In order to make landscape pictures of pop levels, you need four pieces of software: 1) A ripper to get the data out of the Pop map files and convert them to contour maps in a .bmp file 2) Some form of picture editor (to resize the maps) 3) Terragen (to generate the actual pictures) 4) The Firmament plug-in for Terragen, which allows you to import the .bmp files. That sounds like a lot, but the software is all free, and relatively easy to use. Here is how to download and install the four components: 1) Ripper I've written a ripper program for you which you can download from http://www.populous3.info/popmap.zip. It is a stand alone program which you run in a DOS window (written in Turbo BASIC, if anyone's interested). There are full instructions in the readme file in the zip. 2) Picture editor (808 KB) You may already have one of these, but if not, try Irfanview. This is a superb image viewer, which also allows the sort of simple image manipulation we need here. Full details from http://www.irfanview.com/ 3) Terragen (2.5 MB) Check out http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/ This gives examples of the end result, a user group, a full tutorial and, of course, the download. Just follow the installation instructions there. 4) Firmament (203 KB) You get this from http://www.mclusky.co.uk/firmament/ Firmament is a plug-in for Teragen so, of course, you have to install Terragen first. Again, installation instructions are on the site. So, now you have your software all downloaded and installed, what next? Here's the sequence: 1) Install the maps you want to make pictures of. If you just want the standard levels, go to the next step, otherwise you will need to install the appropriate NewWorlds map pack (see http://www.strategyplanet.com/populous/ for more details) 2)Rip the maps from the data files 3) Resize the maps The maps from the ripper are 128x128 pixels, but Terragen needs pictures of 129x129. Use your picture editor to make the change. In Irfanview, load the picture (File | Open) then select Image | Resize/Resample. On the window which appears type in the new size (129x129) and ensure that the following options are selected: Lanzcross Filter (slowest) Use resample routine (better quality) then hit OK With Irfanview, you can batch resize by selecting File | 'Batch conversion/rename. Select the files to be resized in the right hand pane and click add. Then click the 'Advanced options' button and click 'set new size' and enter 129 for both the height and width. Click ok to close the window, then hit 'Start'. 4) Import a map into Terragen Open Terragen, and make sure that you have the 'Landscape' dialog window selected (ie in focus). Click on the button at the bottom underneath the black square which says something like '7680 metres'. At the top right of the 'Landscape settings' window which opens, click the button marked '129'. Then click 'yes' then 'no' on the two dialog boxes which appear, and 'ok' to close the 'Landscape settings' window. Terragen is now ready to import our bitmap. In the Landscape window, click on the Accessories window which will bring up a list. Select 'Firmament BMP import' Then select one of your resized bitmaps in the file selct window which appears. Firmament will put up a window with the map shown on it. Click on the 'fi' icon on the left hand side, then type in your height scaling factor in the dialog box which appears. Use a value of '4' to start with, and then click OK. You should now see your map appear in the Landscape window of Terragen. We're almost there! In the Landscape window, left-click anywhere on the top left of the map, then right-click anywhere on the bottom right of the map. You should see three converging lines which meet at the point you left-clicked on, with the other end of the middle line finishing at the point you right-clicked on. By left-clicking, you set the position of the camera, and by right-clicking you set the exact centre of the picture it will take. The two diverging lines represent the field of view. We now have a map, and a camera. We just need to se the water level for the seas, and we can take a picture. From the Terragen menu, select View | Water (or click on the water icon button on the left of the Terragen window). At the top right of the Water window, you will see the water level set at something like -300 metres. Change that to 1 metre and click 'Update maps'. Bring the Landscape window back into focus by clicking on the title bar (not on the map) and you will see that the lowest levels of the bitmap have been coloured blue. We can now start generating pictures. There are two modes, preview and final. Final can take a loooong time, becaus it needs a lot of computing horsepower, so you should get everything as you want it using preview before you generate the final picture. So, to generate a preview, move the focus to the 'Rendering control' window, and hit the 'Render preview button. You will see a rough copy of your picture appear in the image window. Play with the camera positions a bit and see how the picture changes. You can change the height of the camera (annd the centre of the picture) above the surface by entering a value in the box 'z (alt)' boxes at the right of the 'Rendering control' window. When you get one you like, try it full size, by hitting the 'Render image' button. This will give you a default size (640x480) picture at the default pixel size, and takes about 20 seconds on my PC. When you are sure you have everything exactly how you want it, move the detail slider in the 'Rendering control' window all the way to the right (max detail) and set the final picture size (up to 1280x960 in the unregistered version), hit the 'Render image' button, and go for lunch. This can take several hours to complete, but the results are worth it. That should be enough to get you started. Everything in Terragen can be adjusted, so check out the on line Terragen Tutorial and see how it's done. Terragen doesn't have the facility to add objects or trees, but there are other programs available which will add them in. If you search, you will find all sorts of ideas and tips. And don't forget to check out the online forums.