The main reason I tried this out is that this allows the player to
better choose where to go without huge data transfers, huge memory
consumption and huge burden on the GPU. I am aiming for the low-end
machines, after all.
I think it already gives a lot better feel to the environment, and if
I used this, it would allow me to create a lot more varied maps because
the player wouldn’t need to randomly choose where to start travelling
even if the destination is very far away. And it would make sense to
have some really large-scale features. Currently there is no point in
having a mountain 400 blocks high, because you couldn’t see it anyway,
just a small part of the slope. I love it that it actually makes sense
to climb up a hill to see better into the distance when using this.
It currently is completely unoptimized which causes the lower FPS. This is not a problem when it is optimized.
Also, because it currently simply refers to the map generation noise
functions, it doesn’t represent what there actually currently exists.
The generator does some things that are not possible to determine from
the noise functions at all, and small terrain features which are not
representable with the small polygon count.
Also, on an old world, the algorithms might have changed a bit. So,
you should create a new world for testing this out and getting the right
feel to it.
It is possible to make the server calculate simple properties for the
surface from what there actually is, and make it send the data to the
client instead of the client using the noise functions. In addition to
ground height, ground type and plant content, there could for example be
flags telling if there is artificial light in some place or a small
building or a large building.
The client would be able to light up the torch-illuminated places at
night and draw some simple building mock-ups, which would make it easy
to spot player-built structures from the distance. You wouldn’t see how
they actually look, but you would see that there is something
interesting and worth visiting at.
More about the long range terrain approximation test
The main reason I tried this out is that this allows the player to better choose where to go without huge data transfers, huge memory consumption and huge burden on the GPU. I am aiming for the low-end machines, after all.
Posted by Exmex on
