Used to describe the physical geography of a location. This can include elevation, slope and orientation of features.
49
votes
5answers
8k views
Huge procedurally generated 'wilderness' worlds
I'm sure you all know of games like Dwarf Fortress - massive, procedural generated wilderness and land. Something like this, taken from this very useful article.
However, I was wondering how I could ...
30
votes
7answers
4k views
How to improve Minecraft-esque voxel world performance?
After playing Minecraft I marveled a bit at its large worlds but at the same time I found them extremely slow to navigate, even with a quad core and meaty graphics card.
Now I assume Minecraft is ...
24
votes
3answers
1k views
Algorithms for rainfall + river creation in procedurally generated terrain
I've recently become fascinated by the things that can be done with procedurally terrain and have started experimenting with world building a bit. I'd like to be able to make worlds something like ...
22
votes
4answers
1k views
Where to start when building a 3D terrain editor?
I'm looking to build (for start) a simple tool, that could raise, lower, smooth and texture the terrain.
So, what are the things I have to go through in order to make such terrain editor?
And maybe ...
17
votes
6answers
5k views
What is the simplest method to generate smooth terrain for a 2d game?
What is the simplest method to generate smooth terrain for a 2d game like "Moon Buggy" or "Route 960"?
I got an answer at stackoverflow.com about generate an array of random heights and blur them ...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
2d Procedural universe generation
I want to create a flat universe, where at first the whole universe is blank.
That would be represented by a parallax scrolling nebula background image.
What I want to do is represent the planets ...
12
votes
2answers
6k views
How can I make huge terrains in Unity?
How can I make extremely huge terrains in Unity? It seems like I can set width and length to large values. But the Heightmap resolution only goes up to 4097 and the Detail resolution only goes up to ...
12
votes
2answers
698 views
Smooth Voxel Terrain
As a personal project, I'm trying to make a terrain generator that will create terrain looking something like the Castle Story smooth terrain.
If you haven't seen it before, here:
So as you can ...
12
votes
1answer
3k views
Terrain Generation for Tile-Based 2D Platformer
I'm currently working on a tile-based 2D platformer similar to Terraria in some ways, although I'm having difficulty with the terrain generation. I have some basics done, although they do not come out ...
12
votes
1answer
577 views
Demystifying “chunked level of detail”
Just recently trying to make sense of implementing a chunked level of detail system in Unity. I'm going to be generating four mesh planes, each with a height map but I guess that isn't too important ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
How is a 3d perlin noise function used to generate terrain?
I can wrap my head around using a 2d perlin noise function to generate the height value but I don't understand why a 3d perlin noise function would be used. In Notch's blog, ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Midpoint Displacement Algorithm
This question has come mainly out of sheer desperation, after spending several hours trying to figure out the problem.
If you cast your eyes to the picture above, you should see that my midpoint ...
11
votes
1answer
398 views
What are some current techniques for rendering deformable landscapes?
What are the current techniques than can be used for efficiently rendering 3D heightmap-based deformable landscapes?
For example, in the non-deformable landscape problem, ROAM used to be the way to ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views
Heightmap, Voxel, Polygon (geometry) terrains
In relation to Heightmap, Voxel and Polygon (geometry) terrains:
What are the main differences between all these three?
Can you form a "smooth" terrain with Voxels, I mean, can you for example get a ...
10
votes
2answers
800 views
Heightmap-based Terrain with a Road
What's the best way to implement a detail feature, like a road, on a heightmap-based terrain?
Update: It's a bit hard to see in the image, but the road descends from the top of the quarry to do its ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Quadtree terrain splitting - I don't get it
Most of the papers i've read base their terrain in some form or another on a quadtree. See this at page 38:
...
10
votes
2answers
873 views
Why are trees shining in background?
