# Generation Settings

This document describes the advanced settings available in **maps4fs** - a map generator for Farming Simulator. These settings allow you to fine-tune various aspects of the map generation process to achieve the best results for your specific terrain and requirements.

🆕 **Presets Available**: The [Presets](https://maps4fs.gitbook.io/docs/additional-features/presets) system allows you to save and manage multiple Generation Settings configurations. Create presets for different map styles like "Dense Forests", "Realistic Fields", or "Mountain Terrain" and apply them with one click in [Local Deployment](https://maps4fs.gitbook.io/docs/setup-and-installation/local_deployment).

## DEM (Digital Elevation Model) Settings

These settings control the generation and processing of the DEM map image, which defines the terrain elevation and height data for your map.

### Blur Radius

**Units:** Integer value (pixels) DEM blur radius is used to blur the elevation map. Without blurring, the terrain may look too sharp and unrealistic. By default the blur radius is set to 3, which corresponds to a 3x3 pixel kernel. You can increase this value to make the terrain more smooth, or make it smaller to make the terrain more sharp.

![Blur Radius Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/78e18ceb-b5b1-4a9d-b51b-4834effdaf9b)

⚠️ **Note:** This image represents the difference when using low quality DEM data with resolution of 30 meters per pixel. If you're using high quality DEM data, do not use high blur radius values, as it will destroy the details of the terrain.

### Plateau

**Units:** Meters from ground level DEM plateau value is used to make the whole map higher or lower. This value will be added to each pixel of the DEM image, making it higher. It can be useful if you're working on a plain area and need to add some negative height (to make rivers, for example).

### Ceiling

**Units:** Meters from the top of highest elevation DEM ceiling value is used to add padding in the DEM above the highest elevation in your map area. It can be useful if you plan to manually add some height to the map by sculpting the terrain in Giants Editor.

### Water Depth

**Units:** Meters Water depth controls how much the generator deepens terrain in water areas. The value is converted to DEM pixel units using your map `heightScale`, then applied with a shoreline-to-center depth profile (instead of a hard vertical cut).

![Water Depth Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/22b99071-3169-4c02-9425-1e9fec0e27ec)

✅ **Recommended:** This setting is useful with **all** DTM providers, including high-quality DEM sources. Start with conservative values and increase gradually.

### Water Bank Steepness

**Units:** Integer value (`1` to `5`) Controls how quickly depth transitions from shoreline to deep water:

* `1` = smooth, wide banks
* `3` = balanced profile (default)
* `5` = steep, step-like banks

Use this together with **Water Depth**:

* Increase **Water Depth** to make channels/lakes deeper.
* Increase **Water Bank Steepness** to make sides steeper without changing the nominal depth target.

### Add Foundations

If enabled, the terrain under buildings will be flattened to their average height.

![Add Foundations Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/51cd6005-6971-49e5-a649-4ea31abac95d)

## Background Terrain Settings

These settings control the generation of background terrain, water planes, and other 3D elements that surround the playable map area.

> 🎉 **New**: When combined with **Download Satellite Images**, Maps4FS now automatically generates ready-to-use `background_terrain.i3d` files that can be directly imported into Giants Editor - no Blender required!

### Generate Background

**Available**: Generates both obj files AND ready-to-use i3d files when satellite images are enabled.

If enabled, the background terrain files will be generated. You can turn it off if you already have those files or don't need them. By default, it's set to True.

**Generated files (with satellite images):**

* `assets/background/background_terrain.i3d` ← **Ready to import!**
* `assets/background/textured_mesh/` folder with obj, mtl, and texture files

### Generate Water

**Available**: Generates both obj files AND ready-to-use i3d files for direct Giants Editor import.

If enabled, the water plane files will be generated. You can turn it off if you already have those files or don't need them. By default, it's set to True.

**Generated files:**

* `assets/water/polygon_water.i3d` ← **Ready to import!**
* `water/` folder with `polygon_water.obj` and `polyline_water.obj` for reference

### Water Blurriness

**Units:** Integer value Controls smoothing for water-related terrain shaping and generated water surfaces. Higher values produce wider, softer shoreline transitions; lower values produce tighter, sharper transitions.

![Water Blurriness Example](https://i.postimg.cc/2jn8zgpP/water-blurriness.png)

### Flatten Roads

If enabled, the terrain under roads will be flattened. Do not use this option with high quality DTM providers that should already have flattened roads. Otherwise, it may lead to worse results.

