The main panel includes everything necessary to set up and design your terrain, rendering, export, options, and more. All actions can be performed in this panel, with no hidden pop-ups or windows.
The Main Panel can be split into:
- The Application bar (topmost)
- The Tree View (left)
- Properties view (right-hand side)
- Status Bar (bottom)
We will now explain each of them in detail. Some elements, such as the Tree view and the Properties view, have in-depth sections that are covered in other articles. We suggest that you continue reading the documentation page by page, so you can become familiar with World Creator.
The Application bar
The Application Bar features buttons that are usually found in the FILE menu of other applications. Apart from that, it displays version-specific information, such as EARLY ACCESS which indicates that you are using an unstable beta release that may crash and have some runtime issues. We usually release such versions before issuing a stable official release.
From right to left:
- Main Menu
Closes this project and returns to the main menu. - New
Starts a new blank project. - Load
Loads an existing project from a file. - Save
Saves the current project. - Save As
Save the current project by creating a new file. - Sync
Exports the project to a format compatible with the World Creator's Bridge Tools. This is the best option if you want to transfer your terrain to other applications like Unity, Unreal Engine, Houdini, Cinema4D, Blender, and more. - Screenshot
The current viewport is captured in a screenshot and saved in the screenshots folder at
[SYSTEM DRIVE]:\Users\[USER]\Documents\World Creator - About us
Opens a pop-up window that displays information about the team behind World Creator and more.
The Tree View
The Tree View exhibits the application contents' logical arrangement, particularly for the terrain. As depicted in the image below, you see the Terrain section that extends to a Biomes section, which shows various Biomes that you can design and create. Filters (used to alter terrain shape), materials (used to add color to the terrain), and objects (used to place 3D models on the terrain, which will be added in a future version) are the constituent parts of Biomes.
To work within the Tree View, you got the following options:
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Properties view
The Properties view displays the properties and settings of a selected item from the Tree view. The settings displayed in the Properties view will vary for the selected item in the Tree view. The settings below demonstrate the default Biome element.
Things you will most commonly encounter:
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Status Bar
The status bar displays the progress of the internal generator. Modifying the terrain or anything related to it that requires re-generation will trigger the internal generator to process the changes. This displays the current status of the process. The World Creator is a GPU-based real-time generator that ensures ultra-fast processing, hence, real-time without causing any inconvenience.
Next: Understanding Terrain Size and Detail