Currently I am creating a forest scene in the dark, and the trees are shining far away, but when I get close they are fine. I have the shaders set to "Nature/Tree Soft Occlusion [bark/leaves]", but ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
Correct way to “randomly” generate flowing terrain
I'm creating a simple top down RTS game. I plan on it "randomly" generating maps on the fly when I need to. I plan on it all working in 'passes':
Fill the terrain in with all grass
Go back and add ...
8
votes
4answers
785 views
What's the most efficient way to find the intersection point of a missile and a bitmap terrain?
Following up on my earlier question about finding the slope of a 2D bitmap terrain I now need to know the best way of finding the point on the 2D terrain that the missile hit. Obviously, I can see if ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
Which data structure should be used to represent voxel terrain?
According to the Wikipedia page about voxels, "[...] the position of a voxel is inferred based upon its position relative to other voxels (i.e., its position in the data structure that makes up a ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
How to create 2D game terrain?
Last month, I experimented a lot in game development using cocos2d for the iPhone, especially on moving and modifying sprites. However, vertices and polygons are still new stuff for me.
I developed ...
8
votes
1answer
372 views
How to represent cliff faces in terrain?
I'm trying to figure out the best way to programmatically represent terrain in my game. I've been considering using a heightmap (or grid of evenly spaced vertices) to represent the surface of the ...
7
votes
1answer
850 views
What technology does Starcraft 2 use render its maps?
I've got a map that is being procedurally generated at run-time and I'm currently investigating methods of rendering this map.
I've taken an interest in the look of Starcraft 2 and I'd like some ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I generate terrain like that of Scorched Earth?
I'm a web developer and I am keen to start writing my own games.
For familiarity, I've chosen JavaScript and canvas element for now.
I want to generate some terrain like that in Scorched Earth.
...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I render terrain in a 2.5D perspective, like in the game Don't Starve?
I have experience in making 2D side scroller games such as Terraria, but now I want to challenge myself and make a game that has a 2.5D perspective. The game I am trying to mimic is Don't Starve. ...
7
votes
1answer
328 views
Is 1 pixel of a height map representative of 1 vertex on the mesh?
I'm trying to get my head around heightmap terrain generation. If I have a plane say 64 x 64 verts will I need to create a 64px by 64px greyscale heightmap in order to displace the geometry of the ...
7
votes
1answer
567 views
Procedurally generated terrain map. Blend Transitions between terrain types
The question isn't the greatest wording ever sorry.
I have been learning about and prototyping some texture and terrain generation stuff and have run into something perhaps you can help me with.
How ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Tile map/terrain implementation with differing heights of neighbouring tiles
Ahoy!
I'm looking for some information about tile maps, or rather, what a specific type of tile map is called.
I'm interested in the kind of implementation used in rollercoaster tycoon, or the ...
7
votes
2answers
190 views
Movement on a curved planet surface
I'm looking for a solution for moving a variety of objects over the uneven surface of my planet. The idea is that I will have a number of objects that follow the planetary landscape moving about in ...
6
votes
2answers
512 views
Hills in a topdown game
I'm making a top down rpg game and was wondering if it was possible to show hills on a map instead of having everything completely flat. I've thought about changing to an isometric view, but if it can ...
6
votes
4answers
433 views
Generating triangles from a square grid
I have a 2D square grid of values representing terrain elevations, and I want to generate triangles from that grid to make a 3D view of the terrain. My first thought was to split each square ...
6
votes
3answers
542 views
Generating random Pools or lakes
I have implemented functions that can draw any polygonal shape, however I have been unable to generate a smooth shape that mimics the rounded edges of a lake. I tried generating two circles and ...
6
votes
2answers
462 views
Cave generation with Perlin worms
I'm currently trying to generate a Minecraft like voxel terrain with 3D Simplex Noise and also want to implement caves.
I found the method of Perlin Worms in this thread, which generates really nice ...
6
votes
4answers
6k views
Generating island terrains with Simplex Noise (C#/XNA)
I've got one little question: Is there any code or sample which shows how the simplex noise works? I cannot find anything about it... How should I implement it, without the knowledge how the algorithm ...