![Flatten Roads Example](https://github.com/iwatkot/maps4fsuil/releases/download/2.1.2/flatten_roads.png)

⚠️ **Note:** This image represents the difference when using low quality DEM data with resolution of 30 meters per pixel. If you're using high quality DEM data, do not use this feature, as it may lead to unexpected results.

### Flatten Water

If enabled, water bottoms are smoothed and normalized while preserving broad elevation trends across each water area. This helps stabilize noisy or uneven bathymetry and improves generated polygon/polyline water mesh quality.

✅ **Recommended:** Use this option in most workflows and with all DTM providers (including HQ providers), especially when water bottoms contain artifacts or sharp spikes.

### Remove Center

If enabled, the playable region (map terrain) will be removed from the background terrain. By default, it's set to True.

![Remove Center Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/912864b7-c790-47a9-a001-dd1936d21c17)

## GRLE (Farmland & Vegetation) Settings

These settings control the generation of GRLE files (info layers) for the map, including farmlands, vegetation, and grass distribution.

### Farmland Margin

**Units:** Meters This value will be applied to each farmland, making it bigger. You can use this value to adjust how much the farmland should be bigger than the actual field. By default, it's set to 3. It's useful because without the margin, the farmland will end exactly at the same position as the field ends, which can cause gameplay issues.

![Farmland Margin Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c160bf6d-9217-455b-9655-462dc09b943c)

### Add Grass

If enabled, the tool will add grass to all empty areas (without roads, fields, buildings, etc.). By default, it's set to True.

![Add Grass Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/49c0376a-b83b-46f0-9e25-2f11e03e16c0)

### Random Plants

When adding decorative foliage, enabling this option will add different species of plants to the map. If unchecked, only basic grass (smallDenseMix) will be added. Defaults to True.

![Random Plants Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e0dae979-21a8-4aa2-8281-ddcdcce3c582)

### Base Grass

You can select which plant will be used as base grass on the map. Note that the default smallDenseMix can be moved but can not be collected after it. If you want to mow the grass outside of the farmlands, select a meadow grass type.

### Add Farmyards

If enabled, the tool will create farmlands from regions marked as farmyards in the OSM data. Those farmlands will not have fields and will not be drawn on textures. By default, it's turned off.

### Base Price

**Units:** In-game currency (EUR or USD) The base price of farmland. It's used to calculate the price of farmland in the game. In default in-game maps this value equals 60000.

## I3D Settings

These settings control the generation of the main map I3D files, including trees, objects, and other 3D elements placed within the playable area.

### Add Trees

If enabled, the tool will add trees to the map in areas defined as forests in the OSM data. By default, it's set to True.

![Add Trees Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/50dd8f82-f4f9-411e-a17a-ea10a0b95c20)

### License Plate Prefix

**Units:** 1-3 letter string **Available**: Customizes the regional identifier that appears on license plates alongside the automatically detected country code. This represents specific regions, cities, or administrative areas within a country.

**Examples:**

* `"NS"` for Novi Sad (Serbia) → License plate shows "SRB NS"
* `"M"` for Munich (Germany) → License plate shows "D M"
* `"75"` for Paris (France) → License plate shows "F 75"
* `"KRK"` for Krakow (Poland) → License plate shows "PL KRK"

**How it works**:

1. **Country code** is automatically detected from map coordinates (e.g., Serbia → SRB)
2. **Regional prefix** is what you specify here (e.g., NS for Novi Sad)
3. **Final result**: Both appear on the license plate together

**When to use**:

* Add regional authenticity to your map
* Represent specific cities or administrative regions
* Create custom regional identifiers for fictional areas

⚠️ **Limits**: Maximum 3 characters (letters or numbers). Longer strings will be truncated.

### Displacement Layer Max Height

**Units:** Height value in meters **Range:** `0.0` to `1.0` This value updates the `maxHeight` attribute of the `DisplacementLayer` in `map.i3d`. In practice, it controls how strong the terrain ground deformation can be. Higher values allow deeper visible ground deformation, including more pronounced tractor tracks.

**Default:** `0.2`

**When to increase it**:

* You want stronger ground deformation
* You want deeper visible vehicle tracks

**When to keep it low**:

* You want more stable in-game ground deformation
* You want to avoid exaggerated or unrealistic track depth

⚠️ **Note:** Higher values can look impressive in screenshots, but they usually do not behave as well during actual gameplay. Use them carefully.

⚠️ **Technical Note:** This setting only changes the I3D displacement layer limit. It does not rescale the DEM itself.

### Forest Density

**Units:** Meters between trees The density of the forest in meters. The lower the value, the lower the distance between trees, which makes the forest denser. Note that low values will lead to an enormous number of trees, which may cause Giants Editor to crash or lead to performance issues. By default, it's set to 10.

