I've been having a bit of a problem. I've been trying to build my own world, in its own worldspace(Actually, several worldspaces, but I'm starting with one for now.), but I can't figure out any way to build all of the land. I can't just paint all the land on manually, its way too big for that (A whole continent. Which I shrunk down 50,000 times just to fit in the game world. And it's still just as big as Skyrim itself.). So I had to try to use heightmaps. The built-in editor crashes every time, so that was an obvious no, so I tried to import. After cutting up the image into files that were the right size, naming them the right names (0_0, -1_-1, etc), converting them to .RAW format, and putting them into the HeightField folder, I clicked on the import button. Instant crash. I tried using TESAnnwyn, but the .esp that generated wouldn't open. So... I really have no idea what to do now. Is there anyone here who has successfully used heightmaps before? And if so, how did you do it?

there is a tutorial - from l3dt (Heightmap Editor) to Skyrim and you should look after Hoddminir Blog, there you will find all info you need

I've successfully used TESAnnwyn to do exactly what you want. Your ESP may not be working because you may have been using the Obliv settings, correct? I used the FO3 settings, following the instructions in the app's readMe... worked fine.

I did that preCK, using GECK... so maybe that's why mine worked and yours may not (GECK being FO3's CK.. just still with the Garden of Eden attached.. heheh). I know Annwyn is VERY particular about settings, resolutions, and having EVERYTHING in order for it to work. I'd have to dig out all those old files and notes to see the exact settings/etc I used. Let me know if you get it to work, or if you want me to hunt down that info.

I entered this into TESAnnwyn: TESAnnwyn.exe -i Skyrim -p 1 -b 16 -d 4096x4096 -x -64 -y -64 -h -22192 -w HelionAlphi AlphiGRAY.raw
I took this directly from the page on Hoddminir, with changes for the names of the worldspace and image file, of course. Was there something wrong with this code?

Well, unless I get some help, I'm going to have to put my mod on hold. That's not very good, considering the fact that I'm getting graded on it (computer class). I know that it can be done, I've seen MERP (Seriously, that thing is amazing).

Hi,
maybe i could help you with your problem... i did a lot of tests importing heightmaps. What exactly TESAnnwyn said when you generated ESP file? Copy-paste the output please.

And is your RAW file a 16bit one, IBM-PC format, with no header, with a 4096x4096 resolution?

hello,
try to run the command ... tesannwyn -i ... without '.EXE'

Well, I can't get any more information about what it said right now (I'm at a school computer right now), but I will have it in a few hours. But yes, I did make sure to have the 16-bit and all of those other things.
And thanks, Marco, I'll try that as well.

This was the output:


Some gradient overflows/underflows have been caught and blocked:
Total Overflows: 35
Total Underflows: -391

Highest point is 850 THU <6800 Game units> = 96.900000 metres [Cell <-1.-14>]
Lowest point is -2774 THU <-22192 Game Units> = -316.236000 metres [Cell <-63,-64>]

Total number of cells imported: 16384

Finished! The imported ESP is called tesannwyn.esp and is 128 cells by 128 cells.


Could it be the overflows or underflows part?

And I tried Marco's suggestion, that didn't work.

Overflows and underflows make artefacts on your map when you look it in heighmap editor in CK. It's better when you don't have a lot (35 and -391 aren't a lot for you, seems not too bad), but you still can correct these later (with Height Editor in Render view, or even with Heightmap Editor), that shouldn't crash CK.

What is strange your total cell created, 128x128, that means that for your RAW 4096x4096 (which is normally a size of 64x64) there must be a problem. Try opening your RAW file in Photoshop (RAW, 16bit, no header, size 4096x4096 and 0 for no entrelaced layer), and see if it's OK. Or try using Paint .Net if you don't have Photoshop.

Your gradient seems almost good anyway (OF and UF), but in my opinion your RAW file is the thing to look at. How did you generate it?

I made the file in GIMP, and then just used photoshop for turning it into a .raw. I can open it just fine, though it's a bit dark.

Hmm, difficult to see where is the problem without your file, are you sure it is in gray scale, not RVB? If you share it, i could have a look and test.

