Terrains

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Please note: This page is currently being updated.

After reading this page

  • you've learned what Terrain is.
  • you've learned how Terrains relate to the Tygron engine.
  • you've learned about the different Terrain types in the Tygron engine.
  • you've learned how to add Terrain to your project.
  • you've learned how to change Terrain in your project.

What is Terrain

Terrain (plural terrains): An area of land and/ or the particular features of it.

File:Terrain-Q3-2015.jpg

What does Terrain mean in the Tygron Engine?

In the Tygron Engine terrain types can be selected for a specified area in the 3D world. Such a terrain type can have different features assigned according to the specific type selected. Terrain types in the Tygron Engine are; Flooding Terrain, Sewer Terrain, Safe Zone Terrain, Normal Terrain and Terrain imported from ArcGIS.

What types of terrain can be used in the Tygron Engine?

Flooding Terrain

A Flooding Terrain is a visualization of an inundation of (a part of) the 3D world. The user can select tha area, the amount of water and color of the flooding overlay. To visualize the Flooding Terrain on both the 3D world and mini map, a dedicated overlay can be added. In order to trigger the flooding manually/ as part of an event, the Flooding terrain needs to be linked to the weather type Flooding (in Animations).

Creating a Flooding terrain

How to create a Flooding Terrain:
  1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Flooding Terrain
  2. Rename the new Flooding Terrain in the 'Name' field on the right side of main view, if desired
  3. Select a color from the drop down menu 'Color on Overlay'
  4. Enter a value for 'Flood water level in meters/ ft'
  5. Select if the Flooding Terrain is 'Active in Simulation'
  6. Select the 'Adjust Area' button to enable the brush panel under the main view port
  7. Select the area if the 3D world where the flooding takes place
  8. Apply selection


  • AddFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Add Flooding Terrain

  • RenameFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Enter a (new) name

  • ColorFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select a color

  • WaterLevelFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Set the water level of the flooding

  • ActivatelFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Select if 'Active in Simulation'

  • AdjustFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Select to draw the terrain

  • DrawFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Draw terrain in 3D world

  • ApplyFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Apply (or cancel) the selection

Adding a Flooding Terrain Overlay

How to add a Flooding Terrain Overlay:
  1. Select 3D World > Overlays
  2. Select 'TERRAIN_FLOODING' from the drop down menu on the bottom left of the screen
  3. Select to Add the terrain overlay
  4. Notice Overlay icon is now available under mini map


  • SelectOverlayFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Select Overlays from 3D World

  • SelectTerrainFlooding-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Select 'TERRAIN_FLOODING' Overlay from the drop down menu

  • AddTerrainFloodingOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Add overlay

  • OverlayIconFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Overlay icon is added under mini map

Linking Flooding Terrain to Flooding Weather, to manually trigger flooding

To enable the flooding to be triggered manually, a dedicated measure must be created. In this measure, the Flooding Terrain and Flooding Weather type are linked. The measure can then be assigned to an Action menu, to be accessible for the user.
How to link Flooding Terrain to Flooding Weather:
  1. Select Animations > Weather > Add Flooding
  2. Rename the new Flooding Weather in the 'Name' field on the right side of main view, if desired
  3. Select visual effect and Auto trigger, if desired
  4. Enter values for 'Weather Duration in seconds', 'Flooding waterlevel in meters/ ft', 'Amount of rain', 'Duration of rainfall' and 'Annual rainfall increment'
  5. Select Stakeholders > Measures > Add empty measure
  6. Select 'Events' for the newly created measure
  7. Add on the right side panel a Server event 'TERRAIN_SET_ACTIVE'
  8. Add the Flooding Terrain to this event from the drop down list underneath the main view port
  9. Add on the right side panel a Client event 'ACTIVATE_WEATHER'
  10. Add the Weather ID 'Flooding' to this event from the drop down list underneath the main view port
  11. Select 3D world > Actions
  12. Add a new action menu
  13. Assign the newly created measure to the new Action menu


  • SelectWeatherAddFlooding-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Select Animations > Weather > Add Flooding

  • RenameFloodingWeather-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Rename the new Flooding Weather type

