"new" principle for canyon mesas

Tangled-Universe · July 27, 2009, 12:12:33 PM

Hi Guys,

Unfortunately I don't have much time right now to elaborate on how it's done.

Basically I replaced the base-terrain setup of my canyon-technique with just 2 powerfractals in order to generate mesa-like structures.
So now the entire planet is made up of these mesa-structures.
I will try to further develop this technique, things like a better talus for example.

I think I have already isolated the fan-like displacements.
The lighting is a bit strong and harsh, but not really the focus anyway.

Martin

RArcher · July 27, 2009, 02:01:50 PM

Martin,

The wall variations are really fantastic! If you have indeed figured out how to get rid of the sharp fan displacements and cutoffs then this is damn near perfect.

Tangled-Universe · July 27, 2009, 02:05:38 PM

Quote from: RArcher on July 27, 2009, 02:01:50 PM
Martin,

The wall variations are really fantastic! If you have indeed figured out how to get rid of the sharp fan displacements and cutoffs then this is damn near perfect.

Thanks a bunch Ryan

And yes, I've isolated the problem and already tested the solution, it's fixed now as far as I know

Gannaingh · July 27, 2009, 02:55:07 PM

I agree with Ryan, the wall variation is superb!

Hetzen · July 27, 2009, 04:16:56 PM

I think I understand what you've done. I also think a 64bit version of TG2 will help. More levels of grey?

FrankB · July 27, 2009, 04:17:11 PM

cool, definitely different with these "other" strata :-)

Tangled-Universe · July 27, 2009, 04:59:36 PM

Quote from: Hetzen on July 27, 2009, 04:16:56 PM
I think I understand what you've done. I also think a 64bit version of TG2 will help. More levels of grey?

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but you mean that with more levels of gray the fractals could be more accurate and wouldn't cause fan-shaped displacements?
In this case I had enabled "continue spike limit" in a couple of powerfractals and they seem to do the trick for solving it in this case.
There was also a height-restriction which was off and caused minor problems.

Hetzen · July 27, 2009, 05:05:14 PM

Not tried the spike limit, but I do know that TG doesn't like creating vertical triangles, somehow you need to temper that. More 'grey' that can be compressed with a greater bit resolution would help from what I've found and understood.

Tangled-Universe · July 27, 2009, 05:09:48 PM

Ah like that, yes TG2 doesn't really like extremely steep surfaces, but they're still quite manage-able.
I agree with you that a greater bit-depth could aid, but I'm not sure this is really how TG works, since a lot is being "simplified" to make it work faster.
A possible solution for the problem you describe is to play with the patch-size of your compute terrain and normal.

aymenk2003 · July 27, 2009, 07:07:18 PM

if we ignore the fan-shaped displacements... then it will be a PERFECT image...nice very nice ...let us see more ...

choronr · July 28, 2009, 07:57:16 PM

You vertical surface is shaped beautifully. This is what you see here in various areas ...keep on please.

Tangled-Universe · July 29, 2009, 04:24:16 AM

Thanks guys

I think I have solved the fan-shaped displacements.
It was due to restrictions of my experimental sand-shader. Better said: lack of restrictions

I also improved the strata further and as far as I can tell from the crops it will be the best I ever made

So I'm curious as well how it turns out. Will post it in the next 12 hours.

Martin

inkydigit · July 29, 2009, 05:26:58 AM

I await with baited breath!

Tangled-Universe · July 29, 2009, 03:45:05 PM

So here it is....no more fan-shaped displacements and more properly constricted and scaled sand. Though the ripples could still be a bit smaller imo.
I also tried an other atmosphere but I don't like it.
Further I added another strata-shader to the upper part of the mesa-structure.
If you compare this image with the previous one you can see this one gives a nicer layered style with some little breakups by a renewed voronoi-function.
The renewed voronoi-function is a blend of Frank's advanced cracks clip-file and the one I've been using for many months already.
You can find Frank's advanced cracks clip-file here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6432.msg67919#msg67919

I'm going to try to do some work on the talus and then I consider it almost finished. Suggestions are always welcome of course

Thanks for stopping by again!

Martin

inkydigit · July 29, 2009, 05:45:25 PM

looks much better, Martin!...a great scene for a river? the talus will be the icing on the cake, so to speak!