RoadCraft · 7 min read
Deformation and Wetness
Create, generate, paint, review, and export RoadCraft Deformation and Wetness rasters without treating them as one mud layer.
Create the two surface rasters
In the Editor, open Layers, select the + control, choose Raster, and add Deformation and Wetness. Both are editable 8-bit rasters at 2 pixels per meter over the playable area. Each can be added only once; its template shows Already added afterward.
Select a created raster to open Paint. Value 0 leaves that control absent. Values increase from 1 to 255, and manual painting can correct any generated result.
Deformation, Wetness, and the selected ground material are independent. RoadCraft mud is the intended overlap of a suitable material, deformation, and wetness—not a third raster.
Author Deformation
Select Deformation, open Modifiers, and choose Rule-based fill. Select polygon categories or buffered line categories, set the minimum and maximum values, coverage, region size, expansion, edge fade, and optional noise, then generate. Lines need a Buffer before they have an area to fill.
Use lower values for ordinary dirt or forest tracks and higher values only for deliberate soft-ground or deep-mud areas. Keep paved routes, construction staging, spawn areas, recovery points, and service access firm unless the design intentionally makes them deformable.
The Deformation color map is a display-only earthy gradient. Raw, Jet, Turbo, and Viridis remain available. Changing the color map never changes stored or exported values.
The value controls authored deformation strength; it is not a promised rut depth. Material behavior, moisture, vehicle, and RoadCraft simulation still determine the result in game.
Author Wetness separately
Select Wetness, open Modifiers, and choose Feature-based fill. Terrain drainage can find low or concave ground, while selected water, wetland, field, polygon, or buffered-line categories can add nearby moisture. Adjust the strengths and distances, generate, then inspect and paint corrections.
Wetness can exist on firm gravel, asphalt, or rock without enabling deformation. Deformation can also exist without Wetness for dry soft ground. Use both on a suitable soft material when the intended result is mud.
Review values before export
Use Raw when exact 0–255 values matter and a color map when the footprint is easier to judge by contrast. Enable the sampled cursor value or exact-value display when checking transitions. Inspect road edges, water banks, yards, playability-critical clearances, and any overlap between Deformation and Wetness.
The RoadCraft checklist recognizes both raster layers, Rule-based fill on Deformation, and Feature-based fill on Wetness. Checklist progress is guidance; it does not inspect every pixel or certify native behavior.
Include the surface rasters in export
A RoadCraft export includes either raster when it exists and omits it when it does not. Existing projects with an older full-area Wetness layer remain compatible; export uses the part that overlaps the selected RoadCraft terrain.
Wait for painting and modifier changes to finish saving, return to the project page, and queue a fresh RoadCraft export. The downloaded diagnostics identify which source layer was used, its value range, and the native output dimensions. Continue with Export and Integration Studio for the separate source-kit review.
