http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/ 2026-04-30T16:16:22+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/ http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/lib/images/favicon.ico text/html 2017-08-31T05:47:38+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:alpha&rev=1504158458&do=diff Alpha maps are images used for run-time texture blending (or 'texture splatting'), which is a technique typically used in games to achieve high-resolution terrain detail. Alpha maps consist of one or more layers (read: colours), which each represent the coverage of a texture/land type over the surface of the terrain. This is similar to the attributes map used in L3DT, and alpha maps are in-fact generated from the attributes map by L3DT. text/html 2017-08-31T06:22:55+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:am&rev=1504160575&do=diff The attributes map describes the type of land in each pixel of the texture map or alpha maps (e.g. rocks, sand, grassland, jungle, etc). The attributes map is conceptually similar to a set of alpha maps, but it takes less space. Instead of each land type having its own image (or layer in an image), it is assigned a unique 16-bit value that is stored in the attributes map. For a typical map with four land types, the attributes map takes 1/2 the space in memory than an equivalent alpha map. For a … text/html 2017-08-31T06:49:50+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:dm&rev=1504162190&do=diff The design map is a high-level map used by the design/inflate algorithm to generate the heightfield. One pixel in the design map typically corresponds to a 6464 tile of heightfield pixels. The parameters contained within the design map are: * Altitude * Peak roughness * Fractal roughness * Cliff / terracing strength * Erosion strength * Lakes parameter * Climate identifier * Special 'type' - mountains, volcanos, plateaus, etc * Special 'type' parameter text/html 2017-08-31T06:19:39+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:hf&rev=1504160379&do=diff The heightfield is simply a map of altitudes, which is usually rendered as a greyscale image where black is the minimum altitude and white is the maximum altitude. Example map Further reading * User-guide topics: * Heightfield operations. * Display schemes. text/html 2017-08-31T06:06:37+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:lm&rev=1504159597&do=diff The light map is just that - it is a map of the light intensity on the surface of the heightfield. It is used when generating the texture map. Example map The sunlight used in this map was yellow-white, but it can be any RGB colour you like. Note that the water absorption option has been used here, thus the seafloor is very dark, and shallows are green-blue. text/html 2017-08-31T05:53:01+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:tn&rev=1504158781&do=diff The terrain normals map is a map of vectors perpendicular to the heightfield surface. This map is used only for generating the light map. Example map Here the three colours (r, g, b) are used to represent the three components of the normal vector (x, y, z). text/html 2017-08-31T04:32:49+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:tx&rev=1504153969&do=diff The texture map is a map of the colour of the terrain heightfield surface, in RGB. Example map Further reading * User-guide topics: * Generating the texture map. * Algorithm information: * Texture-mapping algorithms. text/html 2017-08-31T05:19:57+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:wm&rev=1504156797&do=diff The water map is a map of water levels and types. This structure, while large in memory, allow us to generate water bodies at different levels (ie. lakes) and non-flat water bodies such as rivers. Example map Here solid dark blue is sea, solid light blue are lakes, white pixels are water edges, and the spooky looking stuff is the water table (aqua around freshwater, green around sea water, deep blue when far underground). text/html 2017-08-31T06:31:09+00:00 http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:reference:maps:ws&rev=1504161069&do=diff The salinity map describes the amount and distribution of salt in the water-bodies and water-table within the water map. This data is used to assign the location of land types in the attributes map, specifically those that are found near the sea (eg. beach sand, foreshore scrub) and those that are found near freshwater (eg. fertile riverbanks).