HeightCanvas

Turn a flat map image into 3D game terrain — just by painting it.

Building terrain for a small game is slow: modelling it by hand takes forever, and the big terrain tools feel like overkill — node graphs, real elevation data, a learning curve. I hit that wall making my own game, so I built something dead simple instead. You paint over a map image, and you get a 3D model. That's HeightCanvas.

How it works

1. Load a satellite or aerial image.
2. Paint elevation to raise hills and valleys — a slider sets the height. Drop in buildings and trees.
3. Generate a 3D model, textured with your original image. Orbit it in a live preview.
4. Export, and drop it straight into your engine.

What you get

• A textured, low-poly 3D terrain from any map image
• Export to GLB or OBJ — into Unity, Godot, Unreal, or any 3D viewer
• Or a 16-bit heightmap (PNG) to build your own terrain from the height data
• Live 3D preview — orbit and check the model before you export
• Buildings & trees as quick placeholders (basic — see the note below)

Honest heads-up

The terrain is the heart of this tool, and it works really well. The buildings and trees are simple and still a work in progress — handy as placeholders, but plenty of people will just use the terrain and add their own objects. I'd rather tell you that up front than oversell it.

Good to know

• Runs on Windows
• No account, no internet, no external data — just your image and the paint you add
• One-time $5 — no subscription, no catch

If you make small games and want a fast way to turn a map into 3D terrain, give it a try. It saved me a lot of time — maybe it saves you some too.

Made by lowendplay — a gamedev, for gamedevs.