One Last Try
by William Shellman · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 09/21/2009 (1:31 am) · 7 replies
I have desperately been trying to learn how to create an "open world" enviroment for a "Grand Theft Auto" style game and I have seen many posts with suggestions on how to accomplish this, but none that have been very helpful as far as doing it using TGE 1.4.2! I realize that it is an older, possibly outdated version, but there must be a way to make a full landscape as in the "demo" mission and "fps starter" mission. I further understand about the repeating terrain tile, somewhat, and I can see the issues that limit the "tutorial.base" mission. What I am asking is, can you create a world landscape that does not repeat the features you construct on the "main tile", or, is there some way to expand the "terrain bounds" on the tiled landscape. I have tried using the Mission Editor, the Terrain Editor, the Terrain Datablock, I mean nearly everything in the engine, and I still get the same results... a repeatng landscape. I have read that I must make significant engine code changes in order to do that, but no instruction on how that is done. I have probably asked this question a million times, but it is crucial to my game. I need to be able to travel from one island, city, landscape, to another without a pause in the structure. I have also tried using .diff and .dts shapes as landscapes, but they are difficult to make solid so that the charactors don't pass through them, and form the angles or shapes desired. I want to use the tiled landscape already there, then shape the landscape as you go indefinitely. I am aware that this cannot be done with stock TGE 1.4.2, and that there are landscape programs out there, but I was hoping there is another way to expand the Terrain Bounds and allow the user to sculpt the landscape without repeating the changes to the main tile. I cannot purchase Atlas, Terragen, or any exterior programs at ths time, so I would like to use the available terrain within the engine to do it. With that being said, is there anyone who can tell me how to create an unhindered world in TGE 1.4.2 by altering the Terrain.cc and Terrain.h files in the "Code"?
About the author
#2
The Problem with upscaling the SquareSize is that you lose terrain texture and sculpting quality, though if you look at GTA as a demo then you should notice they LOD and Cull almost everything.(specifically noted in GTA4)
I would suggest using Triggers in your levels and have the triggers connect them together, as it is completely done in script and shouldnt be that hard for what you are trying to implement.
Btw: It was kinda hard to read through your never-ending paragraph, I know I'm not the best at grammar myself but a new paragraph every now and then would be nice for others to understand. :)
09/21/2009 (4:00 am)
Fyi: GTA had to use the loading screens until GTA:San Andreas, so obviously even a high budget studio could not fix that problem until years of experience and newer technology came out.The Problem with upscaling the SquareSize is that you lose terrain texture and sculpting quality, though if you look at GTA as a demo then you should notice they LOD and Cull almost everything.(specifically noted in GTA4)
I would suggest using Triggers in your levels and have the triggers connect them together, as it is completely done in script and shouldnt be that hard for what you are trying to implement.
Btw: It was kinda hard to read through your never-ending paragraph, I know I'm not the best at grammar myself but a new paragraph every now and then would be nice for others to understand. :)
#3
09/22/2009 (3:21 am)
Sorry about the ongoing commentary, but I could never get a solid answer. Most replies were vague. I do thank you both for your help!
#4
09/22/2009 (3:41 am)
I think the vague replies were due to the fact that this isn't a trivial feature, and not many (if any) have implemented it, especially in TGE, much less 1.4. The community is a great resource, but we always have to remember - it's populated by people just like us!
#5
09/22/2009 (4:28 pm)
Thank you, Daniel! I have gone to the resources section and found something which tells me that I may be able to create my world in the form of heightmaps. I have not tested this yet, but I am studying the resource. I appreciate everyone's help with this problem!
#6
It sounds hackish, but it seems like the best method if you don't feel comfortable rewriting the legacy terrain system on your own.
If you want to learn a bit, you could look around at how the terrainblocks work, and maybe derive a new object. Most people (myself included) would rather not, since it isn't documented, and obviously no one is available to help explain how it worked.
09/23/2009 (9:20 pm)
You could just use a mixture of a really large terrain block size and interiors to accomplish what you want. if the ground doesn't have any major features and is pretty flat, then this will work. Any extra detailed parts of the terrain you can just replace with an interior. It sounds hackish, but it seems like the best method if you don't feel comfortable rewriting the legacy terrain system on your own.
If you want to learn a bit, you could look around at how the terrainblocks work, and maybe derive a new object. Most people (myself included) would rather not, since it isn't documented, and obviously no one is available to help explain how it worked.
#7
But there are many reasons why it/they were eventually abandoned... and you'll come across them if you spend the time searching/researching.
09/23/2009 (10:21 pm)
Another "dead" terrain manager that was community driven was called GORPE. However, much like the old TerrainManger project, it was lost to the sands of time. There are literally dozens and dozens of threads in a now missing dedicated sub-forum that dealt with both of these projects, most of them during the years of 2003-2005. I had found a working link as recently as this time last year, so there is a chance you still might be able to find either one of them.But there are many reasons why it/they were eventually abandoned... and you'll come across them if you spend the time searching/researching.
Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...
It's possible you could search/ressurect/reproduce the work that was done on the so called 'terrainManager' worked on by various people of the community over the years, but I think that the chances of actually finding any of that code still around would be zero. There were a few other "increase the terrain size" initiatives around but those also aren't to be easily found either.
Are you absolutely certain that you need that much terrain area? Have you tried the various terrain squaresize and object scaling tricks? Even though money may be an issue, the ability to use an arbitrary number of unique terrain blocks (or even MegaTerrains) in TGEa may be an attractive incentive to upgrade.