Groundcover question

[element11 0]

Hey.

I was just wondering what the pro modders (thats you guys do to make groundcover, like long grass patches or bushes. I am good at making trees now, but i tried making some grass with a plane, and it looked funny, because it was just a long line of grass with no depth. is it just the way i positioned my grass? or should i make it a different method? Also, what would be the best way to go about making a hedge or small bush? Thanksa bunch, and i apologize abouttypos, my keyboards broken

[jay316 0]

afaik grass in gr is just alpha channeled planes, some in game is 2 planes intersecting in an x hedges appear to just be textured boxes with alpha channeling on the top of the sides

[deleyt 0]

Depends on what you plan on making:

Groundcover is refered to as "dynamic grass".

Dynamic grass fades in as you get closer to the object and is placed randomly on a surface.

Create a helperpoint in the top viewport and name it "^foliagesetup(2)(m01_groundcover.qob)(1)".

Then tag the surface on which it needs to appear as "highgrass" and as "floor" in the map-editor in 3DSM.

Include the helperpoint in the room it needs to appear (usually _01 or _1).

You can create your own dynamic grass by exporting a single plane with a texture on it as an object. But I recommend using the regular one as it looks pretty good.

Check the Level-builder PDF for the variables you can use, like the density of the grass.

Creating bigger patches of grass you can hide in, is usually most efficient by creating a set of 3 planes, set into a trianglular shape.

The edges protrude eachother a bit so it creates a realistic grasspatch, rather then a traingle with a grass-texture on it.

Make sure that the grasstexture is ending on both ends in a fading way, and not cut off abruptly, or it will again look unrealistic.

Bushes are made out of 5-7 planes.

Make a cross (viewed from the top) of 2 planes. Like so: +

Then make a triangle of 3 planes, rotated in a slight angle outward and place the centre of the triangle in the centre of the cross.

What you'll get is a bush that looks like a bush from all angles.

You can also replace the triangle by a set of 4 planes in a 45 degree angle rotated from the cross.

Some people even add a horizontal plane on 1/3 from the top of the bush to make it look real from the top aswell.

It might seem a bit confusing but I'll try to upload some pictures that make it a lot more clear, as soon as I have some webspace.

D.

[element11 0]

Then tag the surface on which it needs to appear as "highgrass" and as "floor" in the map-editor in 3DSM.

Include the helperpoint in the room it needs to appear (usually _01 or _1).

←

What do i tag as high grass? the plane or the floor?

It might seem a bit confusing but I'll try to upload some pictures that make it a lot more clear, as soon as I have some webspace.

←

Nah, thats not confusing at all, i get it. Thanks alot!

One more thing. would i xref the scene of the grass? or would i export it to /mod/model, as qob and use the ^foliage setup?

Thanks

[GRT 0]

Create a helperpoint in top view and name it ^foliagesetup(2)(m01_groundcover.qob)(1). Click your ground, then goto the map editor. Check floor polygon and for the surface property rolldown menu put it as highgrass, click OK. Group the point with your outside room and export. Export as map just like you would regularly export a map.

You can go in the model files of GR/DS/IT and find other groundcover.qob files and use them instead of the m01 groundcover.

[element11 0]

Ok. Got it. Thanks you guys!