User Guide

53
HOW TO BUILD A LAKE USING WATER POLYGONS
If you are building more than one body of water in your map, you can create additional water polygons to
turn into lakes.
1. If you have not done so, use the terrain tools to dig the bed of your lake.
2. Click the Water tool in the toolbar.
3. In the Water Options window, click CREATE WATER POLYGON.
4. Click the start point for the water polygon. Click the location of the next point. Continue clicking at the
turn points around the perimeter of the bed of the lake until you return to the start point. The water
polygon is created.
✯ Note the control points that define the shape of the water polygon; these are expensive resources. If
possible, increase the Point spacing for your polygon. A water polygon does not have to form-fit the
hole. It just needs to surround the lake bed. A good starting point for the Point spacing for a lake is 50.
5. Use the Water Height slider to adjust the water level of the polygon until you have created a desirable lake.
6. If needed, you can reshape the terrain around the lake bed to get a more desirable appearance to the
shape of your lake.
7. When you are satisfied with the appearance of your lake, it’s a good idea to paint impassable terrain
tiles around its perimeter. For more information,
➤ How to Paint Passable and Impassable Terrain on p. 46.
HOW TO BUILD A RIVER
Building a realistic river takes a few more steps than building a lake.
1. If you have not done so, use the terrain tools to dig the bed of your river. Due to technical
considerations, rivers tend to look better if they are wider at both ends. You can put the ends of your
river outside the map perimeter to hide them while creating a better appearance to the river on the map.
✯ Remember that a real river flows down a slight grade.
2. Click the Water tool in the toolbar.
3. In the Water Options window, click CREATE WATER POLYGON.
4. Click the start point for the water polygon. Click the location of the next point. Continue clicking at the
turn points around the perimeter of the bed of the lake until you return to the start point. The water
polygon is created.
✯ The water texturing system uses the control points of a river polygon as anchors in shaping the image of
the flowing water. So, you need to pay attention to their count and positioning while creating rivers. If
you are creating a bend in the river, there should be roughly an equal number of control points on the
inside and the outside of the bend, with the points on the outside of the bend spaced further apart.
5. When you are satisfied with the shape of the water polygon, click the control point from which the river
flows. Click RIVER. The water now flows away from this point.
6. You may have to manually tweak the positioning of the control points to get the flowing appearance of
the water to look correct.