5
votes
2answers
528 views
How to remove floating terrain when generated with 3D Perlin Noise?
I'm currently using 3D Perlin Noise to generate random terrain in combination with Marching Cubes.
My issue seems to lie in scaling the noise function to get reasonable heights in my terrain. If ...
5
votes
1answer
649 views
Infinite 2D Terrain
I was wondering how to create infinite 2D platform terrain. I've read about perlin noise and I have an idea I'd like to illustrate below.
However, I have no idea how to achieve this. Are there any ...
5
votes
2answers
678 views
Diamond-square terrain generation problem
I've implemented a diamond-square algorithm according to this article:
http://www.lighthouse3d.com/opengl/terrain/index.php?mpd2
The problem is that I get these steep cliffs all over the map. It ...
5
votes
2answers
995 views
3D terrain map with Hexagon Grids
I'm working on a hobby project (I'm a web/backend developer by day) and I want to create a 3D Tile (terrain) engine. I'm using XNA, but I can use MonoGame, OpenGL, or straight DirectX, so the answer ...
5
votes
2answers
2k views
Rendering multiple textures on a terrain in XNA / C#
I am working on a terrain in XNA/C#. My intention is to be able to render multiple textures on the ground across the terrain. However, all tutorials like this are only capable of doing it with about ...
5
votes
1answer
3k views
What is a good technique for 2D tile-based terrain generation meeting these requirements?
As a summer project I decided it would be fun to make a Flash game. Right now I'm going for something like the look of Terraria. It's been a lot of fun, but today I've hit a snag. I need a way to ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I generate a terrain heightmap from the perlin algorithm?
How can I generate a terrain heightmap from the perlin algorithm? I am trying to make a terrain generator (like World Machine). This is the source code I have for the perlin. The only thing that I ...
5
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I make my character slide down high-angled slopes?
I am currently working on my character's movement in Unity3D. I managed to make him move relatively to the mouse cursor.
I set a slope limit of 45°, which does not allow the character to walk up the ...
4
votes
1answer
601 views
2D Tile Game - Smooth Biome Terrain Transitions
While working on my 2D tile based game, I encountered a problem. I use Perlin Noise to generate the terrain. Some biomes (Desert, Forest, etc) have different flatness values depending on terrain, ...
4
votes
2answers
654 views
Engine with Terrain and Indoor Areas (BSP-like)
I'm not really a graphics programmer, but I used to toy around with Truevision3D 6.5 a few years ago. It wasn't too bad, but TV3D was just going nowhere so my foray into 3d game dev ended there.
I ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Make player to always move along the terrain
I'm working on a 2D platformer side scroller game. I am giving high impulse to player, the player starts moving and if it hits a slope on terrain, it gets a vertical movement and starts to fly over ...
4
votes
2answers
379 views
Trace with 2D terrain
I currently have some 2D terrain in my game defined by 2D coordinates with lines drawn in between them (linear interpolation too keep it simple).
Now I want to cast a ray from anywhere above the ...
4
votes
1answer
606 views
In an artillery game how do I mask out the part of the terrain that was hit
Let's say I want to make a really simple artillery game, something like Gorillas. I don't have any experience in games, just some basic understanding of OpenGL. I want to do this for fun and to learn ...
3
votes
3answers
939 views
How did they do it: Trine 2.5d terrain?
How did they make the terrain in trine? I think they took a polygon approach. It doesn't seem that they used a heightmap because it is in all three vectors, or a voxel method because it doesn't have ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Map tile terrain transitions with 3-4 different types
Making transitions between two different tiles is a fairly well understood problem. The easiest way is to look at the 0.5, 0.5 and use the resulting 4 corner points to select a transition tile, as ...
3
votes
2answers
753 views
Why would someone chose midpoint displacement over perlin noise for 3D terrain generation?
I myself am creating a terrain generation algorithm and would be interested in knowing why others have chosen midpoint displacement over perlin noise. Minecraft is an example where midpoint ...
