User Guide

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TERRAIN BRUSH OPTIONS
In the Terrain Brush Options window, you can configure the options for the terrain brush used in the Height
Brush, Mound, and Dig tools.
✯ Brush Width. The diameter in cells and feet that is affected by the Brush Height setting.
✯ Brush Feather Width. Distance beyond the center circle in which the changed terrain is blended into the
surrounding terrain.
✯ Brush Height. The height by which each application of the tool raises or lowers the terrain.
HEIGHT BRUSH
The Height Brush raises or lowers the selected terrain to the height defined in the window. Set the height,
width, and feathering circumference from the center point. Then, click on map locations to change the
height. The Height Brush is useful for building base areas, cities, and riverbeds.
MOUND
The Mound tool piles more terrain onto the selected location.
DIG
The Dig tool removes terrain from the map based on the settings in the Terrain Brush Options window.
SMOOTH HEIGHT
The Smooth Height tool smoothes the terrain between the edges of the terrain brush. Use the Smooth
Height tool to remove impassable areas and odd edges that can be created with the other terrain tools.
✯ Brush Width. Brush diameter in cells or feet.
✯ Filter Radius. The area beyond the brush width into which the tool attempts to smooth. Large values
create more smoothing and more dramatic effects.
✯ Feather Rate. The rate at which smoothing takes place. Low values require scrubbing with the tool over
an area to get the desired effect.
EA TIP: In many cases, the Feather Rate should be turned up to the highest settings.
MESH MOLD TOOL
NOTE: This feature is disabled in the beta release of World Builder. It may be available in a
subsequent version.
Instead of forcing you to create common terrain shapes by hand each time, the Mesh Mold tool lets you
apply pre-defined shapes into the terrain. The Curved Ramp and Ramp options are useful for creating
inclines and declines suitable for roads.
✯ Scale %. Scales the mold applied to the terrain as a percentage of the displayed mold.
✯ Height. The elevation at the center point of the mold.
✯ Angle. The angle of the mold relative to the plane of the map.
✯ Adjust Heights. The Adjust Heights options let you adjust the heights of the surrounding terrain to meet
the terrain surface of the applied mesh mold.
✯ Preview. Check this box to see a preview of the mold applied to the terrain.
❍
To apply the defined mold to the terrain, click APPLY.
WATER TOOL
The Water tool lets you fill an area with water to create lakes and rivers.
EA TIP: Bodies of water can be very costly on system resources. Where possible, use the
default water plane that is part of any new map. For more information,
➤ New on p. 12.
✯ For more information on how to build lakes and rivers, ➤ How to Build a Lake on p. 52 or ➤ How to Build a
River on p. 53.