Scenery Editor and Custom Harbour Guide

[MarkoBarthel]

Across the Seas Scenery Editor and Custom Harbour Guide

Create a harbour by placing game-library objects, importing your own static FBX models, or combining both. Use `harbour.json` to define the package and its location. Use the in-game **Scenery Editor** to arrange the objects and export the finished harbour.

 

1. Create a draft

In the game directory that contains `Mods`, create a folder under `Mods/Sceneries`. For a standard Windows installation, the path is `Windows/AcrosstheSeas/Mods/Sceneries`.

```text
Mods/
  Sceneries/
    MyFalmouthHarbour/
      harbour.json
      Quay.fbx
      Textures/
```

Save the following as UTF-8 in `harbour.json`. The coordinates are an example near Falmouth. Use your own coordinates and a unique ID for your project.

If you do not have a `Quay.fbx` yet, remove that entire entry. A library-only draft can also start with `"models": []`. If your installation includes **Falmouth Demo**, you can open it directly to try the controls.

 

2. Build in the Scenery Editor

1. From the main menu, open **Scenery Editor**. Select a draft from **Editable sceneries** or click its **D** marker on the map. Choose **Edit scenery**.

2. Fly with **WASD**. Hold the **right mouse button** to look around, use **Page Up / Page Down** to change altitude, or hold **Shift** to move faster. **Esc** opens the pause menu and gives access to **Settings**.

3. To add a built-in object, search or browse the **Object library**, then select an entry to see its preview. Choose **Place library object** and click the terrain. Click again to place another copy of the same object, or choose **Cancel placement** to finish.

4. Click an object in the scene or its entry under **Placed objects** to select it. Hold **Ctrl** while clicking to select multiple objects. Use **Focus selected object** to find the current selection.

5. Use **Move** to drag a coloured axis, **Rotate** to drag the yaw ring, or **Scale** to drag the square handle for uniform scaling. You can also enter **X**, **Y**, **Z**, **Yaw**, and **Scale** directly. **Place with mouse** relocates the selection at its current height. **Snap to ground** adjusts the selection vertically to the ground below it. **Snap** enables 0.5 m position increments and 15° rotation increments where applicable.

6. Use **Duplicate and place**, **Undo**, or **Redo** as needed. Enter a group name and press **Enter** to assign a group. Use **Lock / unlock group** to protect it from accidental edits. **Delete selected library objects** removes library objects. To add a new FBX file or remove a custom FBX entry, close the editor and edit `harbour.json`.

7. Check your work with **Day preview** and **Night preview**, then click **Save draft**. Save before returning to the main menu or editing the JSON by hand.

The library includes residential, commercial and industrial buildings, plus harbour equipment such as bollards, fenders and a floodlight. The library bollard provides a mooring point. The library floodlight switches on during night hours.

 

3. Edit `harbour.json` directly

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `schemaVersion` | Set to `1`. |
| `id` | Unique package ID. Use up to 80 lowercase ASCII letters, digits, dots, hyphens or underscores. |
| `displayName` | Name displayed in the editor. Defaults to the package ID. |
| `status` | Use `"draft"` to edit in the Scenery Editor and `"published"` for normal play. Set it explicitly. |
| `anchor` | Geographic origin for the package. Use decimal degrees, with negative longitude west of Greenwich. Bounds are ±85° latitude and ±180° longitude. Optional `altitudeMeters` defaults to 0. |
| `models` | Up to 256 placements. A published harbour needs at least one. |
| `file` or `libraryId` | Use exactly one per model. Use a local FBX filename such as `"Quay.fbx"`, or a known library ID such as `"small-house"`, `"harbour-bollard"`, `"harbour-fender"`, `"harbour-atlantic-fender"` or `"harbour-floodlight"`. For other library objects, place one in the editor, save the draft and copy its generated ID. |
| `offsetMeters` | Local `[X, Y, Z]` in metres from the anchor. Positive Z raises the object. Each axis must stay within ±2,000 m. Default is `[0, 0, 0]`. Confirm X and Y orientation in the editor. |
| `yawDegrees`, `scale` | Rotation about the vertical axis (−360° to 360°) and uniform scale (0.01–100). Defaults are 0 and 1. |
| `group`, `groupLocked` | Optional editor grouping. Group names can be up to 64 characters. The lock is a JSON boolean. |

 

For custom models, use static geometry with a predictable pivot and check the scale against an in-game object. Put each FBX beside `harbour.json`. Keep external textures inside the package, preferably beside the FBX or in `Textures/`. Use simple materials and check that the textures load in the game. Reuse the same filename in multiple model entries to place copies at different positions. The manifest limit is 256 KiB. Unique FBX files in a package may total up to 64 MiB. Imported FBX placements are also subject to a combined limit of 2 million vertices, including repeated FBX placements. Keep meshes well below the limit for smoother loading.

 

Optional custom terrain

Add `terrainReplacement` at the top level of `harbour.json` and add your replacement mesh as a regular FBX model in `models`. For example, the following is the value of the `terrainReplacement` field.

The rectangle must have west < east and south < north, with a maximum span of 0.25° on each axis. It hides the streamed low-poly terrain inside the rectangle while the harbour is loaded. Keep the rectangle tight around the replacement and check its edges from the water. This is a visual replacement. It does not alter water height, seabed depth or navigation charts. Imported scenery meshes have collision disabled.

 

4. Publish and install

1. In the editor, choose **Export finished scenery**. The game saves the draft and writes a ZIP under `Saved/SceneryExports`. The export contains a copy of the manifest marked `"published"`, the referenced package FBX files, and supported image files from the package directory. Built-in library assets are referenced by ID. Exports support up to 1,024 asset files and 512 MiB of asset data. Keep the draft as your editable source.
2. Share the ZIP with any required asset credits and include only files you have permission to redistribute.
3. To install, extract the package folder from the ZIP into `Mods/Sceneries`. Check that the extracted folder contains `harbour.json` and the bundled assets. To update a harbour, replace the previous published package with the new one. Multiple published packages with the same ID are skipped.
4. Reopen the voyage selection to see the published harbour's **M** marker on the map. Start or resume a single-player voyage near the harbour to see it load. Drafts are listed in the Scenery Editor and stay out of normal play.

If a draft is missing, check its folder, file name, JSON syntax and `status`. Confirm that the anchor is within the playable world and that every FBX or library ID exists. If models appear below ground, adjust **Z** or use **Snap to ground**. If you edit the model list or anchor in JSON, reopen the draft before using **Save draft**.