Help with how to approach my terrain

Troubleshooting terramonkey
1

Hi,
Basically I’ve only just started out learning Java, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself , but as I’m learning, I keep having a little go making terrains.
So it’s got me wondering what would be the best way to make a terrain that is focused on the very small. i.e from the view point of an ant.
So from a photo of say, a top down view of the ground, so pebbles and dirt is well defined, how could this be done? I would need to maybe create a height map to define the pebbles, small slopes etc
Could this be done in TerraMonkey?
Any help would be appreciated!
Cheers

2

From the point of view from an ant you can still use the terrain, but it will be the dirt, and very close up. So you will need detailed textures. As for mounds of dirt, larger rocks or anything, that might have to be the skybox. Remember that grass is like a forest to an ant. Look at it that way (you walking through a forest as a person) and just replace the trees with blades of grass. That will give you a sense of scale. Then use the terrain accordingly.
Pebbles should be separate models.

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3

Thanks for your help.
If the camera is top down view, then should I still use the skybox?

4

for the sky above? probably

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5

What I mean is if the camera is always looking down at the terrain, then I don’t need the skybox, unless it can be used for some other effect I’m not thinking of.

6

Well depends how you handle the end of the map, but if you cannot see it at all, it has not much use, yes

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7

Thanks for your help…
Just a quick question, if I wanted to create the ground to be bumpy, would that be possible using TerraMonkey? Or would I have to rely on high detailed textures?

8

Depends what you mean by bumpy…

Terrain can’t fold in on itself (i.e. have caves, overhangs, etc - but other than that it can be as bumpy as you like).

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9

Right OK, good. So, using TerraMonkey how can I define “bumps” that are smaller than the height adjustment tool allows?

10

Sorry, I’ve never actually used the terrain stuff (just know the theory of how it works) so can’t tell you any more than I already have.

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