What it takes to make the current worlds (Patreon)

In this post i wanted to share a brief part of the complexity and give an overview about part  of the worldgeneration for what it takes to make these worlds.

https://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/mcmeddons-2022-roadmap/

In the Roadmap i shared screenshots of WorldMachine and all its node that is required for the huge load I created over the years.

The process is seperated into multiple steps

base creation (mountians)
combination
alteration (rivers, coasts, biome based landscapes)
adaptive terrain generation (glaciers, snowfalls)
and overlaying biomes

Base terrain currently includes:

- 10 mountain types
- 2 Island types
- 1 base land
- 1 landmark
are part of the base generation. In the current gen, I'm already working on new mountain texturing techniques capturing the original mountains right at the start.

After combination, alteration through rivers, glaciers, snowfalls, deserts, mangroves, and other ones take place over the world. In the end, we find the biome generation. Independent and co-dependent on the terrain generation and part texture generation for the map. 

The whole system is a pretty modular build, so I can switch and replace many components, but rely on the alteration process to handle to overall combination and integration of several features.

For the most part, every feature is somewhat controlled in this gigantic schematic, rendering out a data mask to be used in the world. For the moment i have between 80 and 120+ data masks available to control where things are placed.

Desert

Aside from the Base terrain there are also terrain-altering biomes, like:

- Mesa
- Desert
- River
- and Mangroves

These areas kinda have to alter the base terrain in order to function, the desert e.g. needs a flat space in order to have a smooth environment to produce these fancy dunes. 

Mountains

Another topic I wanted to pin out, Mountains!
In the latest versions, I refined the way biomes are handled around these areas, involving up to 3 different biomes for the same mountain including:
- Stony Peaks, for base stone terrain
- Frozen Peaks, the tops
- Snowy slopes, along the snowfalls

I'm aware of jagged peaks, but haven't yet found a fitting place to integrate it. While also meadows are kinda spread through the plains.

Rivers

Rivers are probably the biggest and most complex component in my setup, being split into the actual river, river area affection, and river meanders/delta formation generation.

Rivers have the effect of terracing surrounding terrain while also carving enough through existing terrain. But not too much to disturb everything. Also a cause for occasional errors (banked water) that's still subject to improvement.

A thing I haven't yet "automated" is the generation of meanders and delta formations that are hand placed at river hotspots - but certainly object to some upgrades as my knowledge has increased

Theres quite a lot going on - each feature took 1-2 weeks and even more with revisions, to create and develop. The world will never be finished and constantly changing, as i find more or different ways to accomplish and realize ideas.

Thanks for reading, this wasn't a tutorial but hopefully got you a glance of the work behind these maps :)

- McMeddon