New Terrain Setup – Arma Reforger

This tutorial explains the very first steps of how to setup a new terrain.

Terrain Setup

Create a New World

In World Editor, click on Create new World to open the Create world interface.

In there, set world type to Base scene (the new world is to start 100% from scratch, Sub-scene would make an "additional layer" on an existing, opened terrain).

Create the Terrain Entity

1. In the Resource Browser, search for "terrain" and drag and drop a GenericTerrain_Default.et Prefab in the world.
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   This prefab will set correct terrain parameters like for instance Terrain Layer Preset, without which vehicles might not behave correctly!
   Incorrect behavior can be manifested, for example, by bouncing or colliding wheels of vehicles.
2. Set its position to X: 0, Y:0, Z:0
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   This step is important as terrain collision/contact and Terrain Tools may encounter issues otherwise.
3. Save the terrain (using e.g Ctrl + S).
4. Right-click on the created GenericTerrainEntity and choose Create new terrain...; this will open the New Terrain interface, allowing to set terrain grid resolution values.
5. When everything is setup, press the Create button.

Et voilà ! The newly created terrain is now ready to be sculpted with World Editor's sculpting tools.

Environment Setup

Sun

In the Create tab, search for "light" to drag and drop a GenericWorldLightEntity in the world.

Transformation

• Angle X - Set light source's pitch angle (e.g -20° to have a low-on-horizon sun)
• Angle Y - Set light source's yaw angle: 0 = from the South, 180 = from the North, 90 = from the West, 270 = from the East
• Angle Z - Set light source's roll angle (does nothing)

Light color properties

• Specular Mul - It is a multiplier of the Sun hotspot's specular intensity
• Sun Angular Size - the size of the Sun in a hotspot

Global Light color properties

• Direct Light LV - Intensity of the Sun
• Direct Light Color - Color of the Sun light
• Indirect Light LV - Intensity of "ambient" light
• Indirect Light Color - Color of the "ambient" light

Global Indirect light modificators

• Probe Reflection EV - Intensity of reflection at "LOW" roughness materials (chrom, glass etc.)
• Probe Reflection Color - Color modificator for Reflection
• Probe Diffuse EV - Intensity of diffuse light at "HI" roughness materials (wall, plastic cloth etc.)
• Probe Diffuse Color - Color modificator for Diffuse

Skybox

Sky Preset

In world entity's properties, set Sky Preset field (under Environment) to Atmosphere.emat - this setups a "real world" atmosphere for the world.

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The screen will turn white for a moment, this is normal as the HDR takes time to adapt to the new brightness.

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Using a static skybox (e.g HDRi_01.emat) is a quick possibility but does not allow for further configuration such as adding Clouds or Celestial Bodies.

Celestial Bodies

In world entity's properties, add celestial bodies by adding items to the Planet Preset list (by clicking "+") and add the following:

• Sun_01.emat - set a material to the skybox's light source
• Moon_01.emat
• Stars_01.emat

Clouds

In world entity's properties, set Clouds Renderer to SkyVolCloudsRenderer.

Set Clouds Preset to Clouds_Volumetric.emat - this setups the volumetric clouds.

Fog

In Resource Browser, search for fog .et to drag and drop FogHaze_Default.et for fog to reach this world.

Ocean

In world entity's properties,

• set the Ocean Material field to e.g ocean.emat (along others in the Ocean directory) - this setups the ocean's surface.
• set the Ocean Simulation field to e.g oceanSimIsland.emat (along others in the Simulation directory) - this setups the ocean's simulation.

Post-Process Effects

In Resource Browser, search for PP_ .et to drag and drop a GenericWorldPP_Default.et Prefab that setups the most commonly required post-process effects (PPAA, HDR, etc).

Typical PP effects:

Effect	Priority	Description
SSR	0	Screen space reflection
HeightmapAO	1	Voxel ambient occlusion used for trees and rocks
GodRays	2	Fog effect (screen space)
UnderWater	3	Effect for underwater scenes
Rain Effect	4	Rain effects in the scene
N/A	5..13	Unused range left free for game usage
SSDO	14	Screen space diffuse occlusion
HBAO	15	Screen space ambient occlusion
HDR	16	Camera setting
PPAA	17	Post-process antialiasing
N/A	18
Noise	19	Night noise (to prevent brightness/gamma advantage - uses NightNoise.emat)

Weather

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Be sure to properly set the Geographic Coordinates:

	Latitude	Longitude
+	North	East
-	South	West

In the Resource Browser, search for WeatherM .et to drag and drop a TimeAndWeatherManager.et entity in the world.

• In its Weather State Machine field, set the WeatherStates.conf config.
• In its Weather Parameters field, set the WeatherParameters.conf config.

Set the weather by opening the Weather Editor by its icon (a sun behind a cloud) in the main toolbar.

• Click "Enable Preset"
• Set the Preset File field to WeatherStates.conf config.
• Set the Master Cycle field to e.g Variant_Clear_items.conf config (along others in Items directory).

Local Environment Probe

In the Resource Browser, search for envp .et to drag and drop an EnvProbe_Default.et Prefab in the world to properly capture local reflection / diffuse.

AI Setup

A world needs some elements for the AI to behave as expected:

• an AI world provide navmeshes to AIs for them to navigate the world; drag and drop SCR_AIWorld.et in the world
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  Only one AIWorld-type entity can exist in the world; the present AIWorld can however contain multiple NavmeshWorldComponent in order to hold multiple navmeshes.
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  See the Navmesh Tutorial for more information on how to create, and setup a navmesh.
• a faction manager is required to make the AIs understand their affiliation and enmities
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  A faction manager requires a game mode to work.
  Drag and drop e.g GameMode_Plain.et (or any game mode in the Modes directory) for a simple game mode.
• a perception manager is required for AI spotting, fighting and understanding its environment; drag and drop PerceptionManager.et