Keeping my site alive – Thanks to you

[Luc]

Hello – as some of you know, I've often considered shutting down my website due to the ongoing costs of maintaining an online store. Every year, around the time the domain comes up for renewal, it's the annual report that ends up saving it — although it's been a close call these past few years. And once again, that will be the case for the coming year: the bare minimum has been reached to keep the site running.

Of course, Terragen's development has slowed down, with fewer new features being released, and I don't have much time to add fresh content to the store. Still, it remains a fantastic piece of software — truly one of a kind — and I believe many of the small scenes available on my site can still be quite useful for beginners. They're great for getting familiar with the software, experimenting, and working with ready-made presets and test scenes.

So I'm glad that at least financially I'm not running at a loss, and that the site can stay up and available to you.

Warm regards.

Luc

[Dune]

I hope you can maintain it in future, Luc. I always thought you made wonderful work, and the presets are indeed a welcome addition to this great software. It's been my standard render program for ages now, and I don't think that will end soon. I am pretty familiar with most of its intricacies (at least the ones I need), but I guess new users will find your work interesting to dissect and learn. But I have no idea how many people use it as 'we' once used it, and learned from eachother on this site. It was an interesting and lively time in a great user group, which I sometimes miss. I think Unreal has taken over a lot of world builders.
So good luck!

[Luc]

Thank you so much for your message, Dune.

Like you, I have great memories of the time when the Terragen community was very active, and new versions of the software were released regularly. It truly was a special period — a kind of "golden age" that I sometimes miss.

I believe Planetside decided to focus on large studios and the film industry, at the expense of hobbyists and casual users. Was that the right choice? Hard to say — only they know for sure. But one thing is clear: that shift gradually extinguished the spark that once kept the community alive. I don't know if we'll ever see a Terragen 5 — I certainly hope so — but Planetside has never been particularly strong when it comes to communication... so we'll just have to wait and see.

These days, I use Unreal Engine almost every day. I naturally gravitated toward it, both for game programming and for environment creation. Pairing it with World Machine or Gaea for terrain sculpting works extremely well. Once you get the hang of the material editor and the PCG (Procedural Content Generator) plugin, the possibilities are truly impressive. It's ideal for games, short films, and tech demos.

But all of that comes at a cost: Unreal Engine is a very heavy piece of software, sometimes difficult to handle, and it crashes fairly often. Projects can also become massive — often well over 10 GB. Without a high-end graphics card (like an RTX 3080), you quickly hit performance limits. It's a very different approach compared to Terragen, which to me remains a tool of rare elegance. Its atmospheric rendering is still hard to beat, and its strong procedural foundation makes it far lighter while still being remarkably powerful.

I'm glad to know that my small scenes and presets are still useful, especially for newcomers. And once again, thank you for your support — it really encourages me to keep the site going, even in a modest way. And if I ever have to shut it down, I'll make sure to find a way to host my images elsewhere — even if it's just on a free gallery, just so the younger ones can see what us old folks used to play with... 

Warm regards,
Luc

[Dune]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply, Luc. So you've taken off too   I think I would, if I didn't have so much invested in Terragen in terms of workflow and assets, that ' tool of rare elegance', as you so aptly described it. It's in my genes by now. 
I hope you'll be succesful in your work, whether it be TG or unreal!

All best,

Ulco

[Luc]

Hi,

Not sure 'taking off' is the right word — let's say I've stepped back for now, except for some small personal renders and tests, as I wait for something truly new to come along (though I'm not sure what to expect, but hey, let's stay positive).

Given my current role as an Unreal trainer, it makes sense that I mainly use that software.

That said, I did reach out to Planetside recently to ask if they could provide a student version of TerraSky for my classes, since there's a live link between TerraSky and Unreal — even in real time. But I never got a reply... always a nice touch, lol.

Just to clarify — I'm not advertising Unreal here, but it's worth pointing out that Epic does a lot to support both professionals and hobbyists. Everyone knows Unreal is "free", but they also regularly offer high-quality assets — some permanently, and others refreshed every two weeks. That kind of support definitely helps explain why Unreal has built such a strong following.

Have a nice day!

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi Luc,  I've not come across your request for a student version of Terragen Sky, and I check educational license requests and support tickets on a daily basis.

Planetside Software offers educational licenses for Terragen 4 Professional including Terragen Sky Early Access, to schools, teachers and students.  Here's the link to apply for an educational license as an individual or on behalf of your educational institution.  
https://planetside.co.uk/educational-license-program/

Please feel free to submit an application via the link above or email us at registrations@planetside.co.uk and we'll get you set up.