I am working as part of a small group on a route that covers the Great Northern line between Derby Friargate, Colwick and Nottingham Victoria. We have used DEM data for the terrain and, for the most part, that's been fine but in Derby it's causing issues because the ground level is anything up to 4m too high. As I understand it, the DEM data was produced using radar so it recorded the highest point, whatever that was. The trouble is, in heavily built-up areas, that's the house roofs and for the last couple of miles the line runs through such an area on an embankment. Instead of being above the roofs, the cabs are not far above the living-room windows! I suppose you could live with that but the line crosses the River Derwent and, with the default terrain, the track is under water! So it's not just a small area that needs to be tweaked, which I can do in the editor, but whole tiles. A colleague has found better data that could solve the issue but can't work out the terrain file format and, hence, can't write a program to change it. Has anyone managed this before, please?
I had to ( and still have to) do it for my Ausserfern railway project. I just used the "tool with the magnet" (I don't remember how it's called) and then blended it into the hills or smoothed out the transition to the generated terrain. I then hand sculpted nearby hills. I know that It's not accurate but it looks alright and that it what matters.
Thanks, Tomas. You're right that the "Snap To Track" tool can be very useful but I was hoping to find a way to do it over a bigger area in one go, preferably by modifying the tile data. Still, that's one option to try that I hadn't thought of. I'll pass the idea on to my colleagues and let one them have a play with it while I carry on doing scenery elsewhere. The scenery is taking ages because the line runs on embankments for a lot of the time so the player will, literally, be able to see for a very long way across country. I'm having to add distant assets right up to the point where the game stops drawing them because they're too far away. In the countryside it's not too bad - a few hedges and fences will do the job - but when you have huge housing estates and all sorts factories, hospitals and schools as I do between Basford and Bulwell it's no quick job.
