CHAPTER FOUR: TERRAIN PAINTING

This Chapter is likely to be updated regularly since I'm still learning about terrain painting. But I know enough to get you started. Just like in Terrain sculpting, you learn by doing. So let's proceed.

1. First I loaded up this tiny river map for this lesson

 2. Next I added a few trees, lots, paths and sculpted the bottom-left island for a little beach

3. Click on the Terrain tab and select terrain tools. This time of course we are working with the Paint section. This is very similar to the Sculpt section. You have different layers of terrain textures and brush sizes.

4. I want to briefly point out that you can adjust the size of the panel at various points by dragging. Just roll your mouse over the panel, and the movable points will show up as black dotted lines, which I have indicated below.

5. The painting panel starts off with the 4 default textures. The first one is the texture of your whole map.

6. You may Add new texture layers to the original 4 above by clicking add layer and selecting the texture you want, give a sound and name.

7. You may also Edit an existing texture layer by right-clicking it and selecting edit. If you edit the first default layer, "grass_medium_base.dds", it will change the texture of your whole world. As you can see in fig. B. and C. below I changed the texture to dirt and concrete.

A close look at fig C and you will see that the lots did not change texture. This means that after painting your world you will have to delete and replace all your lots, if you want them to be the same color. (fig D)

EASY TIP: Delete the Lot, then click the undo button. The lot will be replaced and the terrain paint will be fixed.. easy.

I prefer to have my world completely laid out before painting, that means roads, lots, trees, and decorations. Why? it helps me know what texture I need.  Besides, terrain painting is a continuous process.

8. Below is an example of AutoPaint. It basically uses the first 2 textures. I generally do not advice its use. Or you can use it to give you start and just edit the areas you do not like. The Clear button is to remove the auto paint.

9. I cut out a section of the EA help book for CAW. Please download it if you haven't already. It is very helpful. As you see it explains the other stuff like individual layer mode and visualize layer. Both of which are things I have never had use for. But you might find them useful depending on what your doing.

10. Moving on. I decided to start with the river banks. It's an easy enough place to start from. I added the layer dirt_light to my textures. Remember you have to click the layer to use it. Below I used it with the brush on the default settings (circled in red) and as you can see it is too dark and harsh.

11. In Fig A below I have adjusted the brush settings to something more subtle. Be sure to save the settings you like by clicking the little button with the blue triangle.

Texture painting operates by layers. So it you paint over an already painted area, that is on top of a painted area, you will simply make it darker, so be careful about what you choose to paint over. (fig B)

12. So below I have covered the rivers, it's taking shape I think

13. Next I tackled the beach. Layer A. is dark sand, layer B is light sand, and Layer C is light dirt. I do light layers over one another till I achieve the blend that I want. You don't want your edges to be sharp, a slight blur creates a realistic blending. This is where the Falloff on your brush settings becomes important. Opacity affects transparency of your texture, that is, can you see through it.

14. Then it's the little details, the grooves and valleys and hills. Highlight them with some texture. Below I used Light dirt in the grooves and then a layer of dark grass to make the area look wet and more grassy.

15. So here's my final effort. It's not perfect, but it's not suppose to be. Paint your whole world, then work on the details. Take it step by step and try not to over do it. You will be shocked what effect you can have with only 5 or 6 textures.

16. Finally, in my opinion, no matter how great your terrain painting looks from afar, try to always zoom in for a "sim's eye" view of the landscape, because during game-play that's the stuff you will notice.

 So that's it for now on terrain painting. next, lights, trees, flowers and rocks. Thanks for reading.