// Procedural ground-cover blades, generated on the GPU, with NO distance rings. // // The world is cut into 16 m cells. Blade j of a cell always stands at the same place // (a hash of the cell and j), so a blade never moves. How many of a cell's blades exist // is a smooth function of the blade's own distance to the camera: cell area over the // square of a spacing that grows linearly with distance. Thinning removes the highest // indices first, and a blade shrinks before it goes, so density is continuous in space // and in time and nothing can form a boundary. Draws are per tile (CPU-side frustum // culling, grass.ludic); a tile only decides how many indices to feed the shader. layout(location = 0) in vec3 a_pos; // x: -0.5..0.5 across, y: 0..1 along the blade, z: bend layout(location = 2) in vec2 a_uv; uniform mat4 u_view; uniform mat4 u_proj; uniform mat4 u_vp; uniform vec3 u_cam_pos; uniform float u_time; uniform sampler2D u_ts_height; uniform vec2 u_ts_origin; uniform float u_ts_half; uniform sampler2D u_ortho; uniform float u_ortho_on; uniform float u_lake_level; uniform float u_sea_level; // the sea (terrain_sea); the lake's level when there is no separate sea uniform vec4 u_lake; // the carved lake: centre x/z, half extents (z = 0: none) uniform float u_snow_line; uniform float u_wind; uniform vec3 u_push; // x, z, radius: a body standing in the grass uniform vec2 u_tile; // world xz of this tile's corner uniform int u_tile_cells; // 16 m cells per tile side uniform int u_per_cell; // indices drawn per cell in this tile #ifdef TILES uniform vec4 u_tiles[256]; // per tile of the draw: corner x, corner z, indices per cell #endif uniform float u_s0; // blade spacing at the camera (m) uniform float u_d0; // distance at which the spacing has doubled (m) uniform float u_radius; // no blades past this uniform float u_px; // one pixel's height in radians: no blade is drawn narrower than a pixel uniform int u_dbg; // R3D_GRASS_DBG: 1 lift blades 0.3 m, 2 light as ground everywhere, 3 both out vec3 v_wpos; out vec3 v_nrm; out vec2 v_uv; out float v_seed; out vec2 v_rot; out float v_hull; out float v_quake; // only aspens quake; written so model.frag can read it out vec3 v_tint; // the blade's colour field at its root (model.frag's regionTint and patchiness, once a blade) const float CELL = 4.0; // grass.ludic GRASS_CELL: 4 m, so a near tile asks for what its blades need // hash1 and fbm come from noise.glsl, which a GBLADE vertex stage is given (programs.ludic) // An integer hash (PCG) for the per-blade values. The sine hash advanced linearly with // the blade index, so a cell's blades fell into diagonal rows, and the rows read as // streaks across the meadow with an edge wherever they thinned out. uint pcg(uint v) { uint s = v * 747796405u + 2891336453u; uint w = ((s >> ((s >> 28u) + 4u)) ^ s) * 277803737u; return (w >> 22u) ^ w; } float bladeHash(ivec2 cell, int j, int k) { uint h = pcg(uint(cell.x + 32768) * 73856093u ^ uint(cell.y + 32768) * 19349663u ^ uint(j) * 83492791u ^ uint(k) * 2654435761u); return float(h) * (1.0 / 4294967295.0); } float heightSmooth(sampler2D tex, vec2 uv) { vec2 res = vec2(textureSize(tex, 0)); vec2 t = uv * res - 0.5; vec2 f = fract(t); vec2 i = floor(t); vec2 w0 = (1.0 - f) * (1.0 - f) * (1.0 - f) / 6.0; vec2 w1 = (4.0 - 6.0 * f * f + 3.0 * f * f * f) / 6.0; vec2 w3 = f * f * f / 6.0; vec2 w2 = 1.0 - w0 - w1 - w3; vec2 s0 = w0 + w1, s1 = w2 + w3; vec2 o0 = (i - 1.0 + w1 / s0 + 0.5) / res; vec2 o1 = (i + 1.0 + w3 / s1 + 0.5) / res; return (texture(tex, vec2(o0.x, o0.y)).r * s0.x + texture(tex, vec2(o1.x, o0.y)).r * s1.x) * s0.y + (texture(tex, vec2(o0.x, o1.y)).r * s0.x + texture(tex, vec2(o1.x, o1.y)).r * s1.x) * s1.y; } void cull() { gl_Position = vec4(0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 1.0); v_wpos = vec3(0.0); v_nrm = vec3(0.0, 1.0, 0.0); v_uv = vec2(0.0); v_seed = 0.0; v_rot = vec2(0.0, 1.0); v_hull = 1.0; v_quake = 0.0; v_tint = vec3(1.0); } // lighting.glsl's regionTint(wpos, 0.35) times model.frag's patchiness, at the root: three fbm // fields a blade pixel used to pay for, when the whole blade stands on one spot vec3 bladeField(vec2 xz, float y) { float n = fbm(xz * 0.0018 + 4.0, 3) * 0.5 + 0.5; float aspen = smoothstep(0.52, 0.7, n) * smoothstep(520.0, 250.0, y); float dry = smoothstep(0.35, 0.15, fbm(xz * 0.004 + 9.0, 3) * 0.5 + 0.5); vec3 t = mix(vec3(1.0), vec3(1.25, 1.3, 0.85), aspen * 0.35); t = mix(t, vec3(1.15, 1.05, 0.7), dry * 0.35 * 0.6); float patchy = fbm(xz * 0.045, 3) * 0.5 + 0.5; t *= mix(vec3(0.7, 0.8, 0.55), vec3(1.1, 1.05, 0.85), patchy); // dry and green patches a few metres across, and the tussocks' own shade of the same green float dryp = smoothstep(0.2, 0.8, gnoise(xz * 0.33 + 17.0) * 0.5 + 0.5); t *= mix(vec3(0.92, 1.0, 0.95), vec3(1.30, 1.10, 0.62), dryp); return t * (0.72 + 0.56 * (gnoise(xz * 1.9 + 41.0) * 0.5 + 0.5)); } void main() { #ifdef TILES // Vulkan: one draw covers a chunk of tiles. Each record's firstInstance is its place in the chunk // times 65536 (grass.ludic), and u_tiles holds that place's corner and indices per cell. int ti = gl_InstanceIndex / 65536; int i = gl_InstanceIndex - ti * 65536; vec2 tile = u_tiles[ti].xy; int per_cell = int(u_tiles[ti].z + 0.5); #else int i = gl_InstanceID; vec2 tile = u_tile; int per_cell = u_per_cell; #endif int c = i / per_cell; int j = i - c * per_cell; vec2 cell = tile + vec2(float(c % u_tile_cells), float(c / u_tile_cells)) * CELL; vec2 cid = floor(cell / CELL + 0.5); ivec2 ci = ivec2(cid); float fj = float(j); // this blade's fixed place in its cell vec2 hv = vec2(bladeHash(ci, j, 0), bladeHash(ci, j, 1)); vec2 xz = cell + hv * CELL; vec2 d2 = xz - u_cam_pos.xz; float dist = length(d2); if (dist >= u_radius) { cull(); return; } // how many of this cell's blades exist at this distance: area over spacing^2, spacing // growing linearly with distance. j beyond that count does not exist; the last fifth // of the count shrinks to nothing so a blade never pops. float spacing = u_s0 * (1.0 + dist / u_d0); float count = CELL * CELL / (spacing * spacing) * (1.0 - smoothstep(u_radius * 0.7, u_radius, dist)); // WHICH blades thin out has to be random, not the last indices. `fj >= count` keeps // blades 0..N-1, and as N falls by one with distance, the SAME index dies in every // cell at the same radius - one blade in a fixed place per cell, over a whole ring. // Seen from above that is a set of arcs centred on the camera, and at eye level it is // the banding that reads as a ploughed field. Giving each blade its own fixed number // and comparing that against the density makes the thinning scatter instead. float keep = count / float(max(per_cell, 1)); float r = bladeHash(ci, j, 5); if (r > keep) { cull(); return; } float life = 1.0 - smoothstep(keep * 0.75, keep, r); // the ground under it vec2 huv = (xz - u_ts_origin) / (2.0 * u_ts_half) + 0.5; if (huv.x < 0.0 || huv.x > 1.0 || huv.y < 0.0 || huv.y > 1.0) { cull(); return; } vec4 ht = texture(u_ts_height, huv); vec4 croot = u_vp * vec4(xz.x, ht.r, xz.y, 1.0); if (croot.w < -1.0 || abs(croot.x) > croot.w * 1.25 + 1.5 || abs(croot.y) > croot.w * 1.4 + 1.5) { cull(); return; } vec3 gn = normalize(ht.gba); float h3 = bladeHash(ci, j, 2), h4 = bladeHash(ci, j, 3); // No blades under water: the sea's line everywhere, and the lake's inside its outline. One // line for both left a lake above the sea with grass on its bed or a valley with none. float wl = u_sea_level; if (u_lake.z > 0.0) { vec2 q = (xz - u_lake.xy) / u_lake.zw; if (dot(q, q) < 1.0) wl = max(wl, u_lake_level); } float ok = (1.0 - smoothstep(0.30, 0.55, 1.0 - gn.y)) * smoothstep(0.0, 0.6, ht.r - wl - 0.15) * smoothstep(u_snow_line - 80.0, u_snow_line - 200.0, ht.r); if (u_ortho_on > 0.5) { vec3 oc = textureLod(u_ortho, huv, 1.5).rgb; // Is this ground vegetated, by the photograph? The test used to be green DOMINANCE - // g - max(r, b) - which is a test for lush green and nothing else. A dry alpine meadow // is yellow-green: its red is as high as its green, so the whole meadow scored zero and // was thinned to the floor, a quarter of the blades, on exactly the ground that should // be thickest. Measured on Maroon's own ortho, g - max(r, b) reads +0.026 at the camp // and -0.002 six hundred metres away, flipping between full density and a quarter over // open meadow; g - b reads +0.076 and +0.014 and separates plant from rock and snow // just as well, because rock and snow are neutral and vegetation is not. ok *= 0.40 + 0.60 * smoothstep(0.0, 0.025, oc.g - oc.b); } if (h4 > ok) { cull(); return; } // the root on the drawn surface: the CDLOD mesh follows the B-spline to within // centimetres near the camera, so the smooth sample is the drawn height bool far = dist > 300.0; float h = far ? ht.r : heightSmooth(u_ts_height, huv); if (far) h += 0.03; if ((u_dbg & 1) != 0) h += 0.3; // the blade: sized so that coverage stays level as the spacing grows float seed = hv.x * 0.7 + hv.y * 0.3; // A BLADE'S YAW MUST NOT BE ITS POSITION. This was `hv.y * 2pi`, and hv.y is the same // number that places the blade along the cell's z - so every blade at the same depth // in a cell faced the same way, in rows, sixteen metres wide. That is the single thing // that made the meadow look ploughed. Its own hash costs nothing. float ang = bladeHash(ci, j, 6) * 6.2831853; float s = sin(ang), c_ = cos(ang); float grow = spacing / u_s0; // 1 at the camera, growing with distance // Height is biased SHORT rather than spread evenly. A meadow is not one length of grass: it // is a dense mat with taller stems and seed heads standing out of it, and h3 * h3 gives that // for nothing - half the blades come out under a quarter of the range, and the few long ones // are what carry the silhouette against the light. An even 0.18-0.42 spread read as a lawn // that had been cut, which is the one thing an alpine meadow is not. float hh = h3 * h3; float tall = mix(0.09, 0.60, hh) * mix(0.8, 1.2, hash1(cid * 0.1)) * (1.0 + 0.35 * smoothstep(1.0, 12.0, grow)) * life; // CLUMPS: grass grows in tussocks, taller and shorter patches a metre or so across, and that // relief is the texture a meadow