Smoothing out terrain "peaks"

[rocketman]

I found something with regards to smoothing terrain in the editor. This might be common knowledge to experienced map makers, but here goes...

 

Sometimes when there is a steep rise in elevation over a short distance, the editor produces not very real life looking "peaks" that really break immersion for me.

 

However, if you cover the area in mud, it smooths the entire area out. How about that!

 

 

I haven't tried all types of terrain features to see if it has the same effect. I can do tests if this isn't already common knowledge.

Edited January 15, 2015 by rocketman

[A Canadian Cat]

That is interesting. I usually spend a bit of time figuring out what elevation point is causing the issue and fixing it.

[umlaut]

That is a great discovery. This is a returning problem when I make maps. I assume the peak doesn´t reappear when you change the terrain back to grass or whatever?

[rocketman]

I'll run some tests during the weekend and try different ground textures. In the example I tried desperately to find the elevation causing the "peak", but couldn't find it. I wonder if they can occur even if there is only a 1 m difference between two adjacent elevation tiles? That would make them even harder to find in the editor. 

It is time consuming, so if there is a work-around, all the better.

[Kieme(ITA)]

I noted something similar with sand vs gravel, when I tried making a man-made sand mound for an industrial area. Had some weird returns with gravel, alien spikes on the corners.

[rocketman]

I ran some tests. First covering a "peak" in one tile of ground texture and then nine adjecent tiles covering the same "peak" in the center. What I found was:

 

The following ground textures smooth out the peak, no matter if it is only one or nine tiles:

• Mud
• Marsh
• Pavement 1 & 2 (but not cobblestone  )
• Gravel (like Kieme said, a one tile placement causes new smaller peaks, but nine smooths it out completely - see below)
• Dirt lot
• Plow NS & EW

One tile gravel:

 

Nine tiles of gravel

 

Unfortunately umlaut, once you revert back to grass or any of the other ground textures that produces "peaks", the peak reappears  .

[mjkerner]

That's an excellent find, Rocketman! Very good to know.

[rocketman]

Makes me wonder why this happens with some textures and not all? Maybe it is the way it is coded, rather than some feature? In that case, maybe the rest of the textures can be re-coded and patched, and the end result might be a smoother terrain look overall.

[nik mond]

^{Groups of tiles have different elevation and mixing configurations. After a while you get the knack as to which elevate sharply, and which are smoother. Also some appear to bleed into the next tile, others appear  to not mix into a different tile, and the separation is noticeable, depends what look you are going for. Also, the banks of your rivers will change with tthe type of terrain tile being used. This is interesting to see as well.}

 

^{Ofcourse the major factor is always the elevation height setting, and the elevation height of the neighbouring tiles, after that the tile type as mentioned above comes into play.}