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So you are using geomipmapping? Have you added geomorphing or no? And do you use skirts around the patches or do you deform the polys around the edges to match neighboring patches? I have been trying to decide on which algorith to use, and I think I am going to go with parametric surfaces with geomorphed LOD changes. Do you have any suggestions or experience with this type of terrain? What made you choose geomipmapping?
For now, i''m trying to fully implement geomipmaps. I haven''t finished all the details because i had my mind on texturing, but yes the direction i''m following is to geomipmaps. About filling cracks, i think that both ways are possible (skirts and "special" triangles), and i''ll decide when i implement them both. Also i haven''t fixed popping yet, but i think that it can''t be hard to implement as described in the CLOD paper (one geomorph parameter for every leaf, and an extra float for the final height). The only problem is that (as i said before) the rendered terrain is no longer in its initial form. I mean i can''t render one quad-tree leaf with one call, as i could if i had only one texture on it. I must render it in batches based on # of textures per batch and based on the actual textures IDs. More like how you would render an arbitary mesh. That''s why i said that both crack-filling techniques are possible. Because you must handle them in the preprocess step ("terrain compiling"), it''s no problem to add skirts or extra triangles.
About parametric surfaces, i can''t say anything. I haven''t used them, and the main reason for that is that to make something with parametric surfaces look good (e.g. look like terrain!) you need someone with skills, that i don''t have. I''m not an artist, and i don''t have anyone to make them for me Heightmaps are more programmer-friendly. But i think that the result will be better than heightmaps, if you use them right. And probably faster. But as Yann said, this texturing algo suits to every terrain represantation.
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Sorry for all the questions, I am just getting into the higher level algorithms and am trying to understand better.
Why are you sorry I would be pleased to help,... if i could!
Trienco:
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*cough* 7 detail textures + bump map? hmm.. maybe by using a heightfield in the alpha channel instead of a normal map. else id really love to see how the hell they managed to make that work with decent speeds.
I don''t know how they handle it, but from what i read in the manual and what i saw in the editor this situation is possible to happen if you don''t be carefull when designing a level.
I tried the multiple-detail textures this afternoon, and i can''t make it look good. I think i''m going to dump the idea, and stick with the multi-layer approach. I''ll try to make it as good looking as possible, with bump mapping and shading, even with 4 passes (or 8 texture "image" units and pixel shaders!!!). Then i''ll try to find ways to optimize it. And if i don''t find any, then i''ll just increase "lowest requirements"!!!! GeForce FX support 16 textures!!! Why don''t use them all?
HellRaiZer