first of all, I have a Nvidia GF4 Mx 440 that doesn't support shaders . and I make my terrain heightmaps using Freeword3D

now I want to know if there's a way to texture my terrain with more than a texture
without using shaders nor IceX2 ?
must I use a single color texture for that ? cus a single color texture doesn't look good and isn't precise

sorry for the bad english

the latest med suppots multiple textures.
i'd suggest to use another modeller (blender/wings), apply your textures there, then reimport (via 3ds) into med. all uv and texture sets are kept.

you mean that I have to use a model (MDL7 file) instead of a hmp file ?

guess so...

But wait... unless I've done something wrong, MDL's dont seem to work as terrains. Is there a way to convert a 3DS or MDL to HMP or MED terrain? I have a lot of good 3D programs and none of them seem to do this.

Actually I have created terrains using 3rd party tools and then saving them as MDL7 or 5 and then applying the polygon flag to walk on and it seams to work fairly decently. Maybe this is what you want to do.
Thanks.

I did that. I used Bryce to make a terrain and texture, PhotoImpact to adjust the texture realism, then imported both 3DS model and texture into med to make a fine terrain. Only trouble is my character doesn't walk on the terrain correctly, it gets stuck at every slope (I have set the slopes flag for my character) and sometimes the character falls through the terrain.

Saw your entry here and am trying to find a Tutorial I have from Jeff Frazer of "New Damage Media" Using Adobe Photoshop.
Right now I am updating my Adobe GoLive software so I can preview the Tutorial.

I used to make terrain with PaintShop Pro and then got Photoshop

I'll try paste it here.
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Subject: Terrain
Author: Jeff Frazer
Level: Beginner
Time: 1 hour +/-
Tools:
a computer
Adobe Photoshop
3D Game Studio
some textures


Welcome to the NDM Learning Archives. This tutorial will demonstrate how to create terrain maps, skins, and how to implement them. All files used in this tutorial can be downloaded here. More information on the programs used can be found at Adobe Systems Inc and Conitec Datensysteme.

Note: this tutorial contains a lot of images so load time might be a little long.

Introduction:
First off, let me say that we're just going to jump right into this lesson. The first step that you should take when creating terrain is to map everything out onto paper. This will give you a general idea of what everything will look like and where it should go. This lesson is more about creation than design. I will be writing another tutorial devoted to the general design and "feel" of terrain soon.

Getting Started:
I will be making use of Photoshop's keyboard shortcuts, as should you. Anytime I use a shortcut it will look like this "SHORTCUT". Go ahead and open up Photoshop. Make sure that your foreground/background colors are set to the default black/white. If they aren't, hit "D" on your keyboard to reset them. Hit "CTRL-N" to open a new file with dimensions 256x256. I always set the contents to "Background Color" but, since we are using the default colors, it isn't necessary. You should now have a white square.

Select Filter from the menu bar and go to Texture -> Texturizer. The Texturizer filter does precisely what its name says. It adds a texture to the image. In the Texture box select Sandstone. Set the Scaling to 200% and the Relief to 30. I like the light direction set to Bottom but that's up to you. Hit ok and you should now have a really ugly white square.

Currently our square is too small. I like to make my height maps pretty large and generally its the way to go. Select Image from the menu bar and go to Image Size. Now this is up to you and your video card's maximum texture size since some video cards don't support large textures. If this is the case you have two options: buy a new card or don't make your image so big. If you aren't sure, go ahead and follow along with me. Set the width and height to 2048x2048 and hit ok. You should now have a really big ugly white square. See figure 1.1


figure 1.1 figure 1.2

Sandstone texture is nice but our terrain is looking pretty lame at the moment. We need a way to create some defined areas and elevations. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Adobe, there is an incredibly easy way to do just that. Select Filter from the menu bar and go to Pixelate -> Crystallize. Again, the Crystallize filter does exactly what its name says. It "simulates" the crystallization of surfaces. Anyway, go ahead and set the Cell Size to 200 and hit ok. You should now have a square with a multi-shade shattered look. See figure 1.2

