Introduction

	TerrainEd is an application designed to aid mappers in the creation and editing of terrain geometry, both natural and artificial in nature. 
	This document is here to give basic information on how to use TerrainEd and it's many features.


Terrain Generator

	The random terrain generator of TerrainEd can generate very natural looking terrain across the entire 256x256 patch. The parameters which 
	affect how the terrain is generated can all be editted to allow users to generate either terrain of smoother / choppier flow, or even recreate 
	terrain previously created by using the same random seed value. The parameters themselves are documented as follows :

	Random Number Generator Seed : this value is used to seed the random number generator. By using previously used numbers, the same exact terrain 
	can be recreated.
	Dampening Value : this value is used to soften or sharpen the difference in heights of neighboring points during generation. 2.0 is the default 
	value, with higher values giving smoother terrain and lower values giving less smooth terrain.
	Initial Height : used only as the base height for all points before terrain height is added. Useful if you want to simply raise or lower the 
	entire terrain at once.
	Sea Level : strictly an aesthetic setting, sea level is viewable in point rendering mode, and will draw the sea level in the Sea Color in the 
	window views.

	The New Random Terrain menu option (under Options->New Random Terrain) will reseed the random seed generator value and generate new random 
	terrain for you. In addition, any changes you make to the terrain parameters will tell TerrainEd to automatically regenerate the terrain, 
	causing the loss of any changes already made to the terrain.
	An Overhead View window is available to show the color-coordinated view of the entire 256x256 grid. The Overhead View window draws a box around 
	the terrain that is being viewed in the main window, and movement of the View Area is as simple as clicking where the user wants to move the View 
	Area to. It is toggleable via View->Show Overhead.


Interface

	TerrainEd works with a 256x256 grid of free floating vertices. However, in the interest of application speed and usability, TerrainEd allows the 
	user to work with an arbitrarily sized section of the grid at a time, referred to as the View Area. This enables the user to effectively create 
	terrain patches (what any grid of terrain geometry is called) of any size, up to 256x256. However, due to polygon count being proportional to 
	patch size, it is recommended to keep terrain patches to a 16x16, 32x32 maximum. Consider that an 8x8 grid will produce 161 total polygons, 
	9x9 - 199, 10x10 - 241, 16x16 - 577, and 32x32 - 2177!

	The main interface of TerrainEd is the point selection, which is very intuitive. Simply left-click on or very near a point, and TerrainEd will 
	select it and draw a selection box around the point. Holding down Control while left-clicking a point will add the point to the currently 
	selected group of points, or, if the point was originally selected, it will remove the point from the selected group of points. 
	Shift + Left-Click will clear the selected group of points. Left-Click+Hold+Drag on a selected point will move all the selected points along 
	the window view's rotation plane. TerrainEd also provides a way to select a large number of points easily, called Mass Selection. The 'S' key 
	toggles between selection and deselection states, while the combination Control+Right-Click+Drag executes the mass selection itself. All points 
	that the mouse cursor passes over during this mode will be selected/deselected, depending on the mode set.
	Point manipulation is not allowed within the Free Rotate window view of the Standard Layout, only point selection.
	Point manipulation is restricted to a single plane, so the All In One Layout provides a method of switching between the XY plane or the Z axis 
	alone via the keys 'X' for the XY plane and 'Z' for the Z axis. These two keys are only valid while TerrainEd is in All In One Layout mode.
	Since alignment between points is important when manually manipulating points, grid snap at various alignments can be selected via the 'G' key. 
	2 means half a grid length, 4 means a 4th, 8 8th respectably. Turning Grid Snap off is as simple as cycling through the snap sizes until "Snap Off" 
	is visible on the status bar.

	Since terrain is inherently 3d, 3d movement within the window views is simple, as well. Left-Click+Hold+Drag (not on a point, however) will move 
	the current view area of the terrain around in the window view.  Left-Click+Shift+Hold+Drag will zoom the terrain in the window view. 
	Right-Click+Hold+Drag will rotate the view in the Free Rotate window view as well as the All In One Layout view.

	Because there is no one best method to present information in all cases, TerrainEd provides two Window Layouts - Standard and All In One.
	Standard - When TerrainEd is run, the initial layout is Standard, meaning you have the 4 basic views of most, if not all, 3d software 
	packages - XY plane, XZ plane, YZ plane, and a Free Rotate view. Each window has an axis of rotation indicator in the upper left corner of the 
	window area - this indicates the current rotation of the window view, where the red line represents the X axis, the green line represents the 
	Y axis, and the blue line indicates the Z axis. In the Standard layout, only the Free Rotate window view can, as the name indicates, allow the user 
	to rotate the viewed area to any angle.
	All In One - This takes the Free Rotate window and modifies it for point manipulation. Only in this layout will the 'X' and 'Z' keys take 
	effect - each set the manipulation direction/plane for points. The All In One layout also tends to be faster, since it does not render 4 
	separate views every time.

