Map layers

A map layer is used mainly to add terrain and satellite imagery to a scene. Additionally, you can use a map layer to control the automatic street creation tool and to control CGA rule attributes.

• You select a map layer in the Scene Editor. They are not selectable in the Viewport.
• You can move and scale a map layer but not rotate.

Terrain map layer with a height map used to generate the terrain mesh with texture image for colorizing

Map layer types

The following are common layer types:

• Terrain layer—Creates a textured terrain based on a heightmap image and texture image. This is the most common map layer type.
• Texture layer—Creates a flat horizontal plane in a scene. This layer type is useful for water bodies.

Auxiliary map layer types

The following layer types are used to influence the behavior of procedural functions:

• Obstacle layer—Defines the areas where the street grow algorithms are prohibited to create streets. This layer type can also be used to select objects based on their location on the map layer. An obstacle layer includes a true and false information for each location on the map.
• Mapping layer—An arbitrary combination of image map channels and mathematical functions. This layer type is typically used to control the height or usage type of a building based on its location. A map layer can include multiple values for each location on the map.
• Function layer—Instead of an image, this layer type takes a mathematical function to generate information for each location on the map.