Game Developer Jan Fidler, working on an RTS game titled By Sword & Road, showcased a new custom tool: a Godot shader that deforms objects according to terrain.
The developer clarified that the tool takes the terrain height map and deforms the mesh according to it, and as long as you keep updating this data, the meshes will dynamically react to it. A global shader parameter handles the terrain height map, height scale, and terrain width and length. The terrain shader translates each vertex position into terrain texture space to determine the vertical displacement of each vertex on the plane mesh. The building shader follows the same logic, with the key difference that it also considers the original shape, so it does not flatten the mesh.
By Sword & Road, the game for which the tool was crafted, is a minimalistic strategy focused on setting up military logistics. The main idea is that players can conquer their enemies by cutting off their supply lines. Alongside, the RTS features an original story campaign and challenges.
