Choose the right target scope

Select a whole vector layer for one consistent first pass, a category when mapped groups need different behavior, or one feature for a deliberate exception. The active target appears in Modifiers and Collections, so confirm it before selecting Apply.

Persistent settings such as Buffer, Height Offset, Object Distribution, and collection assignments remain attached to their target and follow later geometry edits. Depth and Grade are one-shot operations on working terrain. Fix incorrect geometry before applying either one.

Correct the imported vectors first

Compare roads, water, forests, and buildings against imagery and terrain. Join or redraw broken road centerlines, remove duplicate water shapes, close polygon gaps, separate long watercourses where their levels differ, and correct categories that received the wrong RoadCraft mapping.

Review geometry at the exported terrain boundary. Ready Roads are clipped to that boundary. Road Plans need room for their generated endpoint gameplay areas and can be omitted when the line never reaches the safe interior, so do not depend on a short fragment at the edge.

Carve and assign water

For a lake or pond, select a water Polygon. For a river or stream represented by a LineString, apply Buffer first so it has a visible width. Apply Modifiers → Depth to carve the working terrain, then apply Height Offset to place the surface relative to the original bank-level terrain.

Open Collections → Water and apply the appropriate RoadCraft choice to the same target. The default collection provides a large-water and a small-water baseline. Export includes only supported polygon or buffered-line features with a complete Water assignment and Height Offset; diagnostics report unsupported shapes that were skipped.

RoadCraft water is exported as a flat surface for each feature. Inspect the shoreline from a low angle and split a long elevation-changing river into separate reaches instead of expecting one actor to follow a slope. Keep bridge and road crossings clear, and correct the terrain basin rather than hiding a raised center with a different water choice.

Create forests with stock trees

Select the Forests layer, a forest category, or individual point, line, or polygon features. Open Modifiers → Object Distribution, choose practical spacing, jitter, edge buffer, and seed settings, then apply the rule. For a line distribution, apply Buffer when the trees should occupy a belt rather than only a centerline.

Open Collections → Trees, choose a RoadCraft tree collection and one or more variants, and apply them to the same target. The distribution rule creates deterministic positions; the selected collection supplies the stock tree assets. Changing the source geometry, seed, spacing, or asset set can move many placements.

Inspect forest borders, roads, water, steep slopes, buildings, Start Spawn, and Recovery Points. Very small spacing can create a heavy scene, so test one representative forest before applying the same density to the complete map.

Grade building foundations

Select the Buildings layer, a category, or individual building polygons. Open Modifiers → Grade before assigning models. Median is a reliable first height mode for ordinary footprints; Edge blend controls how far the flat foundation transitions back into surrounding terrain.

Grade changes working terrain once. Inspect the result from a low angle and undo a bad grade before continuing. Moving or reshaping the building polygon later can move its model assignment, but it does not move the terrain patch already written at the old location.

Place stock buildings

With the prepared building target selected, open Collections → Buildings and choose a RoadCraft collection. Apply at layer or category scope for automatic footprint matching, or select one polygon and choose an exact model for a deliberate override.

Inspect footprint fit, rotation, terrain contact, entrances, nearby roads, and vehicle clearance. Automatic matching is a starting point: large halls, narrow sheds, irregular footprints, and unusual OSM orientation deserve an individual review.

Prepare roads for the intended result

Correct the road centerline and category before choosing its export behavior. A positive Buffer radius marks a painted Ready Road and defines half of its material width. Leaving the line unbuffered marks a Road Plan baseline whose terrain material remains unchanged.

Use different Buffer values for major, local, and narrow routes when their real widths differ. Inspect junctions, crossings, sharp bends, close parallel roads, slopes, and terrain-edge approaches, then continue with Gameplay Start, Recovery, and Roads for the complete distinction.

Review vectors and derived objects

Toggle imagery, vectors, ground textures, water, and meshes independently. Confirm that material boundaries still match corrected vectors, water meets its banks, trees avoid important clearances, buildings sit on their foundations, and road widths match their centerlines.

If geometry is wrong, edit the vector. If terrain is wrong, correct the working terrain. If an asset is wrong, change its collection assignment. If a deterministic distribution is wrong, change its saved rule. Keeping those responsibilities separate makes the export easier to diagnose.