Terrain Tile
by Chris Sargent · in Torque 3D Professional · 09/29/2009 (8:11 pm) · 28 replies
This is a repost only because i'm not sure where I should post in the T3D private forums or the public ones.
I noticed that the tile feature for terrain is still not functional. I created a rather large terrain, selected tile, and went in play mode. It took my character awhile, but eventually he was able to walk right off the terrain and stand next to the terrain block.
Will this feature be turned on at some point, or is there something I am supposed to be doing to enable it.
Thanks,
I noticed that the tile feature for terrain is still not functional. I created a rather large terrain, selected tile, and went in play mode. It took my character awhile, but eventually he was able to walk right off the terrain and stand next to the terrain block.
Will this feature be turned on at some point, or is there something I am supposed to be doing to enable it.
Thanks,
About the author
#22
09/30/2009 (6:04 pm)
Yup, good ideas. Instead of a whole bowl covering things I was thinking of maybe strategically placed billboards or something like that.
#23
09/30/2009 (6:22 pm)
Michael thanks for the tip. I understand there will be no perfect solution and I will have to compromise. I just want to keep the limiting my player through artificial means as low as possible.
#24
10/01/2009 (12:08 pm)
@Tom -- I gotta ask (sorry, but I got to): Any idea how far out the paging/streaming system is? Less than a year maybe? That would be good. 
#25
If it were me i would write my own based around tiled mission files and not count on a specific deadline for on in T3D.
10/01/2009 (6:25 pm)
@Steve - There is no timeline for it at the moment... maybe a year... really i have no clue.If it were me i would write my own based around tiled mission files and not count on a specific deadline for on in T3D.
#26
10/01/2009 (9:54 pm)
@Tom -- thanks for the honest answer. If I could do what you can do, I would write it myself too! Meanwhile, thanks for having it on the "drawing board".
#27
Mind you, my test wasn't with a small terrain size. It was medium. If you're using a smaller size per block, you'll probably need a few more to hide the edges, or to bring your clip plane in closer with gradual fogging. I believe I tried this in Beta 3.
10/02/2009 (12:28 am)
Definitely stitching. You can then either manually tile your single terrain file, or you can use multiple ones that vary the view. Even without proper stitching support, I've surrounded a 'main' block with multiple other blocks and most certainly couldn't see the edge. You don't need infinite tiling if you're keeping your players from actually entering the other terrain blocks.Mind you, my test wasn't with a small terrain size. It was medium. If you're using a smaller size per block, you'll probably need a few more to hide the edges, or to bring your clip plane in closer with gradual fogging. I believe I tried this in Beta 3.
#28
03/10/2010 (4:02 am)
Some solution for tiling here: www.torquepowered.com/community/blogs/view/19451 
Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...
But what if you were to place a large low detailed mesh that simulates your far terrain (the mountains, hills in the distance that), and simply place your Terrain Block on this?
I have a game in which the entirety of it takes place on a large plateau/mountaintop. In some places I wanted the lower lying land areas to be visible instead of the ugly horizon artifact when using ScatterSky. I experimented with using a large but low detailed secondary terrain and also tried using a GroundPlane with a large texture mapped to it. Both worked decently, but I ended up just using an inverted mesh bowl painted to look like distant lands.
You could also simulate "distant lands" on a skybox/cube.
The terrain stitching and/or the paging as outlined by Tom sounds like an awesome idea too!