Pre-Release 0.8.0 — New Heights

Terrain Source Overhaul

The terrain data system has been completely rebuilt.

All previous terrain sources have been removed and replaced by a single provider: Mapterhorn. Visit mapterhorn.com to see which regions currently offer enhanced, higher-resolution terrain data.

Areas without enhanced coverage use terrain data at a resolution of approximately 30 meters. Additional high-resolution sources will continue to be added over time.

A detailed coverage map is available here:

View the Mapterhorn coverage map

Using a single terrain provider allows the mod to load terrain more quickly, reliably, and consistently.

Ocean and Land-Cover Data

Ocean terrain is now generated using OpenWaters Bathymetry, which provides better performance than accessing GEBCO directly.

ESA WorldCover data is now delivered through Overture Maps. This change adds zoom-level support, improves chunk-generation speed, and significantly accelerates generation at large scales, including scales such as 1:500.

Note: The previous direct ESA WorldCover data source is no longer supported.

Together, these changes have dramatically reduced the mod’s storage usage. All caches have also been updated to support the new data sources.

1:1 Terrain Everywhere on Land

A new option has been added under World Settingss in the world configuration screen.

When enabled, terrain is generated using a significantly larger vertical scale. This allows landmarks such as Mount Everest to appear at their real-world height.

Current Ocean Limitation

The increased vertical scale cannot currently be fully applied to oceans, which remain limited to Y = -2040.

I am investigating ways to overcome this limitation so the game can eventually render terrain as deep as the Challenger Deep, approximately 10,935 meters below sea level.

Underground Generation

To maintain reasonable performance, the mod does not generate thousands of blocks beneath every terrain column. Instead, it generates a consistent depth of 256 blocks below the terrain surface.

This value is currently hardcoded. A configurable depth slider is planned for a future update.

Distant Horizons Compatibility

Important: The standard version of Distant Horizons does not support the increased terrain height used by the new 1:1 terrain option.

A custom fork has been created that allows Distant Horizons to display the expanded vertical scale correctly.

The fork also fixes several existing issues, including the giant terrain pillars that can appear when “Upsample Lower Detail LODs to Fill Holes” is enabled.

Download the compatible fork here:

https://github.com/Yucareux/Tellus/releases/tag/v0.8.0

Be sure to pick the correct Minecraft version you are using.

Ocean Improvements

Coastlines have been significantly improved through a combination of:

Overture Maps data
OpenWaters Bathymetry
Coastline smoothing

In locations where bathymetry data is incomplete or unavailable, the ocean depth is now forced to a minimum of 20 blocks. This prevents oceans from generating with water that is only one block deep.

Terrain Preview Overhaul

The terrain preview has been completely redesigned.

It now more closely resembles Minecraft’s visual style, making it easier to understand how the terrain will look when generated in-game.

Bug Fixes

Several reported bugs have been fixed and some more were added to fix them later

Tellus