How the heck do you model terrain?

greenie2600 on 18/9/2015 at 13:32

Thanks, all. That's pretty much what I figured. I keep thinking that someone should create a modern editor for the DromEd file format, with a less clunky UI and features like auto-generation of terrain—but of course that would be a massive undertaking.

Although, it sounds like the file format is pretty well understood, and it wouldn't be too difficult for a knowledgeable programmer to create a standalone tool which generates a .mis file containing procedurally generated fractal terrain, to use as a starting point for creating missions.

Oh well. I can wish for better tools all day; guess I'd better get comfortable with the tool I actually have :)

R Soul on 18/9/2015 at 14:55

Here's an example of my caves, built as nicked suggested:

Inline Image:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac326/rsoulinternet/Dromed/caves1_zps9sdkajol.gif

I usually use simple brushes (wedges and cubes) to create a flat floor. Fill Solid is an obvious medium but a slope in a single direction is a bit too regular, so I create Flood wedges and use cuboid Evaporate brushes to chop off the tops, making them flush with a cuboid sold brush as a 'step' followed by more flood wedges with a different rotation/gradient.

Here's an in game screenshot:

Inline Image:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac326/rsoulinternet/Dromed/caves2_zpsnqmmenkn.jpg

The highly variable texture helps to break up the obvious pentagons, as do the small-radius lights.

Xorak on 19/9/2015 at 02:55

I have to say R Soul, I was checking out that mission in dromed one day, and that section was the nicest looking cave I'd ever seen. That slope downwards is a thing of beauty.

For cave tunnels, I've been experimenting with 7 or 9-sided cylinders myself. I saw it done in some of the original Thief Gold missions and thought it looked quite impressive and natural. Plus they tend to make less mess than the dodecahedrons all over the place.