Overview
A lightweight procedural terrain generator for Unity, focused on artistic control and fast iteration. By combining Perlin noise, animation curves, and slope-based texture blending, it generates rich arctic landscapes with a curated, handcrafted aesthetic, without sacrificing the benefits of procedural content.
Challenge
I wanted to explore procedural generation with perlin noise, and see how I could take a single layer and evoke a specific environment. The parameters had to be modifiable through just the inspector, allowing for quick iterations and the authoring of biome-specific terrain features.
Approach
The key to achieving a hand-authored aesthetic was through the modification of perlin noise through animation curves in the inspector. This allowed for sculpting the terrain elevation and features of distinct biomes. Slope and height-based texture mapping and procedural prop placement brought fidelity to the geometry. Procedural generation was optimized through the use of chunks to aid in scalability.
Outcome
This procedural terrain generator is capable of producing a striking arctic landscape with a hand crafted feel, entirely through data-driven methods. Animation curves were utilized to generate biome-specific features while retaining a curated appearance. What this technique really does is put emphasis on generating procedural features that are seamlessly stitched together. Going forward I would like to apply these techniques to 3D perlin flow fields rendered through marching cubes. I discuss the advantages of 3D perlin flow fields over 3D perlin noise here.