Parametrically controlled terrain generation

The intent was to produce a single mountain while ensuring as much control as possible over the resulting terrain through algorithmic parameters. I ended up with this algorithm that allows you to specify desired coordinate of the mountain, height of the mountain peak and spread of the base region.

This algorithm is inspired by my previous work, the RMP algorithm and the famous Fault line algorithm by R. Krten. The algorithm takes three parameters as input. The number of fault lines l, probing depth r and number of iterations to perform n. The relationship between these parameters and physical properties of the mountain is a little complex. Height of the peak is directly proportional to n, spread of the mountain base is function of l,r and steepness of the mountain is inversly proportional to r.

These images bellow are result of tweaking with n parameter, notice the difference in height.



With a little modification introduced, the same procedure can produce craters and other unusual artifacts as well, as can be seen in these images.



The work was published in GRAPHITE 2007 bearing title Parametrically Controlled Terrain Generation.