Using higmaps were (or are) very common practice for creating terrains in games and in most game programming books they are mentioned. But what I wonder is that, are there better methods? is using highmaps as common as it used to be? (specially considering complexity of terrains in nowadays games)
Yes, people still use height maps for terrain. You have limitations and need to patch some stuff up like overhanging and caves, ect… but it is still widely used. Some people will use more than one height map, others will mix meshes with their height maps, and some people use only meshes and don't bother with height maps.
Normally I use a mix of using a height map for the general terrain and will mix in meshes as needed.
Programmer and 3D Artist
I searched for multiple highmap approach that you mentioned but being honest, I couldn't find anything. May I ask to explain it more?
