#+title: Wind patterns
#+date: <2017-08-07>

#+begin_note
/Note:/ the =/x/= series of posts on my site are mostly unpolished mini posts. I'm trying out a few different ideas for procedural map generation.
#+end_note

In my [[http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/][polygon map generator from 2010]] I created biomes using the Whittaker diagram, mapping temperature and moisture to a biome. I set temperature based on elevation, and elevation based on /distance to coastline/. I set moisture based on /distance to river/. Both of these were good choices for the game the maps were for. We wanted volcanic islands with constant slope, and we wanted most of the biomes to show up as you walked around at the same elevation. However, those patterns aren't what we need for the current game project.

I want to explore what I could do with wind patterns.

The simplest system is to have prevailing winds be west to east or east to west.

Another option is to have winds flow from high pressure to low pressure. That means I need to calculate the pressure. Then I could use the gradient field.

Another option is to have winds flow around mountains, through mountain passes. I'm not yet sure how to do that easily. Can I use the curl field? I want to play with curl noise in any case.

*I put this on hold* because I decided I should get back to basics first and come back to this after I get the basic map generator working.

2023: see https://frozenfractal.com/blog/2023/12/4/around-the-world-4-basic-wind/ and https://frozenfractal.com/blog/2023/12/8/around-the-world-5-wind-pressure/

#+begin_export html
  <x:footer>
    Created 30 Jul 2017 with Emacs org-mode (<a href="index.org">source of this page</a>); &#160;
    <!-- hhmts start -->Last modified: 08 Dec 2023<!-- hhmts end -->
  </x:footer>
#+end_export