3D Terrain Generation
TaleriaKNT@Veloren.Com
http://www.veloren.com






<b>Mouse Controls</b> - A red star (<font color="#FF0000">*</font>) preceeding an action indicates that is will cause the terrain to be regenerated.
<code>          +-----------------+--------------------+-------------------+
          |     Left Button |      Middle Button |      Right Button |
+---------+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------+
|  Normal |     Move camera |        Zoom camera |     Rotate camera |
+---------+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------+
|     Alt |      Move light |        <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Alter time | Move/Change water |
+---------+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------+
|   Shift | <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Move landscape | <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Stretch landscape |   <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Augment height |
+---------+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------+</code>

<b>Keyboard Controls</b> - A red star (<font color="#FF0000">*</font>) preceeding an action indicates that is will cause the terrain to be regenerated.
<i>[F1]</i> : Display this text.
<i>0-9</i> : <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Choose between various terrain types.
<i>I</i> : Display information about settings and time taken for renders.
<i>C</i> : Center the camera.
<i>E</i> : <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Toggle evolution.
<i>S</i> : <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Toggle smooth lighting.
<i>Up/Down</i> : <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Increase or decrease the number of octaves used during generation.
<i>Right/Left</i> : <font color="#FF0000">*</font>Increase or decrease the detail setting. (ie: How many times the land should be subdivided.)
<i>[esc]</i> : Quit the program.

<b>What the Options Mean</b>
<i>Terrain Type</i> : Many different effects can be created by combining various landscape generators. If you wish to experiment with creating your own, take a look at the generate_point script.
<i>Evolution</i> : If this is enabled, the terrain will automatically be regenerated with a slightly higher z value for each frame. This can be used to simulate the passage of time. A change in z coordinate greater than 1 will result in completely different landscape. Only very small increments would normally be used.
<i>Smooth Lighting</i> : If this is enabled, then the mesh will use per-vertex shading rather than per-face. This is disabled by default, since it approximately doubles the time needed to generate the landscape.
<i>Octaves</i> : This has to do with the Perlin Noise that's used to actually generate the landscape. The higher the number, the more detail there will be in the noise (though if there are not enough polygons, this detail will not be seen fully). Typically, a value around 7 is sufficient, though interesting effects can sometimes be created by lowering the value. Normally (ie: in most languages), this would be one of the biggest factors involved in the speed, but because GML is so slow, this actually makes little difference compared to detail (see below).
<i>Detail</i> : This is the number times the polygons will be subdivided during creation of the landscape. The higher the number, the more polygons will be used to create the landscape. Bear in mind that this can get out of hand very easily. Each time the detail is increased by one, there are approximately four times as many polygons, and it can take around ten times longer to complete the generation phase. It is suggested that you spend most of your time at low detail levels. Then once you find an interesting looking spot, turn the detail up.