Maps
Transport Fever 3 maps explained: all four climate zones and biomes, handcrafted regions, heightmap importing and the in-game map editor for custom worlds.
Introduction
Every Transport Fever 3 region is generated from a climate zone and a set of terrain rules, then filled with towns, industries and a transport history of its own. The map you choose shapes almost everything that follows: how far cargo must travel, how expensive earthworks are, whether ships or aircraft become viable, and how quickly towns can grow. This section explains the four climate zones and their biomes, the handcrafted maps included with special editions, and the tools that let you build your own regions. It also covers heightmap importing and the in-game editor, so you can recreate a real location or design an ideal playground for a specific network idea.
Climate Zone Comparison
| Climate | Terrain | Signature Feature | Best Playstyle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperate | Rolling green hills | Balanced resources and towns | First campaigns |
| Subarctic | Rugged cold highlands | Harsher construction costs | Terrain planning |
| Desert | Open arid plains | Long distances, sparse industry | Long-haul freight |
| Tropical | Coasts and islands | Water and air links matter | Sea and air networks |
Regions & Tools
Temperate
The balanced default region for learning the game.
Desert
Wide-open terrain built for long freight corridors.
Tropical
Islands and coastlines where ships become essential.
Map Editor
Full control over terrain, resources and challenge.
Core Mechanics
Map generation in Transport Fever 3 is node-based, producing smoother and more plausible terrain than a simple height noise field, and biomes blend into one another as elevation and latitude change. Climate sets the palette and the resource mix: temperate regions are balanced and forgiving, subarctic maps punish steep construction, deserts stretch distances between settlements, and tropical coasts make water transport essential. Towns are placed along valleys and coastlines, then connected by a pre-existing road network that hints at natural corridors. Industries cluster near the resources they need, so reading their placement before building is the cheapest planning you will ever do. The in-game editor exposes the same generation parameters plus manual sculpting, ground painting, vegetation placement and heightmap import.
Advantages
Good map choice saves enormous amounts of money. A temperate start with well-spaced towns teaches the systems without punishing every gradient, while a desert map rewards players who enjoy long, efficient freight hauls. Coastal and island regions make ships genuinely competitive and give aircraft a clear role, adding variety that a landlocked map cannot offer. The editor and heightmap import turn the game into a design tool: you can rebuild a familiar city, craft a scenario with a single hard constraint, or generate a map tuned to the exact network you want to practise, then share it with other players.
Challenges
Generated maps are, by design, unpredictable. A seed that looks promising on the preview can hide a mountain range between your starting towns or place every industry on the far side of a river, and discovering that after an hour of construction is expensive. Extreme climates amplify the problem: subarctic terrain raises construction costs dramatically, and desert distances can starve a small company of early revenue. Custom maps solve some of this but introduce their own risk, because a hand-built region may have no natural freight demand or an unbalanced resource mix, leaving you to fix the design before you can play it properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which climate should a beginner choose?+
Can I import real-world heightmaps?+
What are the handcrafted maps?+
Quick Tips
Study the preview before you commit. Town spacing, coastline and where the first industries sit tell you whether a map will support passenger service, freight or both, and a minute of inspection can save an hour of rebuilding. Look for an obvious first corridor rather than the most scenic region.
Pick a climate that matches your intended company. If you want cheap bulk haulage, a coastal tropical map with ships will outperform a landlocked desert start; if you want to learn signalling, a compact temperate region gives you more junctions per hour of play and cheaper earthworks. Before committing, check whether the climate gives you a natural first corridor between two towns, because a region with excellent long-term potential can still be a poor place to start if the opening routes are all mountains or sea.
Use the editor to remove one obstacle, not all of them. A single tunnelled mountain pass or a well-placed river crossing keeps a custom map interesting, while flattening everything turns the scenario into a featureless grid with no decisions to make. Constraint is what makes a custom map worth playing.
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