Terrain
From RoboBlitz Editor Wiki
BSP is great for floors and walls, but it's pretty lousy if you want to create rolling hills or contoured surfaces. If you want to set your map outside then Terrain is what you need.
Contents |
Jump Right In
If you're too impatient to read further do this:
- Tools->New Terrain.
- Click Next a few times.
- Drag your terrain around like you would a mesh. Click the Terrain Mode Button
.
- CTRL-Left Click the Terrain to raise mountains, CTRL-Right click to lower valleys.
If you're still reading, the you're probably looking for a more methodical approach.
Adding a Piece of Terrain
In the Actor Classes Browser open the Info class and select the Terrain class. Now right click in a view port and select Add Terrain Here.
Your terrain is 1 patch by 1 patch in size. You can drag it around like a static mesh. If you'd like a larger piece of terrain edit the terrain's properties and set NumPatchesX and NumPatchesY to your desired values.
Adding Layers To Terrain
RoboBlitz didn't use any terrain, so in an effort to keep the game small, no Terrain materials or Terrain Layers were shipped with the game. We'll have to start out by making one of our own. While in Terrain editing mode (enter it by pressing: 
) right click in in the gray layers box (it should have a HeightMap layer already) and select New Layer. Name and save your new layer.
Creating a Material for the Terrain
Head over to your browser. If you haven't already opened up all the packages that came with Roboblitz, do so now by clicking File -> Open, then going into packages and selecting them all with a shift-click. After they are loaded into your browser, select the Texture resource type on the left - this displays two things. Below it, it shows all the packages that have textures, and on the right within the browser it displays all the textures inside of the selected package.
Head through the textures, and find the one you want your terrain to look like. I chose Allegorithmic_Radar_Textures -> R_L_cave_rock_04. Pick whichever you'll be happy with, and right click it. Choose Create New Material. Save the new material in your own package - I called mine 'training', and named the material mossyground.
Now, switch the resource type to 'Material' and select the Training (or whatever you called it) package. You should see a grey lit up globe. Double-Click that grey globe (the one you just created in the last step), and the Material Editor will pop up with your globe on the left, and a Kismet-like interface in the middle. In middle will be your texture Sample and under it will be the Preview Material widget.
Ctrl-Click and drag your Texture sample off to the right, so they are side by side. you're welcome to fool around and experiment here, but here are some guidelines. Along the left side of the Texture Sample widget, are 5 connectors. As far as I can guess, they represent each channel (Full, red, Green, Blue, and Alpha). Connect any of these and see the effects on the left. I simply connected the All (black) to the Diffuse connector. This yields a nice material that looks groundish. Close the window by clicking on the 'X', this will prompt you to save the material. Do so. you've now created the material your ground will be made of.
Making the Terrain
Now, click back on Edit Terrain (). Select the terrain layer you completed in the first step of this tutorial. Click over to the browser and make sure you have the material you just made (no longer a grey ball, now textured) selected. Back over on the TerrainEdit panel, right click the layer from the first step. Select 'Add Selected Material'. Name it, and all that good stuff - then check your viewer. your terrain should now be textured and pretty.
Creating a DecoLayer
If you already have your own static mesh that you would like to use as a DecoLayer, go ahead and use it. If not, you can download a simple grass static mesh and texture/material from me. If you don't yet know how to import and texture a static mesh, consult the pages for these topics at the bottom of the Table of Contents.
Once you have your DecoLayer mesh ready open the browser window and make sure your mesh is selected. Next, open the Terrain Editing Window. Once the window is open, right click in the dark grey area and select “New DecoLayer”. Name your new DecoLayer “GrassLayer”. With the mesh still selected right click on your “GrassLayer” and click “Add Selected Decoration”. Locate the terrain icon in any of your view ports (it might be easiest to locate it in your 3D view port) and right click it. Click “Terrain Properties (1 Selected)” to bring up the terrain properties window. In the properties window expand the “Terrain” submenu and continue expanding the following submenus: “DecoLayers --> [0] --> Decorations --> [0] --> Factory”. In this submenu you can change the attributes associated with your DecoLayer.
DecoLayer Attributes:
- MinScale = The minimum size your deco mesh could have when it is created on your terrain.
- MaxScale = The maximum size your deco mesh could have when it is created on your terrain.
- Density = The higher the density, the more clumped together your meshes will be when placed on the terrain.
- SlopeRotationBlend = Helps the engine decide how to slant your mesh depending on the surface it is placed on.
- RandSeed = Gives the computer a number to help the engine randomize mesh placement and size.
Set the values of your properties as follows: MinScale: 1.5, MaxScale: 2.75, Density: 4, SlopeRotationBlend: 1, RandSeed: 2. Exit the properties window and open your Terrain Editing Window again. Select your GrassLayer and then select your paint tool. Hold CTRL and the left click to paint the DecoLayer on your terrain. Alternatively, hold CTRL and right click to remove DecoLayers from your terrain.
TODO:
Finish Layers
Explain each tool and field.
Terrain Properties
- CollisionTesselationLevel
- Determines the accuracy of the collision detection on the terrain. Experiment for optimum values. 1 is usually insufficient for Blitz's ball. 2 works on some maps. Values as large as 4 cause your map file size to increase dramatically. Use large sizes with caution.
