primem0ver
Emperor
You can call me picky if you want to... but this is actually very much related to one of the two options I have come up with for my Masters project in CS. In a sense, this could be a simplified version. I want to make a truly realistic planet/map generator, complete with simulated plate tectonics and climate zones (biomes) that are based on the way geography really works. No more fractal map generation (except to randomize areas to use in initializing the engine) which generally produce inaccurate maps.
This post will be used to describe its basic features, the approach that will be used in the SDK to create those features, and to post updates on new features.
The second post will be used to explain the geographic models on which it is based. The rest of the posts will be open to your for discussion, teamwork, and contributions (ideas).
Engine Parts
There are seven basic parts to the engine:
Prerequisite Testing
I will need to do some initial testing to formulate this first part unless someone already knows the answers to the questions I need to find out: do areas correspond to separate oceans and continents, continents only or what exactly?
Basic Algorithm
The engine will perform the following tasks in this order:
Comments:
Eventually I would like to have the simulator repeat steps 4-10 a few times. This will help with calculating where to place oil, natural gas, fossils, and other things that result from biomass.
Note: This post will be updated as ideas surface and the model changes.
This post will be used to describe its basic features, the approach that will be used in the SDK to create those features, and to post updates on new features.
The second post will be used to explain the geographic models on which it is based. The rest of the posts will be open to your for discussion, teamwork, and contributions (ideas).
Engine Parts
There are seven basic parts to the engine:
- The tectonic plate motion simulator
- The geomorphology calculator (the full version of this will be developed last because of its complexity)
- The air mass calculator/creator
- The air mass motion simulator
- The climate calculator (takes results of the air mass simulator and calculates the resulting climates).
- The drainage calculator
- The resource calculator (determines placement of resources semi-randomly based on the geologic and climatic conditions that exist).
Prerequisite Testing
I will need to do some initial testing to formulate this first part unless someone already knows the answers to the questions I need to find out: do areas correspond to separate oceans and continents, continents only or what exactly?
Basic Algorithm
The engine will perform the following tasks in this order:
- Import the heightmap AND the final map from the original Civ Map generator using any basic script as selected by the user as its base (with some limits).
- Convert "CvAreas" on the map into plates for the tectonic engine.
- Assign height/moisture values to each plot based on a normalized/corrected versions of the imported height/moisture maps.
- Move the plates using the tectonic motion simulator
- Calculate the resulting morphology...new plot heights based on uplift and approximated denudation (drainage) rates (originally derived from imported moisture values, later calculated based on new moisture values).
- Calculate and form where air masses form on the current geography.
- Simulate air mass motion over the continents to calculate new moisture values. This motion will be largely based on global wind patters which can be reversed by a user option to "reverse" the direction of planet rotation. This will flip east coast climates to the west coast and vise versa.
- Calculate the location of each type of climate based on temperature, global winds, and moisture.
- Calculate drainage (final round only) based on plot heights.
- Calculate resource placement based on geographic (both geologic and climatic) conditions.
- Calculate river placement based on drainage and moisture locations and resources that require a river.
- Finally, create the map plots based on climate
- Place features that can appear anywhere, or depend on things other than climate.
Comments:
Eventually I would like to have the simulator repeat steps 4-10 a few times. This will help with calculating where to place oil, natural gas, fossils, and other things that result from biomass.
Note: This post will be updated as ideas surface and the model changes.