[WIP] Custom Planet Type: Cliffs

If it doesn't appear in the server mods list, then it didn't load for some reason. Either the mods.json file has a problem, or the modinfo file does. You could try altering the modinfo file to see if anything is wrong with it; the only thing that's important in the server mod is that that files shadow the in-game ones. I'm assuming you aren't using atom shell PAMM, and the one I posted was made for atom shell PAMM, so there might be something that isn't configured right for use without it. Let me know if you find out what the issue is, I'm sick right now and really don't want to start testing things ATM.

Found an error in the mods.json file. Remind me to always use notepad++ when I do these things, right.

Or just use PAMM.

And given the height of a point anywhere, wouldn't you be able to find the slope (height at point A - Height at point B)? If the generation algorithm allowed for that, you could do so much more with brush placing.

PAMM doesn't install server mods.

You obviously haven't moved to the Atom Shell version yet.

I'm sorry, but none of this really works at all, and it's an incredibly roundabout solution
I also don't have access to that type of information.

What is point A? What is point B? This is the surface of a sphere we're talking about. Finding the slope at a point is not so simple. Not to mention the fact that the terrain height algorithm used right now is perlin noise, which is a type of gradient noise, so the slope value is already available if you have access to it (unfortunately, I do not), which makes the whole thing moot.
And slope isn't constant; while you can use the slope to estimate how far down the brush 'should' go, you can't actually know this. It will definitely cause problems.

If you're using subtractive brushes for your cliffs, and if you want the base of the cliffs to line up with each-other and the terrain, you must place them based on the base of the cliff.


Anyway, I could implement seaside cliffs by 'digging' holes along the shore, but they would look much worse than the current cliffs, and would cause problems for amphibious units.

I definitely think that is worth a try, see how it pans out with seaside cliffs, in the Lava biome there shouldn't be amphibious units able to go into lava anyway.

Should I? I though they were identical.

Atomshell supports server mods.

Well, now that I have leaned how to install mods manually I won't be needing any of these TBH. Maybe when mods are actually kept up to date by them.

But they do keep track of versions and update mods...

Soooooo... Anything new going on with this mod?

Has anyone tried this with the new pathfinding?

A couple days ago I tried to get blender > papa working for brushes, so that I could eventually test out custom ones. Didn't figure out the right texture settings I guess, because it didn't work (I assume I'd need different ones than those used for units, which need a mask, etc).
Other than a new brush /new brushes for the cliffs (which may help out a bit with pathing and polycount), There's not a lot I can do here.
I'll try out the blender > papa brush pipeline again today, see if I can get it working. If you've got any advice on that, I'm all ears.

Should perform about the same as with the old pathfinding. Since closing pathing view crashes the game in PTE, I haven't looked at it in too much detail, but it seemed to function fine.

I just saw this. Wow. You need to get them to include some of this in the base game. Have any of the devs seen this? People are asking for biome 2.0, I would say this could be a part of that.

None have commented on the mod directly, but I've pestered the devs about cliffs a lot, and I'm sure they've seen screenshots of it.
Neutrino also read through my earlier cliff thread here, which had some discussion and a few proposals on how to tackle cliffs. This was a while ago, before server modding was even possible. I'm sure they have plans to implement cliffs in one way or another, and as I've said before, I didn't really have the tools to do it well with this mod. You'll have to wait until they get cliffs implemented properly themselves

Ok maybe I have missed a lot coz I haven't read every post in this thread but exactly what tools do you need or are missing for you to be able to do what you wanted with this mod?

I would need access to the terrain height information, and I would need to write code to place the brushes precisely based on that information. Pretty sure I don't have access to such tools.
Ideally, the terrain height algorithm would also be changed to accommodate cliffs better in one way or another. Let's say that a set location would be likely to feature cliffs at X elevation, the terrain in that area should be relatively flat with a steeper change just above that elevation. Changing the interpolation function for that area to accommodate this might work, though there may be better options.
I would need the ability to place brushes under the water level, for seaside cliffs.
Having some way to layer the ground's decals over certain parts of brushes would be very useful too, as this would lessen the currently harsh transition between the rest of the terrain and the brushes.
Oh, and a brush bend mode that takes into consideration the planet's curvature but not the local height variation would be great.
Also, the ability to create custom planet variables, for cliff frequency.

I'd also need to figure out the blender > papa pipeline better. I keep putting it off because there is no proper documentation for this kind of thing, and the whole thing was a pain in the a** last I tried.
Not having documentation about biome files is pretty annoying as well.

do you think someone from Uber could help you in this area? especially with at some sort of documentation to go by, I'm not sure how this sort of thing is compiled by the game engine, it might be all automated algorithms that the proceedual generation does on its own rather then much input from the Uber team itself as that is what the engine was designed for. Can uber release stuff in the way of mod tools so to speak at some point to help with the brushes so you can place brushes underwater? seems like you would need more some sort of map/planet editor to be able to do the cliffs properly? as uber are very open to mods I'm thinking this would be a logical step, to release more on this stuff.