Continuing from here: Handling Scale - #36 by MirrorMonkey2
The “3D anorganic environment design document” has become increasingly important for me as I have reached the point in designing the World Generator where more direction is needed in its design requirements.
Specifically, the World Generator currently has the ability to create different parameters across the terrain, such as the example temperature and rainfall maps I showed earlier. However, I do not currently know what different parameters are needed in order to select the different anorganic environment textures. I have been focused so far on the requirements necessary for differentiating different biome types for patch classification using the Holdridge life zones described in Land Biomes, but that is different to the requirements for anorganic terrain classification. Bolsa and I were discussing what has already been created on Discord, and it seems that the clay-silt-sand pyramid in the design document is the current near term target for ground texture variation. It wouldn’t be too difficult to get a simple 3 texture blending system between clay, silt, and sand textures, but I want to know what more complete method would be required for initial use in the Macroscopic stage.
What would be most helpful for anyone who is working on the planet generation system is discussing how the anorganic textures would vary across different biomes. Or defining what the correct way of determining how the anorganic environment changes across different regions if biomes are not a useful differentiation.
An accompanying “3D organic environment design document” would be helpful to know what the terrain will need to accommodate with the life that arises on it. For example, I was thinking that the foliage on land would likely need to be dynamically baked at runtime into ground textures for different patches, with different textures for a different patch composition of organisms.
To clarify, I don’t require actual textures or art assets created in order to continue designing the system, I can throw together placeholders easily enough. I do need to know what the requirements are so that I can design the terrain texturing system to accommodate it.
Also, you mentioned creating a “3D LOD system design document” which I think is a good idea. Describing it from the game or art design perspective would be very useful, as I have been focused mainly on the programming and implementation side of things.