Tallman Brad

Ah damn I didn't check. I'll have to look in the morning. I'll ge back to you ASAP.

@HB_H4wk and @GunsNerdsAndSteelProblem solved. After you have created your new map and new splat file: Use the 'splat fix' option to repair the splat 3 file and simply paste it over the one in the 7dtd new world folder. Don't regenerate your map as it'll drop different poi's in different places. We're just using kinggen to fix the splat file. Delete any splat4 and 5 files that might be there in the game folder from previously starting the map and start a new game. Biomes appear normal and roads are drawn correctly. Not ideal, but I'll spend some time on the work flow and see if I can streamline the process a little. I suspect it is the missing alpha layer that is causing the problem but I haven't had any success when I've tried replacing it. More work needed, but we have a solution anyway. However rough it is.

@HB_H4wkyeah you could do that. It wouldn't change anything in the game but at least you'd have a complete preview map then. I'm just sorting breakfast then I'll make a start working out the splat issue.

Sorry @HB_H4wk, I'd hoped to get back on today to look at the situation with the map appearing like a desert texture but didn't get a chance. However Krunch has suggested using the 'fix splat' option in kinggen. Also to remove any other splat files from the map folder, perhaps splat 4 and splat 5. I can't get on my pc to check the names or test the solutions. Hopefully tomorrow (Sunday in UK).

Update: this only seems to happen if you edit, then replace, the road splat that kinggen creates. Will test further tomorrow so I have something solid to provide Kingslayer.

You beat me to it! Just reported this after our chat. I'm going to test some more myself in the morning to double check I can recreate it.

There are some great photos in your gallery there @paulj_3! They clearly show it's possible to make maps that are much more lifelike/natural than the random generated maps within the game. About the strange half-hills and rifts. I don't know but I'd guess they are a simple light weight vector shape used to just add a little variety to the terrain. They have a sand dune or snow drift shape about them. I'm not a fan of those but I don't tend to let kinggen do the terrain now. I noticed Kingslayer has put out a feeler for anyone with skills in terrain/feature creation. Perhaps he'll be adding built in mountain/lake stamps to a future version? Possible not ones we can use manually, but replacements for the unusual sand dunes/drift shapes? And! I'm with you on the hobby aspect of all of this. It isn't important, it isn't essential, but it's fun to learn new things particularly when the payoff is as satisfying as exploring a world you've shaped. I can see it'll not be for everyone, but there's an auto-generate option for those that want it done for them. Win win!

There is an entire video dedicated to water level map creation. EDIT : just checked and it's right there on page 43.

Open areas for the win! Some great pictures there @paulj_3. Really nice examples of what can be done with some understanding of the software, and an artistic eye of course! As much as I dislike burnt and waste biomes; the speckles of each adds a lot to the aesthetics of woodland areas with the occasional dead tree amongst healthy ones. 'Open areas' need to stay as a mechanic. I hope it's possible.

Maybe the dirt level is only half a block which is why it doesn't cover the whole map at that level?

@paulj_3 I've been thinking about it too and we could use the preview kinggen makes as a template layer and drop the 43 shade over the areas of the preview rather than the whole map? If that make sense? I like the "dots and squiggles" too. I really liked the openness of the map I used in the video and think it's something other people will like to be able to do. Just don't want to give King more work if it's not something others would like to see also.

Sorry Paul. I forgot to share the video here. I just put it on the discord page. Here's a link in case anyone else might find it useful: https://youtu.be/J_i7Hc6R114

That would be great. Thanks @KingSlayerGM. I have to say, having an option to not have any trees in certain areas would be nice. The scenery at the start of the water video does look really good. Being able to see the mountains in the distance was good. I guess it would be too complicated to have an option to paint 'no trees' and probably not used by many people.

@paulj_3 You're absolutely right. There is an issue with trees. I wondered why I was so taken by the landscape and featured it at the start of my video. It's because you could actually see the view as there were no trees! The trees I saw were on the mountains. And because there were trees there, I didn't connect to what you were saying. There were no trees at ground level however, where I drew the 3rd sinkhole and specified no water, there are trees.

