Terrain Development Guide
Chapter 1: Targetware Terrain Basics
Overview of Optional Terrain Components
The Targetware engine allows you to add complexity to your terrain through the use of texture overlays (or layer maps). An overlay is simply a layer of textures that can be placed over another layer, or layers. Each overlay and the order in which the layers are placed on top of each other is specified in the Terrain Descriptor File.
For each new layer, a map matching the size and resolution of the Terrain Ecology Map is required, plus the actual texture files you want to have displayed by that overlay.
Some common uses for overlays include:
- Road network
- Railroad network
- Coastlines (to make more distinct)
- Rivers
- Forests
- Airfields
Other than a practical performance limitation, there is no restriction on the number of overlays you add to your terrain.
For each optional layer, two types of files are required:
| (1) Layer Map | layer_map.tga | (8-bit targa) |
| (n) Layer Textures* | overlay_n.tga | (32 bit targa, with alpha layer) |
* For every texture type called out in the Layer Map and Terrain Descriptor File, there needs to be a unique texture graphic.
When optional layers are included, the file structure for the terrain becomes:
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