Version 2.0 release notes
September 1994
Thank you for trying Terrainman!
Many improvements have been made to the program since version 1.5.1:
? The program now draws in true 3D (with optional perspective) instead
of isometric.
? Terrain can be rotated to any of 64,800 views instead of just, um,
four.
? Predefined views (front, side, top, etc.) let you see your model's
true proportions.
? Pictures can be pasted from the clipboard or opened from files.
? A "clipping plane" can be used, which will omit all polygons below a
certain altitude.
? The display now offers your choice of colors.
? Now saves DXF files much MUCH faster.
? Will optionally strip leading spaces from DXF files, to make the
files smaller.
? Even unstripped DXF files are somewhat smaller than they used to be.
? Sports a slick new animated splash screen.
? Sports several slick new interface graphics.
? And finally, Terrainman now sports a slick new PRICE: $10. Freeware
no more.
To learn what Terrainman is and how to use it, launch the program and
choose "Help me!" from the Apple menu. Please read the whole help file
at least once, because there ARE some modifier keys and other less-
than-apparent things you might want to know.
System Requirements:
3MB minimum free RAM (5 MB or more preferred)
8-bit color or greyscale display (or better)
32-bit QuickDraw or System 7
Terrainman has not been tested under System 6. If you are using it
with System 6, please contact me and let me know if it works! I tested
it briefly under System 7.5, and it seems to work fine.
Questions and Answers (optional reading material - perfect for the
bathroom)
Q: Is there a native PowerMac version available?
A: No, not at this writing. Nobody wants to see this thing scream
through a PPC more than me, but I am at the mercy of my compiler,
which does not do PowerMac code. If and when I can do it, I'll do it
(there will be a new verison number so you'll know).
Q: Why aren't there any scroll bars?
A: You can scroll the image of the terrain by holding the Option key
while you click and drag in the View window. See? I told you you
should read the online help!
Q: When I drag the upper dots up and down to change the height of the
terrain, they don't follow the mouse accurately. And the lower dots
seem even more sluggish. Why?
A: Since you are working in 3D, it's difficult to map the 2D movement
of the mosue precisely to a 3D location in space. For instance, you
are allowed to drag the dots around even when you're looking straight
down. If you do this, a single pixel of movement might double the
height of the terrain. So instead I map each pixel of mouse movement
to the same 3D distance no matter what view you're in. As for the
lower dots, each pixel of mouse movement equals one height level.
Since there are 256 possible levels in a terrain, you'd have to move
the mouse 256 pixels upward to bring the clipping plane all the way to
the top, even if the terrain appears to be only 50 pixels tall on the
screen. This gives you a fine level of control without having to zoom
in. There may be times, therefore, when you'll move the mouse a small
distance and nothing will move on the screen, because the distance is
too tiny to show up. But when you release the mouse, you'll find that
you did make a small adjustment. Also note that when you change the
height of a terrain, the height is changed relative to the original
ground level, not relative to the clipping plane. So as you make the
terrain taller, the clipping plane will move upward as well, so that
it's always at the correct altitude relative to the rest of the
terrain.
Q: Why do some of the buttons and windows look funny when I run
Terrainman in black & white?
A: I made some effort to adapt the program to black & white, but I did
not go all out. I assume that anyone who needs Terrainman is using a
color monitor, and probably runs it in color most of the time.
Terrainman will work fine in black & white. Some things will just look
sloppy.
Q: When I use clipping planes, the bottom edge of the terrain appears
really jagged. Why?
A: What Terrainman does is this: if any of the four corners of a face
is below the clipping plane, the whole face is omitted. Perhaps in the
future I will add something to clip more cleanly by making triangular
faces at the edges, but for now you can just sink that mountain down
into a ground plane or something once you get it into your modeler.
The main reason for the clipping planes is not to cut out distinct
shapes, but merely to remove extraneous faces which would have wound
up underground in your modeler anyway.
Q: Why don't you do spherical and cylindrical projections like
CyberMesh?
A: Because that kind of math is (still) way over my head, and because
CyberMesh already does it (really well). Hopefully Terrainman's fonkay
interface and its variable-level clipping planes will be its
distinguishing features. CyberMesh is awesome, though, and I recommend
it.
Q: What makes you think I'll pay $10 for something that used to be
free?
A: Are you saying I don't trust you? I resent that!
Q: I think BRYCE is really cool. Can you add nifty raytracing like
that to Terrainman?
A: Not bloody likely.
A final, important note:
Terrainman is software. Like any piece of software, it might have bugs
in it. Like any bugs, these bugs might be harmful. In over a year
testing and of development, I have never had any serious problems with
it. But I cannot guarantee that Terrainman will be compatible with
every extension, system, and circumstance. Use the software at your
own risk.
Thanks.
\- Joe Ashear
AOL: Rendererer
eWorld: JoeAOF
Internet: [
[email protected]][1]
Send shareware fee to:
Joe Ashear
505 Court St. #10B
Brooklyn, NY 11231
3rd download is an earlier beta version 1.0b1
Compatibility
Architecture: 68k PPC
[1]: mailto:
[email protected]
