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The Grove got rid of Da Vinci's rule of trees to employ an up-to-date secondary growth scenario that better simulates the thickening of branches, adopted the scientific naming scheme, and introduced miscellaneous fixes.
Image Credits: The Grove
The latest version of The Grove, the natural tool for growing 3D trees, is mainly focused on secondary growth, which is characterized by an increase in the thickness or girth of the plant as it ages.
As the developer Wybren van Keulen has explained, over a decade of tree research has pushed The Grove forward, helping to refine the simulation to make it as natural as possible. The implementation of the new secondary growth theory has made it closely tied to the local light environment, with all the aspects including including phototropism, reaction wood, and the eventual demise of a branch, now working together to provide the most comprehensive natural simulation.
Image Credits: The Grove
"All the branches of a tree at every stage of its height when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk. All the branches of a water at every stage of its course, if they are of equal rapidity, are equal to the body of the main stream", wrote Leonardo da Vinci.
Until now, The Grove employed Leonardo da Vinci's rule of trees to grow the thickness of branches, as it looked quite naturalistic and worked well. However, it lacked nuanced for relatively new and thin branches and the developer decided to figure out a new formula for secondary growth.
Now, thickness builds up by means of the branch's photosynthetic production and the actual use of this energy. However, the energy won't simply make tree cells grow wherever and whenever, instead the tree seeks balance by using growth hormones. Turns out that photosynthesis is an incredibly inefficient process that uses a lot of water, and it is this flow of water that brings along hormones from the roots.
Image Credits: The Grove
According to the developer, the impact of the accurate buildup of thickness can best be seen in thin branches, and the slightest tweak completely changes the character of the tree over time.
You can use the Gain slider inside Thicken to explore this new rule of trees.
The decay system has been updated as well with death now being a property of a node, instead of an entire branch, so that any part of a branch can now die.
Image Credits: The Grove
The Grove 2.1 also adopted the scientific names of trees at the start of preset names, following the example of the scientists using a uniform naming scheme so The Grove users all over the world can similarly understand each other.
The update includes a long list of various bug fixes, including Prune and Draw tool corrections and small UI refinements.
Check out the full list of release notes here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.