Terrain Features
Part of Map Making Tools
- Rivers and Lakes: River sources are automatically generated where the moisture levels are high enough. River sources form between certain elevations, which can be changed in the Module Settings Map Configuration settings. They find their way down the terrain until they reach natural depressions. Water will then pool to form lakes. If the lakes become large enough, they may find new paths down the terrain and potentially reach the ocean. When a map is generated, the procedural river sources are permanently baked into the map as editable pins.
- Custom Rivers: In addition to procedural rivers, custom rivers can be drawn using line tools. The engine automatically places a river source at the highest point of your line and carves a continuous downward channel. If your route passes through higher elevations, the engine cuts a gorge through the terrain. If it passes over a steep drop, it forms a waterfall.
- Plate Tectonics: Tectonic plates (convergent, divergent and lateral/slip) and volcanic hotspot chains can be simulated using line tools.
- Add New River Source: Add a pin to spawn a custom river.
- Draw Custom River: Draw a line to carve a channel from the high end of the route to the low end. It will automatically carve gorges through any higher terrain between the two points.
- Draw Fault Line: Draw a line to simulate a convergent, divergent or lateral/slip fault or a hotspot chain.
For custom rivers:
- River width: Choose the width of the river channel (small, medium, large and extra large).
For fault lines:
- Tectonic Fault Type: Choose the type of fault you want to simulate.
- Fault Line Thickness: Choose over how wide an area the effects will happen.
- Fault Line Strength: Determine the strength of the effect.
For both rivers and fault lines:
- Toggle Live Terrain Generation: Toggles live terrain generation on or off.
- Apply Changes: When the toggle is off, if any changes are made that could affect the terrain, this button allows them to be manually applied. This helps you create or edit the river or fault lines without constantly generating terrain changes.
Note: by default, no terrain feature automatically generates a label. If you want to add a label, e.g., to a river or fault line, add a custom label using the Labels tool.
See the FAQ for why custom rivers can sometimes carve unexpectedly large canyons, and why procedural rivers can shift path after a terrain edit.
Next: Infrastructure.