I imagine everyone who's tried their hand at creating or adjusting terrain maps in SimCity 4 has been frustrated by the heavy-handed nature of virtually all terrain modification tools in the game, and realized that for fine-tuning things (especially around roads), the neighborhood terrain modification tools in TS2 are much more user-friendly, even if they don't allow for the same sweeping natural features as SC4.

My current issue is that I don't know if there is any way of extracting that terrain from TS2 in such a way that it can be uploaded as a terrain file (rather than a whole TS2 neighborhood). Ages ago I'd promised to someday share my Temple Mountains National Park so that I could gradually share other national park lots as I completed them, and while the current SC4 terrain file is 'good enough' in my own judgement, there are a few areas where roads make abrupt grade changes in the SC4 file. I can soften these out easily in TS2 but it's all but impossible in SC4, as you can see compared in the attached screenshots with the road going up the hill to the left, and I'd like to be able to upload the slightly-better terrain from the TS2-modified map rather than the rougher purely-SC4 terrain.

Let me be clear, I'm not talking about sharing the lots or neighborhood decorations as part of this issue, ONLY the terrain/map itself. I just want to be able to fine-tune in TS2 before sharing, so that the finished product is more elegant!

I might be wrong but I think the only way to do something like that would be to share the empty NH file.

Mootilda was looking into it in 2013, but by 2014 was saying it wasn't possible. I don't have any details of why she came to that conclusion, a search of her posts left me none the wiser! Maybe another talented modder will pick this up?

I think the only way to share a map that has been changed in any way in TS2 is as a main hood. I have noticed that there are some lovely, decorated maps on here, and they are main hoods and cannot be used for anything else (there was one I really thought would make a nice subhood).

@Zarathustra - Have you tried using the Terrain sculpting tool in SC4 that allow you to smoothen (not flatten) steep slopes into gentle slopes? I believe by holding down either Shift or CTRL, you should be able to control the intensity or strength of the tool.

If you'd like, I can take a look at your SC4 file and try to adjust the slope.

Yes, what I do when I upload my finished hoods is to include the SC4 file; that way people can create a new hood using that; and if they want the decorations and in-game terrain tweaks I did, they can copy those over from my finished hood using Hood Replace.

Good idea (except when you have lost the original (Paternoster) map due to your pc breaking, of course, and then found out half of your lots are under water ).

Oh no!

I survived

Great premise for a mermaid hood! XD