Terrain generation...
Author
I''m playing with the subdivision/diamond-square/plasma algo now for generating heightmaps and it''s quite nice after a bit of smoothing. I wondered what peoples'' recommendations are for a racing game where I want a landscape you can mainly drive over, ie smooth but with some jagged peaks, canyons etc.
Also, I''d like to automatically pick textures without having to paint it all myself - any techniques to make it look nice and not just huge expanses of the same texture?
Finally does anyone have a good way to seed the map with features such as mountains, cliffs etc rather than it being totally random?
Basically I want a flattish type map with nice rolling curves but some gorges, cliffs etc which''ll require bridges and stuff.
Read about my game, project #1
NEW (18th December)2 new screenshots, one from the engine and one from the level editor
John 3:16
You know, if you don''t do anything about the thing you need, it won''t just come up and tell you "Here I am, use me".
You are asking for a whole program that will do everything for you, while you watch it doing.
Why don''t you try to devote some time to actually doing anything about the thing you require.
For example, find out that the best way to do the terrain is with heightmaps and to see those heightmaps transform into 3D map you actually have to make your own grayscale image or use random heights.
Good luck.
" Do we need us? "
You are asking for a whole program that will do everything for you, while you watch it doing.
Why don''t you try to devote some time to actually doing anything about the thing you require.
For example, find out that the best way to do the terrain is with heightmaps and to see those heightmaps transform into 3D map you actually have to make your own grayscale image or use random heights.
Good luck.
" Do we need us? "
How about you write a terrain generation utility. Have it start out with your perlin noise heightmap or however you''re generating it, then add the ability to carve and shape the terrain with your mouse? Something like right-clicking and dragging on the terrain can lower the height of the area near the mouse, and left-clicking would raise the area. That way you could do trenches, cliffs, etc...
Check out the terrain stuff on our homepage: http://darkbits.org
You can download all the source and there is a primitive editor with all the source as well. It uses opengl and sdl.
You can download all the source and there is a primitive editor with all the source as well. It uses opengl and sdl.
This isn''t a code solution, but here is how I create the heightmaps/textures for my voxel engine.
1. Create a b & w bmp.
2. Draw all of you major natural features in shades of grey (canyons, hills, rivers).
3 Using the smudge to blend the edges of natural things together.
4. Add a ''textured noise'' to the image. This produces small hills etc..
5. Repeate the textured noise until your ''natural'' features seem realistic.
6. Blur the whole thing. Add noise if you want.
7. Draw your man-made features (buildings, etc...)
8. Save the image as a height map.
__NICE LOOKING TEXTURE___
1. Make a copy of the heightmap.
2. Put it through an Embosse, so that you get shadows and stuff..
3. Using an Air-brush paint tool, color in your landscape. Add as much or as little detail as you want.
4. Manually color the edges of man made objects (ie: make 2 sides of bulding darker, and 2 sides brighter..)
4. You can add some colored noise to the image if you want to break up the colors.
5. Save the file and your all done.
I know it''s not a code solution, but it takes less than 5 mins to create a realistic looking landscape. And if you don''t like one, you can keep creating them until your happy.
Hope this helps,
Will
1. Create a b & w bmp.
2. Draw all of you major natural features in shades of grey (canyons, hills, rivers).
3 Using the smudge to blend the edges of natural things together.
4. Add a ''textured noise'' to the image. This produces small hills etc..
5. Repeate the textured noise until your ''natural'' features seem realistic.
6. Blur the whole thing. Add noise if you want.
7. Draw your man-made features (buildings, etc...)
8. Save the image as a height map.
__NICE LOOKING TEXTURE___
1. Make a copy of the heightmap.
2. Put it through an Embosse, so that you get shadows and stuff..
3. Using an Air-brush paint tool, color in your landscape. Add as much or as little detail as you want.
4. Manually color the edges of man made objects (ie: make 2 sides of bulding darker, and 2 sides brighter..)
4. You can add some colored noise to the image if you want to break up the colors.
5. Save the file and your all done.
I know it''s not a code solution, but it takes less than 5 mins to create a realistic looking landscape. And if you don''t like one, you can keep creating them until your happy.
Hope this helps,
Will
Author
Hey what''s with the flak? I said I was already playing with an algo, don''t you think that means I''m ALREADY writing code and generating landscapes? I''m not asking for a program, just what people found to be the best algorithm for this style of game. I already use heightmaps and particularly just wanted to know how to seed them with features - something not one algo I found (plasma/circle/fault/deposition) allows for intrinsically. If you can''t be bothered to read what I said then don''t just spew some response. I know what I''m doing, I''m not some newb so leave me alone if you don''t know how to help!
Read about my game, project #1
NEW (18th December)2 new screenshots, one from the engine and one from the level editor
John 3:16
Read about my game, project #1
NEW (18th December)2 new screenshots, one from the engine and one from the level editor
John 3:16
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