What do you use to create your terrain?

Development Asset Creation
1

I’m just curious what developers are using to create their terrain? Are you using the UE4 terrain editor or using an external program? What program are you using? Pro and cons?

2

WorldMachine with export macros!:wink:

3

-UE4 landscape tool (mainly)
-world machine
-terresculptor
-sometimes I also use blender for heightmaps :slight_smile:

4

Thanks for the replys. I’m trying to figure out what I should use.

5

which macro are you using, is it your own?

6

is world machine a must have for terrain creation?

7

It is not a must have … you could use L3DT or Terragen … I have all 3 and use them for various reasons. I am no expert on Terrains though. 8-}

8

Whats your opinion of L3DT then?:slight_smile:

9

photoshop + srtm data

10

You could also just use the UE4 landscape tool or other landscape generators -> ://www.lilchips/hmes.htm

11

I have used it for many years … it has its merits … World Machine has a steeper learning curve but is extremely flexible … World Machine is like the Kismet of terrain generation.

L3DT has a smaller learning curve … can be as flexible as World Machine but relies more on plugins to do this.

If I was you … try them both … see which fits your workflow better and use that until you need something different or you want to change.

12

if you want to use World Composition, then I would say yes. I use it for both, tiled and non-tiled.

13

Am I the only one using Mudbox?

14

this is not bad. but it is very limited and still look like it’s a far way off being a very good program, World creator is also one also

15

I use mudbox for working on small areas on an already created terrain.
But creating an entire landscape just with mudbox takes too long for me

16

Crocopede, how do you convert your hgt files into raw, or are you finding another format for SRTM? The reason I ask, is that I’m having trouble importing landscape mesh. I export hgt data in 3DEM into a BIN/RAW 32-bit floating point, then open that file in photoshop, and change the mode to 16 bits and save it as a PNG/RAW file. I end up with spikes everywhere when I import. I know the data is clean as I can import the same BIN/RAW into 3DS and it creates a great looking mesh. I’ve tried opening a 16bit integer BIN/RAW file (created in 3DEM) in photoshop but it doesn’t display correctly.

17

I use 3ds

This is how I do it.

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18

This might be a little crazy, but I actually took DEM data from the NOAA grid extract tool, converted it to a height image using MicroDEM, pasted the image in Photoshop and adjusted it to the proper size, then took it in G16 to convert it to a 16-bit format to work with Unreal’s landscapes, and imported an actual real-world model of the ocean floor.

There even exists a free online tool to download DEM data for any place in the United States that you want. If you literally want the Rocky Mountains in your game, select the area you want to use, convert it to a format Unreal can read, and you can literally have the heightfield of the Rocky Mountains in your project.

19

I used MicroDem in the past for this but found using earthexplorer from USGS to be a bit quicker. Although the resolutions aren’t always super great

20

I get my hgt files from Earth Explorer too–but haven’t come across any PNG or RAW formats there. GeoTIFF is of course pretty popular. I’ll try microdem, and see how that works for me–thanks!

EDIT

I can’t find an export / save function with MicroDem for .raw or .png either. (I’ve searched help and google).