[REL] Planet Type & Biome Creator v0.6

I have created an site that will generate the required JSON code for new planet types & Biomes, allowing you to experiment within the Planet Editor. At present, the exact function of all attributes are not known, so you may need to use the existing Planet Type/Biome definitions as a guide. Some default values have been provided.

The Planet Type Creator can be found at:
http://planetaryed.raevn.com/editor.html

The Biome Creator can be found at:
http://planetaryed.raevn.com/biome.html

A sample planet; Sand, Moon, Lava & Grass Biomes:

A Lava only planet, with a yellow atmosphere and sun shader for water:


The default values are all taken from the earth planet type, except for moon, metal and lava (taken from their respective types).

There's no error checking yet, so I suggest running the output via http://jsonlint.com/ to make sure you haven't missed anything. For the planet type creator, you'll need to select at least 1 biome.

Creating a Planet Type
Once ready, click the Generate button, then create a new file under <Planetary Annihilation Install Directory>\PA\media\pa\terrain\, and paste the generated code into it. You will then need to follow the steps in this thread: [REFERENCE] Custom Planet Types & Enabling Them In Editor to enable it in the planet editor.

Creating a Biome
Once generated, simply save it somewhere under <Planetary Annihilation Install Directory>\PA\media\pa\terrain\. The convention is for each biome to have it's own folder. No additional modding is needed to allow you to use the biome once it is placed in the appropriate directory.

Future Plans:

• Dynamic Biomes instead of fixed (to allow the use of custom biomes from the Biome Creator)
• Add features to Biome Generator
• Descriptions and tooltips of all the fields
• Inclusion of additional fields not yet present (Especially in the Biome Creator)
• Better integration into the game

Changelog:
Version 0.6:

• Added Biome Creator
• Renamed Planet Editor to Planet Creator
• Minor Interface changes

Version 0.5:

• Base Biome is now configurable
• Additional attribute - "Enable Features"

Version 0.4:

• Minor Interface changes
• Additional attribute - "Ignore Height Range"
• Atmosphere is now optional
• Code cleanup

Version 0.3:

• Minor Interface changes
• Sun diffuse colour now set via color picker
• Water is now optional

Version 0.2:

• Interface update

Version 0.1:

• Initial Release

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor

Absolutely brilliant. Thanks.

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor

<3 this is glorious

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor

Updated with a new UI:

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor v0.4

Are they playable? :twisted:

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor v0.4

No, unfortunately. The server only knows the values of the sliders in the planet editor, and the name of the planet type (the default ones only, minus lava or metal). Even if you modify the default ones, the server uses it's own version of them, so you wont get the same thing. Eventually they'll be playable though.

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor v0.5

This is amazing

Re: [REL] Planet Type Editor v0.5

Currently working on:

You are everything I aspire to be.

(keep up the great work)

Awesome work.

Quick question. As the planet generator works client side, is it possible to create entirely new biomes with new textures and art asset? Obviously they wouldn't be playable at the moment, as the server doesn't have access to the new assets, but could we preview them in the generator?

Yes, you can add new biomes and assets.
Yes, it's will work with client-side generator.

Everything can be modded very easy, everything in PA is extremely open, don't be afraid of experimenting. Even if you have no modding experience you can just edit game content and see how it's looks in game.

Just to add something to sxx's answer, meshes & features have a very particular model format. This means at the moment, new mesh & feature models aren't creatable. I've tried pointing the existing mesh & feature blueprints at other models (such as units) but they refuse to render (I believe doing this with meshes actually crashed the game). Looking at the output of papadump shows several differences between the formats that I'm trying to nut out. It's on my (very long) list of things to do.

But you can create new textures and re-use existing models. This means you can create all the decals you want, and make new biome & water textures. There's also some brush meshes that are available but not used, especially the metal world ones.

Thanks for the reply. Very impressive so far. It's just idle speculation at this point, but i would love to see a city biome with roads, skyscrapers and other elements of urban sprawl. I also think a "sandy" desert biome could be interesting as well, with dunes and cacti, to contrast with the mesas and canyons of the "red" desert we have at the moment.

This. This. THIS. Especially with PA not being resticted to a single level. Imagine rockets being fired from tanks on a freeway overpass as a column of enemy tanks goes underneath, or even fighting on a multi-level carpark. Not precisely sure what the cut-off is with the tech (I assume there's some assumptions made), but a city biome would be amazing.

Overpasses and tunnels would be extremely cool. However I seem to remember in one of the threads it was stated that tunneling is not currently possible with the engine.
I think the terrain is created by simply stretching the surface of the planet up and down and different textures are automatically applied based on elevation.

This is not correct; planets are just 3D objects that can include tunnels, or not be round at all - they aren't heightmap based. What was said was that tunelling/underground units weren't going to be part of the gameplay.

The one thing I remember being stated that the engine cannot handle is doughnut shaped planets.

Yeah I remember hearing that too, when someone asked if a mobius strip was possible :lol: . There are likely some assumptions made about the overall shape of the planet with respect to gravity; My guess is so long as the shape has an identifiable "center", with the surface facing away from it, it'll be fine. So a donut wouldn't be possible, but a halo (building on the outside only) probably would.

I download thid mod RIGHT NOW asdfasdfasdf

Well done