The Daily Click

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Author:	Tiles	Submitted:	11th May, 2008	Favourites:	0
Genre:	Application	Downloads:	286
Rated:

Edited By Tiles on 9/3/2011

HemaHema is a tool to create 3D heightmap landscapes. You can export the result as OBJ then, or you can just export the heightmap and its texture. And use the result in a 3D game then for example.

Everything started with a helpertool to create a texture for a landscape. The goal was the four coloured mask for the multitexture terrain shader of the 3D Gamestudio, with which you can mix four textures together. A heightmap heightmasker. And that's where the name comes from. The original version is the colourmap panel.

HemaHema goes a completely different direction than traditional landscape generators to achieve its goal. In HemaHema you work with pictures. Pictures that results in your landscape and in your texture. Therefore it is divided into panels, which each are a small piece of the whole. And when done you receive a textured heigtmap landscape.

There is an introductionvideo that shows how to work with HemaHema. You have the choice between a AVI version that is encoded with XVid, 17.7 Mb, and a WMV version, 26.4 Mb, which should play at every Windows system. The content is the same in both versions.

http://www.reinerstilesets.de/downloads/hemahemaintroductionE.AVI

http://www.reinerstilesets.de/downloads/hemahemaintroductionE.wmv

HemaHema is freeware.

Review This Download

http://www.reinerstilesets.de/downloads/installHemaHema.exe (4.92 mkb )

Posted by Bibin

12th May, 2008

installers are the devil!

Posted by Neuro

12th May, 2008

But it looks cool enough to forgive for having an installer!

I can only see clickers using it to make some kind of background, though...

Posted by Tiles

12th May, 2008

That i use an installer has its reasons. Ever tried to install in the appdata directory using a zip file? Or tried to install a shortcut to the desktop using a zip file? Ever tried to add an entry to the start menu using a zip file? There is no way to. Ever tried uninstalling everything in different directories then with one mouseclick using a zip file? There is no way to. And that's why i need an installer

Comment edited by Tiles on 5/12/2008
Comment edited by Tiles on 5/12/2008

Posted by Codemonkey

12th May, 2008

Rated :

Wow looks, cool! I just installed it and am trying it now...

Posted by Deathbringer

12th May, 2008

Installers do allow you to include the right fonts. I've played back some of my old games and the titles being half cut off and in plain arial/sans serif doesnt look good

Posted by Simon Colmer

12th May, 2008

Rated :

Wow, for something developed in MMF this is seriously impressive! Followed the video so i knew what i was doing.....and have to say WOW!

Posted by Simon Czentnár

12th May, 2008

Rated :

Great stuff!

Posted by Marko

12th May, 2008

Very useful - i can see me using this in the near future!

Posted by Codemonkey

12th May, 2008

Rated :

This would be great for RPGs. By the way this was made with MMF2? If it is I'll give it 5 stars!

Posted by

12th May, 2008

It's really amazing!
What did you use to display the .obj file? The 3d mesh?

Posted by Tiles

13th May, 2008

Thanks guys

Yes, completely MMF 2 dev. And yes, the 3D Mesh object. The OBJ file is written to RTF and calculated by the greyscale picture, the heightmap.

Jonwog, i think you misunderstand the meaning of this tool. It is not meant to render 2D tiles. It produces heightmap landscapes. You can use the result in a 3D game as a landscape then. That's what i need it for. I work at a 3D game at the moment. Or as a landscape in 3D stills or rendermovies for example.

You can of course also render out tiles from the heightmap landscape, using your rendersoftware of choice. But that's a job for a rendersoftware.

The 3D Preview is just to display your mesh and textures while you work at it. The 3D Preview has a resolution of 100x100. Which results in 20.000 tris. Still low poly. I cannot go smaller. I need some vertices to display the hills and valleys

Comment edited by Tiles on 5/13/2008

Posted by Nicklas_N

13th May, 2008

Still, won't you consider releasing a portable version of the application that only writes to it's own folder? To keep the registry on my machine clean more or less everything I run is from http://portableapps.com

All my games are fully portable, when you remove the game folder, all traces of the entire game is gone.

>Ever tried to install in the appdata directory using a zip file?

A portable app is placed where the user decides. I keep my non-portable apps in the appdata directory, and the portable apps in a different place.

>Or tried to install a shortcut to the desktop using a zip file?

I don't need help to create a desktop icon.

>Ever tried to add an entry to the start menu using a zip file?

I don't need help to create a start menu item.

