How to Build a River Village in Petit Planet

To build a river village in Petit Planet, you must lower the ground elevation to form a sunken basin, fill the trench with water from the lowest point upward, and match the soil height on opposite banks before placing bridges.

Carving the River Basin with Elevation Tools

Water cannot be placed directly onto flat terrain in Petit Planet. You must sculpt a channel first so the water mesh sits naturally within the ground.

Select your terraforming tool and map out a winding path through your planned village area. Irregular curves look more natural than straight grid lines.
Lower the ground elevation along the path to form a clear channel. Maintain consistent depth increments so your riverbed remains uniform.
Smooth out jagged edges along the banks to prevent awkward terrain cuts from showing through your final build.

Placing Water Tiles and Masking Borders

Once your basin is excavated, fill the space with water tiles while controlling your camera angle to check for height consistency.

Placement Order: Start placing water at the lowest point of your carved channel and work outward across the path.
Level Alignment: If water tiles appear uneven or chopped, adjust the adjacent soil height by single increments until the water mesh levels out.
Boundary Layering: Water tiles adhere strictly to the building grid. Place stepping stones, shrubs, or decorative plants along the water's edge to soften the rigid grid lines and hide grid transitions.

Placing Bridges and Waterfront Structures

Bridges act as the primary connective infrastructure for your village, but placing them requires exact bank alignment.

Structure Type	Placement Requirement	Practical Purpose
Bridges	Both riverbanks must sit at the exact same elevation level.	Connects landmasses; fails to snap or floats if banks differ by even one grid unit.
Wooden Piers & Docks	Placed directly along the water line on level soil.	Establishes village utility points and extends walkways over the water.
Lanterns & Lighting	Positioned along pier edges and bridge entrances.	Creates visual reflections on the water surface during nighttime cycles.

Managing Decoration Load Limits and Fixing Visual Glitches

Every piece of water, pathing, bridge segment, and decorative object counts toward your planet's total decoration cap. Building a river village requires managing these structural costs to avoid hitting limit bottlenecks.

Create Density Pockets: Rather than stretching a long river across your entire planet, concentrate your river layout, bridges, and housing props into one focused zone. This keeps detail high while preserving capacity elsewhere.
Prioritize Core Paths: If space runs low, keep the river trench and essential bridges, then clear high-cost minor decorations along the shore.
Fix Seam Flickering: If you see visual gaps or flickering textures where water meets the shore, raise the underlying ground by one terrain increment to plug the seam.
Audit Spatial Flow: Zoom out to a top-down camera view to verify that your river connects logically to your main base or primary pathing routes.