L3DT users' community
Large 3D terrain generator

Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Got a problem or need advice?

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby ShadowIce » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:04 pm

Aaron, no offense, but this should have been put in a LONG time ago. It is a NEEDED function. That stupid bulldozer mode does NOT work well at all. I paid for the product as did alot of people, & I'm sure MOST, if not EVERYONE will agree with me that we NEED this function. Having a heightmap that waves around at the edges is not only WEIRD, but it causes ALOT of problems trying to get into nearly EVERY engine.
ShadowIce
Luminary
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:11 pm

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby Aaron » Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:20 pm

The bulldozer tool is not the right tool for this job. That's for making roads over uneven terrain (e.g. roads tutorial). The right tools are the design map brush, the 'level at' heightfield tool, and the 'smooth' heightfield tool. Using those three, it took about five minutes to make a map with level edges:

flat_edges_demo.jpg


I'm sure MOST, if not EVERYONE will agree with me that we NEED this function.


I normally try really hard to be civil with all my users, but you really have no idea what you're talking about. I get a lot of feature requests; the best I do immediately, some I put on the dev plan and get to them when time permits, and some I reject. I do, however, read every single one, so I'm well aware of what users are asking for. You are not. Of the 2000+ new users of L3DT Pro last year, guess how many asked for this feature? Care to guess how many people have asked in the ~13 years since L3DT 1.0 was released? How many do you think? I'll give you a clue: it's not "EVERYONE", or even "MOST". Yes, it's "YOU".

Now, despite the fact that the same effect can be achieved using three old tools and some initiative, I'm still going to do this plugin. It's not all that hard to do, and it will provide some utility to the users who want to easily create islands (a more popular request.) However, when I make this plugin is up to me. I understand your request, and I have put it on the dev plan. No further correspondence is required.

If you are upset with my response, I will gladly offer you a full refund and my compliments.

Aaron.
User avatar
Aaron
Site Admin
 
Posts: 3696
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:41 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby ShadowIce » Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:00 pm

Ok. You know what? I understand that, but you don't have to be rude about it. No. I'm not gonna ask for a refund. Yet. I'm simply stating that ANY user here would agree with me that this is a needed plugin.
ShadowIce
Luminary
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:11 pm

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby Aaron » Tue Mar 15, 2016 12:22 pm

Hi ShadowIce,

To avoid any risk of inadvertently provoking rude replies on the internet, might I respectfully suggest that you refrain from SHOUTING words in capital letters? If however you were unaware of the aggressive meaning of ALL CAPS (Netiquette rule #2), then I sincerely apologise for the intemperate tone of my previous response. If you feel the need to add polite emphasis, might I suggest italics?

I'm simply stating that ANY user here would agree with me that this is a needed plugin.


It's probably imprudent to answer this again, but I must reiterate that I have seen no evidence to support this assertion. The truth is there are very few feature requests that are widely popular; most are niche, like yours, and that's OK. I do niche requests.

Perhaps it would be illustrative to list some of the feature requests that are popular, and have high priorities for after the release of v16.0X:
  • Multi-threading some of the heightfield calculations would save many users a ton of time, and is probably the most popular request. I'm now convinced it's time.
  • A 64 bit build. I get this request a lot too.
  • A re-write of Sapphire to use OpenGL 3+ would speed things up, allow better effects, and potentially save a bunch of driver-related heartache. This is long overdue.
  • Better JPEG and/or PNG plugins that don't run out of memory on large map sizes would also be well received.
  • Even deferred/on-demand loading of plugins to speed up application startup may be well appreciated, especially since the number of plugins keeps increasing for some reason.
I have no doubt that your request is more important to you than those other features listed above, but one balance I'd say that any given user would more likely prefer one or more of those on the list above to your plugin request. As I said back on the 13th, and again yesterday, I have committed to write this plugin, but it won't be commenced or completed immediately after the release of v16.0X. It may be completed before most of those listed above, however, because it is a relatively small job. The vagaries of precisely when I get to it are difficult to predict and not subject to persuasion. The same goes for all requests from all other users, too.

Kind regards,
Aaron.
User avatar
Aaron
Site Admin
 
Posts: 3696
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:41 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby ShadowIce » Tue Mar 15, 2016 3:51 pm

Aaron, I use caps in sentences to stress my words. NOT to yell.
ShadowIce
Luminary
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:11 pm

Re: Plugin to create equal terrain edges?

Postby Aaron » Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:27 pm

Hi ShadowIce,

Thank you for your patience. I think the atEdgeLeveller plugin is now working sufficiently well to meet your requirements. It's included in L3DT 16.04 build 3 (64 bit), which is on the Pro downloads page now (see sales/registration e-mail for link). The menu option is 'Operations->Heightfield->Edge levelling'. The meanings of the two parameters are explained on the plugin page.

Here is a set of before and after images, where I used the plugin to create an island surrounded by a smooth seafloor that is -50m at the map edge. Here is before:

edgeleveller_before.png
Before, with rough edges


...and here is after:

edgeleveller_after.png
After, with flat edges at -50 metres


Please let me know if you find any problems.

Best regards,
Aaron.
User avatar
Aaron
Site Admin
 
Posts: 3696
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:41 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Previous

Return to Help and support

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

cron