Voxel Environments

This project was a research project as part of the Computer Science: Games and Media Integration Portfolio development class at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.

The goal of this project was to build three procedurally generated voxel environments based on real world biomes. Within the contexts of this project, procedurally generated is defined as being created at runtime without direct interaction from the user and a voxel is defined as a three dimensional cube that does not have a static, or pre-runtime, model or mesh. The three chosen real world biomes are: a desert, a boreal forest, and a deciduous forest.

The desert biome can be characterized by a severe lack of moisture and humidity as well as a history of being an ancient seabed. These characteristics result in vast sand dunes, towering mesas, playas or salt flats, and a variety of cactus species. Mesas are tall outcroppings made of a reddish stone while playas are flat areas of condensed salt. The implemented types of cacti are a standard pillar cactus, barrel cactus, and saguaro cactus.

The taiga biome is characterized by higher altitudes, high humidity, and low temperatures. These characteristics result in larger fir trees, shallow dirt and deep permafrost, shallow grassy bogs known as muskegs, and a visible tree line on larger hills. The fir trees grow noticeably larger due to the relative abundance of soil nutrition and the fact that they do not shed their leaves allowing for year round growth. The shallow layers of dirt and deep permafrost result from the combination of high humidity and low temperatures. The muskegs form from moisture that is not able to be absorbed by the ground. The tree line is a result of the altitude reaching a point where the available oxygen is too low to support much, if any vegetation.

The deciduous forest biome is characterized by moderate temperatures and humidity, allowing life to flourish. These characteristics result in rolling hills and a large amount of oak trees. The oak trees get placed using a custom forest growth model that is unique to the deciduous forest biome implementation.

A full report on development and analysis is included with the download.