Terrain advice

Hi Guy's,
I'm wondering whether you could offer some advice on terrain.

I'm not sure whether to use (or whether I can use) oFusion to export terrain from 3DS.

Or to use PLSM and some editor to create/texture the meshes

oFusion
- Would be good because I won't require any extra tools (ie already using ofusion)
- However I'm not sure how the texturing will work/export. Ie multipass texturing, texture spatting
- However I'll be able to texture the entire scene. Including maybe lightmaps.

PLSM
- More native to ogre
- Terrain meshes are probably more optimised (performance wise) for ogre
- Texturing probably designed specifically for ogre

Any thoughts would help. Thanks

I think it depends on what environment your trying to create. Something like PLSM is going to be better if you need large terrains with a far view distance.

If you want small mid size detailed terrains with overhangs and more interesting design than what a height map offers max can be better.

I like making terrains with spliness so that the geometry flows with the contoured shape of the environment you are creating often requiring far fewer triangles than a displaced grid which needs high tesselation if you want to avoid jagged edges.

You can always combine both methods too if you want to have a generic distant terrain with areas of interest graften on using meshes.

Using something like PLSM is quicker and easier, especialy if your game requires a lot of variety in over a large number of different levels. Whilst mesh terrains can produce the nicest looking terrains but take a lot more time and effort to do well.