Terrain Editor

#1 There is really no good solution for this at the moment. Currently, the best way to do this is to use TGE's mission editor to create the .ter files. I'll wanted to write up a little summary about that - thanks for the reminder.

John K.

#2 Actually John, I think that IS a good solution. While it may not mesh perfectly at the moment, I think it would probably be easier to maitain as well as educate users if all the consumer oriented Torque engines used the same terrain editor as opposed to a bunch different versions.

#3 Oh and one more discovery! It seems that you have to use TGE and not TGEA. Digging through the code reveals that TGEA is using something called a Version 4 terrain format, whereas TGE is using Version 3. And Torque X only likes the Version 3 terrain format. Sorry, I don't know the difference between the two terrain formats. But just stick with TGE's Mission Editor ;)

John K.

#4 See, even the devs can't keep up with all the different versions of terrain editors :) Are these formats public? ie: Is there a doc somewhere that lists their field structures, etc.? Would be a great thing to throw up on TDN.

#5 @Nathan - I'm finding more, but here's a start:
- Go to TGE Official Docs.
- Perform a search for "Terrain Field" and "TerrainBlock"

You can perform the same search in the standard search (garagegames.com) and get some more information too.

#6 Is there any way to edit terrains if you dont have TGE or TGEA? Saw a post that said it was in the TGE demo - but that doesnt seem to be true. Shouldnt the editor come with TX or at least TXPro?

#7 The TGE demo does indeed have a terrain editor. You have to press F11 once you are running the demo. That will load the WorldEditor. From there, you can modify and save the terrain.

#8 Is there any way to edit terrains if you dont have TGE or TGEA? Saw a post that said it was in the TGE demo - but that doesnt seem to be true. Shouldnt the editor come with TX or at least TXPro?

#9 Is there any way to edit terrains if you dont have TGE or TGEA? Saw a post that said it was in the TGE demo - but that doesnt seem to be true. Shouldnt the editor come with TX or at least TXPro?

#10 Try this one... www.envygames.com/share/TGE_Terrain_Editor.zip

Sppry. I'm so swamped, I can't offer any detailed instructions on how to use it with Torque X. I can get back to that in a few days. But for now, here's the tool and there's probably a lot of other online resources that describe how to use it.

John K.

#11 @John - Thanks a lot .. i will try it out

#12 I just started using this terrain editor you linked. How do u save out a .ter file for Torque X?

#13 Just a note about the link John provided, it installs what seems to be an early or primitive copy of the TGE mission editor. Its very limited of capabilities, for example importing or saving .ter files. I did some searching and discovered that the TGE Demo at www.garagegames.com/products/torque/tge/ is the version that works fine. I was able to import and edit existing .ter files and even create my own and successfully use them in XNA. It works great.

#14 @ John K, or anyone that has used the L3DT editor

Does the L3DT editor have the ability to save out the Version 3 Terrain Data?

Thanks,
Jeff

#15 Why you don't want to use the TGE terrain editor? It's simple, effective and free (since it's included in TGE demo) ...

#16

Quote:Does the L3DT editor have the ability to save out the Version 3 Terrain Data?

Apparently not. It can output heightfields as RAW data, and can create a blend map, so you can still use it, but it's not as simple as having a proper TX or TGE output format.

Don't try to use a RAW terrain with a Unique Texture, though, that's completely broken in TorqueX at the moment. Blended terrain works, sorta.

The only thing that really works 100% though is the TGE terrain editor, which is unfortunate because I find it tremendously painful to use compared to other terrain editors I've used in the past, and I don't much care for it.

Presumably that situation will improve over time, though :)

#17

Quote:@Nathan - I'm finding more, but here's a start:
- Go to TGE Official Docs.
- Perform a search for "Terrain Field" and "TerrainBlock"

You can perform the same search in the standard search (garagegames.com) and get some more information too.

I did a bit of looking around and all I was able to find were API references which don't really do much to explain the actual file format.

Since my post I've had time to review the XTerrain code and that answered most of my questions.

One that remains though is if there was a technology reason for using TGE terrain Version3 as apposed to using V4 which is what TGEA 1.7 uses? Or was it just an issue of time?

#18 I know I've seen the file format specs somewhere, but I haven't been able to find them again. It's probably possible to figure out the format based on the terrain loading code in TXPro, but I'm not that ambitious.

#19 Just check out the TGE TerrainBlock save/load code. It's pretty straightforward, and the info is guaranteed to be 100% up to date. :)

#20 I think maybe you guys misunderstood what I'm asking.

I have looked at the TorqueX terrain code and from what I see there and from things that I've read, it uses version 3 of the Torque terrain file format.

TGEA 1.7 includes a new terrain file format which allows for paging as well as more texture maps (8 vs. 4 in TGE/TX).

I do not currently own TGEA, but have been considering picking up a copy to pull the terrain code out of it and port it to TX, but I want to know if there was maybe a technology reason around GG using the version 3 terrain as apposed to the newer format or if it was just a matter of timing.