I have finally settled on how the world should be built:
I will use random heightmap and derive the multiple textures map (with splat) from the angle/area of inclination and proximity to water (x = 0).
I backed up Karl's (ThinMatrix) tutorials and part of the code I could find on the internet:
Karl Wimble - OpenGL Tutorial
While trying to find better world generation info I stumbled across these two:
Sapiens - River Based Terrain Generation
Hydraulic Erosion
I have also figured out a way to make the engine open-source without risking a Jason Rohrer event, I will use LGPL for all source files make a closed-source core .exe with an open-source hot-deployable .dll/.so except those in the game/ folder, those will be open-source but proprietary and for inspiration only.
Which makes sense since they will be less generic than the rest of the engine. I'm also struggling with threading of the engine and might avoid the problem completely for the first revision. More on that later.
I really want to open-source the core of the engine, but I also need to make sure I can make a living out of this stack at some point, worst case I'll keep the core compiled until I'm sure I don't have to worry about food/housing and only then release the entire thing.
For now I'm playing with the idea that 250 sponsors on github would be enough to make that a reality, but ideally the game itself should sell too. Hedging myself with secret knowledge is not my favorite pastime though.
Keyword: terrain procedural
/marc
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