Using images to bypass terrain tile limit - Idea/Concept

[Tal'Rarity]

Been looking for multiple ways to remake how terrain is managed/handled, this is one and I though it was rather neat so decided to share. Would appreciate any comments, need to see it ingame as showing triggers/code wouldn't really matter much in my opinion.

Testmap uses a system and base map of DatBoi.


Edit: Anyone know if GetLocalPlayer could work with this(images)? I'd think there shouldn't be a problem, just wondering if anyone has tested.

 

[Pyrogasm]

Images are safe with LocalPlayer as long as you create them for all players so the handle counter doesn't desync. You can change the image or hide them locally.

 

[Lt_Hawkeye]

Tested your system a bit. The forest generated seems good so far. However, I came into this strange multiple colored on the terrain itself, however. Pixilied image | HIVE

 

[Tal'Rarity]

Tested your system a bit. The forest generated seems good so far. However, I came into this strange multiple colored on the terrain itself, however. Pixilied image | HIVE

The multicolored images on the terrain itself is what I am showing, how well a random terrain system can work with a image system so this way a random terrain system should be able to use more then 16 terrain tiles.

 

[Lt_Hawkeye]

ahhhh, here I thought you were referring to using images to replicate destructibles, doodads, ect. My bad.

 

[Tal'Rarity]

ahhhh, here I thought you were referring to using images to replicate destructibles, doodads, ect. My bad.

Couldn't get them to stay 3D sadly though the main limiter was terrain tiles so that is a plus, can use special effects or units for the rest.

 

[TriggerHappy]

I think it should be feasible. You can see examples of using images (ubersplats) for terrain here:

HiveWE - World Editor 0.5

 

[_Guhun_]

This can certainly work well in flat terrain (so it's pretty much perfect for the sandbox area of RP maps like RotRP, YARP and Titan Land). Nice!

 

[Tal'Rarity]

This can certainly work well in flat terrain (so it's pretty much perfect for the sandbox area of RP maps like RotRP, YARP and Titan Land). Nice!

Why would it be flat only?

 

[_Guhun_]

Why would it be flat only?

Well, I'm just going from the image posted here, since I couldn't test it. Since I don't know how it works on noisy terrain, I can't say that it works (it might cause weird stretching of the image, or something similar)

But if it works for all kinds of terrain, then that would be even more awesome.

 

[Kakerate]

Have you guys seen the image that floated around awhile ago of League of Legends terrain in WC3? They used images just like this to pull it off.

 

[xorkatoss]

This is indeed a nice idea! Is the map supposed to be like this?

Spoiler: Image

I wasn't sure if this was a problem with my pc lol

 

[Pyrogasm]

The multicolored images on the terrain itself is what I am showing, how well a random terrain system can work with a image system so this way a random terrain system should be able to use more then 16 terrain tiles.

 

[xorkatoss]

@Pyrogasm oh right...I'm f*cking blind >_>

Well then this is a good idea! An even better idea would be for Blizzard to just enable use for all tiles in maps and remove the limits

 

[Dr Super Good]

In theory now that 256 MB maps are possible one could create terrain by using walkable destructables with custom models. There is no restriction as to how many textures can be used with such models and the textures themselves now have unrestricted sizes.

Well then this is a good idea! An even better idea would be for Blizzard to just enable use for all tiles in maps and remove the limits

Doing so might have a significant performance penalty as it could mean as much as 4 more bytes per terrain node which might impact cache performance. It would also break some modding tools which interface with .w3e files.

 

[Tal'Rarity]

In theory now that 256 MB maps are possible one could create terrain by using walkable destructables with custom models. There is no restriction as to how many textures can be used with such models and the textures themselves now have unrestricted sizes.

Doing so might have a significant performance penalty as it could mean as much as 4 more bytes per terrain node which might impact cache performance. It would also break some modding tools which interface with .w3e files.

Walkable destructibles are laggy and often not an option usually due to being handled poorly.

 

[xorkatoss]

@Dr Super Good lol "performance penalty" but this is not 2002-2004 dude...even budget pcs now are actually pretty good, it's almost impossible to not have quad core cpu 2.0GHz+, 4GB ram DDR3 and a decent graphic card (even my GTX1050 2GB is fairly cheap for budget builds)

so yeah I think it all comes down to Blizzard actually optimizing the game to run better and more efficiently

with a 7 year old gaming pc I can run Skyrim on Ultra and you tell me I might have trouble with WC3 Maps?

 

[Prometheus3375]

you tell me I might have trouble with WC3 Maps?

You can, play Grand Blood Tournament with full slots.
Or play SC2 coop with Stetmann using Infestors.

 

[Dr Super Good]

@Dr Super Good lol "performance penalty" but this is not 2002-2004 dude...even budget pcs now are actually pretty good, it's almost impossible to not have quad core cpu 2.0GHz+, 4GB ram DDR3 and a decent graphic card (even my GTX1050 2GB is fairly cheap for budget builds)

As far as I am aware most modern motherboards do not support DDR3. The only ones that do are aimed at developing markets where used electronics end up.

Any sort of performance regression will be met with anger by the community, especially by authors who have made maps which already push performance of even the most modern system. Despite core count increasing a ton, actual single thread performance has not, with current high end processors being at most 4 or 5 times faster than those of comparable price 10 years ago.

with a 7 year old gaming pc I can run Skyrim on Ultra and you tell me I might have trouble with WC3 Maps?

Blizzard is not responsible for custom map maker stupidity.

 

[WaterKnight]

Images are safe with LocalPlayer as long as you create them for all players so the handle counter doesn't desync. You can change the image or hide them locally.

Images are on a separate counter.

I had done this before as well, covering the whole map in 128x128 images, but it's not performant and setup takes time.