Article Number: 48 | VC5 | VC4 | VC3 | Post Date: November 10, 2017 | Last Updated: September 8, 2025
Can I add snow, ice, water, or other friction zones to my scene?
Using the filled poly shape tools, you can insert colored regions into your scene to depict snow, ice, water, or whatever is required for your case.
First, if you’re using a terrain mesh, such as from the Easy Surface Builder tool, you’ll need to make sure the “receive projection” option is enabled for your terrain mesh object. This is accessed in the “projection” menu in the left side control panel.
In the example show below, the filled curve tool is used to create the area meant to depict snow. The area’s fill color is set to white. We use the transparency option to make the white area semi-transparent.
Next, the shape’s line color is set to fully transparent to hide the black outline.
Next we convert our filled shape into a friction zone.
The friction value can be modified in the physics menu in the left side control panel. Note, you can learn more about adding friction zones with the Virtual Tutor: see help > physics > local friction.
The friction value of a shape takes priority over the vehicle’s adhesion value for any wheel traveling within the boundaries of that shape.
Multiple Friction Zones
Note that you can insert as many friction zones as needed into your scene. When friction zones overlap, the value applied to a wheel located within two or more shapes will be taken from the upper-most shape. To adjust which value is used, you can rearrange 2D shapes by going to tools > arrange > bring to front.
Tags: Friction zone, snow, ice, water, rain, add friction.
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