It looks like the height maps use only 8-bit resolution. If you were hoping to use gradient tools in your drawing program to get nice smooth slopes, forget it. Because the resolution is so coarse, every slope is a stairstep with steps about 1m high. Setting Photoshop to 16 bit resolution didn't help: Planet Zoo itself needs to accept 16-bit TIFF files. Since Planet Zoo has no trouble displaying smooth slopes, it obviously uses a higher resolution internally, so hopefully this change wouldn't be too difficult to implement. To my mind the inability to generate smooth slopes is very nearly a showstopper.
The fact that the height range is so great (256 M) means that for most practical purposes the range of heights you're working with (say -10 m to +40 m) is compressed into a very narrow range of gray shades, and they can be very difficult to distinguish. An option to restrict the heights to a smaller range, say 50m as opposed to 250 m, would result in much more readable and editable maps.
The fact that the height range is so great (256 M) means that for most practical purposes the range of heights you're working with (say -10 m to +40 m) is compressed into a very narrow range of gray shades, and they can be very difficult to distinguish. An option to restrict the heights to a smaller range, say 50m as opposed to 250 m, would result in much more readable and editable maps.
