Terraforming

[OsirisSL12]

Why is terraforming so problematic and has been this way for years? You can never really 'flatten' land for some reason or other, there's always bumpy triangular surfaces sticking out or the land just refuses to do something for some reason, i'm at my wits end with it most of the time. How hasn't it been improved over the years and worked on meticulously to get a better exprerience?

A lot of builders will resort to prims and mesh things to hide or cover areas, or simply for the entire build, for me, using prims when a perfectly simple land-scaping tool such as terraforming is there seems like a waste of prims, also when you use prim as floor it's obvious by how flat it is. Then there is the problem of over-lapping or lining things up so you don't get that sort of texture mashing glitch when you're using prims on some part of the build.

[Rolig Loon]

That's odd.  It always works for me.  Start by setting one spot on the land at the height you want the rest to be.  Then set the Flatten tool to a small size at first, center it on that spot, and and gently flatten outward from there to create a somewhat larger area.  NOW, make the Flatten tool as large as you like, amp up the strength, center it on your spot, and start working outward from there.  The land will flatten beautifully as long as the center of your tool is over a spot that you have already flattened.

[Alwin Alcott]

12 hours ago, OsirisSL12 said:

Why is terraforming so problematic and has been this way for years? You can never really 'flatten' land for some reason or other, there's always bumpy triangular surfaces sticking out or the land just refuses to do something for some reason,

it depends totally where your land is, at hillsides, mountains or sloped regions, it's nearly impossible to get what you want, you need to be at the flat areas.
Most Linden Land at the mainland regions has a change limit of +4 /- 4.
As most people sell their lands as they used it, it's possible you see a nearly flat land, but the start of your parcel might be at it's end to raise/lower, while the sloped back is at its end of the range.

Also, don't use the hand tool to level your parcel, but don't select a area and just click the "flatten" or "smooth" button and see what happens.
If you want to see what the original landform is set all sliders to the right, and pick "revert" /click apply.

12 hours ago, OsirisSL12 said:

A lot of builders will resort to prims and mesh things to hide or cover areas, or simply for the entire build, for me, using prims when a perfectly simple land-scaping tool such as terraforming is there seems like a waste of prims,

thats only one (1) prim to level it... thats not wasting.... and about the building with prims... thats a choice, mesh can have a better LI and detail.

 

12 hours ago, OsirisSL12 said:

 Then there is the problem of over-lapping or lining things up so you don't get that sort of texture mashing glitch when you're using prims on some part of the build.

thats a matter of skill .. it's perfectly possible to make connections between prims without this effects.