Goblins by Spheroidal Weathering

Abstract

Height map models of terrain are computationally efficient but can not represent terrain with concave surfaces. We present an algorithm for generating sandstone goblins using a simulation of spheroidal weathering. Sandstone goblins are a kind of hoodoo which are characterized by rounded concave shapes. The weathering simulation uses bubbles centered on axis aligned voxels to approximate geometry-dependent effects of spheroidal weathering. We demonstrate that the algorithm, together with appropriate surface textures, produces visually plausible goblins at near interactive speeds for most simulation parameters.