This next step isn't critical but I think it adds a nice "natural" look to the final terrain. Select Filter from the menu bar and go to Noise -> Median. Set the Radius to 10 and hit ok. As you can see, the points of the sections are now rounded off. Not a big change but it makes a difference. Save your work. See figure 1.3


figure 1.3 figure 1.4

If you look at the image you'll notice that there are a few patches that are pretty dark. Since darker shades translate into low elevation in a height map, these ares would end up having "walls" that are too steep. We need to lighten up these areas. Select Image from the menu bar and go to Adjust -> Replace Color. Again, Replace Color simply replaces a color throughout the entire image or selection. Set the Fuzziness to 100, the Lightness to 30, and the Image radio button. Now, using the eyedropper click on one of the dark areas in the Replace Color window. Now select the add eyedropper (the one with a plus sign) and select a different shade that needs to be lightened. Hit ok. See figure 1.4

Our current height map has some pretty harsh shade changes. This would translate to very pointy peaks and valleys in the final terrain. We need to "soften" the transitions up a bit. Time to use Gaussian Blur. Select Filter from the menu bar and go to Blur -> Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 15 and hit ok. Now the shades transition more gradually. See figure 1.5


figure 1.5 figure 1.6

The shade transitions still leave a bit to be desired. We need to decrease the overall contrast a little. Select Image from the menu bar and go to Adjust -> Brightness/Contrast. Set Brightness to -15 and Contrast to -45. Hit ok. Now the whole image is more flowing and natural. Save your work. See figure 1.6

Select File from the menu bar and go to Save A Copy. Save it as a BMP. Go ahead and open MED (Model Editor). You can close Photoshop if you need to but we will be using it again soon. Hit "CTRL-O" on the keyboard to open a file. In the Files of Type box select Height Map Image and open the file we just made. In the Options window, set the horizontal and vertical vertices to 73. This is really up to you but I generally try to keep the triangle size under 30 when working with terrain that contains a lot of different elevations. If our terrain was level you could set the vertices lower. Hit ok.

If all goes well, you should now be looking at your height map in all of its 3D splendor. Pretty cool eh? I think so. Still, its not all that impressive without some texture. I always like to see the terrain "rendered" before I start creating the skin. It gives me a better idea of what the finished product is going to look like. You can save the terrain if you want. We're coming back to MED in a bit so its up to you. Okay, now back to Photoshop to create our skin.

I will be using three textures for the skin. If you don't have any textures on hand you can download the ones that I used here. Select the Magic Wand tool and set the Tolerance to 8. We are going to select all of the dark areas on the height map. Click on a dark area and then, holding down the "SHIFT" key, click on all of the other dark areas. See figure 1.7


figure 1.7 figure 1.8

Before we go any further, lets save the selection just in case we mess up. Select Selection from the menu bar and go to Save Selection. Name the selection grass and hit ok. Again, select Selection from the menu bar and go to Modify -> Contract. Set Contract By to 16 and hit ok. The reason we do this is to allow for the slope between the two elevations.

Now we want to "ease" the texture in. This gives the skin a more natural look. Hit "Ctrl-Alt-D" on your keyboard. Enter 15 for Feather Radius and hit ok. You won't notice much of a change now. See figure 1.8

At this point we should create some new layers in our project. Hit "Ctrl-Shift-N" on your keyboard and name the new layer Grass. Go ahead and create two more layers and name them Dirt and Rock. Using multiple layers, which is one of the beauties of Photoshop, makes creating the different texture areas easier. If they aren't already in order, drag the layers so that the Grass layer is on top and the Dirt layer is just above the background. Select the Dirt layer by clicking on it.

