AM TerraForm

[MSFlynn]

VERSION 1.0

 

While there are still many things I can do to increase the capabilities of AM TerraForm, I have already exceeded what I originally set out to accomplish 10 months ago, so I'm calling version 1 complete. This version was mostly for giving the community something they were asking for and for gauging what the community might be willing to pay for the effort involved in creating it. Given the almost complete lack of monetary interest on the part of the AM community for further development, I can't say for certain what will happen to it in the future - for the moment it's done.

 

New in this release is Undo/Redo for the Smoothing option. I have also included an fBm-type fractal that I'm calling Neo fBm (for want of a better term). It's the same as fBm but allows you to control the incidence of white pixels in the generated image for landscapes that have few, if any, really high points.

 

You can view screen shots and download version 1.0 here: AM TerraForm

 

(Link Updated)

[Fuchur]

Very cool Programm...

Thanks for your afford and time!

I think sub-pixel-displacement got in the way, why the community didnt give too much input in the end... they can now do it without such a high mesh-density...

But there are situations you just need the mesh to get a visual information in realtime-views, so your programm is still very useful.

 

Dont let yourself down or something... it was just bad luck.

See you

*Fuchur*

[Chad_Hunt]

As it was ponted out to me and also found in my own test that pixel displacement was not ment for terrains. it is still limited in that aspect, I will use this program over pixel displacement anyday for terrains, which I have and love it. They both have their place.

[dre4mer]

I was playing with AM terraform a bit, pretty nifty little application! I'd encourage anyone who might be interested in getting some terrains to download and try it!

 

I had a question or two, is the resolution of the mesh that is created solely dependant on the resolution of your starting graphic? And is there any way to smooth the sort of lego levels that I'm getting in some areas?

 

Thanks for working on such a program, there isn't really any other easy ways to create terrain in AM at this point, so if i can get it to work for my purpose I'll gladly donate some $.

 

-Ethan

 

[MSFlynn]

is the resolution of the mesh that is created solely dependant on the resolution of your starting graphic?

The resolution of your image doesn't matter - AMT creates it's meshed based solely on the pixels in the image. Each pixel will represent 1 CP. Transparent pixels will be seen as black.

 

And is there any way to smooth the sort of lego levels that I'm getting in some areas?

There is a smoothing option for images created with the random fractal generator. It works fine but since I'm not an image coding expert, the code isn't anything near what you'd get in an app like Photoshop, so AMT's smoothing implementation isn't available for imported images simply because you can right-click the image in AMT and edit it in your app of choice which will give you more smoothing options than my rinkydink implementation.

[Julian]

The resolution of your image doesn't matter - AMT creates it's meshed based solely on the pixels in the image. Each pixel will represent 1 CP.

Uh... in that case, aren't you saying the resolution of the image DOES matter?

 

EDIT: OK, I see what you mean... resolution in terms of pixels per inch doesn't matter, but the density of the mesh does depend on the image size in pixels, which can also be called resolution.

Edited February 11, 2007 by Julian

[Kombowz]

This looks like something I could use. Anyone still happen to have it? I know this is going WAY back but I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

 

Thanx everyone.

[UNGLAUBLICHUSA]

Link is no good - web site appears to be gone.

[John Bigboote]

There's the 'terrain' wizard in V16...

[robcat2075]

his page lives on the wayback machine

 

http://replay.web.archive.org/200611300528...re/amterraform/

 

and the downloadable file is still available there.

 

I don't know about docs.

[MSFlynn]

The new site is here:

AM TerraForm

 

I don't know if it will run under Windows 7. After several years hiatus from being a regular AM user, I'm thinking of getting back into it. Not that I've been using anything else, I've been concentrating on music.

[Shelton]

Welcome back. I was thinking about this the other day. Thanks

[MMZ_TimeLord]

The new site is here:

AM TerraForm

 

I don't know if it will run under Windows 7. After several years hiatus from being a regular AM user, I'm thinking of getting back into it. Not that I've been using anything else, I've been concentrating on music.

 

Well, it does NOT work in Windows 7 64-bit. I get an unhandled exception. I did verify the dotNet 2.0 w/SP 2 install before posting this.

 

I guess I'll just have to run this in my Windows XP Pro virtual machine. LoL

 

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D, Version=1.0.2902.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. Access is denied.
File name: 'Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D, Version=1.0.2902.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35'
  at AMTerraForm.formMain.InitializeHardware()
  at AMTerraForm.formMain.formMain_Shown(Object sender, EventArgs e)
  at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnShown(EventArgs e)
  at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackHelper(Object obj)
  at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(Object userData)
  at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData)
  at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
  at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallback(ThreadMethodEntry tme)
  at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbacks()

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].



