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World Design Discussion
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Brad_Mclain Offline
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Post: #1
World Design Discussion
Hi Guys,

I am in the middle of designing my game world and I am finding that it is going to take me a long time to design the whole thing within the world editor, so I am thinking of using an external program to generate a rough outline of the world then add detail/modify this inside the world editor to suit.

This should make the process quicker and give a better looking world then what I could do by hand.

Has anyone else taken the same approach and has any advice to give? or suggestions on software?

Here are the two I have come across or used before:
Terragen2
World Machine

I found world machine is quite nice to use but struggled a bit with Terragen2 (I like terragen classic though but maybe not powerful enough for my needs). Has anyone used either of these with Esenthel? Was it easy to get scales right?

Feel free to post anything related to world design in this thread as I would like to make it an open discussion on the topic.

Regards,

Brad
11-25-2010 12:27 AM
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Demi Offline
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Post: #2
RE: World Design Discussion
I Use L3DT myself. The pipeline is simple since L3DT exports PNG files. The problem is with import of a mosaic the engine does not store a constant number so the heightmap does not align. The work around is simple though, just export a lower resolution and a 8092x8092 is just insanely large.

I actually find is better to make a mosaic so I have a min/max on the Y axis to work with and then combine it to drop into the engine.

Took all of 15 minutes to put this into the game engine. It is 4096x4096 or +-32 blocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZG0BxnPJsk
11-30-2010 12:04 AM
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Brad_Mclain Offline
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Post: #3
RE: World Design Discussion
How good is L3DT for laying out landscape features such as plains/mountains/rivers?
12-03-2010 11:09 PM
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Demi Offline
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Post: #4
RE: World Design Discussion
Landscape wise the DM (Design Map) allows you get good control over the over all features however rivers are not supported well. There is a plugin of sorts that does erosion based on water flow but it is is not the best. I haven't made a river yet but I will use the game editor. There are several plugins in the works for mapped foliage which I find interesting also.
12-03-2010 11:54 PM
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Wolfsong73 Offline
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Post: #5
RE: World Design Discussion
(11-30-2010 12:04 AM)Demi Wrote:  I Use L3DT myself. The pipeline is simple since L3DT exports PNG files. The problem is with import of a mosaic the engine does not store a constant number so the heightmap does not align. The work around is simple though, just export a lower resolution and a 8092x8092 is just insanely large.

Very nice! I rather like L3DT myself and can definitely see it being helpful in roughing out an entire game world. I notice this approach is used even for major games, where the designers will sorta "block in" an area to be finished and implemented later. I suppose this is to help with continuity of the world map, etc. For example, in World of Warcraft, for years - until Cataclysm - you couldn't "legally" get to the Mount Hyjal area by normal means. There was a glitch that would allow people to get in there for a time, though, and if you went in, you saw the entire area "roughed-out". It was like this for years before they actually finished it off and officially "released" it.

That said... I do have a question regarding your explanation above. When you say "just export a lower resolution and a 8092x8092 is just insanely large", is that one complete thought, or is it kinda two sentences in one, because I'm not quite clear on what you're explaining.

Were you going to originally export the map in 8092x8092 and found that it caused problems, so reduced it to 4096x4096 or something like that?

Also, where is the actual problem with he mosaics from L3DT occuring? Is it in the exporting process from L3DT, or is it in the game engine not "properly" reading the heightmap info when they're imported?

Thanks smile
02-28-2011 01:32 AM
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Tobbo Offline
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Post: #6
RE: World Design Discussion
I am using Grome myself.

http://www.quadsoftware.com/index.php?m=...sec=editor

Also I'm taking the same approach, laying everything out in a different program and then matching it in the world editor in Esenthel.
03-16-2011 09:07 PM
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Gian-Reto Offline
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Post: #7
RE: World Design Discussion
(11-30-2010 12:04 AM)Demi Wrote:  ...
Took all of 15 minutes to put this into the game engine. It is 4096x4096 or +-32 blocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZG0BxnPJsk

The link seems to no longer exist.... is the recorded video still available somewhere? The reason is I am fighting with the exact same problem at the moment, getting large heightmaps into the Esenthel Engine World Editor.

It just doesn't works for me. Any resource online that describes the process for 4096x4096 or 8192x8192 Heightmaps?

Thanks a lot
03-17-2011 10:34 PM
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Brad_Mclain Offline
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Post: #8
RE: World Design Discussion
(03-16-2011 09:07 PM)Tobbo Wrote:  I am using Grome myself.

http://www.quadsoftware.com/index.php?m=...sec=editor

Also I'm taking the same approach, laying everything out in a different program and then matching it in the world editor in Esenthel.

How is grome for defining features like islands, coastline, lakes, and mountains?
03-17-2011 11:40 PM
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MikeyUchiha Offline
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Post: #9
RE: World Design Discussion
I personally use Grome 2, and I think its one of the easiest programs to use. You should check out the video tutorials. They really show the ease of use for it.
03-19-2011 07:26 AM
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Tobbo Offline
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Post: #10
RE: World Design Discussion
(03-17-2011 11:40 PM)Brad_Mclain Wrote:  How is grome for defining features like islands, coastline, lakes, and mountains?

I think it's great for defining features. It has some nice procedural tools as well. It's easy and get's the job done quickly. I personally love it. I'll post an example in the Showcase section soon! Hopefully sometime next week.

Cheers.
-Tobbo
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2011 10:25 PM by Tobbo.)
03-19-2011 07:59 AM
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Seba Offline
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Post: #11
RE: World Design Discussion
Hi, I want to make town to the game. I started make street model but when i start make turns i get problem. So i have question. How make various of turns and hills and then join them in one big world?


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03-26-2011 01:49 PM
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fatcoder Offline
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Post: #12
RE: World Design Discussion
@seba, this has to do with your texture coordinates, which you need to tweak in your modelling program, i.e. 3ds max.
03-26-2011 03:28 PM
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llynx Offline
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Post: #13
RE: World Design Discussion
Yeah for you atm the problem is just the texture coordinate. But if you ever want to create hills and inclines it becomes a real hassle if you want it inside EE.
03-26-2011 10:24 PM
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Seba Offline
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Post: #14
RE: World Design Discussion
Screen is only example i want to make it look like one model so texture must be the same one every model so at turns i have problem. Also i don't want to have only straight streets. If there is any program i can use it but i don't know any of that.
03-26-2011 10:48 PM
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Tobbo Offline
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Post: #15
RE: World Design Discussion
This is one way to join height maps or terrains into one big world.
http://www.esenthel.com/community/showth...p?tid=3196

If you are looking for a program to make meshes, Blender is a good start, and it's free.
It can also be used to make a street, building, etc.
http://www.blender.org/
03-29-2011 04:03 PM
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