New Around Here

[Gandwarf]

Welcome!

I found CC hard to get into also, but nowadays there are some excellent video tutorials:
http://www.profantasy.com/community/user_tutorials.asp
Should get your started on the basics at least and they are not overly long to watch.

[Duarthei]

I don't know. I went through a lot of iterations trying to find one that I liked, changing the settings to get different results. That wasn't as much on account of the realism as just not being inspired by what I was seeing. How many have you generated so far?

I've generated tons of worlds with Fractal Terrains and played around with it. I'm slowly figuring out how to apply the painting tools. I found another tutorial on this forum that helped a bit, but I still don't feel very confident with my results.

You make it sound so easy.

Probably a sign of my ignorance, but I was really hoping that it was that easy. My ideal program would create a completely realistic planet that you could move around in, kind of like a Google Maps for fictional worlds. Even better would be one where you could specify plants and animals and civilizations and then simulate their effects on the world.

Is a full scale planet simulator beyond the capabilities of a desktop PC?

[Ascension]

I'm looking for that type of God power to make my own world and go trekking thru it as well. Let me know if you find something

[Gamerprinter]

Probably a sign of my ignorance, but I was really hoping that it was that easy. My ideal program would create a completely realistic planet that you could move around in, kind of like a Google Maps for fictional worlds. Even better would be one where you could specify plants and animals and civilizations and then simulate their effects on the world.

Is a full scale planet simulator beyond the capabilities of a desktop PC?

That's kind of a Holy Grail for many digital world developers, publishers and gamers - and no that really doesn't exist yet. Using the various fractal world generators and/or applications like Redrobes developes, you can do alot, but to "push a button" and populate with appropriate animals and monsters, click another button to create map... you're thinking of a Holodeck and that will be available in the 23rd century!

Because I am a cartographer who depends on my creativity to generate maps, I don't really want that to exist at all - I can see its value, and many would want that.

But no, that doesn't yet exist, sorry.

GP

[waldronate]

Bah, creativity is overrated. Simple mechanistic rules are where it's at!

[Duarthei]

Well, I have to admit that cartography isn't one of my favorite parts of world building. Indeed, one reason I looked into mapping software was because I hoped to make this part less time consuming.

But, now that I have the programs I'm going to try to learn to use them. Who knows. Maybe it will grow on me.

Thanks again.

[Redrobes]

Is a full scale planet simulator beyond the capabilities of a desktop PC?

Probably, it would depend on the level of detail that your wanting. The area to be simulated is also the other big factor.

What I would like is to generate some random terrain and then physically modify it to make it look ok which were getting close to. Then it would be fun to take that and randomly spawn people and monsters and plagues on that and that lot move around eating people and growing crops, getting hitched up, dying, procreating and finding jobs to do that increase their power and wealth or other basic traits. Like a Sim game it would evolve until you had a lot of everything where you would know the age, race, job, friends, and skills of everything in it.

Long way off tho. Havent seen anyone even remotely get anything like that yet tho. Best I have seen is lists of randomized people with some minor attempt at hooking up people and procreating so that there is some family history but its nothing like enough.

[Ascension]

The closest thing I've ever seen is Earthsim. However, I play all of those city-building and world-building games of all genres like Populous, Ceasar 3, Stronghold, SimCity, etc. and sometimes I just let the game run and watch the people walk around and do stuff.