![Forest Density Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bf353ed6-f25c-4226-b0d6-105ada0f097b)

### Tree Limit

**Units:** Integer value (0 means no limit) This value will be used to adjust the forest density value. For example, if it's possible to place 100,000 trees from OSM data, and the forest density is set to 10, the expected number of trees on the map will be 10,000. If you set the tree limit to 5,000, the forest density will be adjusted to 20, meaning the distance between trees will be doubled.

This value is useful to prevent Giants Editor from crashing due to too many trees on the map. By default, it's set to 0 (disabled). Note that it will not lead to the exact number of trees, but will adjust the forest density to fit the tree limit.

## Texture Settings

These settings control the generation and processing of texture files and layers that define the visual appearance of different terrain types.

### Dissolve

If enabled, the values from one layer will be split between different layers of texture, making it look more natural. Warning: this is a time-consuming process. It's recommended to enable it when generating the final version of the map, not test versions.

![Dissolve Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b7da059b-eb35-4a4e-a656-168c31257b15)

### Fields Padding

**Units:** Meters This value will be applied to each field, making it smaller. It's useful when fields are too close to each other and you want to make them smaller. By default, it's set to 0.

![Fields Padding Example](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b88ebfb3-7afb-4012-a845-42a04fefa7d2)

### Skip Drains

If enabled, the tool will not generate drains and ditches on the map. By default, it's set to False. Use this if you don't need drains on the map.

### Use Cache

If enabled, the tool will use cached OSM data for generating the map. It's useful when you're generating the same map multiple times and don't want to download OSM data each time. But if you've made changes to the OSM data, you should disable this option to get updated data. By default, it's set to True. This option has no effect when using a custom OSM file.

### Use Precise Tags

If enabled, the tool will use precise tags from the texture schema and will ignore basic tags specified for the texture. With the default schema, this is used for specific types of forests: broadleaved, needleleaved, mixed, etc. Note that if enabled and the object does not have the precise tag, it will not be drawn on the map. By default, it's set to False.

By default the generator will use the `tags` from the texture schema:

```json
"tags": { "natural": ["wood", "tree_row"], "landuse": "forest" }
```

However, if this option is enabled, the generator will use the `precise_tags` instead:

```json
"precise_tags": { "leaf_type": "mixed" }
```

⚠️ **Note:** If an OSM object does not contain the precise tag (e.g., leaf\_type), the generator will not draw the texture. Use this feature only if you ensure that the precise tags are present in the OSM data.additional splines will be generated around fields. It may not work for fields partially available on the map.

## Satellite Settings

These settings control the download and processing of satellite imagery used for textures and visual references.

### Download Images

**Available**: Enables automatic generation of multiple assets:

* ✅ Ready-to-use `background_terrain.i3d` files (when combined with **Generate Background**)
* ✅ Automatic `overview.dds` creation for in-game minimap
* ✅ Satellite imagery for textures and visual references

If enabled, the tool will download satellite images for the background terrain and overview image. If you already have the images, you can turn it off.

> 💡 **Tip**: For users, enabling **Download Images** provides the complete automated workflow for background terrain AND overview maps!

### Zoom Level

**Units:** Integer value (maximum recommended: 18) The zoom level of satellite images. The higher the value, the more detailed the images will be. By default, it's set to 14. Be careful with high values, as they may result in very large images and extremely long download times. This option is disabled in the public version of the app.

## Settings Export & Reference

### Generation Settings JSON File

Maps4FS can export your complete settings configuration as `generation_settings.json` for documentation and replication purposes.

**Recommended Practice**: Save your settings JSON file after successful map generations to:

* **Document Successful Configurations**: Record which parameter combinations work best for specific terrain types
* **Enable Reproduction**: Recreate identical generation parameters for iterative map development
* **Share Configurations**: Distribute proven settings for similar geographic regions or map styles
* **Track Optimization**: Maintain a library of optimized settings for different use cases

**File Structure Example**:

```json
{
    "DEMSettings": {
        "blur_radius": 40,
        "plateau": 15,
        "water_depth": 10
    },
    "BackgroundSettings": {
        "generate_background": true,
        "water_blurriness": 20
    },
    "I3DSettings": {
        "displacement_layer_max_height": 0.2,
        "forest_density": 8,
        "tree_limit": 50000
    }
}
```

**Usage Note**: The JSON file serves as a reference of your chosen parameters. For authoritative information about available settings and their current functionality, always refer to this documentation rather than the JSON structure.