Surveyor:Terrain Modification Tool

[macclarke]

I'm pretty new at Trainz so excuse me if this is a dumb question. The tutorial at "Trains.0catch.com/tutorial.html" talks about using "your favorite terrain modification tool" to carve out a riverbed.

Where might I find such a tool. I looked in Surveyor and Content Manager with no luck.

Thanks

Mac

 

[Euphod]

More than likely most people would use the "adjust height" tools for that purpose.

 

[Dermmy]

Creating a river bed using the terrain mod tools will drive you nuts. Lay a road spline following the course of the river, lower it by a meter or two and use just one click of the 'smooth spline' tool to lower the riverbed with reasonably rounded edges. Not perfect, but tweaking any 'sharp corners' will still go faster than doing the whole thing by hand...

Andy

 

[Retro00064]

I am going to have to try that one out, Andy. I have been just using the "Use height" tool to carve riverbeds so far.

Regards,

Retro.

 

[ray_whiley]

Creating a river bed using the terrain mod tools will drive you nuts. Lay a road spline following the course of the river, lower it by a meter or two and use just one click of the 'smooth spline' tool to lower the riverbed with reasonably rounded edges. Not perfect, but tweaking any 'sharp corners' will still go faster than doing the whole thing by hand...

Excellent idea.

Ray

 

[macclarke]

Surveyor: Terrain Modification Tool

Thanks Euphod, Dermmy, Retro00064, and Ray Whiley!

I take it that there is no such tool and will try the road method. I agree that doing it with the terrain lowering tool in Surveyor is a slow and not very good approach.

Mac

 

[wreeder]

"your favorite terrain modification tool" refers to all the tools available in the Terrain panel of surveyor. Kind of like saying "use your favorite house building tool" which could be a hammer, saw or power drill. My favorite would be the hammer.

William

 

[schweitzerdude]

Additional use of splines for terrain-forming

As discussed above, using splines to create a canyon or river valley is a useful technique. But there are other uses as well. If you have a slope in a urban area that needs to be graded to a even slope, lay a few road or rail splines from the top to the bottom and use smooth spline, and you can get a smooth slope without having to use any of the terrain tools.

Also, I built a ski resort on a route and to get a somewhat realistic consistent gradient for each ski run, I used rail splines (instead of road splines) because rail splines allow you to set the gradient. Smooth the splines, move the spline points slightly, then smooth again. The result is a realistically wide ski run with a slope that can be beginner, intermediate, or advanced. In that case, I used invisible track which I left in place so I could see in surveyor where my ski trails were.

 

[JCitron]

As discussed above, using splines to create a canyon or river valley is a useful technique. But there are other uses as well. If you have a slope in a urban area that needs to be graded to a even slope, lay a few road or rail splines from the top to the bottom and use smooth spline, and you can get a smooth slope without having to use any of the terrain tools.

Also, I built a ski resort on a route and to get a somewhat realistic consistent gradient for each ski run, I used rail splines (instead of road splines) because rail splines allow you to set the gradient. Smooth the splines, move the spline points slightly, then smooth again. The result is a realistically wide ski run with a slope that can be beginner, intermediate, or advanced. In that case, I used invisible track which I left in place so I could see in surveyor where my ski trails were.

You should add this to the Surveyor Tips and Tricks Sticky at the top of the Forum main page.

John