Free script to quickly generate high-quality heightmaps

MarkoPolo

Hey folks, I've put together a small Python script to hopefully make it a touch easier to generate high quality 16-bit heightmaps from elevation data (mainly USGS), suitable for use in game engines. If that sounds like something you would be interested in, check out the code and instructions over at GitHub: https://github.com/MacroPolo/real-terrain

Here are some quick samples generated from the tool (compressed JPEG) to give you an idea:

• https://i.imgur.com/aM2UU3H.jpg
• https://i.imgur.com/b7Puha7.jpg
  
• https://i.imgur.com/dMxCkDP.jpg
  
• https://i.imgur.com/9fs3bWk.jpg
  

And a fly-through of one of those heightmaps imported directly into UE4: https://gfycat.com/PerfectSizzlingHellbender

If you have something like WorldMachine, you can get even better results by adding some simple filters.