When you start the Terrain Editor, you will see a shot like the one above. This looks very much like the view in the Manipulator, for the fact that there are no windows obscuring your view. However, if you look closely, you'll notice some odd squares following your cursor around while you move your mouse. These squares are yet another Torque user interface device, the purpose of which is to give you feedback on what terrain area will be affected when you choose to manipulate it and to some degree how it will be affected. Before we jump right into learning how to edit the terrain, let us look at the other two devices on the screen.

I'm sure someone will correct my naming, but for now I'll refer to the text beside the label (Mouse Brush) as the Over Vertex Brush Scale. The purpose of this scale is two-fold:

Again, I'm sure someone will tell me my naming choice is incorrect, but for now I'll refer to the text beside the label (Selection) as the Selected Brush Scale. The purpose of this scale is two-fold:

There are two basic modes for editing via the Terrain Editor:

I think it is fair to say that most of your editing is going to be in Brush Mode, and because it is the default mode, I'll discuss it first. As mentioned previously, you can modify the brush shape, hardness, and size. The illustration below describes the details, which are modifiable in the Brush Menu.

OK, now that we know about basic brush manipulation, what about the operations? Let us take a look at the action menu on the next page.

Alright, so what about this other mode, Selection? There isn't really much to it. To get into Selection Mode, just open the action menu and click Select. Now, you can select terrain as follows:

OK, now that we know about basic brush manipulation, what about the operations? Let us take a look at the action menu on the next page.

Table 4.24. 

Action	Result
Previously Unselected Vertex	Selects vertex.
Previously Selected Vertex	May increase strength of action (see discussion of brush hardness below) if the selection cursor has a stronger value than currently selected vertex's action strength.
CTRL + Previously Selected Vertex	De-selects vertex.

Having selected the terrain blocks that we wish to modify, we can open the action menu and click Adjust Selection. Now, we can right-click and drag up-down to raise-lower the elevation of the selected blocks.

To leave selection mode, select any other operation in the action menu. Also, once selected, vertices stay selected, regardless of mode. If you wish to de-select all selected vertices press CTRL + N or click Select None in the Edit menu.

Brush hardness has been mentioned several times but not completely explained. When the brush hardness is set to Soft, the action strength along the diameter of the brush can be modified. In simple terms, if the strength of action is set low, then the value change for that part of the brush is also low. Vice versa, if the strength of action is set high, the value change for that part of the brush will be high. This attenuation is in relation to the movement of the mouse. The brush gives strength of action feedback through coloration. Brush coloration is a continuous scale from RED to GREEN. You can manipulate this hardness in the Terrain Editor Settings dialog found under the Edit Menu.

For example, the brush below is hard in the middle progressing to soft on the edges.

Earlier, I deferred a discussion of these settings. Now is the time to understand them. In addition to being able to adjust brush shape, hardness, and size, the Terrain Editor Settings Dialog, found under the Edit menu, gives us some additional control.

I had a bit of difficulty understanding Radius when I was learning about the engine. So, instead attempting to explain it with words, I'll give a pictorial example that should clear it up. In the following sequence, I have changed to Selection-Mode and am using a 1x1 brush. I then selected a single vertex and then opened the Terrain Editor Settings dialog.

Table 4.26. 

	Radius = 1 APPLY
	Radius = 8 APPLY
	Radius = 12 APPLY
	Radius = 16 APPLY