Terrain

Texture and terrain can have similar procedural generation beginnings. With either, we can use a fractal or noise patterns as a basis. We can create a height map that can be wrapped around objects. An alternative for our planet in Chapter 9, Generating a 3D Planet, would have been to use a Perlin noise distortion height map.

A height map is a texture that has 3D qualities. You would then apply the height map texture to the 3D model to give the model a 3D texture. As you can see in the following figure, this is an easy way to create a terrain.

Noise image used to create height map

Besides the actual texture of the ground, tons of work has gone into making tree and foliage generators. Terrain is one of the better defined constructs in PCG. This is a good starting point for anyone learning 3D PCG.