This may be old news to some but I discovered today there is a far quicker way to make large expanses of water than the previous three step process I was using, i.e. lower terrain, apply the water and finally paint the texture.
What I found is, if you draw a border with the copy tool and have texture + terrain selected on an area where you have already applied the three steps above, when you activate the paste function not only does it lower and paint the terrain but also applies the water. You will still need to use the three step process around shorelines etc. where the pasting rectangle is too crude (just as we do with pasted textures and objects on land) but ideal for doing those large distant expanses of open water. Reckon that cuts the time in half or less for doing sea and lakes.
What I found is, if you draw a border with the copy tool and have texture + terrain selected on an area where you have already applied the three steps above, when you activate the paste function not only does it lower and paint the terrain but also applies the water. You will still need to use the three step process around shorelines etc. where the pasting rectangle is too crude (just as we do with pasted textures and objects on land) but ideal for doing those large distant expanses of open water. Reckon that cuts the time in half or less for doing sea and lakes.