  • VisualEffectFloodingWeather-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select visual effect and Auto trigger

  • OtherValuesFloodingWeather-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Adjust the other values too

  • AddEmptyMeasure-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Select Stakeholders > Measures > Add empty measure

  • SelectEventsNewMeasure-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Select 'Events' for the newly created measure

  • AddServerEvent-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Add server event 'TERRAIN_SET_ACTIVE'

  • AddTerrainID-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Add the correct Terrain ID (Test Flood 1)

  • AddClientEvent-Q3-2015.jpg

    9. Add client event 'ACTIVATE_WEATHER'

  • AddWeatherID-Q3-2015.jpg

    10. Add the correct Weather ID (Test Flood 1)

  • Select3DWorldActions-Q3-2015.jpg

    11. Select 3D world > Actions

  • AddNewActionMenu-Q3-2015.jpg

    12. Add new Action menu

  • AssignNewMeasureToActionMenu-Q3-2015.jpg

    13. Assign the new measure to the new Action menu

Sewer Terrain

This terrain type sets the amount of drainage for a specified area. This terrain can then be visualized as overlay.

Adding a Sewer Terrain & Overlay

How to add Sewer Terrain & Overlay:
  1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Sewer Terrain
  2. Rename the terrain in the 'Name' field, if desired
  3. Select an appropriate overlay color
  4. Enter a value for 'Sewer Water Storage per min'
  5. Check to activate terrain in simulation
  6. Select 'Adjust Area' to draw the terrain in the 3D world
  7. Select 3D world > Overlays
  8. Select to add a 'TERRAIN_SEWER' overlay


  • AddSewerTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Sewer Terrain

  • RenameSewerTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Rename the terrain, if desired

  • SelectColorSewerTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select color

  • SetWaterStorageSewerTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Enter water storage value

  • ActivateSewerTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Check to activate terrain

  • AdjustFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Adjust area in 3D world

  • SelectOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Select 3D world > Overlays

  • AddTerrainSewerOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Select to add a 'TERRAIN_SEWER' overlay

Safe Zone Terrain

Implementing this terrain type enables the user to assign areas that will not be flooded by a Safe Zone Flooding. This can be used to visualize the effects of flood protection alignments. Areas in this Safe Zone will not be flooded, and areas added to this safe zone by adding levees and alignments are indicated by a separate color.

Adding a Safe Zone Terrain & Overlay

How to add Safe Zone Terrain & Overlay:
  1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Safe Zone Terrain
  2. Rename the terrain in the 'Name' field, if desired
  3. Select an appropriate overlay color for the original safe zone and extended safe zone
  4. Check to activate terrain in simulation
  5. Select 'Adjust Area' to draw the original safe zone terrain in the 3D world
  6. Select 3D world > Overlays
  7. Select to add a 'TERRAINS' overlay
  8. Highlight the new 'Special Terrain' and select 'Safe Zone Terrain' from the right side panel


  • AddSafeZoneTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Safe Zone Terrain

  • RenameSafeZoneTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Rename the terrain, if desired

  • SelectColorSafeZoneTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select color

  • ActivateSafeZoneTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Check to activate terrain

  • AdjustFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Adjust area in 3D world

  • SelectOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Select 3D world > Overlays

  • AddTerrainsOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Select to add a 'TERRAINS' overlay

  • AddTerrainSafeZoneOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Select 'Safe Zone Terrain' from the right side panel

Normal Terrain

This terrain type can be used to designate/ revert areas with other terrain types, back to normal terrain features. This avoids having to manually remove other terrains, for instance when overlapping.

