Need tips on Forest Editor system
by Kenneth Eves · in Torque 3D Beginner · 10/13/2012 (1:05 am) · 6 replies
My overland world is 4km x 4km arranged in 12 regions.
I want to use the forest system with one forest object per region so I can delete and rebuild each without destroying the others.
I'm figuring that each region's forest will have it's own brush and mesh references so that they can be configured individually.
The only way I can find to create multiple forest objects is cut / paste, which does work. Problem I have is I can't figure out how to edit them individually. Adding new trees just puts all trees into one.
I'm not doing something right. Any tips on how to manage multiple forests in a single mission?
I want to use the forest system with one forest object per region so I can delete and rebuild each without destroying the others.
I'm figuring that each region's forest will have it's own brush and mesh references so that they can be configured individually.
The only way I can find to create multiple forest objects is cut / paste, which does work. Problem I have is I can't figure out how to edit them individually. Adding new trees just puts all trees into one.
I'm not doing something right. Any tips on how to manage multiple forests in a single mission?
About the author
<3 TGE/A Quickly becoming a fan of T3D 1.2
#2
10/13/2012 (9:12 am)
While on the topic with editors etc the terrain editors also act weird when there is more than 1 terrain in the mission but nothing as severe as this :)
#3
It looks like use of multiple forest objects is not supported. The name of the forest object is hard-coded in source.
Maybe I can control multiple regions using the forest brushes. I'm not sure if deleting a brush deletes the spawned trees, but that's the direction I'm looking at.
@ Lukas, That probably got inherited from TGEA. It would handle multiple terrains (non mega-terrain) but they had to be painted separately. I used 2 terrains in TGEA to make caves. One normal as the terrain floor, the other rolled 180 degrees to make the ceiling. Possibly the same would work in T3D.
10/13/2012 (2:09 pm)
Good info, thanks.It looks like use of multiple forest objects is not supported. The name of the forest object is hard-coded in source.
bool ForestEditorCtrl::updateActiveForest( bool createNew )
{
mForest = dynamic_cast<Forest*>( Sim::findObject( "theForest" ) );Maybe I can control multiple regions using the forest brushes. I'm not sure if deleting a brush deletes the spawned trees, but that's the direction I'm looking at.
@ Lukas, That probably got inherited from TGEA. It would handle multiple terrains (non mega-terrain) but they had to be painted separately. I used 2 terrains in TGEA to make caves. One normal as the terrain floor, the other rolled 180 degrees to make the ceiling. Possibly the same would work in T3D.
#4
10/13/2012 (6:07 pm)
i've got multiple forests working, originally intended for a paging world system but couldn't make it translate though, other than that worked great, I'll have another crack at it and submit as a resource if I get anywhere. 
#5
I would very much like to see a fix for this, thanks Kenneth for pointing this out.
10/14/2012 (7:18 am)
Hardcoded to "TheForest" ...I would very much like to see a fix for this, thanks Kenneth for pointing this out.
#6
Have an assignment in forest objects for what brush they are associated with. Then when in the forest editor, and having a brush selected, starting a write would loop through the mission's forest objects to find the correct one associated with that brush. If none were associated, offer to create one, or just alert the person that they needed to associate a forest object with that brush.
I'm not sure that multiple forest objects are needed. I'm thinking there might be a performance gain if distant forests could be culled, but I'm not sure if that would be the case. The other side is that it might needlessly complicate the rendering process and hurt performance.
10/14/2012 (1:39 pm)
I've been giving this some thought. Not something I'm ready to start writing yet, but here's the idea:Have an assignment in forest objects for what brush they are associated with. Then when in the forest editor, and having a brush selected, starting a write would loop through the mission's forest objects to find the correct one associated with that brush. If none were associated, offer to create one, or just alert the person that they needed to associate a forest object with that brush.
I'm not sure that multiple forest objects are needed. I'm thinking there might be a performance gain if distant forests could be culled, but I'm not sure if that would be the case. The other side is that it might needlessly complicate the rendering process and hurt performance.
Torque Owner Richard Ranft
Roostertail Games
Given the situation as you present it, the "easiest" way I can think of right off the top of my head is to create a separate mission file for each region, copy your terrain to each mission, edit your forests (giving them unique names) and then copying them to the "real" mission when you're happy with them.
In the meantime, someone should look into correcting that issue so that the forest editor only edits the selected forest object - if there isn't already a way to do this. If there is I've never stumbled across it, though I've never tried to do what you're describing, either.