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Theorist
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Feb 2010 at 10:24 PM
Default Smooth terrain
In my world I have VERY pixelly terrain transitions, What settings do you use to make a smooth trasition over instead of blocky pixelish ones? I keep experimenting but I can't get it

Hi I'm Paul!
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Theorist
#2 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 4:08 AM
Did you import a height map? Every time I've imported a height map this happens. If that's the case, then you run over the entire map with a smooth brush.

If that isn't what you're talking about, then the best thing I can tell you is to just keep experimenting with various settings on the smoothing tools. Also, keep in mind after a while of running C-A-W gets all stuffed up and terrain tools pretty much stop working all together until you exit and let your system memory turn loose of it and re-start.
Theorist
Original Poster
#3 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 3:27 PM
No I mean terrain paints..... Should've been clearer

Sorry

Hi I'm Paul!
Field Researcher
#4 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 4:10 PM
Is it because they terrain itself isn't smooth? I know that if I don't smooth the terrain properly I get lots of jagged edges which really show when painting.

Otherwise I don't know, sorry! hopefully someone who knows the tool well will answer you!

~ Nyn ~
Test Subject
#5 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 4:30 PM
Did you replace the base texture with another terrain paint? I can't find the thread now, but it was suggested that you need to leave at least a small dot of the original terrain (grass or desert) somewhere on the map in order for the paints to blend properly.
Theorist
Original Poster
#6 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 5:35 PM
Deathoflight I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean sorry....

I posted a picture of what I mean for anyone whose confused, try to ignore the general sloppiness at the moment XD
Screenshots

Hi I'm Paul!
Test Subject
#7 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 6:16 PM
There are two sliders, in the brush settings: falloff, and opacity. What do you have them set to?
Field Researcher
#8 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 6:19 PM
Edges get choppy from farther out by camera default.

Keep in mind things in CAW do not look exactly like in game....

I use the flatten gentle then smooth gentle over and over to carve down coasts to make beaches. I find better control that way.

Also My major painting is done outside CAW importing the terrain maps back in latter.
This lets the paint layer in opacity making transitions smoother looking...

A good working concept of layers and gray scale opacity is needed.

the first pic is my world in development for release.

the others are my personal world early on.

in them you can see i have used the terrain paints to layer the look. the transitions in elevation are visually not just the wire frame manipulated with the sculpting tools but ALSO the paints being stretched like a skin over the land. Just like the BUMP MAPS for the sims clothing....

hope this helps.
Screenshots

I'd like to build a world, a better world.
Guess I'll start here...
Theorist
Original Poster
#9 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 7:02 PM
@ Dof, Nothing in particular I've experimented a lot and can't get it right

Hi I'm Paul!
Top Secret Researcher
#10 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 8:05 PM
Ashillion, what do you use to paint the terrains outside CAW? Do you mean that you 'paint' the height maps before importing or do you actually import the textures with the heightmap into CAW? I have tried to do that and the textures disappear when they are imported even though I had them on the height map. I use a variety of terrain editing programs but I wonder if you use something more sophisticated such as Bryce? I am considering getting EarthSculptor because the erosion features looks fantastic but now I am wondering if I could paint there and import the painted textures into CAW. I suspect I would need to make sure the textures I use were in the CAW directory..maybe that is what I did wrong! LOL

By the way, your world looks terrific! The geologist in me is going to come out for a moment..They look like batholith mountains, large granite intrusions that create that rounded look. I love it! It reminds me of where I studied in school one summer. I can't wait until its released!
Theorist
Original Poster
#11 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 8:24 PM
I'm assuming he's talking about the mask function (The third tab in sculpting/paint/routing mode) I would like to know also how he does it

Hi I'm Paul!
Top Secret Researcher
#12 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 9:05 PM
Hmm...I use that function to cover up something that I don't want to accidentally paint or sculpt. I am not sure how he can use that to 'paint outside of CAW'. You could be right though..just my ignorance.
Field Researcher
#13 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 9:42 PM
Ok here it goes.....

Terrain Paint with Photoshop....

Step one

After doing all the basic terrain sculpting and using the auto paint to get an idea of....

the high and low lands...
the flat areas
and the rocky areas your sim cannot move through.

export your terrain gray scale map

Step two

then right click your second terrain paint and export the auto-painted gray scale map.

step three

go into photo shop
open your terrain map.

go to Image>Adjustments>Curves

now tweek out the curves, if you have never used this function then you will have to play a bit with it.

generally the right upper side of the curve scale is the highest point the left the lowest.

black will not paint and the grays and white are the degrees of opacity for the paint layer, white being complete coverage.

Now I plan out the order of the terrain paints ahead of time. paint layers over the paint higher in your CAW terrain paint list.

example

default = dirt
auto = grass 1
layer 3 = grass 2
layer 4 = grass 3
layer 5 = pebbles
layer 6 = sand
layer 7 = snow
layer 8 = rock

now for each paint type i tweek out the curves of the terrain map.

so on the sand layer i would save a copy of the terrain map with the curves set to show white and gray only along the coast parts of the map.

save a re-curved map for each terrain paint.

then open CAW and import each new curve map into each terrain paint.

