outdoor terrains

Posted By: hitek0301

outdoor terrains - 01/29/08 17:13

Ok i know my question might qualify for one of the dumbest questions ever asked here but i still can't resist asking . what is the best way to make a huge outdoor terrain because i am unable to make one using MED editor and Terragen??
Posted By: Nidhogg

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/29/08 17:41

There's an example/tutorial on the acknex resource site.

Otherwise you can use any paint program to create a eg:512x512
using different shades of grey as your heightmap.
black is lowest up to white is highest. Save as a bmp or tga
then import into MED as a terrain heightmap. Second from the bottom
of file/import i think it is. If you want to create grass/etc
You need three texture files Green = grass, blue = rock and red for sand or paths. Then using a paint program again and your original
heightmap start drawing and painting. Or do a search on the web for
EarthSculpture v0.25, It's old, not many functions but it works. Oh yeah and it's free. It automatically exports heightmap, blendmap and detail map. Download mystmoods freebie it has a manual with a bit of an example of how to use EarthSculpture.

Good luck
Posted By: hitek0301

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/29/08 18:00

Thanks for your input but the real problem is i want to make a large terrain as apposed to making a 512*512 which is too tiny and ends up too soon for a car racing game and also doesn't look real when you get to the edge of the terrain and you can actually see the sky cube and i want to make it seamless as if it never ends any suggestions on that
Posted By: Scorpion

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/29/08 20:41

make more then just one terrain..if they don't fit exactly together you can merge the vertexes on their edges. Some time ago scripts of that kind flow around the forum...
Posted By: Nems

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/29/08 22:02

For unlimited terrains, you need good tiling terrains (33X33, to give a good variety of plains, mountains etc) in a 9 X 9 grid and lock your player in the center then get all other elements to move around the player instead of the player moving.

Alternatly as stated above, in one of the AUM series (after 30 I think) is a tiling terrain that does a similar thing except player moves instead of the terrain.
Posted By: hitek0301

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/30/08 14:39

I kinda lost you there by 33*33 you meant 33*33 heightmaps and then stitch them together in med or are you talking about some other terrain generation software sorry if that sounds stupid i am newbie in the gaming world
Posted By: Nidhogg

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/30/08 15:27

Quote:

Thanks for your input but the real problem is i want to make a large terrain as apposed to making a 512*512 which is too tiny and ends up too soon for a car racing game and also doesn't look real when you get to the edge of the terrain and you can actually see the sky cube and i want to make it seamless as if it never ends any suggestions on that



If you have a look at the car project terrain in GS folder you will
see it's 1024x2048 using a texture of the same size.

I also have created a terrain of 1024x1024 with 1024x1024 textures and it runs no problems. AS the manual states, max texture size is
2048x2048 and pending on video memory. But I wouldn't go that big.

There is also an option to change terrain size in med also.

You can also use chunked option upon startup, You will find more
info in the manual about chunked or non chunked.

But it's up to you, but remember the smaller the texture the crappy it will look up close.
Posted By: Nems

Re: outdoor terrains - 01/30/08 17:32

Size 33 X 33 in MED then carefully place them in WED or by script.
Posted By: Alessandro

Re: outdoor terrains - 02/29/08 17:09

Hello,

this topic is very interesting for me, since I'm creating a game with huge terrains.
I red an interesting info: "merging vertex to join more terrains". Well, since I'm a good programmer but I'm a bad 3d designer :-) , can you tell me how can I join the vertex of a terrain?

Thank you!
Posted By: Nems

Re: outdoor terrains - 02/29/08 17:53

There are good examples in user contribution and I still have an old one in my archives somewhere that I'll dig out and PM to you when I find it.
Essentially script is used to get the corresponding vertices of neibouring terrain files and then sewn together real time to get seamless looking terrains.
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