How to Tile Terrains

S Ray

For anyone interested.

Since the Bryce alive network has been disbanded ( years ago ) I no longer have a website for tutorial. But I thought I would share this here.

How to tile Bryce terrains Original Tutorial by Calyxa

http://calyxa.com/pearl/terraintut/fractaltile.html

Follow the tutorial, but to place the terrains into position as you go, use the procedure out lined below.

Every terrain resolution ( in the terrain editor ) Will generate a different size terrain. ( according to the terrain's attributes menu )     When tiling terrains, Subtract .163 from whatever size the terrain X or Z Attributes are.  That will be the distance the terrains will have to move. Reason is:  Bryce's bonding box are 0.163 bigger than the actual terrain.   Example:   A terrain generated at 512 resolution,  X Size Absolute Coordinates Attributes  =  81.92,   subtract .163= 81.757    After duplicating the terrain move it north by typing  81.757 in the Z Origin  Absolute Coordinates (Origin and  Position are locked by default, leave it that way)   When starting the next layer add 81.757 to 81.757=163.514,  layer 3 add 81.757 to 163.514=245.271   :keep adding 81.757 to the last Origin or  Position distance. ( It is easiest to move first terrain north then work clockwise as you add terrains )

Exporting to use in other programs: Select all terrains ( not a grouped object) then export. Each terrain will then be exported  as a separate object ( one at a time ).  I have brought these into Poser by unselecting all the import options. Then as every terrain is imported it falls right into place. Most 3D programs will then let you export them as a single mesh or you can build a hierarchy to keep them as separate objects, but still be able to edit them as a group by using the parent of the hierarchy.

I have been doing this and my son has been using them in a gaming engine for the game he's developing. Any Questions I will be glad to answer. The difference between multi replicating when tiling terrains is you are generating the same height map ( terrain editor canvas ) over & over again. By using the other method a new height  map is generated for each individual terrain. Once you multi replicating terrains, the ability to tile them in any direction ( North, West, East or South ) is lost. This method was developed, for animation or game environments, so you don't see the same scenery repeated over & over again, as you fly or move thru it. But it does take longer to create the group of terrains.

David Brinnen

On this topic you might also find Horo's video helpful.