3D Game Environments

CHAPTER 8

Terrain

In this chapter we will look at the basics of terrain creation and editing common to most terrain tools. There are three general ways to create terrain for games: manually using a 3D application, using tools in a game editor, and using a terrain generator. You usually end up relying on one way and using the others in the course of your work. Since in-game terrain tools are usually tailored to that game/game engine and combine basic terrain editing features with proprietary features, we will first look at the basics of terrain creation, followed by a brief discussion of terrain creation software. After you understand the basics of terrain editing, you should be able to quickly pick up almost any terrain in-game editor. ...