VertexHeightMap

Internal mod name: PQSMod_VertexHeightMap

The VertexHeightMap PQSMod is a mod that adds a given height map to the terrain. This means that height mods are additive, i.e. heightmaps don't set a fixed height.

Notes on Heightmaps

A common desire for planets with oceans is to set the ocean to a certain height relative to the terrain to make spots like shorelines be in the correct places. This is simple to do in 2 main steps:

1. Make sure your heghtmap is normalized (darkest value is 0 and highest is 255).
2. Set offset in VertexHeightMap to -1 * (deformity * travel), where travel is the percentage of the deformity up from the lowest point of the height map that you want the sea surface to be at. For example, a travel of 0.5 would mean the ocean surface is at 50% grey on the height map.

Example

PQS
{
  Mods
  {
    VertexHeightMap
    {
      map = Fruits/PluginData/Banana_heightmap-base.dds
      offset = -1000
      deformity = 12500
      scaleDeformityByRadius = false
      order = 20
      enabled = true
    }
    VertexHeightMap
    {
      map = Fruits/PluginData/Banana_heightmap-add.dds
      offset = 0
      deformity = 2000
      scaleDeformityByRadius = false
      order = 21
      enabled = true
    }
  }
}

Properties

Property	Format	Description
map	File Path	The texture containing the height map in greyscale. Black is the offset height, and White is the deformity + offset height.
offset	Decimal	The offset of the height map.
deformity	Decimal	The deformity of the height map (difference between lowest and highest point).
scaleDeformityByRadius	Boolean	Experimentation implies that this parameter is used only in the computation of the minimum and maximum altitudes of this PQSMod. Specifically, if true, then the GetVertexMaxHeight function increases proportional to the sphere's radius. The intended use of this is unknown.