White Bunny:
The heightmaps are scaled down due to the extreme size a 1:1 recreation would result in. A single pixel in the heightmap import tool for Minecraft corresponds to a single Minecraft block - that is, 1 square meter.
The Asheron's Call height map is scaled far differently. To my recollection, the height map's 2041x2041 default dimensions correspond to approximately 255 square miles, or about 660 square kilometers. 2041 / 660 = ~0.3. Each pixel in the AC height map corresponds to roughly 300 square meters.
Scaling the heightmap such that each pixel is one square meter results in an image... which is quite unwieldy: 612,300x612,300 pixels. Even for a grey scale, that single image exceeds the file size typical image editing software can manage [it would be nearly a terrabyte].
Thus the used heightmap is scaled from 2041 to 3600, to better match the Minecraft scaling while remaining useable. To account for excessive "sharpness" in height or elevation changes, I performed a goodly bit of trial and error, adjusting image brightness and contrast until a reasonable approximation of the AC game world elevations was acquired.
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"Holy Crap, it's The Dark Descending." - -My_Odins_On_Fire-