************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5448 (Win7SP1GDR.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
AM TerraForm
   Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Tachyon%20Burst/AMTerraForm/AM%20TerraForm.exe
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
   Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 8.0.50727.5420 (Win7SP1.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
----------------------------------------
System
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5453 (Win7SP1GDR.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5446 (Win7SP1GDR.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5420 (Win7SP1.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Remoting
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5420 (Win7SP1.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5420 (Win7SP1.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.5420 (Win7SP1.050727-5400)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
   Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
   Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
   CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:





When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[MSFlynn]

I opened the old project up and there are over 70 errors. It looks like they're all DirectX related. I'm currently in the process of buying a house and moving with my fiance and step daughter. When I get settled into the new "man cave" I'll see what I can do about compiling a new version to run with Window 7.

[MSFlynn]

I've opened the project and it seems that there over 70 errors that are all DirectX related. I'm in the process of buying a house and moving. When I get settled I'll see what I can do to get it to work in Windows 7.

[MSFlynn]

I've opened the project and it seems that there over 70 errors that are all DirectX related. I'm in the process of buying a house and moving. When I get settled I'll see what I can do to get it to work in Windows 7.

Bad news:

All versions of the code for AM TerraForm from Beta 4 to 1.0 seem to be gone. I have no idea what happened. I opened that file a little over 4 months ago. I did a system reinstall on that computer a couple of months ago - the only thing I can think of is that Visual Studio .NET 2005 automatically saved projects in the user's My Documents folder and that maybe starting with Beta 4 I just left them there and forgot about it because I always saw the AM TerraForm folder in my folder that I usually save any and all work in. In any case, they're gone as far as I know so v1.0 is all there is.

 

It can be run in Windows 7. I use Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and it installs just fine. The first time you run it you have to disbale 3D Preview and leave it that way. And you can't manually enter in values into any of the boxes - you have to use the spinners and sliders. Every time the error window comes up you can click Continue and keep going. When you're done, you'll have to click Quit from the error window.

[Rodney]

Hey Michael!

I was just thinking about you yesterday. I was debating whether to create a forum area for your program so that folks could better find it that way. I wasn't sure whether you still had A:M Terrain available.

 

What amazes me about your program is how you've managed to create and manipulate splines at the programmatic level with such a nice interface.

Perhaps some day you can relate to us how one begins to approach creating such a program as the one you've created.

Not being a programmer, it's all magic to me!

 

Sorry to hear of the loss of code. Boy does that sound painful.

Hopefully it's not completely gone but only misplaced.

 

It's great to hear from you.

[MSFlynn]

I was debating whether to create a forum area for your program so that folks could better find it that way. I wasn't sure whether you still had A:M Terrain available.

It's available on my website: AM TerraForm

What amazes me about your program is how you've managed to create and manipulate splines at the programmatic level with such a nice interface.

Perhaps some day you can relate to us how one begins to approach creating such a program as the one you've created.

Not being a programmer, it's all magic to me!

Thanks, but I'm not exactly a programmer either in the sense that I can write but I'm not a writer.

 

AM TerraForm doesn't "create and manipulate splines at the programmatic level" - it manipulates bitmaps and each pixel in the bitmap represents a CP in AM.

 

As far as the "aha!" moment, that came when it became obvious to me that DXF import for landscapes would never be particularly useful so, knowing that AM saved .MDL files as ASCII text, I simply began with the assumption that if one knew in one's mind the exact construction of a model in AM, e.g. the coordinates of every CP and everything else that makes a model a model, then one need not even open AM to create it; it could be typed into a text editor and opened in AM as a complete model ready for use.

 

One of the big drawbacks for AMT is that it's a stand alone program. Originally I wanted to try and create it as plugin for AM but I couldn't get any help from the AM plugin programming community - I don't know C++ but I could figure out how to make AMT a plugin if I had some examples of using the AM SDK such as how to create splines/patches in the plugin and then have them appear as a new model. After I did AMT I got as far rewriting Steffen Gross' Sample.HXT for VS .NET 2005 but that's it.

[MSFlynn]

I was thinking about trying to rewrite the old Beta 3 code in C++ as a plugin. I was looking at the SDK Grid plugin code and while some of it makes sense, some of it I can't understand at all. When you click "Ok" it creates your grid but to do that it needs the code for Evaluate.cpp. However, when I look at the code for the Ok button click all it shows is the users input from the control selections being saved to the registry for loading the next time the wizard is opened. Where is Evaluate.cpp called? This is one of the many reasons I hate trying to learn C++ - it's completely opaque compared to Visual Basic.

