World / terrain and collisions - GameCreators Forum

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Deth Wish

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Posted: 22nd Nov 2005 10:54

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ok, just a few queries here
the fastest and the most accurate methods of terrain would be which?
matrix, heightmaps, objects (.x)
and heightmaps arent really matrices with height data are they?
heightmap terrains seem to be treated like objects, plus there are some extra commands i could use (for entity height positioning etc)
however, ive been thinking of creating a world in .x format,
collision with world would probably be tough, but not impossible, either by DBP's commands, or third party DLL.

so which one would be the best option in your opinions

plus is it just me, or are the terrain commands undocumented or something in 5.8 (methinx also 5.9) ?
most, if not all, terrain commands dont show up as key words in DBP's IDE and no help files either. or is the installation just missing some keywords.ini type file, and help files??? would these be a part of the advanced terrain.dll???

much appreciated for you time
thanks all

Try playing doom 3 on a laptop....

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Peter H

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Posted: 22nd Nov 2005 15:08 Edited at: 22nd Nov 2005 15:11

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Quote: "the fastest and the most accurate methods of terrain would be which?"

"objects (.x)" are the fastest (if you are conservative on your polys)

although they are harder to make, because you have to model them yourself, were the others are generated by the computer...

collision with .x isn't hard at all, you can use "intersect object"

+ Code Snippet

INTERSECT OBJECT
This command will return the distance to the point of intersection between two coordinates, in reference 
to the specified object. Use this command to project a line from your current position to a destination to 
determine whether a collision will occur with an object. Ideal for bullet calculations and fast manual 
polygon collision.
 
SYNTAX
Return Float=INTERSECT OBJECT(Object Number, X, Y, Z, ToX, ToY, ToZ)

Quote: "and heightmaps arent really matrices with height data are they?"

the term "heightmap" usually refers to a 2D image representing the "height" of some ground (usually black and white, the black areas being lowest and the white areas being highest) then the heightmap is taken and applied to whatever (matrix, advanced terrain...etc)

--Peter

"We make the worst games in the universe..."

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Deth Wish

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Joined: 14th Nov 2005

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Posted: 23rd Nov 2005 03:21 Edited at: 23rd Nov 2005 20:57

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Quote: "collision with .x isn't hard at all, you can use "intersect object""

ohh yeeeaaaaaahhh....DOH!..i knew that, feel like an idiot
thanks for pointing that out
which reminds me of another point... which is faster... for bullet code:

+ Code Snippet

pick object (from centre of screen)
OR
looping the intersect object (from my position, to extended range  ie, a manual pick object)

oh and for collision detection, you think i should just go ahead and use Newton instead of standard DBP commands?

Quote: "heightmap is taken and applied to whatever (matrix, advanced terrain...etc)
"

so in DBP, when i

+ Code Snippet

 
make object terrain x
set terrain heightmap x, "heightmap.bmp"

what exactly does it do... apply height map to a matrix??

and so terrain maps would be best created in .x eh... hmm thanks

still wondering about code documentation though...WHICH reminds me again...
read somewhere in the forums, about a commad like "3DS2X" is that even there??? not in my DBP...

Try playing doom 3 on a laptop....

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