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UDK Terrain

Learn about creating and manipulating terrains for outdoor areas using UDK, and how to use skyboxes to create realistic lighting and atmosphere. This guide covers height maps, texture layers, DecoLayers, and the principles of skybox creation.

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UDK Terrain

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  1. UDK Terrain CIS 488/588 Bruce R. Maxim UM-Dearborn

  2. What is Terrain? • Terrain is a tessellated piece of geometry used to model outdoor areas • The geometry’s shape is driven by a height map (the z-axis defined by an 8-bit or 16-bit gray scale image) • Dark shades used to define valleys • Brighter shades are used to so peaks

  3. Height Map • Used to define elevation and contours • Use must use G16 pixel shading format, if you plan to use Unreal’s Terrain editing dialog • Determines terrain’s physical dimensions: ResolutionX * TerrainScaleX – TerrainScaleX ResolutionY * TerrainScaleY – TerrainScaleY • The default scale is 64 units in all axes

  4. Layers • Controls the visual aspects of the terrain • TerrainInfo actors can have 32 layers stacked on top of one another • Each layer has two texture maps a color map and an alpha map (controls transparency and blending)

  5. DecoLayers • Decoration layer textures are used to drive the placement of decoration objects (grass blades, trees, shrubs, etc.) • Three types of texture maps associated with each Decolayer (density map, color map, scale map)

  6. Terrain • In UDK you start from tools select New Terrain • The you make adjustments with the terrain editor from the left hand tool pallet • You can also right click and select properties for the terrain actor and make some adjustments there

  7. Terrain Editing Dialog Functions • Creation and manipulation of height maps • Assignment and blending of texture layers • Assignment and manipulation of DecoLayers • Automatic terrain generation

  8. Skybox • In UDK a skybox is a static mesh with a sky material applied (can be cylinders or spheres as well as cubes) • Use to provide the illusion of clouds, suns, moons, etc. far off in the distance • Great for creating cloudy skies, night scenes, and futuristic space scenes

  9. Skybox Principles • Select a sky static mesh from the content browser • Position it in world using the view windows • Make some property adjustments to get realistic lighting and shadows • The trick is to avoid creation of seams in the sky box • You can use fog to hide things

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