Quick facts:Planet Tech v5
The culmination of Cloud Imperium's work on planet creation, to be delivered in stages starting with Alpha 4.0, Planet Tech v5 is a simple, scalable workflow for planet artists that uses physically-based rules with Genesis data pools to emulate nature, with continuous variation to biomes and extremely high visual density where appropriate. Planetary data includes the Temperature and Humidity from Planet Tech v4, plus Geology, Soil Type, Soil Depth and Nutrients. Additional data such as Sunlight exposure and Slope Aspect can also be derived. This data drives the assignment and unrepetitively tiled blending of terrain textures, the distribution of each individual type of Flora based on competition rules and override variables, and the placement of rocks and debris derived from erosion simulation. Physics-interactable (from any source) assets can be included in distributions. Tree leaves are tinted and shed based on various input factors, one of which is Seasons that play out over time. The planet shader is able to draw on data to evaluate required terrain color when viewed at a distance - taking into account the distribution of assets that are not loaded in, such as trees or grass. Performance is improved and pop-in is eliminated.
Archetypes for emergent biomes are created as asset packs using the new workflow:
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Swamps - High Moisture, Medium to High Temperature - includes assets that interact with water surfaces |
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Jungles - High Rainfall and Sunlight year-round - includes assets that exhibit stratification |
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Redwoods - Regular Rainfall and modal Temperature - includes assets that emphasize extreme scale |
Additional features of v5 include planetary-scale terrain features (such as the obsidian scar on Adir), surface fog, cloud-light interactions and support for dynamic weather, Starchitect, StarAudio, data-driven NPC behaviors and StarSim.
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Sources
- CitizenCon 2024 Panel - Brave New Worlds on YouTube