Also I can elaborate on this if needed and/or add it to the Wiki. Let me know.1. The purpose here is to create the TGA file that is used to generate the game map. I think you can bypass the first couple of steps if you are only going to do a small area by using 3DEM.
2. I downloaded the entire globe of GTOPO30 data but you can go here and pick the tiles you want. The data is packaged in tile sets and to do Australia I stitched the two tiles together with GTOPOStitcher. If you download the whole world take a look at the cds.gif file to find out what CD your tiles are in and what filename(s) to extract. Mine were on cd4 and files E100S10 & E140S10 (I just found this piece of software. Looks interesting but I don't know how useful it would be)
3. Then I loaded the stitched file into Wilbur and did a File-->Save As, choosing PNG surface & 8-bit, to get the grayscale image used for the elevation map. Then, optionally, do a File-->Save As, choosing PNG texture, to get the colored texture map if you like. You can do A LOT in Wilbur but I have not played around with it much.
4. Run Railroads!, load the Terrain Editor and Create a new map at the size you are interested in, give it a name and then save it to generate the base file set. Quit Railroads!
5. Now the fun part. Launch your favorite graphics editing package and load the map_<mapname>.tga file and the one or two files created in Wilbur. You might want to look at Mike Kennelly's excellent tutorials to learn about the TGA format while you're doing this. You'll have to crop and/or resize the grayscale image (the PNG surface file) so it will fit in the top most position of the TGA file. You should leave a lot of space around your area of interest because the game does not let you travel to the edge of the map. Check Mike's Tutorial for the posible resolutions. Next you will probably want to use the Levels Adjustment (Photoshop) or equivalent to get the grays spread out nicely. Again, Mike's Tutorial might help you out here for the meaning of the gray levels. Basically black will be under water and white will be the tip of mountains. Edit: You might want to add a little Gausian Blur to smooth out the changes in gray levels to minimize stair stepping. Once you're happy with the Height Map select the whole image and copy it into the TGA image moving it into the top position.
6. You can do the same thing with the Terrain Map (the PNG texture file) if you're so inclined and move it into the second position of the TGA file.
7. Now you can save the TGA file back out to the map folder, launch Railroads! to check out your creation in the Terrain Editor and add all the goodies that will make it a great Scenario.
DF
( i believe that i did everything correct except the grayscale)
