Terrain Help/Route Questions

I have a view questions regarding the editor in Trainz 12 mostly about using the terrain toolsl. I am sometimes just scared to use them in my right because I know I can't really use them right.

1. If I wanted to make a track elevated or slightly elevated over the road or ground how could I do this too look more natural?
   
2. How can I make a slope that looks subtle or natural? (I can't seem to make a slope in general)

I understand you being a bit nervous when it comes to terrain building. The tools are somewhat like coloring with fat crayons and trying to stay between the lines at the same time. There are ways around this fat-crayon approach using not just the tools we have built-in, but also digital Elevation maps, such as those available on the DLS or others that you can download and import into Trainz using TransDem (payware) or HOG (free).

Remember the baseboard grid has a 10 x 10 meter resolution by default. This is sometimes course but can be manipulated just the same. When I need to make slight changes, I find zooming out a bit and using a smallest-size cursor seems to help. Raising a road or track bed can be tricky, but I find if I raise the track or road then blend the terrain in around the grade, then things look better than trying to create a raised grade. The alternative lowering terrain on either side of the road or tracks works as well and I've done that too where I want the track to be graded. The difference is maybe 5 or 6 meters lowered and this makes the difference.

I noticed that you have TS12. If you are using this, there is also the 5 meter grid available. Just remember to create your 5 meter grid prior to texturing otherwise the textures can become weird. I made that mistake on my route, and I spend a long time retexturing the area again with limited success. The 5 meter-option is a bit hard to find. When creating a grid, you click on the screen a second time and the option comes up. This is only for that one baseboard and not subsequent baseboards which is weird.

To create landscapes and then put in tracks and roads, you can try displacement maps. These are grayscale images that provide height values that raise and lower the terrain with white being the highest and black the lowest on the 0-255 scale.

The final alternative is to use actual terrain from DEMs. This can be both frustrating and rewarding at the same time. The end result is a landscape based on the real thing which it is. There are resolution differences and you want to usually pull the medium-grade ones. The lowest resolution ones create really bumpy landscapes with exaggerated heights. The highest ones create truly awesome terrain, but you pay the price of more overhead. I won't go into details here. I'll let someone else explain this better than I can.

All I can say after all this, is experiment. There's no waste with virtual railroading and there's no mess either, so if you don't like something, try another method that works best for you.

John

GameBoy: John has explained one method, but there are several different ways to do this..The method that I use is to build the terrain first then lay the track..Start and do one baseboard to begin with..Try to have a allover Idea of what you want to accomplish..Sometimes I have one baseboard set up to where I can practice different techniques, which I think is a good idea in Terrain building..In Terrain building use all the tools availible..Height up button, keep the sensitivety down so you have better control..You can change the size of your Cursor(circle) any time..Another thing I like to do, which I think is facsinating..Lay a strip of track, any Length you want..Use the track Height button and to lets say 30m, click the circle(on the track)with the Height Button you just set..Then use the smoothing tool and click on the track and it will rise up to meet you.