Tools - Terrain Editors
The terrain editors are map editors that as the name implies, allow you to edit the terrain on maps. In addition to just changing grass to water and such things, they can also be used for placing scenery or objects, like trees, rocks and bushes. Currently there is one terrain editor that pretty much unarguably is the best, and this is Krom's terrain editor. This editor just provides so many functions to make terrain editing easier, so you could just pretty much forget about the other terrain editors.
Jan van Kranendonk's Terrain Editor
This was the first ever released Terrain Editor for Knights and Merchants and you can clearly notice that as it isn't user friendly at all. It works slowly and everything works with different values. There's not much of idea that you start messing around with this editor if you want to create maps are a better one is available.
Krom's Terrain Editor
This project was announced some time ago by Krom, and his goal is to make first a terrain editor and later a mission editor for the game. Currently the editor is still in beta stages and it allows you to create new maps and edit old ones. The previous problems with the terrain files were solved thanks to Qage who was kind enough to help Krom out in the construction of the files, and progress was quite good for a while. Recently, Krom said that he has no further interest in developing his editor further, so you should assume that this will be the final editor version that will be released.
The editor allows different levels of zooming and it shows the heights graphically in a way that looks very similar to the actual game height graphics! Other very advanced features are the smart-tiling feature which will automatically place the suitable border tiles for the type of terrain you're currently editing. Of course single tile editing is also allowed so that you can fine tune all small details on your map. One feature that really eases the creation of maps is the randomizer tool. It will automatically place different types of the terrain you are placing and scenery randomly to an area that you specify. On top of that height editing can also be done with ease. In addition to actually seeing height, tiles no longer have to be raised individually. The advanced elevation editor automatically also raises the tiles that are close to the tile that you're about to raise. If you make a very hilly map it might get hard to see to the other side of the hill, but fear not! The editor also allows you to use flat view in situations like this!
In conclusion you can finally forget about the evil days of map editing! Bright days are ahead, making map editors more user friendly than this could already prove very difficult. The language used in development is Delphi, so it's very fast and you shouldn't experience any slowdowns when running it.
For more information about the editor you might want to check out the thread at the forums from here.
As a point of interest, recent developments have added support for graphical placement of buildings and roads. Full script editing is yet in the works though, but I don't think easy mission editing for Knights and Merchants is too far away in the future!
Qage's Terrain Editor
This is the second attempt at creating a terrain editor. This time most of it is made graphical which makes it a lot more userfriendly. Unfortunately this editor doesn't work on some computers at all, and on others it freezes when you've used it for some time. If you feel like making a map this is probably the tool you want to use as it is a lot easier to use than the older one.
