Tips on Making dirt roads?

Shrike

Hey,
Any ideas on making such dirt roads?
I never have done such and I don't really know where to start.
For decals it looks too layered / custom and blends too well (?), and for full custom textures the map seems too large
For a terrain system the resolution is too high and for a spline based system there are too many intersections



I don't need such complex intersections but there must be a general best practice I assume.
Any tips or resources on the subject?

Mark Dygert

I'm not sure what game that is from, but it might be a custom curated map with very specific work done to it, almost like sculpting the entire thing and then using texture blending, probably with vertex colors. 

How you approach it really depends on your goals and what engine you are using. You can hand curate the map like above but that means custom geometry and you might get better mileage out of a landscape system. 

Me personally, I would use Unreal's landscape tools to generate the overall terrain and then use the spline tools to place roads and deform the terrain to be flat under the road. then use a mix of custom meshes and decals as well and landscape material blending to make the road and blend it in.

Pretty much this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5n8TZO2DU

But those tools are very specific to Unreal, if you're using something else you have to use what is available to you.