>Ever tried uninstalling everything in different directories then with one mouseclick using a zip file?

A portable application only writes to it's own folder. If the user creates shortcuts outside it, it's up to the user to remove those.

The bottom line is that I do fully understand and respect that you use an installer for all the beginners, but for power users such as me, it would be fantastic if you could provide a portable edition of your software. I do not wish installers clutter my registry or add icons. I do things manually on my PC.

Please at least consider it, I'd really like to try this piece of software, but I just can't the way it works now.

Posted by Tiles

13th May, 2008

Sorry to hear that you cannot use my application. I unfortunately have to care of my main users client. Not just a few power users. Power users normally can live with a beginner setup. But beginners rarely with a pro setup.

Providing a portable version would mean to be back at the rights hassle front. Ask Microsoft. I didn't make the rules.

Besides that, creating a folder at the desktop writes to registry. Creating a shortcut writes to the registry. Everything you do writes to the registry. I really cannot understand that ONE more registry entry means to be against an installer. Its just the Uninstall shield that is more compared to doing it all manually.

Posted by Nicklas_N

13th May, 2008

> I unfortunately have to care of my main users client.

Yes, of course, you can offer one version with an installer, and one without. The whole point is that you should have two options.

I'm not the only one who avoid installers, not even in this thread, on more or less every indie game portal people complain when a portable option is not available.

> Providing a portable version would mean to be back at the rights hassle front. Ask Microsoft. I didn't make the rules.

Huh? The rights have never got in the way for that. Sure, in Vista applications are prevented to write to the programs folder, but that's not where you're supposed to put portable applications.

>Besides that, creating a folder at the desktop writes to registry.

No, the desktop and start menu are folders on the hard drive located under "documents and settings", and shortcut icons are .lnk files

Even if they were registry entries, I would be the person deciding where to add those icons.

> really cannot understand that ONE more registry entry means to be against an installer.

It means that I - the user - loses the control over what happens on my computer. I can not investigate what every piece of software I install does to the system. Some may install fonts, some may create folders without telling me where, some may even install drivers and services. The one and only reason my installation of Windows XP on a machine with 192MB ram can start in 30 seconds is because I've kept it clean and almost only run portable applications on it. In addition, I also want the ability to copy the software I use to my USB hard drive and carry with me whenever I need to run it on another PC without having to run an installation tool.

Most users in communities like this are "power users", and it's a large group that shouldn't be considered a minority. Besides, if your software is targeting MMF users, have you checked that they think? I googled around for the word "Installer" on create-games.com and I did see quite a number of complaints. Besides, how do you think a site like portableapps.com got so popular in the first place?
Comment edited by Nicklas_N on 5/13/2008

Posted by Codemonkey

13th May, 2008

Rated :

Woah, this was made with MMF?! Allright that's it! Take 5 stars!

Posted by Tiles

13th May, 2008

Thanks

Posted by Tiles

13th May, 2008

Just one word about control: there is none. The OS has the control. No matter if working with installers or with zip files. Everything else is illusion. You don`t talk in assembler with your OS.

That you loose control when using an installer is pure nonsense in my opinion. Yeah, i know, this myth will stay.

Hmm. Makes no sense to discuss any further. Would end in a book here and we would still have no consense. You don't like installers. And no matter what i say, i cannot convince you. I can live with that

Fact is that my app installs in more than one folder, it also adds start menu entries and a shortcut. And that is something i simply cannot handle with a zip file. That's why there is just the installer version available. And it will stay that way

Posted by Sweet Nuts

14th May, 2008

I noticed some font issues..
It's really difficult to read the text in some dialogs.

example: http://i28.tinypic.com/1532sr8.gif

Posted by Tiles

14th May, 2008

Ah, indeed. Thanks. I run 120 Dpi here, not the standard 96 Dpi. The font looked fine in 120

Shown issue fixed. I use another font now. Newest version is 1.0.00.2 . Download is the same. Please download again

Comment edited by Tiles on 5/14/2008

Posted by Muz

16th May, 2008

Hmm.. looks a bit tough to understand. I'll look at it once I have the time

Can't really see much use for this though. It's not good enough as a background generator (too plastic-looking). It could be used to turn like a topographic map into 3D, so I think a few non-klikers would use it.

Posted by Tiles

16th May, 2008

There is the introduction video. I would recommend to have a look

Plastic looking? Just use other textures. I just provide a few sample textures. And change the shader in your favourite 3D app or in your game engine to your needs.

