10 seconds for the saving process to complete and make sure you do a test load before you delete the map you worked so hard on!

Make sure you are colour Black (GM) before using the Wall, Save or Load features

Instructions:
Here I will give a brief overview on how to set up your map for the first time, as well as a brief explanation of what each button does.

1: Save the cube and import it into your world, the heightmap uses a grid of 40x40 2x2x2 cubes so make sure you have enough space!
(The cube is inset into the table below all the buttons, just click on the bit that's poking out and save it as an object)

2: Move the cube away from the centre of the world, try to get a good distance away so it doesn't get buried inside the map

3: Press delete, wait a moment, then press create. Over the course of a few seconds the flat map should generate (I advise turning your grid on for this)

4: Wait for the "Indexed" Message to flash up on your screen

5: You're done! play around to your hearts content!

Buttons:

Create: Creates the map

Reset: Resets the map (This is necessary as the map will generate on top of its self if not reset, this is an intentional feature as it allows you to layer noise for a more interesting map)

Destroy: Destroys the map, this makes it easier for others to connect as the 1600 cubes are quite intensive on your wifi when first connecting

Height: This is where you input the desired height for the current round of generation, a good starting value is 25 but values from 5 to 50 all give good results

Generate: Generates a layer of noise based on the current Height and Smoothness settings, this will always add to whatever is already on the map, allowing you to layer noise. I find it is good to start with a high smoothness and then generate layers on top with lower and lower smoothness and Height for an interesting appearance, if the smoothness setting is below 4 then the colour of the noise will automatically be changed to allow you to add boulders and such as a final touch.

Normalise: Looks through the map for any cube whose height has been changed by the Scale tool, and uses this as the basis of a new peak, only one cube per 8x8 section can be changed in this way per normalise, the grid button is helpful for defining this. mess around with this feature a bit to get the hang of it

Smooth: The smoothness of the map, affects both Generate and Normalise, 12 works best for smooth hills, 7-10 for bumpier terrain and 1-4 for boulders and trees, experiment with values near 0.87 for mountainous terrain as below 1 the generation switches from using a normal distribution to a linear falloff

Cover: Adds some small bumps based on the current terrain colour, use after choosing a colour.

Markers: Shows the grid, useful for normalising, use before choosing a colour

Patch: Adds a random size patch of discolouration to the map for a more realistic look, use after choosing a colour, experiment by using this several times

Contour: Changes the brightness of blocks depending on their height, makes the map look much better, use last.

Sand, Blank, Grass, Rust, Sea, Rock: choose the colour of the terrain, use whenever, but before adding cover or using smoothness values of below 4

Opaque, Ghost, Clear: changes the opacity of the map

Water: Adds water to low lying regions of the map, use last after generation is complete and colour has been picked

Water Level: Changes the height at which water will be generated

Walls: Control clicking on areas of the map will highlight them yellow, after highlighting some areas press this button while your colour is Black (GM) to raise them and change their colour, emulating walls

Index: re-indexes the map, sometimes necessary if buttons aren't working or generation messes up

Save: Saves the current map in to the description box of the currently highlighted/selected object (If your colour is Black)

Load: Loads the map stored in the description of the currently highlighted/selected object (If your colour is Black)


Common bugs and fixes:
If you're getting errors that include the word table, try increasing the height of the map by changing the description of the cube and reloading, this should stop the table and map intersecting and remove the error once you have re-indexed


Bug: The terrain has some holes in it or the colours are generating strangely.
Fix: Re index the map and try again.

Bug: The terrain cuts off after a certain point.
Fix: Please allow the generation process to completely finish before pressing another button as the processes tend to interrupt each other, if possible allow up to 2 seconds between button presses.

Bug: The save feature didn't work and now I can't load my map again!
Fix: Sorry this happens sometimes :( make sure you do a test load after saving to make sure there are no errors before deleting your map.
Alternate Fix: Change your colour to black and try again

Bug: None of the buttons do anything!
Fix: Try deleting and re-creating the map with the delete and create buttons, sometimes you have to press delete before the map will let you spawn it in.

Bug: The map is generating too low!
Fix: the map height is stored in the description of the cube, change the description to a higher number, save and reload the world and you should be good!