Creating Tunnels and Caves with the Voxel Tool
Using the Voxel tool you can create caves or tunnels on the side of cliffs or mountainsides.
Thanks to Mason for submitting this tutorial.
1. Load your map or start a new one.
2. First we need to make a hole on a side of the terrain. Click on the Terrain tab under the RollupBar and click on Holes and then click on the Make Hole tool.
3. Cut away a hole on the side of your terrain.
4. Now click on the Misc button under the first tab on the Rollupbar.
5. Next, click on the VoxelObject and place it over the hole you just created. (Note: That you must make sure that your VoxelObject covers the entire hole or you will get bad looking results. Voxels can only reside inside of the VoxelObject.)
6. Now place your VoxelObject like so, and remember to place in such a way that it covers the entire hole.
7. The next step is to have the voxels copy the missing terrain using the Copy Terrain Into Voxel button.
8. Now we can use the subtract tool to carve a cave into the terrain by going back to the Terrain tab in the RollupBar and clicking on the Voxel Painter tool.
9. Under the Brush Settings, change Type to Subtract to carve into the VoxelObject. Change the shape and radius to your liking.
10. Now with a few simple clicks you now have a sophisticated cave :p
11. Now you must wondering how to get the Voxels to have the same materials as your surrounding terrain. Well, it’s actually easy. Just go back to Brush Settings and change the Type to Material and choose the material you want under Surface Types and paint it just like you would the terrain.
12. That’s it! Here are few notes and hints to help you out.
a. VoxelObjects automatically create collision volumes on the fly without user input.
b. You can add realism to your cave by changing CastShadowMaps to True under VoxelObject Params.
c. You can also optimize your cave by changing GenerateLODs to True. The engine will now reduce the poly count dynamically when you view the cave from far distances.
Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks so much.. have been waiting for this a long time
Hi, when ever I copy the terrain into the Voxel, it never lines up properly, and yes I have the voxel object square thing over the hole I made, what I am doing wrong?
I can’t get the material type. Theres only default in there.
Nice info, can’t wait to try this later
Answers:
Justin Webster - hmm, I’m not sure, never had the problem. I’m still experimenting as well.
Salvados - The material types are ones that i created in my map. If you had more than just the default, you can change them as well.
Good stuff. I’m doing everything you said here, but when I go to the voxel painter and set to subtract the circle doesn’t want to carve anything. It actually doesn’t want to go over where the hole is at all…any ideas on what would be causing this? I’ve gotten it to work before using the same steps.
how to make a thing like a voxelobject bigger?
i have to make the area with the copy terrain tool or else i jst open up the hole again
How can you make intricate caves? The sandbox editor doesn’t really let me enter the cave in edit mode, only in game mode. That means it’s only feasible to make caves that go straight back since you can’t enter the cave to sculpt it.
There’s a button towards the button of the editor that looks like a yellow line going through the ground. Click this. This will allow the camera in the editor to pass through terrain, which will let you go in your cave. If you want to make a HUGE cave, it’s probably best to use voxels just for the entrance/exit, and then brushes for the tunnels inside.
cool thanks!
Quote from Longboardskier:
“I’m doing everything you said here, but when I go to the voxel painter and set to subtract the circle doesn’t want to carve anything. It actually doesn’t want to go over where the hole is at all…any ideas on what would be causing this? I’ve gotten it to work before using the same steps.”
I’m experiencing the same problem. Curious if it may have something to do with using XP & 32x system? Overall editor runs fine though with 2gb ram, 512mb Nvidia 7600 3.2ghz barely locks up and have been able to do everything from roads to water volumes and gravity volumes but for some reason it seems like it almost freezes while trying to use the tool or something when going over a created hole with the voxel spehere set to subtract.
I,can not come in my voxel work?
what now??
Thnx this really help me with my cave systems. i have a cave system going throughout my entire island and would like to have rivers running through parts of it. trying to create an island that has 100% freedom of movement and to do everythin has to link perfect (I.E rivers can’t come out of nowhere… anyways, the only problem i have is when i try to use the materials brush to paint the terain back to what its supposed to be, the terrian still has a bunch of spotts that i cant get rid of. Any idea how to fix this.
I don’t get it. It doesn’t work for me. I can’t get longer than doing a hole in the ground. The purple parameters you’re using around the hole while placing the Voxelobject, does not exist for me.
What’s wrong?
I am having the same problem as Vulture..
I cannot get the purple box.. and it never seems to go onto my hole.. always somewhere miles away or not anywhere close..
Help? XD
Oh, don’t worry!
I sorted it.. tunneling is bloody hard.
As a tip I find it better to save and restart the editor before starting any voxel work as this free’s up Sys memory and will make your life easier.
“The Vulture” - Try the above mentioned first, if you have no success, try pressing Shift + Spacebar to bring up/Hide helper lines.
“Abe” - If you reduce you brush size you will often have problems carving with the subtract tool increasing the size may help.
I also have problems with “copying terrain into voxel” tool, mainly with sharp angles involved Does anyone know of a way to increase the resolution of a voxel object or is it restricted/limited by the terrain resolution???????
The Voxel tool is clever but it always seems to have a mind of its own.
I am trying to make a tunnel which leads through a mountain.
Couldn’t get it to work because the tool doesn’t want to go into the hole in the terrain.
So I decided to make an arch. that failed because the collisions diappeared.
Bloody useless.
Hey Guys i feel stupid to ask but how do i get Cryengine 2 and Sandbox 2?
When i press the “copy terrain into voxel” button. nothing happens. anybody got and idea of what to do? The Hole is 100% in my voxel.
If you cannot see the red box that shows where the voxel object is, make sure your “show helpers” is on. Go to display, and it is the last thing on the list.
when i click “copy terain into voxel” nothing happens and the hole stays there. why?
When I press “generate all navigation”, then a error report pops up, and the program closes.
Please help if someone knows.