TerraDyne is a landscape plugin that unifies Runtime Terrain Sculpting with Real-Time Physics using a modern, unified architecture that moves away from legacy methods.
It started as an unassuming GitHub repo, and slowly built from there, with some help from the great OSS community. The 0.1 open-source version is still available there with 3 separate branches, but it only contains up to 15% of the present Fab version's functionality, which is being regularly updated.
UE 5.7 version is recommended over older versions: it's the version I develop on and the first to get updates.
TerraDyne currently features the following:
1. True Runtime Plasticity:
Unlike standard Unreal Landscapes, TerraDyne allows for real-time structural changes (sculpting, craters, tectonic shifts) during gameplay.
It successfully integrates a hybrid CPU/GPU pipeline, using Compute Shaders/Render Targets (HeightRT, SculptRT) for fast deformation and UDynamicMeshComponent for rendering.
2. "Live Takeover" Workflow:
The system can sample existing Landscape actors into its own data structures (16-bit precision), allowing developers to design in the editor and convert to TerraDyne for runtime interactivity without data loss.
3. Visual & Physical Parity:
It solves the complex problem of aligning visual meshes with physics collision at runtime.
4. Integrated Tooling:
It provides a standalone Runtime GUI (Slate-based STerraDynePanel) with GPU telemetry, proving it works as a "game-ready" tool, not just an editor plugin.
Includes a "Zero-Configuration" wizard (TerraDyneSceneSetup) for instant usability.