Gestalt on 16/6/2005 at 06:03
I noticed that while there's no terrain editor, the TerrainInfo Actor under Actors>Metadata>Info>TerrainInfo doesn't seem to have been deleted like I had expected. The TerrainMap, scale, DecoLayers (etc.) properties are still intact, which makes me sort of curious about whether or not something can be done with this. I'm not really expecting much, but could someone with UEd experience try putting together some quick terrain with the TerrainMap property? I'd do it myself but I don't think I have enough experience to be sure I wasn't just messing something up.
I only noticed that TerrainInfo Actors still existed when I tried importing a UT2003 level that had one. My idea was that it might be possible to do terrain in UEd and then import the level into T3ed. Probably won't work, but I thought it might be worth trying.
ascottk on 16/6/2005 at 06:28
I notice when you do a build all the dialog box says something about terrain arrays.
BTW what is the use of terrains?
EDIT: If no terrain in flesh then why is there a Build Terrain Option? I'll experiment with the Build Options & uncheck Build Terrain . . .
Krypt on 16/6/2005 at 06:33
There is no terrain in the Flesh engine. Anything left in the editor referring to terrain is just an old Ued feature that no one got around to removing. The only way to get terrain is by creating it with static meshes.
Gestalt on 16/6/2005 at 07:03
Oh well, back to static meshes I go. For large outdoor areas, is it better to leave a static mesh as one big chunk or cut it into parts? Or maybe just build the terrain out of mid-sized pieces?
ascottk on 16/6/2005 at 07:12
I'd say modular. If you want to use the SMs for another level people might notice it's the same. Smaller parts can be adaptable.
Crispy on 16/6/2005 at 08:49
Modular. If you split it up, the renderer may be able to do extra optimisations (like being able to rule out rendering terrain that's behind you).
scumble on 16/6/2005 at 09:19
Gestalt, you don't really want to make an outdoor area that's too large anyway. Once you start adding objects Flesh is really going to slow down - that's the prime motivation for keeping visible polygons to a "minimum" in the production levels, or rather, having a large number of polygons in a smaller area.
However, if you want to do terrain meshes as a base, you can create meshes from a heightmap. I know Bryce can export terrain as a 3DS file, although I've not tried it myself. Can't remember if terragen can export anything that could be used in max or another modelling program. Max might also be able to generate a mesh from a heightmap.
str8g8 on 16/6/2005 at 11:16
3ds max can indeed generate terrain from a heightmap - just use a displacement modifier
SubJeff on 17/6/2005 at 07:47
This is the suckiest thing about the editor I've found so far. If one want's to make a hill or an undulating garden... :(
In fact I'm struggling to remember an outside are of T3 that wasn't flat. There is that bit near the well in the City that goes down to the dock entrance and the prison. How did they do that? Is there an "outside" set of static meshes?
scumble on 17/6/2005 at 08:06
It's just BSP isn't it? I don't think it's anything very complicated.
