1. Import the DTM

Open the Editor after the DTM task has completed and import Terrain when prompted. The import keeps the processed source and creates the editable working terrain used by RoadCraft export. If the prompt is no longer visible, check the project information and pending imports before assuming the terrain is ready.

Inspect relief from above and at a low angle. Look for missing tiles, clipped peaks, deep spikes, stair steps, and a terrain edge that does not match the chosen map area. Sculpting and terrain modifiers change the working copy; they do not alter the provider source asset.

2. Import imagery

Import the processed imagery as a raster reference. Toggle it while checking road centerlines, shorelines, building footprints, land cover, and other vectors, but also review the map with imagery hidden so it cannot disguise an incorrect ground material or terrain shape.

Imported imagery is required by the current RoadCraft export-readiness check. When the project region extends beyond the selected central terrain, the exporter can also use matching terrain and imagery extents as surrounding source context. Reprocess or reimport imagery when it no longer covers the same world extent as the terrain.

3. Import OSM vectors with the RoadCraft mapping

Import the processed vector source and choose the default RoadCraft vector mapping collection. Its rules organize base terrain, meadows, forests, fields, wetlands, sand, rock, paved areas, buildings, water, waterways, and road classes, while attaching the supported RoadCraft material or native binding where one exists.

Review the import preview before confirming. After import, inspect each important category in Layers and Objects. Fix missing, duplicated, or misclassified features before using those vectors for terrain shaping, collections, surface rasters, or gameplay planning.

4. Prepare the working terrain

Use Blur only when the source terrain has visible stepping or high-frequency noise that should not reach the game. Apply a conservative strength, compare slopes and drainage before and after, and undo or restore if roads, banks, or ridgelines lose important shape. A clean DTM does not need Blur merely because the checklist offers it.

Use Sculpt for local corrections. Apply Depth to water footprints and Grade to building foundations only after their vector geometry is credible. These operations write directly into working terrain, so changing the vector later does not relocate the terrain edit.

Keep the selected RoadCraft terrain size in mind while editing. The exporter takes a centered 500 m, 1,000 m, or 2,000 m physical crop that must fit the project and playable areas; content outside that central terrain is not part of the playable terrain scene.

5. Review RoadCraft ground materials

The default RoadCraft mapping resolves terrain coverage to eight stock choices: Grass, Gravel, Ground, Rock, Sand, Forest Ground, Moss, and Asphalt. Base Grass supplies the fallback. Mapped polygons and buffered Ready Roads add higher-priority coverage according to their imported category and saved settings.

Toggle ground Textures on and imagery off, then inspect category edges, overlaps, road widths, yards, forests, beaches, and exposed rock. Correct the vector category or its saved mapping when the wrong material appears; painting Deformation or Wetness does not replace the underlying material.

Material, Deformation, and Wetness remain separate inputs. Ground or forest material can stay dry and firm, a hard surface can be visually wet without deforming, and intended mud needs a suitable soft material plus authored Deformation and Wetness. Continue with Deformation and Wetness only after the material footprint is believable.

Terrain preparation check

Before derived work, confirm that the DTM, imagery, and OSM imports all belong to the current processed sources; the working terrain has no unresolved spikes or steps; important water and building footprints are correct; and the material view makes sense without imagery.

If a source was reprocessed, importing or reimporting is the deliberate step that makes the Editor use it. A newer project-selected asset does not silently replace layers you already edited.