Instant Terra Forum
Instant Terra => Discussions => Topic started by: watersk on March 19, 2024, 10:46:26 PM
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I have a couple of questions about some functionality of some nodes and customizability, that I have thus far been unable to find the answers to. Essentially, I will outline my issue and what I have tried and noticed, and I would love if you would be able to tell me if there 1) is a way to do it that you know of (and could point me in the right direction), 2) you believe it to be theoretically possible but perhaps do not know exactly how to do so, or 3) based on the structure/limitations/etc. that this would not be a feasible use and/or application of the software.
The situation is that I am trying to use Instant Terra in Unreal Engine to generate a "random" set of craters (with random seed/shapes, sizes, etc.) within a set landscape. Ex: Perhaps one landscape might have 2 craters one is smaller and one is larger, both with different seed variances, whereas another landscape might have 23 craters of various shapes and sizes, some perhaps overlapping, and so on.
What I have tried or what I already believe to understand about the Instant Terra plugin functionality:
- I notice that when I am editing an Unreal Landscape in Instant Terra that if I want multiple craters in one landscape, I have to individually add each crater as a separate node strung together in a long chain. In this I am adding a crater then combining this with the previous (main) landscape with the Full Composition node or similar.
- I notice that I am able to generate a uniform tiling of the crater where it repeats the same crater in the X or Y direction– however this will not work as it takes away from the randomization that we are seeking.
- I must control the crater size with the width & height parameters of the crater node, which essentially ends up blending together the landscape pieces (and sometimes causes lines where the layer edge meets the main layer).
- When I try creating a custom Python node, I am not seeing an option to include the use of the existing Crater node. Is it possible to send data into that node from this style of custom node?
- When I try creating a visual-style custom node, I see that I am able to use the Crater node, but am then not seeing the ability to utilize random inputs for the width, height, seed, depth, etc.
Essentially, perhaps my question-based solution is to know if it is possible to use a custom Python node to take in the current landscape and "call" the existing Crater node with random values to generate these craters within the landscape. Alternatively, if you have alternative possible solutions or know of existing functionality that may help my development situation, I am open and willing to take any suggestions you may provide.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email and consider my development challenge.