Terrain creation question

tlovemark

Hey all. Myself and several others just started work on a platforming game which we're creating in the UDK. We've run into a small hitch though. One team member has brought up the possibility of creating terrain not through terrain actors, but by assembling several static meshes. All my past experience in Unreal has led me to believe that a terrain actor would be the superior way to generate realistic terrain that is easy to adjust, but he asserts that static meshes are the way to go.

I was wondering if anyone else has used both methods and could maybe offer a recommendation one way or another. Any additional perspectives on the matter would certainly help us settle this debate.

cholden

Outside of the context of the project it's tough to say for sure. However, if I needed terrain, and was using UDK I'd use terrain. You don't have to fake a feature when you have a feature.

tlovemark

The goal of the project is to create a platformer whose gameplay is very similar to a 3D Mario game or Ratchet and Clank. The game is broken up into three zones, each of these is a level. The scope of the game isn't very large, and since we've just started we're trying to nail down how we plan on creating content.

I hope that helps.

ihour

if your team member needed very specific control on the look of the terrain in your game, maybe static meshes are the way to go. BUT having said that, using the terrain actor in UDK allows lesser setup time, and you can still add in lots of doodads that help to generate variety.

so i guess you guys can figure out the pros and cons

just my two cents

Ryno

Adjusments and tweaking heights to match prop placement is easier with Unreal Terrain. Texturing it is way easier. Getting a very unique and specific style (think lava-rock or something) would be better handled vis static mesh.

Unreal's terrain tools can do everything that I want easily and quickly 90%+ of the time.