Now, open up the texture you are going to use for the low elevations, in my case grass-1001. Hit "Ctrl-A" on your keyboard to select all. Select Edit from the menu bar and go to Define Pattern. Select the Paint Bucket tool and click on the options tab. Set the Contents to Pattern and the Tolerance to 255.

Back in our terrain image making sure that the Grass layer is active, click inside the selection with the Paint Bucket tool. It may take a second but you should now have something that looks like patches of grass. Repeat the process that we did for the Grass layer for the Dirt layer, selecting the areas that are the next darkest and filling them in with the dirt texture. We don't need to go through all of that trouble for the rock layer. Simply define the rock texture as a pattern, select the Rock layer, and fill the entire layer with the texture. If you are confused, scroll this page up a bit to the image of the layers to get a better idea of how everything is laid out.

After you have the three layers completed, save your work. Now, making sure that all of the layers are visible and in the right order, hit "Ctrl-Shift-E" on your keyboard to merge the layers. Hit "Alt-Ctrl-S" to save a copy of the image. I generally name the skin the same as the height map adding an "S" on the end to make things easier (tut-terr-1001/tut-terr-1001s). Make sure that you save it as either a BMP or a PCX. I prefer using the BMP format because of the palette but its up to your personal preferences. You can now finally close Photoshop.

Go ahead and open up MED if it isn't already open. If you saved your terrain before, open the HMP file. If not, open the height map we made earlier setting the vertices to 73. Select View from the menu bar and go to Skins. The Skin Editor window will open showing a pretty mutilated view of our terrain. Select File from the menu bar and go to Import -> Skin Image. Select the skin that we just created, in my case tut-terr-1001s.bmp, and hit ok. Switch back to the main MED window and our terrain should now be "skinned".

Switch back to the main MED window and our terrain should now be "skinned". Well alright! Not too shabby if I say so myself . Anyway, if you want to get a better look at you terrain, select the Position icon from the menu bar. Left click rotates and pans while right click zooms. The only thing let to do now is to save your terrain and revel in the fact that you now know how to create some pretty cool terrain!


Well, that about wraps this one up folks. I hope that you got something out of this tutorial and that I was at least somewhat coherent in my explanation of the subject. If, while enjoying your new life as a successful game designer, you find the time to send me a screen shot of your work, I would be greatly honored .

I would like to know what you thought about this tutorial. If you have a second, drop me an email and let me know. I am always open to suggestions and comments. Also, if you have any ideas for a tutorial you'd like to see written, be sure and let me know that as well.

All comments, suggestions, and screen shots (HINT) can be send to me at mailto:%20jfrazer@ndmedia.net. If you have a website, be sure to include the address in you email.

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Now I need to throw the pictures up here for you to see, if you want to make terrain this way.
I made terrain and walked around on it just fine.
I want to make larger areas of terrain for riding motorbikes or dunebuggy, but have yet to try with 3DGS 6. I had some large maps with 3DGS 5 and 4.

Have to leave for 3 days, so if you don't find anything else, tell me and I'll try to upload the pics here of Jeff's tutorial.

David Robinson

That was a very informative tutorial, to say the least. I don't understand many of the PhotoShop terms, but most of it is pretty standard in most high-end graphics suites. I use this method similarly, incorporating textures based on elevation. The problem I'm having is not with the actual height map or texture, it's to do with how the interaction with a terrain works in 3DGS.

I'm quite new to the engine and I've got much to learn about how the general blocks and primitives work with terrain and other entities. I can't seem to get them to cooperate. I've been playing with A6 now for a little over 6 months and I've yet to create one single room with all components working purely as terrain and props with the characters finding their bounding boxes and other limits.

I have a tutorial here based on making large outdoor levels using primitives only. Not one terrain was placed and the level was made up of boxes, cylinders and trapezoids. Textures were implemented on each primitive to make them look like a seamless terrain. I might try this, because there's no need for shadow mapping and the entire level has an even ambience. I will return to making terrain once I understand the dynamics of everything within a level.