I take the "auto painted map" and use it on the highest layer as rock.

you can then edit the maps more as needed within photoshop and import the map again till you have it the way you like.

you can also set your grid in photoshop to equal the "chunks" so you can cut blocks out of a terrain paints curve map to make sure that the paint is not on layers (under other paint) and allow you to add more terrain paint layers beyond the 8 limit as each chuck can be made cleanly separate.

does it make more sense now? how i do this?

its the effect of paint showing trough other paint in the right order that makes terrain 'blend' it will never 'blend' if you just splatter paint down. It's just like real painting... with oil....

and i find the control over opacity in CAW is really crappy.

Photoshop is a bit too sensitive but with practice its pretty easy.
Screenshots

I'd like to build a world, a better world.
Guess I'll start here...
Theorist
Original Poster
#14 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 10:48 PM
O.O Thank you! That was very VERY helpful! Yays :D

Hi I'm Paul!
Top Secret Researcher
#15 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 11:12 PM
So you are simply painting the grayscale map. I misunderstood. I thought you were actually importing a map with textures and the textures were remaining on the imported terrain and showing up in CAW. I am guessing you then just import the height map into CAW and then paint on the textures.

I use an external height map creating software so don't need to go in and redo in a paint program. So far it has worked out well although I may need to touch up in the future. I do have the option in those programs of painting on texture but that is a separate exported map that CAW does not recognize.

Thanks for the explanation!
Field Researcher
#16 Old 7th Feb 2010 at 11:14 PM
Also use the brightness contrast in Photoshop and the magic wand tool!!!

always cut out areas of paint that are not seen or being used to blend...

if snow is covering the rocky mountaintop cut out the area in all other terrain paint maps...


it gets easier and easier...

and you will start to create more complex blends... like in the EA worlds...

export the sunset valley and riverveiw terrain paint maps that will give you a better idea of what works...


also NOTE: THE LIGHTEST GRAYS ARE ALMOST INVISIBLE!!! ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM to see them and become proficient with the magic wand tool.... it is your friend!

I'd like to build a world, a better world.
Guess I'll start here...
Field Researcher
#17 Old 8th Feb 2010 at 12:30 AM
The texture is in the CAW not the Terrain map...

the import (right click a texture) for each texture brings the map in and auto paints the texture as the gray scale tell it too white solid black transparent.

i do not paint the texture on... it auto-paints as my map details...

much faster than painting by hand and more accurate.

no painting is done... just import into the texture and CAW paints it.

i did my side of the painting in photoshop with the eraser and the curves and a little brushwork.

it is very very hard to get more than two textures to overlap and show through one another by using CAW's terrain painting tools...

they are for the most part only use-full to me for making touch ups and very close detail work. as the layers of texture will melt downward as you paint in CAW. this has good effects but also can make your whole landscape go wonky.

in my above detail of the island beach you can see that the rocky soil, marshland, pond rocks and grass and weeds make up the terrain paint all at once...

making little weeds and rocks show and creates a non-tiled look...

also I and EA use both base and detail textures... these overlap and do not really work apart from one another.

they create better shaddows and detail in rock and such...

the base 'lite' worlds have all the paints removed, as they were tga files that did not come with the CAW tool. but you can tell in the names how the order of over under layers work...


attached is a screen shot of a beach made of 6 textures...

dark grass, detail grass, light grass, light sand, rocky soil and shale....

see how it all blends...
Screenshots

I'd like to build a world, a better world.
Guess I'll start here...
Top Secret Researcher
#18 Old 8th Feb 2010 at 1:05 AM Last edited by rian90 : 8th Feb 2010 at 1:22 AM.
Can you show me a picture in Photoshop of your painted map? I am still confused but its probably just me. So you assign each greyscale value a texture in Photoshop and then it auto paints in CAW?

Edit: I think I understand but since I don't have Photoshop, I can't do it. Cool idea though! I might try it in Gimp just to see how it works. Thank you!
Test Subject
#19 Old 8th Feb 2010 at 2:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Robodl95
@ Dof, Nothing in particular I've experimented a lot and can't get it right


I have to turn them WAY down to get good blending. Have you tried Falloff 0 and Opacity 20?
Theorist
Original Poster
#20 Old 8th Feb 2010 at 2:59 AM
Thanks Dof, But Ash answered my question!

Hi I'm Paul!
Field Researcher
#21 Old 8th Feb 2010 at 5:16 AM
The map used by the textures is a gray scale....not a mask....

GIMP will work fine as will Paint shop or such.

grays cale map is opacity for texture on map when imported... see screen shot for how...
Screenshots

I'd like to build a world, a better world.
Guess I'll start here...
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