Heads up about the 'random terrain' button in your map software

I was working on a big map for a game last month, using a popular program. I kept hitting the random terrain button to get ideas for coastlines. It seemed fine at first. But after about five tries, I noticed something. Every single 'random' coast it made had the same basic shape, just flipped or turned. It was using the same few patterns over and over. I thought I was getting unique landmasses, but I was just getting variations of the same three or four designs. This meant my whole continent started to look fake and repetitive. I wasted a good three hours trying to fix it before I caught on. Now I only use that button for a very rough start, then I draw over it by hand to break up the patterns. Has anyone else run into this with their mapping tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisar1424d ago

Oh man, that is so frustrating! It totally breaks the creative flow when you realize the tool is just recycling the same handful of shapes. I've had the same thing happen with river generators, where every "random" river just makes the same squiggly S-curve across the map. You start seeing the pattern everywhere and it just kills the vibe. Definitely learned to use those buttons as a loose sketch and not a final product.

karenm4924d ago

The same three or four designs every time? That's just lazy.