Topology

[danddhud]

I've seen a few videos where folks wish the radius tool was bigger when adjusting terrain height.
Instead go to the tools tab in surveyor and use the copy and paste tool to change areas of a route(map) much quicker.
Of course you need a height through the topology tools(tab) to begin with(Your base elevation).
Just highlight the "paste height" tab and uncheck the rest.
I'm sure this has been talked about many times before. But with everything going on there are probably some new users that don't know all the different aspects of the game(Like I do?)?
My experience is don't try to copy too much at a time! Anything less than a baseboard seems to work for me.
Take care,
Dean

 

[Seane2c]

Hi Dean:

Haven't tried the paste option as I've seen that mentioned twice now. Probably a bit quicker than trying to raise my elevation from 0 to 180 But it is kind of fun to have the highest radius and sensitivity work it's way up though. This program is better than MS Paint.

Thanks

Sean

 

[Concrete_Bob]

What I have done for larger layouts is to create a single tile on one corner of the layout, add a base colour and raise a hill over the whole tile using the advanced tab. Dab it with a couple of manual height adjustments to get a more random effect. As with a lot of surveyor tools, it hasn't been improved much in the last 15 years, but it can build up large-scale terrain quite quickly using copy/paste.[just remember to set the paste option to 'add' rather than 'replace'. For finer adjustments, this technique can be used with a smaller area of the tile. It helps to build your hill on a coloured square to ensure that your copy is tight and accurate, and adds cleanly when you paste.

 

[danddhud]

I've used the paste tool when adding extra tiles to a DEM route from the DLS, especially when the original height is much higher. Sure there is usually some blending needed but it is a real time saver to me.
Thanks for the tips,
Dean

 

[schweitzerdude]

These are good suggestions and I use them as well. But here are other reasons to do this:
1. The paste height will paste water if what you copied had water. So you can do in one operation what would usually take two. I have had crash-to-desktops however so don't rush and save often.
2. The paste height will allow you to make sharp (rectangular) elevation transitions. This is useful for building seaport areas etc.