Yes I'm sure someone else will be able to help. In the video I put out about water maps earlier you can clearly see trees spawning. But for the demo I switched off all cities/towns, Biomes and didn't use a poi list. Perhaps there's a conflict? I'm curious to hear the solution when you get it PJ. Just to add. I missed djquad's watermap info. Was it different to the technique I used? I wonder if my method is causing an issue?

No trees? I can't see why that would happen just by drawing biomes and water. Can you test using a random gen map with no HM or biomes. Then perhaps add each feature one by one. I bet one of the others know the answer already, but this is all that I can think to do to eliminate the issue.

Red 255,0,0

The lake bed is possibly still withing the height range the cities prefer? I guess you could duplicate your water map and paste it as a 'no poi' colour in cities layer to save a little time?

I spent a while experimenting with different settings for water maps today and I have discovered/confirmed a few things: You are correct, kinggen's water height option is ignored if you use your own water map. When drawing your own water map treat it like a land height map and draw a base level for water, which will be the basic height of water round your island of the height you would have set in kinggen. So bucket fill the layer with 43,43,43 (for example). This ensures the base level for water through the whole map. Assuming the majority of your map is roughly 50 or 60 high (not including mountains) you will only need to paint 0,0,0 in the areas where you don't want any water. So your dry riverbed or lake. When carving a river or lake draw round the outside of your river/lake with the lasso and simply decrease its brightness a couple of points on the terrain heightmap to sink it evenly below the terrain. When creating the water layer, copy/paste the actual heightmap of the river or lake from the terrain heightmap into the water layer and, while still selected, increase its brightness by 1 or two points to create a river or lake that sits just above the height of the river or lake bed you just carved. I very quickly managed to create an overall base water height, parted the sea area bordering the map like moses, flooded 3 identical craters with different levels of water and made a stream in a channel, that followed the terrain, down from a raised volcano shaped crater. The stream was hideous thanks to the water engine in 7dtd but I couldn't find anything else left to do with water after that. 1 water map, no water settings in kinggen, it was all very possible just with a water map. Hard to explain in text form. But I'm not in a position to do a video until I get back from holiday unfortunately.

@DJQuad it does make sense. Sorry I didn't pick up on what you meant exactly. I guess you've tried just masking off areas for a water map already? Did it not do what you are talking about? Have a backup laptop with me (currently on holiday) so I'll have a quick go (when my wife isn't looking) and report back if there's anything I can tell you.

Hi Djquad. Water was on the list for the next video but to be honest I'm hesitant to cover it as the water in 7dtd is pretty bad. It's extremely glitchy. It's still on my list to do but I need to find a decent solid technique that is worth sharing rather than just knocking out a video where you'll get different height water features but they'll look rubbish. I'm away for a short break but I'll spend some time on it when I get back and see if I can do something that will be worthwhile to you. Canyon maps are another ballgame. I've spent quite a bit of time experimenting with them and have successfully drawn quality land bridges, adjusted water height and placed cities on the ledges and towns within the canyon with roads utilising the land bridges. Again I'll look at what I can do to make a worthy video on that when I get back from out break. I appreciate your feedback and support of the videos Djquad!

Well that went up a bit quicker than I thought. Might not have finished processing the HD version yet. But here it is anyway. I hope someone finds it useful

'Stamps' video should be available in roughly half an hour on my channel. Depending on my Internet! Krunch knows a lot more tha me about all of this but I hope my simplified video will help those that need a visual guide.

Coincidentally I'm working on a tutorial for creating and using terrain stamps. In simple terms a 'stamp' is a ready drawn mountain, lake or terrain texture that you place on top of your existing heightmap to add the feature without having to draw it. I'm hoping to have the tutorial finished today and will share it here as soon as I can. A stamp can also be thought of as a brush, although typically you don't paint strokes with it. It's most effective just placing or stamping it onto/into your existing map.

There certainly is a way to do this and here's a video showing you how. I hope it helps.