Ground cover question

[flysouth]

In T3D the ground cover does billboarding which I find does not look great when close to the player. In BFBC2 they seem to use a 2D ground cover which does not billboard but is just fixed at some random rotation

Would it not be a good feature to allow a settable radius around the player / camera where the ground cover is just fixed at random rotations and beyond that it billboards?

[chriscalef]

Sounds like a great idea. I've noticed this problem as well, it's especially terrible if you're flying close to the ground. A constant circle of inward facing billboards creates _not_ the most realistic impression.

[JeffR]

In T3D the ground cover does billboarding which I find does not look great when close to the player. In BFBC2 they seem to use a 2D ground cover which does not billboard but is just fixed at some random rotation

Would it not be a good feature to allow a settable radius around the player / camera where the ground cover is just fixed at random rotations and beyond that it billboards?

 

I've actually considered that very thing. Sounds like quite a few of you people want it as well. Guess that'll have to get put on the list for reals then :P

It's a good middleground between the cheapness of billboards and the not-weird looking-ness of 3d meshes, so I'd say it's a good compromise.