I am still new to houdini and particles for the most part so I apologize if this is an obvious question.. I want to be able to create a particle object (formation, not sure of the proper term) based off an object that has a displacement map so the particles will conform to the shape of the displacement map.

I tried using a displacement map on with a liquid material but I couldn't get it to turn out right.. doesn't seem to work right because of the liquid being transparent.

If anyone can point me in the right direction in regards to this that would be great. thanks

Have a look at the following file.

It uses the ray sop for a grid.
and the intersect point for a sphere to get the displaced point.

It is not really beginner stuff, but I hope you can follow along.

Generally people don't use their displaced mesh to drive the particles, but instead a highly subdivided approximation so you have the information in sops. That's slow to work with, but easier.

This setup is more complex but faster as it deals with less geometry. There are a couple of problems but overall the file should give you an idea of what is possible.

You will only really see the combined result of particles and mesh when you render.

good luck

Thanks, I understand what you mean.. unfortunately I am realizing my current hardware is too slow to do some of this high end stuff so I will probably have to deal with less than optimal detail at the moment.