What this workflow produces

A SnowRunner project starts with real-world terrain and vectors, then adds working-terrain edits, mapped ground materials, native trees and buildings, water, mud controls, procedural distributions, and gameplay objects in the Editor. Export turns the current project into a ready-to-open SnowRunner Editor source map.

The download is not a finished mod. Copy its Media contents into the SnowRunner user Media directory, open the generated prebuild level in SnowRunner Editor, rebuild and inspect it, save it, and use the editor’s packing workflow before testing in the game. Follow Export and SnowRunner Editor for the complete handoff.

The short plan

Use this order for a first complete map. Each link opens the detailed clicks, settings, and checks for that stage.

• 1. Import DTM, imagery, and OSM; then prepare the working terrain.
• 2. Correct vectors, place forests and buildings, prepare water, grade foundations, and buffer roads.
• 3. Create Mud, Quick Mud, and Wetness rasters and generate their values.
• 4. Create and fill the Undergrowth, Plants, Rocks, and Debris distribution rasters.
• 5. Create Gameplay Zones and place the required Starter Truck Spawn.
• 6. Export, install the source map, rebuild it in SnowRunner Editor, and pack it for a game test.

Use the SnowRunner checklist

SnowRunner projects show a Checklist button immediately to the left of Windows in the Editor header. Open it to follow the workflow as connected stations and see the overall completion percentage. An unopened checklist pulses after the project finishes loading.

The checklist recognizes inexpensive facts such as imported layers, persistent vector settings, placed models, SnowRunner raster templates, Paint Lock settings, Fill Raster recipes, a Gameplay Zones layer, and placed gameplay objects. One-shot operations performed in the current editor session can also complete their matching station.

The checklist is guidance, not an export validator. Click any station to complete or reopen it yourself. Progress is stored only in this browser for this project, is not shared with collaborators, and never changes export behavior.

Why the order matters

Prepare terrain and correct vector geometry first because later water carving, grading, material coverage, model placement, mud generation, and Paint Lock masks all use that current geometry. A persistent Buffer follows a road when its centerline changes, but Grade and Depth have already changed the working terrain and do not move themselves to a new footprint.

Generate rasters after the relevant vectors are credible. Rule-based fill reads selected polygon and buffered-line categories; Feature-based fill reads working terrain and selected features; Paint Lock reads the current protected footprints. Gameplay zones come last because their safe positions depend on the finished terrain, road, water, and building layout.

Required versus recommended data

SnowRunner export requires imported working terrain and imported vectors. Imagery is a reference and is not required. The special rasters and most gameplay zones are optional: if a Mud, Quick Mud, Wetness, Water Mud, or distribution raster is absent, export writes an empty control for that part instead of inventing content.

A technically exportable source map is not automatically a useful playable map. The guided workflow requires a Starter Truck Spawn so the exported map starts with an active unlocked truck. If you intentionally omit it, you must create and activate a truck yourself in SnowRunner Editor before packing. Garage, service, cargo, exploration, and objective zones depend on the gameplay you want to provide.

Review the result as a driver would

Inspect important routes at a low camera height. Check grades, water approaches, mud transitions, building clearance, forest density, rocks and debris on roads, and enough open space around the starter truck and service zones. Top-down views catch coverage errors; a driving-height view catches obstacles and scale problems.

The MapToPlay Editor previews authoring data, while SnowRunner Editor performs the native rebuild. Always repeat the important checks after the source map has been rebuilt there, especially native distributions, mud, water, zones, and truck placement.