Let's start! Open the road tool and create a first way point with ctrl+LMB. From now, we will call these nodes. (http://i.imgur.com/okbCKYI.jpg) Each time you repeat this operation, you will create a new node exactly where the pointer of your mouse is. You can move around the location without quitting the editor using the movement keys and holding RMB to rotate the camera. You can create several nodes, simply hold ctrl and click multiple times with your LMB to draw a simple road: (http://i.imgur.com/ma5X8xv.jpg) As you can see, your road is still a temporary mark on the ground, you can now validate your work by pressing the "Make" button in the tool window: (http://i.imgur.com/teUcIsT.jpg) Any road can be edited and deleted after validation. Each road you make is a series of nodes, coming from a initial point to the last one. You can move between the nodes by selecting them directly or cycling between nodes with q and shift+q. It's important to note that a road have a direction, from the first node you placed to the last. This detail will be important when we will start to talk about road parameters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWJoBkuzO4U Moving a node or adjusting it's elevation is simple. You just need to select it and press m to move it (LMB click to validate) or v to adjust the height (LMB click to validate). Once you're happy with the result, press the "Make button" to validate you modifications If you quit the editor before doing this, your modifications won't be applied. While selecting a road, you can press the "Trash" button to delete the road. If you accidentally press the delete button when selecting a road, you can still see the temporary road vector on the ground, and make it again. The "Clear the road markers" button (bottom left of the window) can be used to place a new road once you're done with the current one without having to exit/open the editor. Train yourself with these simple manipulations, until you get used to the controls. B. Profiles Now, you can create a simple road. It's time to make different types of these! Road profiles are two first option on the road tool window, labeled "road types" and "markings". You can create several roads using different types, and you may notice than, by default, each of these comes with it's own settings in marking, width and transitional area: (http://i.imgur.com/s0WUT5v.jpg) It's important to understand that these parameters are also nodes based. If you don't change these parameters, each node you add will have the previous node properties. Let's create a asphalt road, select a node, and change it's type to gravel: (http://i.imgur.com/nRHtyF2.jpg) When you change a road type, notice that the other original parameters (width, markings, etc.) are conserved. The markings option is a bit misleading, since it also include some specific road profiles. There are different types of roads markings, some of these specific to runways (labeled "Rwy"). The plain type will generate a road without markings. (http://i.imgur.com/VG7Ut2t.jpg) You can also use "asphalt road, yellow marking" and "concrete road, yellow marking" to get US yellow markings.In the markings menu, you will also find two really important profiles : "Lead-in" and "Lead-out". By default, first and last nodes of a road create a visible and ugly break with the rest of the terrain. When set to lead-in, the first section of your road will be transformed into a smooth blending between your road profile and the terrain. The Lead-out property can be applied to the last but one node (to affect the last road section) for the same result.
C. Parameters Under the Road type and Markings option, you can see several other parameters. The value of the properties can be modified with a slider. Like the previous parameters, these properties are applied to a node and each following node will inherit it's properties, unless you change these. Here is a detailed list of these values:
|