Part 3: shaping your terrain

This article is part of a series on how to create and edit a terrain.

Part 1: creating a terrain object

Part 2: resizing a terrain object

Part 3: shaping your terrain

Part 4: painting your terrain

This article describes how to shape your terrain.

Description

_{The terrain sculpting interaction modes on the terrain panel}

The following tools allow you to sculpt your terrain:

• Raise

  Raise terrain height

• Lower

  Lower terrain height

• Flatten

  Flatten terrain height

• Smooth

  Smooth terrain

• Slope

  Create a slope on the terrain from point A to B

• Cut

  Cut 1x1 meter cells out of the terrain

In this guide I will be using the raise, flatten, smooth and lower interaction modes to sculpt the 64x64 meter terrain we created in part 2 of this series. Keep in mind that for all terrain interaction modes, you can customize the brush by right clicking the interaction mode button, or resize the brush by clicking '[' and ']'.

Shaping your terrain

Step 1: raising

_{Using the terrain raise interaction mode}

First, I will use the terrain raise interaction mode to create some basic height levels on my terrain. To do this, select the terrain raise interaction mode (1), hover your mouse over the terrain and hold the left mouse button (2).

Step 2: flattening

_{Using the terrain flatten interaction mode}

Next, I flattened some areas of the terrain with the terrain flatten interaction mode. Flattening the terrain will set the height of the terrain within the brush to the height at the center of the brush. To use the flatten interaction mode, first toggle the interaction mode (1), then hover over the terrain you want to flatten and hold the left mouse button (2).

Step 3: smoothing

_{Using the terrain smooth interaction mode}

You probably noticed the jagged edges and hard shadows on the terrain after step 2. This is caused by extreme height differences within short distances. To compensate for this, you can use the terrain smooth interaction mode. To use the terrain smooth interaction mode, toggle the interaction mode button (1), hover over the terrain you want to smooth and hold the left mouse button (2).

Step 4: lowering

_{Using the terrain lower interaction mode}

Last but not least I lowered some parts of my terrain so that a river can flow through it. Enable the terrain lower interaction mode (1), hover over the terrain you want to flatten and hold the left mouse button (2).

Result

_{The end result of this guide}

To finish my terrain I added some river plane objects and rocks. To do this, open the Root template panel, select a template, enable the creation interaction mode and place some objects in your level.

Notes

• To be able to walk on and see your terrain, you will need to regenerate the AI grid. The AI grid is a system that calculates pathing, vision and more. To generate the AI grid, open the AI grid panel and click the "Full Generate" button.

See also

In the next part of the series we will be painting our terrain.

Part 1: creating a terrain object

Part 2: resizing a terrain object

Part 3: shaping your terrain

Part 4: painting your terrain