Cross-region terrain making with L3DT - Revision history

MakoBot: Robot: Replacing 'OpenSim' to 'OpenSimulator', which is the precise name

2012-03-04T06:19:05Z

Robot: Replacing 'OpenSim' to 'OpenSimulator', which is the precise name

2012-03-04T02:54:30Z

Robot: Cosmetic changes

2011-08-03T17:02:48Z

2011-06-10T14:18:57Z

Removed 'Template:' prefix from template includings and/or changed external-link into internal-link

2010-11-23T17:07:57Z

2009-05-21T14:06:00Z

2009-01-05T11:39:19Z

‎Generating the Heightfield

2009-01-05T11:29:37Z

‎Notes

2009-01-05T11:26:51Z

2009-01-05T11:23:02Z

‎Generating your terrain files - The Design Map

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 == The Objective ==
-My objective is to create a 6 region heightmap based on the idea of an ancient volcanic archipelago. Thus I wanted a few islands with nice curved stretches of beach, some cliffs and drop offs and a higher regions. I already had in mind roughly what i wanted so that was a good start. I personally like islands because you get lots of terrain variation and the sunsets in OpenSim can be... well stunning :) It's very useful to have an idea in your mind of what you want before you start...
+My objective is to create a 6 region heightmap based on the idea of an ancient volcanic archipelago. Thus I wanted a few islands with nice curved stretches of beach, some cliffs and drop offs and a higher regions. I already had in mind roughly what i wanted so that was a good start. I personally like islands because you get lots of terrain variation and the sunsets in OpenSimulator can be... well stunning :) It's very useful to have an idea in your mind of what you want before you start...
 == The Process ==

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 To resolve this you need to create a larger terrain map and then split it into tiles.
-There are two ways to do this, either draw it by hand using a graphics package, or use a terrain generating tool as a starting point. You can just use the terrain generator to get started quickly although in reality you will probably end up mixing both techniques. The manual technique has been well described by Fu Barr in the [[Terrain_making]] article, so i will focus on the easy way.
+There are two ways to do this, either draw it by hand using a graphics package, or use a terrain generating tool as a starting point. You can just use the terrain generator to get started quickly although in reality you will probably end up mixing both techniques. The manual technique has been well described by Fu Barr in the [[Terrain making]] article, so i will focus on the easy way.
 The principle reason why I wanted to start with a generated terrain is time - it takes a long time to draw your heightmap by hand so using the generator gives you a little kick start. It can also generate very realistic terrains which factor in things like age and erosion, in minutes rather than hours :)

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Enjoy the tutorial and feel free to contribute/improve it -
-[[Max Ping]]
+[[User:Max Ping|Max Ping]]
 == The Objective ==

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 __NOTOC__
-{{Template:Quicklinks}}
+{{Quicklinks}}
 <br />
 This tutorial has been put together from several sources on the web it is aimed at region operators who want to make detailed cross region terrains quickly and easily.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 To resolve this you need to create a larger terrain map and then split it into tiles.
-There are two ways to do this, either draw it by hand using a graphics package, or use a terrain generating tool as a starting point. You can just use the terrain generator to get started quickly although in reality you will probably end up mixing both techniques. The manual technique has been well described by Fu Barr here: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Terrain_making so i will focus on the easy way.
+There are two ways to do this, either draw it by hand using a graphics package, or use a terrain generating tool as a starting point. You can just use the terrain generator to get started quickly although in reality you will probably end up mixing both techniques. The manual technique has been well described by Fu Barr in the [[Terrain_making]] article, so i will focus on the easy way.
 The principle reason why I wanted to start with a generated terrain is time - it takes a long time to draw your heightmap by hand so using the generator gives you a little kick start. It can also generate very realistic terrains which factor in things like age and erosion, in minutes rather than hours :)

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:06, 21 May 2009
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	__NOTOC__
		+	{{Template:Quicklinks}}
		+	<br />
	This tutorial has been put together from several sources on the web it is aimed at region operators who want to make detailed cross region terrains quickly and easily.		This tutorial has been put together from several sources on the web it is aimed at region operators who want to make detailed cross region terrains quickly and easily.

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
-Step 8. '''Making OpenSimulator use the new textures.'''
+== Making OpenSimulator use the new terrain files ==
 You need to now tell OpenSimulator to use the new terrain textures on your grid. For example: if you have 4 regions called Region1, Region2, Region3 and Region4... you need to add a section to your startup_commands.txt that looks like this:
@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
      terrain load path_to_textures/terrain_for_region2.png
-     change-region Region3
+     etc...
-    terrain load path_to_textures/terrain_for_region3.png
-−
-    change-region Region4
-    terrain load path_to_textures/terrain_for_region4.png
 Note: you can also add Terrain commands here, but if you follow the instructions above you won't have to
@@ Line 78: / Line 74: @@
 Step 9. '''Restart your OpenSimulator instance and fine-tune your terrain height.'''
 == Notes ==

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/downloads/standard.php
-[[Image:Design map1.png|150px|thumb|left|First iteration of design map]][[Image:Design map2.png|150px|thumb|left|Second iteration of design map]]
+[[Image:Design map1.png|100px|thumb|left|First iteration of design map]][[Image:Design map2.png|100px|thumb|left|Second iteration of design map]]
 == Generating your terrain files - The Design Map ==
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 == Generating the Heightfield ==
-[[Image:First_heightfield.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Exported image file]]
+[[Image:First_heightfield.jpg|100px|thumb|left|Exported image file]]
 . When you are happy with your design map, hit the calc button, choose Heightfield and watch l3DT do it's magic.
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 . When you think you nearly have it thats a good time to head over into the 3d view. The system uses roughly the same movement controls as OS so it's pretty easy to get to grips with. Here you can "fine tune" your terrain features to get it closer to what you are looking for. Mouse Tools > Edit Active Map.
 . Close Sapphire and then use File > Export > Active map, use .PNG format - at this point I resized back to 512x768

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/downloads/standard.php
 == Generating your terrain files - The Design Map ==
 The first thing you will generate is a design map - this is a "blocky" representation of the landmass which means you can rapidly paint your terrain before you actually apply the terrain calculation.
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Note: I kept a border of -20m all around my terrain file, this was for ease of adding new regions later on
 == Generating the Heightfield ==