I was wondering, is it possible to generate "on the fly" massive high poly terrains from a heightmap like they do in world machine or terragen, where it acts as a bumpmap but actually generates a high res model where it is close to the player? Trying to make a high quality flight simulator of sorts, but even a 500x500 terrain file seems to be too polygonal and not real enough with a large map. Any ideas? Also spherical terrains, possible or not?

Spherical terrains = not possible, terrain is a fixed grid of vertices with different height values.

also you can create terains at runtime with ent_createterrain and modifiy it with ent_getvertex/ent_setvertex depending on your bmap

look at the infinite terrain demo somewhere in the samples folder

Just to clarify, you can have spherical terrains made with mdls, but not with hmps.

Jibb

And this solves the OPs problem how?

I imagined he was trying to create a "Starfox"-Like "spherical" level, you know, where you come out at the opposite side if you exit the world. I thought that's what he was trying to achieve with a "spherical terrain", creating a world without visible edges. Thought this might be helpful.

This is a wonderful topic!
Please count me in on this one...

I say "Yes to all!"

To quote Mr. Quadraxas...
"Spherical terrains = not possible, terrain is a fixed grid of vertices with different height values."

In my view... The above statement is NOT entirley correct!
Actually, the first part is NOT correct... The second part of course is true...

Of course spherical terrains ARE possible...
Hence...
Spherical terrains = ARE possible...

Theoretically speaking of course, there is a key that un-locks any door!

The key in this case, is to create multiple terrains that mate against their adjacent terrains properly.
Whether they are upside down or not is immaterial.
But, properly doing so, is easier said than done and the physics needs to work with a centripetal force...

Unfortunately 3dgs terrains cannot be rotated, therefore the upside down terrains need to be converted into models.
None-the-less models can be used similar to terrains and the whole sphere could be made of terrains converted to models.

As far as runtime terrains...
Theoretically it is possible to tie a mobile pc/laptop to a mainframe system whereby the local pc could access a library database and
call the desired terrains by latitude and longitude from "Raster Roam" for example then call the proper database such as "Google Earth" for
example for the mating skins and thereby create accurate terrains and skins for any place in the world on the fly.
Then as you move the system could create more accurately skinned terrains and add them to the game as you fly or move...

I have worked with terrains much and thought about your topic even more.
I am sure it can be done with maybe the exception of adding terrains during runtime without re-starting the Game...

Anyways...
Good topic...
And I just love giving Quadraxas something new to hit me with...
Have at er Quad !

yeah, of course when you use models, every shape is possible they are not terrains they are just models that look like terrains, and do not use terrain engine.

@Sekse,
You can take whatever TerraSame says about terrains for granted. I saw the terrains TerraSame made, and they were huuuuge.

For sure, but at 4 posts Sekse there's plenty of room to believe he/she's quite new to this, and given there've been new users who simply want to know if it is possible to make a racing game, or a shooting game, or whatever, I didn't want Sekse to think it's impossible to use A8 to make a Super Mario Galaxy-like game.

Jibb

Terrains and their limitations...

There are a few limitations of terrains that have for years, aggrivated me to no end, such as:

1.) Terrain/heightmap files have to be square or rectangular.... Grrrrrrr
2.) Terrain/heightmap files can not be rotated... Grrrrrrr
3.) Terrain/heightmap skin detail texture tiling value can not be individually set for seperate skins... Grrrrrr
4.) Terrain/heightmap files can not have holes in them so you can not put basements where they belong... Double Grrrrrr

Of course there are some awesome features that the terrain engine does offer such as the lighting and the use of shaders but those listed above that are limitations have caused me a lot of grief over the years.

I have spoken with JCL in the past about a few of these and he suggested he would consider changing point 3 above.

Not being able to put basments where they belong has been a bummer... The only work around for that one seems to be launching a basement level.

The only work around for the other three is to use terrains converted to models and as pointed out, even though models are more complicated than terrains, models can not can not use the advantages of the terrain engine.