I am coming from a pretty low entry point for this, but wanted to use the opportunity of PROCJAM this year to do some procgen. I have an idea to create a tool/toy that simulates the growth of a tree that has been carved into - y’know, initials and a heart, then the tree grows, the scar deepens and walls up.
I think I mostly understand the programmatical solution: I should have a flat colour image on which I overlay a heightmap that is influenced by user input, then updated a bazillion times with some rules. My problems start wher I can’t quite figure out how what the heightmap is. Just a .lua full of user change tables? An actual sprite? How do I adjust sprites at runtime (I know how to replace one with another but I don’t think that’s the solution here)? Is that even what I need to do?
Since I haven’t used shaders or materials before (in Defold, Blender is okay) it’s a all quite mysterious, and I know I am in for a steep learning curve but there’s nothing for it. Can anybody help point me into the right direction to get started? Any handholding is appreciated.