The Terrain Mapping Contest

[Higor]

Meh... screw this terrain generators!!! I'll build this map with tessellated cubes now

That's the spirit!!
I handcraft my brushes with notepad and 2d shapes.

[memsys]

Meh... screw this terrain generators!!! I'll build this map with tessellated cubes now ...much faster than some bogus tool which can't be used without knowing al the quirks it has.
And for the texture-align thing I'll try the trick Creavion showed to me. UEd1 and the latest patch ...Basta!

My thoughts exactly.
Would you mind sharing that trick? It might help people out here.

Here is little preview of what I have so far (progress is so slow :/)

[UTX]

Could You light it up a bit? I can't see anything. And this is not about speed, You got until December twenty two to finish it.

[papercoffee]

Meh... screw this terrain generators!!! I'll build this map with tessellated cubes now

That's the spirit!!
I handcraft my brushes with notepad and 2d shapes.

This is a little bit too extreme for me ...I'm more the visual type and need to see the brush to work with it.

Would you mind sharing that trick? It might help people out here.

It's not really a trick ...if you have the map brushed out as you want, save it and open it in UEd1 from Unreal 227... Smirftsh added a great aligning function where you can align textures on walls (rocks and other natural things) without any skewed faces or ugly seams ...it's something like a spherical alignment. worked better than the align-to-floor trick, for reference look at my Northern Lights map.
But don't do anything else in UEd1... everything not UT conform can generate issues.

[memsys]

Aaaaand I remember why I never make a terrain based map before. The terrain brush is a F-ing nightmare to deal with and I can't make anything decent looking with the intersected cubes technique so far the only thing I have accomplished is making me want to throw my computer out the freaking window.

/rant

[papercoffee]

Aaaaand I remember why I never make a terrain based map before. The terrain brush is a F-ing nightmare to deal with and I can't make anything decent looking with the intersected cubes technique so far the only thing I have accomplished is making me want to throw my computer out the freaking window.

/rant

Aaaaand that's why I create the map out of tessellated cubes...

Much more control over the vertices.

[Red_Fist]

Aaaaand I remember why I never make a terrain based map before. The terrain brush is a F-ing nightmare to deal with and I can't make anything decent looking with the intersected cubes technique so far the only thing I have accomplished is making me want to throw my computer out the freaking window.

/rant

LoLzzzz, I am with you there, I messed with a few terrain things, take me 10 years to finish.

[Gustavo6046]

You can make terrain from Nem generator easily. It's easy to use the clipper to remove the bugged edges and the Scale tool to make it small enough to be playable.
I just didn't used the Clipper in the test. But in theory this might make it a safe terrain.
And this is not why I am using the clipper, but because Quake III's GtkRadiant uses it a lot.
Btw how to handcraft brushes?

[Higor]

Sculptris and MS3D are the perfect combo for making non-standard terrains, just simply need to know the whole mojo between those programs.
Made this a long time ago for a decorative island for the Galleon map I use as Tech-Test...



EDIT:
This little hand crafted beauty i'm talking about


EDIT2:
Handcrafting makes everything amazing.

[memsys]

Sculptris and MS3D are the perfect combo for making non-standard terrains, just simply need to know the whole mojo between those programs. Made this a long time ago for a decorative island for the Galleon map I use as Tech-Test...

I have been poking around with sculptris but I can't for the life of me get something imported into ued without the damn thing crashing or getting a messed up brush.
Could you tell us what we need to do ?

[sektor2111]

I think these tools for UT are exactly like "mutators" for UT full of problems. So to speak files generated have to be tweaked with advanced skill which a common dude (me included) find them useless for normal needs. An artist is not a very expert coder after all (proved already). High tech != High Design very often in UT.
I was trying such a terrain generator and I see those exports Not imported by Editor. But however it can import what Editor exports which is useless.
I'm willing to see people helping with aditional info when they speak about "Applications" and coming with a "How to". Me personally I don't have weeks to dig what is rammed by these apps crashing Editor. What I have texted was "UnrealPolyEd" as shown in shortcut's icon, it was claimed well but I don't get how the heck does it work. It was importing a cube from UT but giving nothing to UT. Without well and simple explanations I don't waste time with misterious nasty unfriendly apps.

[Gustavo6046]

I got something working with Nem's generator.
Unfortunately you will need a NASA PC to have it running smoothly.

[Renegade]

The reality is that there's no quick way to generate terrain. These utilities (terraedit, polyed, nem's generator) are all a pain in the ass. I think the best way to create reliable terrain is by vertex editing tessellated cubes. Like here:



This is a SS from CTF-ProjectX2, which I think has the best terrain of any UT map (next up would be CTF-Shadar). This one shot doesn't do the map justice. Everyone should download it.

[Gustavo6046]

What did you think of CTF-Fallen, my terrain test of CTF two posts above?

[Renegade]

What did you think of CTF-Fallen, my terrain test of CTF two posts above?

I think you should have posted a screenshot. It's fine as a concept test, but the map itself is unplayable, and you know it.
Too many surfaces on your BSP. You're trying to make smooth, rolling hills, and it just won't work in this engine. You can see all the polygons.
The dynamic lighting you have kills the frame-rate even more.