has from above - an even height reads as felt float clump = gnoise(xz * 0.85 + 3.7) * 0.5 + 0.5; tall *= mix(0.45, 1.40, clump * clump * (3.0 - 2.0 * clump)); // 2.8 cm was FIVE TIMES a blade of meadow grass, which is 3-6 mm. At 2 m from the // camera that is a broad dark scimitar lying along the ground rather than a blade // standing in a sward, and no amount of profile or colour work fixes a blade that is // the wrong size. Measured, not guessed: it is the one number behind every "too wide // and too flat" note in this stage. float bw = 0.010 * mix(1.0, 0.45 * grow, smoothstep(1.0, 4.0, grow)); if (far) { bw = max(bw, spacing * 0.35); tall = min(tall, spacing * 0.3); } // a blade under a pixel is a vertex bill that shimmers: widen it to one and a bit, and let the // thinning (spacing) keep the coverage bw = max(bw, dist * u_px * 1.1); vec3 p = vec3(a_pos.x * bw, a_pos.y * tall, a_pos.z * tall * (0.6 + 0.8 * h4)); vec3 n = vec3(0.0, 0.3, 1.0); // The shared field (wind.glsl), so the gust that crosses this meadow is the same gust that // reaches the trees behind it a moment later. The two sines that used to live here were a // standing wobble: the grass moved, but nothing ever travelled. float ph = u_time * 1.7 + seed * 6.2831 + xz.x * 0.05 + xz.y * 0.07; float sway = windSway(xz, u_time, ph, 0.0) * u_wind; float hgt = max(p.y, 0.0); p.x += sway * hgt * hgt * 0.35; p.z += sway * hgt * hgt * 0.15 * cos(ph * 0.7); p = vec3(c_ * p.x + s * p.z, p.y, -s * p.x + c_ * p.z); // A BODY STANDING IN IT. Applied here, after the blade's own yaw has put p into world axes // and before it is tipped onto the ground normal, so the push is a world direction rather // than something in the blade's private frame. The blade bends AWAY and DOWN - a trodden // stem is shorter as well as leaning, and leaving the height alone made them splay outward // like a fan instead of being walked through. if (u_push.z > 0.0) { vec2 away = xz - u_push.xy; float pd = length(away); float push = smoothstep(u_push.z, u_push.z * 0.2, pd); if (push > 0.0) { vec2 pdir = (pd > 1e-3) ? away / pd : vec2(1.0, 0.0); float bh = max(p.y, 0.0); p.x += pdir.x * push * bh * 1.05; p.z += pdir.y * push * bh * 1.05; p.y -= push * bh * 0.40; } } n = normalize(vec3(c_ * n.x + s * n.z, n.y, -s * n.x + c_ * n.z)); // stand on the ground: rotate the blade's frame from world-up to the surface normal { vec3 up = vec3(0.0, 1.0, 0.0); vec3 k = cross(up, gn); float sk = length(k), ck = gn.y; if (sk > 1e-4) { k /= sk; p = p * ck + cross(k, p) * sk + k * dot(k, p) * (1.0 - ck); n = normalize(n * ck + cross(k, n) * sk + k * dot(k, n) * (1.0 - ck)); } } // Blades are lit with the ground's normal from a few metres out. Lit by their own // facing, the wind's sine field bent them in bands and the lit/unlit sides flipped in // those bands: light and dark rows across the whole meadow. Ground-normal lighting is // what open-world grass does (the blade's own normal only matters within arm's reach). n = normalize(mix(n, gn, smoothstep(2.0, 12.0, dist))); vec3 w = vec3(xz.x, h - 0.02, xz.y) + p; v_wpos = w; v_nrm = n; v_uv = far ? vec2(a_uv.x, 0.45 + 0.2 * a_uv.y) : a_uv; v_seed = seed; v_rot = vec2(s, c_); v_quake = 0.0; v_tint = bladeField(xz, h); v_hull = (dist > 2.0 || far || (u_dbg & 2) != 0) ? -1.0 : 1.0; // no back-face flip, no rounding past arm's reach gl_Position = u_proj * u_view * vec4(w, 1.0); }