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Spherical Terrain Algorithm

Started by Binary Boy Apr 16, 2011 at 9:08 PM 1 replies 3.4k views
Original Post
Binary Boy
Binary Boy
Hi All,

Haven't posted that many threads here (I do more reading than posting). I'm working on a game design that requires a deformable terrain mapped onto a large sphere (think Populous 3), but I have a problem choosing the terrain type.

I'm using Blender, and I can generate two types of sphere that I can use for this purpose - a UV Sphere or an Icosphere.

Now, the Icosphere is made up of equal triangles and every polygon on the surface is the same. This is ideal as it means that the entire sphere can be used as usabe terrain, however, applying a texture to specific areas of an icosphere is proving to be difficult.

On the other hand, the UV Sphere is made up of quads which is ideal for texturing, but the quad size stretches as the sphere approaches to "poles" at either end, which probably means that those areas will be unusable as terrain.

I have two images here as examples:

608_066a.png
UV Sphere


5660.jpg

Icosphere

My question is, are there any well-known techniques to apply a texture to specific areas of the icosphere and has anybody been successful with this? Or do I have to use the UV Sphere and isolate the stretched areas from gameplay?

Just to clarify, the kind of effect I am trying to achieve can also be seen in the game Sacraboar:

sacraboar-304725-1258349069.jpeg


Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
smart_idiot
smart_idiot
I believe people normally use cube maps for this sort of thing.

This may be of interest to you.
Chess is played by three people. Two people play the game; the third provides moral support for the pawns. The object of the game is to kill your opponent by flinging captured pieces at his head. Since the only piece that can be killed is a pawn, the two armies agree to meet in a pawn-infested area (or even a pawn shop) and kill as many pawns as possible in the crossfire. If the game goes on for an hour, one player may legally attempt to gouge out the other
Kaptein
Kaptein
when you are playing, is the camera vector always pointing dead-center on the sphere?
also assuming the sphere isnt flat, but more like a small spherical world

heres what i would do:
i would implement world curvature in a vertex shader, and keep the world big enough to fool anyone
problem solved

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