Alright, I uploaded it to dropbox and sent you a link to it in a PM. Let me know if there are any problems with it.

Ok, i tried it and your RAW file is in good format, but way too much dark to use the "-h -22192" parameter, i think this is why you have problems, your lowest part become highest ones because it lowers your map by 22192 game units. But for me, it didn't crash with these parameters when i tried, so maybe you have others problems...

To make your ESP file, try this parameter:

TESAnnwyn.exe -i Skyrim -p 1 -b 16 -d 4096x4096 -x -64 -y -64 -h -8192 -w HelionAlphi AlphiGRAY.raw -q Sorry i made an error with copy-paste, argh!

The lowest part of your map will be under sea level (can't updload pictures to show you results...), because it will down your map by -8192 game units.

You could try without height adjustment (remove the "-h -8192" parameter) if you want no part of your heighmap under water.

Oh and i forgot, the "-q" parameter isn't important on result, but you will love it...it's just quiet mode...
And you could use the "-c" parameter to project a picture on your land, this could be useful if you want to use an existing map (you have to put a BMP file named "tesannwyn.bmp", 4096x4096 and 24bits RVB.)

Another detail, try to smooth your RAW in Photoshop a little if you don't want too much bumps on your land.

Hope this will help

I'm still having the same problem. Stuck at "Loading Files 96% tesannwyn.esp". Can you load the files fine without this happening?

No, i have no problem to open the file in CK, are you sure you load only tesannwyn.esp?

I only load skyrim.esm and tesannwyn.esp.

Really strange, upload your ESP file so i may try it, but it seems your problem is something else...can load other custom ESP in CK without problems?

I can load other .esp files just fine (I've made a mod that makes glass be glass, instead of malachite). I can't upload the file right now, since I'm at school again (>.<), but I will when I get home. Hmm...If my files don't work for you, could that maybe mean that yours might load on mine?

If it loads for me with no problem, it should for you. I can generate it for you if you wish to try.

Sorry I haven't posted back in a while.

The version of TESAnnwyn I was successful with was for Oblivion. I didn't know they updated for Skyrim (as indicated by the "-i skyrim" switch). I use the "-i 5" switch for FO3-style ESPs, which worked for Skyrim. It's possible that by updating Annwyn for Skyrim, they broke something.

Something else to consider may be the scaling of your heightmap. If it's too high, the cells may go missing or be damaged somehow; which may cause CTD or strange issues.

Master Zip Zero, sorry for delay, i tried your ESP and everything is fine, except that you certainly made an error in command line because the name of your world is "8192". Command line parameters must be "-w NameOfWorldSpace -h -8192". I edited my previous post because the copy-paste of command line was bad.

But your ESP is working fine, you must seek for another problem with CK, Steam, Skyrim, etc. Remember too that when you open your ESP file ans Skyrim.ESM file, CK seems to freeze but it still loads your files and could take a while.

You could try to reinstall, there must be something which changed since first install.

It did freeze, I left it on all night and it never loaded. I'll try to reinstall the CK, though.

Reinstalled, still freezing at 96% every time. I take it this problem is unique to me, then?

If you're trying to load the exact same ESP which someone dl'd and successfully tried, I'm led to believe the issue is either your copy of the CK or your system is too stressed. You can 'refresh' the CK by doing that "verify content" thing inside Steam.. I'm fairly certain it scans all files and replaces them if they've been corrupted or altered somehow. If you suspect your system is struggling, I'd guess it was either your RAM max'ing out and/or your swap file filling up... but with modern computers neither seems likely (unless you have an ancient system or use 5,000 apps in the background... and have zero hard-drive space for your swap file).

Have you tried using a smaller heightmap through Annwyn? The resolution controls how big the worldSpace is, so doing a single quad should work no problem. The res you're trying to use will create a worldSPace that's 9quads... larger than Skyrim I believe. It may just be the sheer size of it that CK cannot handle (that is, on your particular system). That successful test I did used a 9quad map and it worked for me; but again, that's the old Annwyn and loading the ESP in GECK.