There are enough people using my app. I personally use it to create some landscapes for a 3D game i am working at. That's why i have developed it. And it does the job

Posted by alibaba

18th May, 2008

that video is painfull-i stopped it 1/3 of the way through because i was fed up of watching load screens

Posted by Tiles

18th May, 2008

Right click at the link, choose Save Target As, download the video, and watch it from your HDD then

Posted by Disthron

20th May, 2008

Hmmm... it seems interesting. However it seems that it's all randomized. Can you paint a landscape? like if you wonted to design a specific terrain. Or is it just for random stuff?

Any way, seems like it might be useful with that mode7 extension for MMF1/2. It has a voxel feature that uses a hight map.

Posted by Tiles

20th May, 2008

It is random. Painting a specific terrain is better done in a paint software in my opinion

Posted by Disthron

20th May, 2008

Fair enough I guess.

Posted by Zezard

20th May, 2008

Rated :

It's always fun to see something special.
I find it kind of hard rating software, since I'm not a bit interested in using non-game applications from this page. I'll give it 3 stars though, for interesting 3d effect.

People like me, who prefer using GUIs to manouver computers tend to dislike installers, especially when they have a tendency to rape you desktop, feature list and installed programs list.
I think I'm correct in saying that most people on this community just want to download stuff like this to check out what it is, that's why installers are so annoying.
No offense but nobody wants a shortcut on their desktop or in their startmenu to your program, and in the installer you prepeared for us that's not even an option.
Whats your problem with not having installers?
Assembler? I don't think Nicklas meant processor registries

Fun app however.

Posted by Tiles

21st May, 2008

Oh my. Rape your desktop? Remove the shortcut when you dislike it. One mouse click. Rape your feature list and installed programs list? Err, that's exactly what these lists are made for, to have a list of installed programs LOL

Raping is the wrong word anyway. We talk about a few bytes compared to normally around 30 Megabytes for a standard registry size. Even installing and uninstalling tenthousands of times wouldn't leave a measurable speed influence because of the registry size to your system. Not anymore with the current systems. Makes no real difference if the registry is 30 Mb or 60 Mb or 120.

Even creating a folder writes to the registry by the way. That's why it is there. It registers everything.

Or are you anxious that stuff installs besides the software you want to install? Who guarantees you that the exe in the zip file where you click at is not a virus? Viruses and trojans are mostly provided in zip files nowadays by the way, attached to mails for example.

Do a virus scan at every download. That is a must. And after that it is a thing of trust. Just ask yourself, is the guy that makes this installer, or the zip file, interested in harming me in any way? Chances for that are very very small in a community like this. I wouldn't do this very often. I think i wouldn't survive more than five minutes here

As told, the main problem for me is that i cannot install in different folders, which i need because of the Windows rights hassle, i cannot add a start menu entry to the exe and the help files which i need for my serious users, and i cannot place a shortcut at the destktop for my serious users using a zipfile. No way. Not with a zip file. This all is just possible with an installer.

Installers have the benefit that normal users can handle them. I talk about the normal users that doesn't even know about appdatadirectory. They want to install a software and click at the shortcut then to start it. Using a zipfile means to give the user more ways to make an error. And an installer has the benefit of having a one click remove solution.

I use both, installers for my games n apps, and zip files for my graphics. I have never had any trouble reports about my installers. Never. But i had trouble reports about my zip files very regularly before i placed a note in my faq.

I would of course use a zipfile when i would just develop for this community with its aversion against installers. Something that i will never ever understand by the way. But i have serious users out there. And that means the installer way

Comment edited by Tiles on 5/21/2008

Posted by Zezard

21st May, 2008

Rated :

Exactly which "serious users" want installers? Wouldn't a serious installer (fitting for a serious user) be one where you can choose not to have, likely unwanted, shortcuts added? Btw, what makes you think that I'm not one of those serious users?

I'm pretty sure that you are wrong when you say that less things can go wrong with an installer than a compressed folder. Especially when the preset destination for your app installer is c: (was for me), how serious is that? There might be problems if you want to emulate your installer on a unix system, but it might very well work if the app was instead compressed "normally" (I understand that this wasn't made for linux, but if it wasn't for the installers it could still have worked, compability is serious stuff).

You are right in that "raping" is a harsh expression for what it does, but I didn't mean that it took too much space, I meant that it doesn't look good

.

Having to remove shortcuts, and using uninstallers is not "just something you can do if you find installers annoying". It is the very reason for why they are annoying in the first place. A user who doesn't know how to use comressed folder just can't be a serious user(?).