	Along with all of the above, the second most important feature of TerrainEd is the ability to work on sections of terrain at a time. 
	The section of terrain currently workable is also the viewable, and is hence called the View Area. The View Area can be moved around the 
	entire terrain patch using the Control+Left-Click+Hold+Drag combination (while not clicked on a point), which will pan the View Area box 
	around the entire terrain patch. The size of the View Area box can be changed to any arbitrary value for the width and height between 1 
	and 256 via the View->Change View Area menu option.
	TerrainEd can 'lock' the view area to the center of the window view for you, via the menu option View->Keep Terrain Centered. While this is 
	set, the terrain in view cannot be moved around the window, and when the View Area is changed, the new area stays centered in the window view.


Importing / Exporting / Saving

	TerrainEd utilizes mainly it's own proprietary format. It can, however, import from a bitmap (treated as a gray-scale bitmap) or import from 
	another TED file. Upon importing, TerrainEd goes into Importing mode, where the terrain to be imported is displayed as it would appear if it 
	was already imported. This allows the user to change the Import Mode (via Options->Change Import Mode) as well as move the Import Selection 
	around (via the arrow keys) to pick a final destination for importation. When the Import Selection is in the desired place, the Enter 
	(or Return) key will inform TerrainEd to accept the location and mode of import, and it will process the Import Selection into the terrain patch. 
	The Escape button is available in case of a desired cancellation of the import procedure.

	Exporting is possible to two other formats currently, other than TerrainEd's own TED format. Export to Bitmap (gray-scale) and T3D 
	(UnrealEd's brush format) are the export formats supported. Exportation of the full terrain patch or simply the View Area is also an option.
	In the case of exporting to T3D format, TerrainEd goes into the Exporting mode, allowing the user to manually change triangle alignments for 
	the surface polys (the direction of the grid cuts, which will affect the actual geometry generated). The user can either press Enter (or Return) 
	to accept and export, or Escape to cancel the exportation process.


Status Bar

	The Status Bar provides quick visual access to certain state information of various parts within TerrainEd. From left to right, here are the 
	descriptions of each pane :

	View Area Dimensions : in Width,Height format.
	View Area Location : in X,Y format.
	Grid Snap Setting : either 2, 4, 8, 16, or Off.
	All In One Layout Point Manipulation Mode : either XY Plane or Z Axis.
	Import Mode : in Mode - Percentage% format. Percentage does not apply to Replace mode, only Add and Subtract.
	Importing / Exporting Mode Indicator : shows which mode, if either, the user is currently in.
	Mass Selection Mode : displays Select for selection, and Deselect for deselction modes, respectively.





TerrainEd was designed and programmed by :

Martin "Pfhoenix" Actor
pfhoenix@planetunreal.com
http://www.planetunreal.com/mep
http://pfhoenix.computers.webjump.com/music.htm



Thanks go to :

 - all those who helped with beta testing
 - the good suggestions and critiques
 - the general support throughout the development process of TerrainEd, Thanks guys!
 - Epic, for developing the fabulous UnrealScript language as well as the terrific games Unreal and UnrealTournament
 - the Makers of Dr. Pepper, whose product has helped wile away countless sleepy hours at the keyboard



Legal things only a lawyer could love :

Use of TerrainEd in any way, shape, manner, or form indicates that the user fully agrees to the statements below.

All referenced software and products not explicitly created and copyrighted by Martin Actor are copyrighted and protected under their prospective owners 
and creators.

TerrainEd is sole intellectual property of Martin "Pfhoenix" Actor. The user has explicit permission to use TerrainEd for as long as that user is alive. 
TerrainEd may not be mass distributed (defined as distribution via CD or other demo disk) without prior expressed consent by Martin Actor. TerrainEd may 
not be sold by anyone without explicit permission and agreement by, and from only, Martin Actor. Any damage, either physical or mental, which may or may 
not be directly or indirectly the resultant from the use in any way, shape, manner, or form is the responsibility of the User.

If you develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.. thanks, I'm flattered, really, but take a break every 15 minutes or so, for god's sake. =)

Enjoy!