Adding Normal Terrain & Overlay

How to add Normal Terrain & Overlay:
  1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Normal Terrain
  2. Rename the terrain in the 'Name' field, if desired
  3. Select an appropriate overlay color
  4. Check to activate terrain in simulation
  5. Select 'Adjust Area' to draw the terrain in the 3D world
  6. Select 3D world > Overlays
  7. Select to add a 'TERRAINS' overlay
  8. Highlight the new 'Special Terrain' and select 'Normal Terrain' from the right side panel


  • AddSafeZoneTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    1. Select 3D World > Terrains > Add Normal Terrain

  • RenameNormalTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Rename the terrain, if desired

  • SelectColorNormalTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select color

  • ActivateNormalTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Check to activate terrain

  • AdjustFloodingTerrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Adjust area in 3D world

  • SelectOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Select 3D world > Overlays

  • AddTerrainsOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Select to add a 'TERRAINS' overlay

  • AddTerrainNormalOverlay-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Select 'Safe Zone Terrain' from the right side panel

Terrain imported from ArcGIS

It is possible to import terrain layers from the ArcGIS service from Esri, for those terrain data layers that are not by default loaded when creating a project in the Tygron Engine. An Esri/ ArcGIS account is not required to be able to import publicly published services from the online ArcGIS repository. When the user wants to create his own ArcGIS terrains, appropriate software is needed to create such shapefiles and contour polygons, after which the file needs to be uploaded and published as a feature service in the ArcGIS account of the user/ organisation. It is important to publish the data as a feature service, because this service allows for queries to search the included data. A Map service for example, is only a polygon as an image, that can better be used as an overlay, as there is not data in this published map format that can be searched for with a query. See also Tygron Query Language
To better illustrate 'How to use' these ArcGIS terrains, we will look at a specific example; the flooding issues in Lower Manhattan. As the Sandy flooding has been well documented, searching for relevant data is not very difficult.

How to import ArcGIS terrains

File:QueriesForLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg
Clauses from the NFHL feature service from Fema
We will import a terrain based on the National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) for New York City. The searchable query is ZONE_SUBTY (Zone Subtype) and we search for the flood hazard of one flooding per 500 years. For this we use the clauses 'AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD' and '0.2 PCT ANNUAL CHANCE FLOOD HAZARD'.
This results in the following query:
ZONE_SUBTY='AREA OF MINIMAl FLOOD HAZARD' OR ZONE_SUBTY='0.2 PCT ANNUAL CHANCE FLOOD HAZARD'
Please note that when querying a text string, enclosing quotation marks are required around these text strings (see example). When querying for a numerical value, these quotation marks are redundant.
As the searched for data in our example has been published by Fema as a public feature service, logging in to an ArcGIS account is not required. This being said, when using a custom made feature service that is not intended for public use (confidential information or intellectual property for instance), logging into ArcGIS is required to access private data sets that are only visible within the organisation.


How to import ArcGIS terrains:
  1. Load or create a project based on real data, situated in the area for which an ArcGIS terrain (feature service) is available
  2. Log in with ArcGIS credentials on the top right side of the Tygron Editor window (for private feature service only)
  3. Select 3D World > Terrains > Import terrain from ArcGIS
  4. Enter 'National Flood Hazard Layer' in the search bar of the newly opened Esri Import panel
  5. Highlight any suitable layer that appears as search result
  6. Ensure the correct Feature Sevice Layer is selected ('Flood Hazard Zones', should be by default)
  7. Select the appropriate field > 'ZONE_SUBTY'
  8. Specify layer features with an appropriate query
  9. Select 'SAFE_ZONE' from the drop down list to designate the imported terrain type as a protected area
  10. Add the terrain to start the import process
  11. The new terrain is now imported, and can be edited. Under the mini map a new icon for the overlay has appeared


  • ArcGISLogin-Q3-2015.jpg

    2. Log in with ArcGIS credentials (not required for this example!)

  • SelectArcGISterrain-Q3-2015.jpg

    3. Select 3D world > Terrains > import from ArcGIS

  • SearchLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    4. Search for 'National Flood Hazard Layer'

  • HighlightLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    5. Highlight suitable layer

  • FeatureServiceLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    6. Ensure 'Flood hazard Zones' is selected

  • ShowLayerFieldsArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    7. Select 'ZONE_SUBTY'

  • QueryLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    8. Enter query to specify layer features

  • TerrainTypeLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    9. Designate the desired terrain type

  • AddTerrainLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    10. Add the terrain

  • ImportedTerrainLayerArcGISImport-Q3-2015.jpg

    11. The terrain is ready for use

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