If it is that you are helplessly obsessed with using windows insallers and making sure that shortcuts are added to a testers or users start menus, then at least make your installers more seriously. Shortcuts should not HAVE to be added, the preset dir should be the program files and the uninsaller should be removed along with other elements of your program during removal.

You must be a very incomprehensive person if you ignore this communities dislike for insallers only because you can post your stuff elsewhere without complaints about the installer. Btw, it sure doesn't seem like you ever tried not using installers looking at you previous uploads, if you try it you might just get the taste for it

. Just kidding, guess you already gave it a good try and then realized how much smoother installers are (which is strange, though)

Posted by Tiles

21st May, 2008

I knew this discussion is useless

Shortcuts? ONE shortcut. And it is better to have one too much than one left.

The preset dir can easily set to program files. I know it's a bad manner at my side to install to C. Sorry bout that ^^

I have to care about my main users. You are definitely not my typical user. My typical user doesn't even think about a zipfile to install a software

As told, i had trouble reports about zip files in the past. And never about installers. Never. I talk about pure experience, collected over several years with countless downloads. I talk about the standard windows user that normally is in trouble to find his butt. You simply cannot bother such an user with a zipfile. I KNOW what i am talking about here, and am simply tired of answering mails why the zipfile is empty, is ... . No guesses here. Knowledge.

And it has of course nothing to do with aversions against one or another method. I use BOTH at my page. And i have good reasons to use installers for my games.

Besides that, show me a way to unzip in three directions at once, show me a way to unzip a shortcut to the desktop, show me a way to place a start menu entry with a zipfile and i may use a zipfile. Fact is you need an installer for that. A zipfile is simply not able to

It's an obsession to dislike installers. Nothing more. There are no real reasons behind it, besides that you cannot see what exactly and in which direction gets installed. A psychological effect. That's all. And then we are back at the trust issue

Comment edited by Tiles on 5/21/2008

Posted by Zezard

21st May, 2008

Rated :

You make a separate executable that says somehing like setup-shortcuts.exe and include it in the rar?
For what reason did HemaHema install stuff in three directories? Or was that just an abstract example?

Don't get me wrong, I think installers are grand! I just don't like it with this kind of software (small stuff where the installation takes much more time than the actual download).
One of the great things with mmf is that you actually don't need to install anything at all (as an end-user). I just like the idea of being able to just double-click an downloaded archive, run the app via winrar or whatever, and instantly see whether I want to permanently unpack it to the disk or not.
Don't you find it comfortable when you don't have to install stuff? Take any media file for example, don't you just wanna double-click an image and see what it looks like? I think like that about apps as well.

I don't know what kind of persons who uses this app of yours, but I must say that they sure have a strange field of knowledge, fiddling with random 3d texture layers for game making, but not knowing how to use the majority of mainstream data that is rolling around on computers nowadays.

From what I understand about your relation to shortcuts, you sound like one of them guys who has their entire desktop filled with little icons leading to whatever. You see there are many who wants to keep their desktops neat and aestetically tip-top, and uses cooler methods like quickstart fields to access their apps.

Are you sure times haven't changed since last time you checked whether people knew how to open archives or not? It isn't exactly "nerd knowledge" anymore with all the downloading and stuff going on, "ordinary" people need to know have to access content in a rar file and even how to mount an image.

I can barely find my butt, but I sure know how to open a rar-archive....
OK that was a lie....
I can't open a rar...

Posted by Tiles

22nd May, 2008

You completely underestimate my app. Nothing beginner. Pretty advanced. Not small stuff. Pretty complex. I need more directories. It installs in two different folders, creates several directories and works with them then. HemaHema is not the typical single MMF exe that you normally find here. There is lots more going on.

I have also more than once explained that a zipfile is simply not suited to install my app. HemaHema simply doesn't work with unzipping everything into one folder. I need an installer for that.

And to repeat myself again and again, i had trouble reports about zip files in the past. And never about installers. Never.

We talk in circles here. I have explained why it is simply impossible to provide my app with a zipfile but you still try to convince me to do so. I talk about years of experience, which you obviously miss from what i can read here. I give you facts, and you ignore the facts. Fine. I can live with that. Makes a further discussion obsolete i would say

To end this useless discussion, there is just an installer available. I have my very valid reasons for that. I have even explained why it is simply impossible to use a zipfile instead an installer.
Comment edited by Tiles on 5/22/2008

Posted by Dogzer

24th May, 2008