   Terrain...
  I have a question for those who know much more than I do about rendering and terrain.What are all of the different types of terrain mapping?  I know that there is heightmap, which has many limitations, but what are the other types, what are their benefits and limitations (if any)?Matt  
  You have no idea how many different ways of doing a terrain there is.You can even store a terrain(or something like that) in a QUAKE II MD2 model format!!!But if you want to do some real terraining you can use triangle or quad patch(can send you code),heightmap,do something with 3D Max and save it in ASE,ASC,3DS,OBJ and etc.Take care!    The PAIN is coming...this summer!!!In cinemas everywhere.  ;  Actually, I was looking at using something other than heightmap, since that doesn''t really lend itself to multi-level (height) dungeons and cities very well.Some of my concerns: Dwarves like to build their cities into the side of mountains and make them into huge catacombs... how do you do this and have the mountainside itself in the same x/y loc, but with different z loc on a heightmap?  From what I know of heightmaps, you don''t, unless you can layer heightmaps on top of each-other.Like I said, I''m just looking to see what the other types of terrain there are.  ;  Voxel terrain engines usually have no problems in creating multi-level terrains. I haven''t done one myself, but I believe Flipcode has some references on it (check for past IOTDs as well).    Trent PolackBurnt Fur Entertainmenttrent@codershq.comAuthor of Focus on 3D Terrain Programming