Hi, I am currently planning a project based around a single, large cave system and am looking for advice on the best approach to constructing it. I’m used to using the basic Unity terrain system, but it won’t be sufficient alone for the project due to the need for overhangs/tunnels.
The level will have a mix of very large (1000 units across) caverns connected with smaller passageways. There will be features such as stalagmites/tites, waterfalls, holes above to the sky and down into an abyss etc. The closest comparison I can name are the expansive cavern systems in Subnautica.
The level will ideally be constructed as a single level without loading between cave sections. In order to do this well, I think I will need to purchase additional assets/tools but most of the tools are $50+ and I don’t want to waste money play with strategies.
There are two potential ways I can see to do this :-
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Use Unity terrains for the cave floors, and build the ceilings, walls and rock features as meshes in a separate program (I use Maya, but I feel there might be more organic feeling tools for this). Then purchase some kind of splat tool to paint the mesh rock surfaces. The downside to this is there will be a seam were the terrain and rock meshes meet, but this may look fine if the terrain is clearly a “soil” surface sitting in the bottom of the cave.
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Use a voxel terrain engine to craft the entire level. There are several available, and I am not sure how I decide between them. I DON’T need the terrain to be editable at run time, so I don’t know if this is overkill, but from what I have seen this might be a one stop solution.
Does anyone have help to help me decide between the different options? Easy of creation, particularly organic sculpting tools are a big plus for me, provided they don’t leave me with performance issues later on.
Also any tool recommendations would be appreciated!
Thanks!