Hey, just wanted to share some work in progress on a tree/vegetation macro. Today I implemented a crude version of temperature in World Machine and guide the tree placement with it.
My attempts at tree placement used to heavily rely on the height of the terrain and that is still a very solid and quick emulation, however, it cannot take the sunny side of a mountain into account. Using temperature as the main parameter creates a more natural result, as trees are in fact quite limited by the soil’s temperature. A nice benefit is that this method also allows me to place snow based on that same temperature map. In the image you can clearly see how the tree line swirls up and down, ignoring the height of the terrain to some extent. Slope is also taken into account.
Oh, and the image without any text added to it