 

In any case, I have a totally new concept for AM TerraForm which I am going to code in Visual Basic. If it works the way I envision it, it will go beyond any landscape generator that I've ever seen. (Not that I've seen them all!). It will be very slow to come to light though - I'm still primarily focused on music.

[robcat2075]

I was thinking about trying to rewrite the old Beta 3 code in C++ as a plugin. I was looking at the SDK Grid plugin code and while some of it makes sense, some of it I can't understand at all. When you click "Ok" it creates your grid but to do that it needs the code for Evaluate.cpp. However, when I look at the code for the Ok button click all it shows is the users input from the control selections being saved to the registry for loading the next time the wizard is opened. Where is Evaluate.cpp called? This is one of the many reasons I hate trying to learn C++ - it's completely opaque compared to Visual Basic.

 

In any case, I have a totally new concept for AM TerraForm which I am going to code in Visual Basic. If it works the way I envision it, it will go beyond any landscape generator that I've ever seen. (Not that I've seen them all!). It will be very slow to come to light though - I'm still primarily focused on music.

 

I have no answers for you but a new, fabulous landscape generator sounds fabulous.

[MSFlynn]

For those who don't want to deal with the annoyances of the XP version of AMT running under Windows 7, I have uploaded a version to run under Windows 7: My AM TerraForm Page.

[Vertexspline]

Hey Michael.......this looks awesome --thanks for your work with this terrain application.

 

Also---- Welcome back to AM . Its great to see such talented folks return.

[Rodney]

In any case, I have a totally new concept for AM TerraForm which I am going to

code in Visual Basic. If it works the way I envision it, it will go beyond any

landscape generator that I've ever seen. (Not that I've seen them all!). It will

be very slow to come to light though - I'm still primarily focused on music.

 

 

Mike,

 

If I may be so bold as to suggest it...

 

You should record (in every way possible) the process and your experience in programming this new program because that will be of great value interest. How great I don't know but certainly enough to make it a worthwhile endeavor. I wouldn't even worry about cleaning up the information collected or formating it for presentation. In almost the same fashion as an Alpha or Beta cycle others could assist with refinement of that raw data and gain a better understanding of programming for A:M through their own exploration. I think this especially true given that you are planning to work with Visual Basic.

 

 

I don't suggest this to slow you down in any way. That certainly is not my intention.

All I know is that if you don't document the journey it'll be harder, even for you, to access that valuable information.

[MSFlynn]

You should record (in every way possible) the process and your experience in programming this new program because that will be of great value interest.

I'll give it some thought. I've got to do a lot of experimentation first which basically requires me to create landscape features by hand and see if I can figure out a way to create them programatically. The new ideas I have center around extrusions and differing mesh density. I'd also like to create a way for users to indicate things like rivers, lakes, cliffs, mesas, mountains, hills, etc.

 

At the moment, all I'm going to try and do is see if I can figure out how to port AMT from VB.NET to C++.Net. You'd think it would be fairly straight forward - just create the MFC app in C++ and copy the interface and controls then add the appropriate code. Unfortunately, at least in C++.NET 2005, you have to jump through hoops just to display a picture on a button whereas in VB.NET it's already one of the button's properties, but then VB.NET was written specifically to create Windows apps and C++ was not.

[robcat2075]

Unfortunately, at least in C++.NET 2005, you have to jump through hoops just to display a picture on a button whereas in VB.NET it's already one of the button's properties, but then VB.NET was written specifically to create Windows apps and C++ was not.

 

Aren't there some available libraries of functions that would do the dirty work on that for you? The C++ world is a pretty big one, I would think there are such things.

 

But i don't actually know.

 

On another front, avoid doing things that would make the plugin not-portable to Mac as I'm sure mac users wil be interested in it.

[KingVidiot]

This seemed like a cool app. This came out when I was away from 3D stuff for quite a while.

All the links I tried don't provide a valid download anymore, even via the Wayback Machine.

 

The only exe I can get is only 9k and it refuses to launch in Win7. It's gotta be way to small.

 

Since it was free and development has died, can someone post a zip of amtsetup.exe Version 1.0 in this section to try out?

 

Thanks...

[KingVidiot]

Thanks to robcat I have the tool now. I'll see how well it works.

Sadly it's another dead project that should be useful to many users. :-(

[Rodney]

I believe Mike stated elsewhere that the code for Terraform was lost.

The fact that Mike was able to build such a program in the first place gives me hope.

[robcat2075]

Any results yet? I haven't tried it.

[KingVidiot]

getting errors trying to use in in Win7 64-bit

compat. mode didn't work any better

 

need to try it at home on an old 32-bit system

 

at least the interface and features are nice