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- Readme.txt for Terragen v0.9.19
-
- This software is Copyright ⌐ 2003 Planetside Software and
- may only be redistributed according to the requirements
- specified in the file Redist.txt. Use of this software is
- subject to the conditions in License.txt, the License
- Agreement. Registration is compulsary for commercial use, as
- specified in the License Agreement.
- See http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/register.shtml for
- information about registering and registration requirements.
-
- ============================================================
-
-
- NEW FOR v0.9
- ============
-
- -- Rendering
-
- * Renders much faster than v0.8. Now renders front-to-back
- and ignores micropolygons that are invisible.
- * New anti-aliasing option: Extra blended detail (registered
- users only). This provides extra surface detail and
- reduces "popping" artifacts in animations.
- * Reduced sharp triangles by softening the shadow tracing.
- * Orthographic rendering option (in Camera Settings), with a
- handy Auto Setup feature.
- * Adjustable pixel aspect ratio (note: this not the same as
- picture aspect ratio).
- * Option to generate random clouds on each frame.
-
-
- -- Terrain/Landscape
-
- * Rearranged Landscape window with larger surface map tree
- view.
- * Larger Landscape view as a separate window, with Enlarge
- and Shrink buttons.
- * Landscape sculpt/view window's maximum size is limited by
- screen resolution.
- * Landscape sculpt window shows red circle to represent
- sculpt brush.
- * Improved terrain sculpting tools, with more control over
- brush size and intensity.
- * On the landscape sculpt/view window, holding Ctrl
- switches the left and right mouse buttons for better
- tablet control. (eg. in sculpt mode, Ctrl-LMB lowers the
- terrain while LMB alone raises it.)
- * When copying and resizing old terrain, it asks if you
- want to adjust the point spacing to keep the same
- real-world size.
- * Terrain Modify dialog: Can display heights in metres,
- plus other improvements.
- * Fixed "psychedelic" water colours in landscape view.
- * Fixed "Combine With" crash for different sizes of
- Existing and Secondary terrains. (Overall better
- behaviour with different sized Existing and Secondary
- terrains, and can resize Secondary terrain when
- appropriate.)
- * Fixed freeze from pressing OK in Landscape Settings
- while Surface Editor is open.
- * Fixed Perlin generators. They also have increased detail
- at higher resolutions.
- * Fixed 8bit raw import for all terrain sizes.
-
- -- Water
-
- * Water shoreline 'surf/foam' effect.
- * New water settings for "wave roughness variation".
- * Shadows on water can be disabled via a new option in
- Lighting Conditions. (Currently not working in v0.9.19)
-
- -- Other
-
- * Default display gamma correction at 2.2 (this is pretty
- much the sRGB standard).
- * Default render gamma correction at 2.0, and shadow
- lightness reduced to 25%.
- * Script execution can be forced to interpret positions as
- in metres (Anim Settings).
- * Scripts can be executed from Animation Settings.
- * Script execution options for enabling/disabling cam,
- sunpos and exposure.
- * WaterLevel script command.
- * Script Parse Effects capability
- (will release World/Camera Transform plugin at a later date).
- * Optional f-stop/t-stop control in Camera Settings for
- convenience.
- * Removed 10000-cap on sky size (was included due to an old
- atmospherics bug).
- * Cloud altitude is shown in metres if those are the user's
- chosen units.
- * Makes backups of files before overwriting them
- (appends _bak to filenames).
- * Correctly saves multiple plugin effects to world files
- and surface maps.
- * Lightmap displayed at higher resolution in Lighting
- Conditions window (128x128).
- * Maximum zoom value increased.
- * Fixed zoom round-off problem. (Zoom scrollbar no longer
- feeds back rounded value when executing script.)
- * New World resets cloud layer (except generation parameters).
- * New World resets the entire surface map.
- * New World updates all displays when it's done.
- * New splash screen design (background image courtesy of Luc Bianco).
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING
- TERRAGEN v0.9.19
- ====================================
-
-
- WORLD FILES
- ===========
- World files now contain all scene information and render
- settings, except for the terrain. The terrain must be saved
- and loaded separately.
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- SKY AND CLOUDS
- ==============
- The cloud layer display will not always accurately represent
- the properties of the cloud layer. The density controls will
- not update the display. Please use the 'Update View' button.
-
- If areas of the rendered image are being left black, it is
- because the cloud layer is not covering enough of the sky.
- You can fix this by increasing 'Sky Size'. See 'Other Known
- Bugs / Problems'
-
- Cloud Layers are now saved with world files and/or
- atmosphere files.
-
- There are still problems with the 3D clouds, so it is
- unadvisable to enable the '3D' option in normal
- circumstances. 3D clouds are only worth using if you have
- 'cloud accuracy' set very high (in Render Settings). For 2D
- clouds this will not have much noticeable effect, but it
- adds a huge amount of detail to 3D clouds.
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- RENDER SETTINGS
- ===============
- Render Settings can be found by clicking on the appropriate
- button in the Render Control window. The Atmospheric
- Accuracy setting can be changed, but high accuracy settings
- mean longer rendering times.
-
- To achieve the shortest possible render times, do not set
- the accuracy higher than the middle setting, even for full
- renders. However, in some scenes a higher accuracy may be
- needed. Increase the Atmospheric Accuracy if you notice
- strange dark bands or lines in areas of clear sky.
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- LANDSCAPE
- =========
- Surface maps can now be saved. They are also saved with
- world files, and surface map data can be loaded from world
- files. Surface map data can also be loaded into or saved
- from a surface layer, because layers are themselves mini
- surface maps.
-
- In this version there is no preview of the overall surface
- map. You will need to render image previews to see the
- results. Apologies for the removal of this feature - it will
- be re-included in future versions.
-
- A simpler, less daunting method of controlling surface
- distribtion is under development, but the advanced options
- will still be present.
-
- Terrains can now be exported as LightWave 3D objects (*.LWO)
- although this is currently limited to the lower left 255x255
- datapoints (full-size meshes will be supported in the
- future). Full detail of the exported region is preserved,
- and the distance between elevation points can optionally be
- scaled up according to the spacing settings of the terrain.
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- ANIMATION
- =========
- Animations can be rendered by using a script to inform
- Terragen of camera motion, etc. See Example.tgs for a
- description of commands and syntax. For third party
- animation tools for Terragen, see
- http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/resources.shtml
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- OTHER KNOWN BUGS / PROBLEMS
- ===========================
- If you find that regions of the image are being left black,
- this is because the clouds and landscape are only rendered
- over certain areas of the image. If areas are being left
- black, you should try increasing the 'Sky Size' of the
- cloud layer.
-
- Missing polygons can result at lower detail settings or in
- the small preview render. At full detail, these problems
- should disappear. If they do not, try increasing the size of
- the Render Buffers (in "Render Settings", under "Advanced").
-
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-