The Anatomy of A Terrain is a new series of short videos in the Tutorials Extra playlist dedicated to creating terrains. The series teaches how to create terrains, from basic to advanced to animated terrains.

Video Tutorial

The first vide in the series covers a basic, simple terrain.

Parts 2 and 3 will detail slopes and stairs respectively.

The Hi-Tex Assets Megapack Vol. 2 – Terrains: Walls is scheduled for release next week (earlier than anticipated).

Megapack #2 Contents

It contains 206 exterior wall terrains and variations, as well as their corresponding stairs and slopes, comprising 41 different types.

This will be available on the Gnome Treasure and Itch.io^†.

^† Prices on Itch.io are slightly higher to offset deductions from Revenue Sharing and PayPal fees.

Note About the Megapack #1

The Hi-Tex Assets Megapack Vol. 1 – Terrain: Ground is available for purchase for $12.99.

I’m redoing the stairs and slopes for the megapack, so anyone who purchases – or has purchased – the pack before they’re implemented will be able to upgrade at no extra cost.

And, since this megapack contains the previously released terrains volumes 1 and 2 (and the unreleased volume 3), those who have already purchased them can buy this pack for 3.99 (saving around 75%). Simply use the Contact Us form on the Gnome Treasure Store and select the subject Product Re-Request. I will then send an email directly and, once payment has cleared, will give a link for the complete megapack for you to download.

This week’s tutorial is a how-to for creating basic terrains in Smile Game Builder. This isn’t anything fancy, like animated terrains, just the anatomy of a terrain. I use several sizes in this tutorial to demonstrate how they work in SGB and give my own insight on creating your own terrains.

Tutorial Video

Xye’s Seamless Terrain Tutorial

Another method I mentioned in the tutorial is Xye’s excellent Seamless Terrain Tutorial. This is a really good tutorial I’d recommend you read through.

Life has become chaotic again, primarily with extra shifts at work, so I haven’t been able to prepare any Smile Game Builder tutorials this week.

That said, I have been working on "scripts" (rough notes) for it. So, next week’s video tutorial will be a how-to on Creating Terrains. I’m only covering the static, non-animated terrains; I’ll save the animated terrains, like water and poison, for a later tutorial.

And I’ll try and write a blog article on Switches Wednesday/Thursday. (Things should return to normal next week anyway.)

Good news for Smile Game Builder users. The latest update is actually a significantly useful one.

Importing OBJ

You can now import OBJ models instead of just FBX ones. Using OBJ is less proprietary than FBX and more universal.

A plethora of programs exist, both online and as downloadable software, to create 3D objects and export them to OBJ format. So with this update (currently still in beta), it opens the doors to 3D model creation. Since I’m a 3D noob, even I’ll be able to start creating models.

Terrain Height

The second update is being able to increase the terrain height to 20. Imagine huge mountains or dizzying skyscrapers in your game! And when you reach the top, it’ll give you a fresh perspective on everything below.