Trying to explain SFS's planet data parameters

[Altaïr]

Yeah, that's an error of my part haha... Altaïr Mind changing that R to 2πR cause i keep failing geometry classes?

Sure. It's done.

 

[Axiom]

Another Weird Question, but is it possible to view text heightmaps as images?

 

[Altaïr]

Another Weird Question, but is it possible to view text heightmaps as images?

You can, using a spreadsheet, copying the data in it, and plotting a graph from it. That's what I used sometimes.

 

[Axiom]

ok, thanks!

Edit: New problem, when I try to make a graph out of the crater edge heightmap in sfs, it gives me this instead if anything resembling a graph:

Edit 2: it was because of the commas making excel read it as text

 

[Axiom]

So what are these heightmaps used for? Like these don't look like terrain (like at all).

These are recreations of the terrain in Excel

 

[mariohobbs]

So what are these heightmaps used for? Like these don't look like terrain (like at all).
These are recreations of the terrain in Excel

Its most likely from the scale of your x-axis, since the X and Y don't seem to be the same as in game.

 

[Axiom]

So There's 2 types of these mystery heightmaps:
Theres the plains one which always has a displacement of one. And then theres the 'Curve' Family of heightmaps which appears later in the heightmap code.

I think that the former is used to only have certain heightmaps in certain places. And the latter is used to modify the heightmap (how this works is still a mystery.

This is Deimos, this has the Curve6 and Curve7 heightmap modifiers

This is Europa, this has the Pow3 modifier

This Ganymede, this has the Curve8 modifier. The whole reason why I think these are modifiers as the terrain on Ganymede is more pointy than the perlin heightmap would suggest

This has the Mercury_Plains heightmap. I think that it sets which parts have the heightmaps and which parts don't as:

1. It is the size of the entire planet
2. The heightmap itself is all ones apart from 2 sections which are zeros. I think the heightmap is making it so the other heightmaps don't apply in Mercury's landmarks
3. It starts with the phrase 'PLAINS' rather than output, and one of the other parameters in the other heightmaps is PLAINS

This is the Moon, has the same Plains Heightmap

This is Phobos, it has the Curve4 modifier

This is Mars, has the plain heightmap

This is Venus, It has the Venus_Plains thing and also has the Curve1 modifier. This is further evidence to for my theory that it's some sort of modifier as there aren't any heightmaps that make Venus' volcanoes

I might take this to the discord to be honest

Edit: According to discord I'm right:

This will be really useful actually