History: Ogre Terrain System
Source of version: 2
Copy to clipboard
In 2009 ((User:Sinbad|sinbad)) (founder of Ogre) started to create a new terrain system. It' a scene manager, which replaces the old ((Terrain Scene Manager)) and includes ideas of other terrain add-ons. Since Ogre 1.7 the new Ogre Terrain Manager is part of the Ogre core.
((Basic Tutorial 3)) shows how you can use this terrain system.
!Features
* SceneManager-independent, separate optional component (OGRE_HOME/Components/Terrain)
* Integrates with (optional) Paging component
* Inherently editable - a lot like ((ETM)) ;)
* Hierarchical geometry batching; batch counts reduce at lower ((-LOD|LODs)) as well as ((-vertex|vertex)) count. At the lowest level of detail, the entire terrain page is a single batch which has obvious advantages for large paging terrains over the fixed tiles previously used. There's also the opportunity to go to a lower overall resolution and to drop detail geometry in the far distance compared to non-hierarchical approaches.
* Skirts are used instead of stitching to avoid cracks in geometry; This means fewer indexing arrangements & lower overall ((Vertex and Index Buffers|index buffer)) usage
* In-built support for ((-Terrain Splatting|splatting layers)), configurable sampler inputs and pluggable ((-material|material)) generators
* Support for generating global ((-Normal Mapping|normal maps)) and ((Light mapping|light maps)) in a background thread
* Saving & loading of terrain built in, including loading / processing in a background thread
* ((-LOD|LOD)) now adapts in real-time to ((-camera|camera)) settings (viewport sizes & LOD bias) so you can use the same terrain with multiple views efficiently
!See also
* __. . . . . . TODO: . . . Add link to the API class reference . . . . . .__
* ((Basic Tutorial 3)) - How to use the terrain system
* [http://www.ogre3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=50674|New Terrain Early Shots] - Forum topic for Development Talk
* [http://www.ogre3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48320|Paging as a core feature - design notes] - Forum topic
* [http://www.ogre3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=56064|Future plans for Ogre::Terrain?] - Forum topic
* [http://www.ogre3d.org/addonforums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13224|Mogre terrain and paging] - Forum topic for usage with ((Mogre)) (.NET)
* ((Ogitor)) - A Scene Editor, which can create terrain based on the Ogre Terrain System
* ((SceneManagersFAQ)) - An overview for other scene managers