Hi all,
Just wondering if someone could point me in the right direction here, i’m looking to create forests on a strategy map similar to those found in Civ 5 (see below).
I’m new to this and can’t tell how it’s done… are they 3d objects, i.e. lots of little lowpoly trees or are they face me type trees (or something else)…? Wondering how to get a similar look without killing performance when zooming out on a large forested area.
Any thoughts much appreciated.
From what I see each forest tile is unique, taking into account the elevation and some other factors(like leaving space for deer) when distributing trees in a bunch. I think that during level generation trees are procedurally placed on the map and then the whole thing could be combined into batches or some other optimization technique.
Staring at the pixels of the static image it’s not easy to tell how exactly Civ 5 managed this, but I think these are billboards. Observe the second image where the rim of the unit glow overlaps trees - you can see something resembling a cutout effect. I think you can make it work with billboards.
Here is what I would try to do(b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶z̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶I̶’̶m̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶):
Generate a bunch of positions on the terrain where the trees should be.
Place separate tiny tree billboards in each position and combine that into one mesh to show when the user is zoomed in
Generate a combined texture of all the trees together and show that as one billboard when the user is zoomed out
Mess with render order to ensure that trees are always drawn before units to avoid depth inconsistency
It is likely not the best approach, other people might suggest something better.
Thanks, I think you’re right in that billboard trees is probably what I should be looking at.
