I make a quick look to engine code, and the method Import from LandscapeProxy also reads 1 byte values ( padded zeroes are ignored ). Another question is how to load 16bit heightmaps ( i missed something? Import method is so looooong )
PS. Where I can find a variable that responsible landscape scale of Z axis?
Maybe I am misunderstanding the question, but, in the game engine, when you create a new landscape you can select the height map you want to use and change the scale of the Z axis along with many other options and then click import and it is done. As for -256 – +256 out of 8 bit, I don’t know except it has to be a grey scale which may allow for more possibilities.
The answer is that you can’t store >8-bit values in an 8-bit height map, which is why 16-bit height maps are the preferred and default format from everything I have seen. In other words, if you are creating a terrain height map in World Machine or L3DT or something then you should be exporting it as a 16-bit grey scale image (.r16).
Only way to do 8 bit map is to convert to 16 bit in an external program. The weight layers are single channel 8 bit gray scale but the terrain is 16 bit. Maybe that is confusing you?