HQminiMap

A high-resolution map of your Transport Fever 3 world, with your network live on top of it.

English · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Español · 简体中文
💻 Windows · Linux · macOS

⬇ Download the app · 🧩 Get the mod (Mod Hub) · Version française

HQminiMap scans your map from above with the game's Camera Tool, stitches the images into one sharp orthophoto, and shows it in a fast viewer with towns, lines, stations, vehicles, industries and warehouses updated live from your game. Zoom down to the pixel, filter what matters, teleport the game camera with a double-click, and export beautiful map images.

Features

Scan your map in seconds. Pick a quality (Low, Medium, High, Very high or Ultra) and GridLab sets the Camera Tool output size, the grid, camera and lighting for your map. You record the scan with the game's Camera Tool; the app takes the images by itself.	Read your network at a glance. Show the orthophoto, or switch to a clean basemap (black background, blue water, map outline) that lets your lines stand out.
See the terrain. Colour the map by altitude, draw contour lines, or both, with your own colour scale.	Click anything. Each object has a card with its figures, stocks and history, plus Zoom to, Hide, Teleport here and Open in game.

• Live data from your game: towns (with their outlines), lines drawn along their real tracks in the game's colours, stations and stops, moving vehicles with their load, industries and warehouses with their stocks.
• Lines as in the game: stretches shared by several lines are drawn as multi-colour dashes, and two-way streets as two strokes side by side.
• Filters: search by name, transport mode, minimum traffic, minimum stock, chosen lines, inactive lines. Save named filter setups, load one at startup, import or export them as JSON.
• Control the game from the map: double-click a spot to move the game camera there, or a vehicle, line, stop, factory or warehouse to open its in-game window.
• Image settings: brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma, automatic or by hand.
• Export the view as a PNG at ×1, ×2 or ×4, with your filters and an optional legend.
• Six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Simplified Chinese.

How it works

HQminiMap has two parts that talk to each other through files in the game's data folder. No server, no account.

 Transport Fever 3                        HQminiMap app
┌────────────────────────┐   files in    ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ HQminiMap mod           │  TF3 data     │ GridLab  scan path, images → ortho  │
│  • map export           │ ────────────► │                                     │
│  • scan lighting        │               │ Viewer   ortho + live data,         │
│  • live game data       │ ◄──────────── │          filters, export            │
│ Camera Tool (the game)  │ scan path,    │                                     │
│  • records the images   │ lighting,     │                                     │
└────────────────────────┘ camera moves  └─────────────────────────────────────┘

• The mod (in game) exports the map outline and relief, sets the scan lighting (no clouds, fixed time) and publishes your game data.
• The game's Camera Tool records the scan: the app writes the camera path into the game's keyframes folder, you load it and record it, and the images land in the game's recordings folder.
• The app (on your desktop) plans the scan, takes the recorded images, builds the orthophoto and shows everything in the viewer.

Installation

You need both the mod and the app.

1. The mod

Mod Hub (recommended): in the game's main menu, open the Mod Hub, search for HQminiMap and subscribe (or subscribe on mod.io). Then enable HQminiMap in the mod list of your save.

By hand: download hqminimap-mod-<version>.zip from the Releases page, unzip it, and copy the hqminimap folder into the mods folder of the game's data folder:

• Steam: <Steam>\userdata\<SteamID>\3493540\local\mods\ (on Windows, <Steam> is by default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam, and <SteamID> is the number of your Steam account);
• GOG and Epic Games Store: %APPDATA%\Transport Fever 3\mods\.

Then enable it in game.

2. The app

Download the file for your system from the Releases page:

System	File
Windows	HQminiMap_<version>_x64-setup.exe (or the .msi)
Windows, no install	HQminiMap_<version>_x64-portable.zip: unzip anywhere and run HQminiMap.exe
Linux	.AppImage (portable) or .deb
macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel)	.dmg

• Windows needs Microsoft WebView2, already present on Windows 11 and most Windows 10 PCs. The installers add it if it is missing. The portable zip includes MicrosoftEdgeWebview2Setup.exe: run it only if the app does not start.
• The installers are not signed yet, so the first launch asks for a confirmation:
  • Windows SmartScreen: More info → Run anyway;
  • macOS Gatekeeper: right-click the app → Open.
• On first launch the app finds the game's data folder by itself. If it does not, pick the game's data folder in Options (Steam: <Steam>/userdata/<SteamID>/3493540/local). The app also finds the mod, whether it comes from the Mod Hub or was installed by hand.

Updates

• The app checks for new versions at startup (Options). Installed versions (and the AppImage) update themselves with Install and restart. The portable zip and the .deb show a link to the new version.
• The mod is updated by the Mod Hub (or by replacing the hqminimap folder).
• After a mod update, reload your save: the game keeps the old mod code until then. The app shows a banner while the game runs an older mod than the app.

Getting started

Build your map

1. In game: click the HQminiMap button in the bottom bar, then Export map.
2. In the app, GridLab (opens on first launch) — choose a quality:
   • Low (4 m per pixel, very quick), Medium (2 m/px), High (1 m/px), Very high (0.7 m/px) or Ultra (0.5 m/px, the most detail). The app picks the Camera Tool output size (up to 3840 × 2160) and the number of images that reach this detail with the least to capture;
   • the summary shows the detail, the output size to set in the Camera Tool, the number of images, the size of the orthophoto and the total time;
   • Advanced settings let you choose the output size and the grid (number of captures) yourself, as well as the altitude, the field of view, the lighting and the interpolation.
3. Click Prepare the scan. The app writes the camera path hqminimap_scan into the game's keyframes folder, and the mod sets the scan lighting in your running game.
4. In game, in the Camera Tool (if you do not see it: game options → Enable Advanced Camera Tool):
   • Load hqminimap_scan;
   • set the output size shown by GridLab, 30 FPS, PNG or TGA;
   • Start Recording. The Camera Tool records 299 images at most per path: a very big scan is split into up to 3 paths (hqminimap_scan_1, _2, _3), to load and record one after the other.
5. The app takes the images from the game's recordings folder, gives the game its lighting back, builds the orthophoto by itself (with a thin band past the map edges, so you can see nothing is cut) and opens it in the Viewer. The Steps bar at the top shows where you are.

Explore it in the Viewer

• Zoom down to the pixel, rotate, Fullscreen (key F), Fit to see the whole map (key 0).
• Layers and filters (key L): turn layers on and off, show labels, filter by name, mode, traffic, stock or line, and save your filter setups.
• Relief: colours by altitude, contour lines, or both.
• Basemap: the orthophoto, or a plain background with blue water and the map outline.
• Image: brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma.
• Map: icon and text size, line opacity, vehicle loads.
• Click an object for its card. Double-click the map to move the game camera there.
• Export the view to save a PNG (×1, ×2 or ×4), with an optional legend.

Live data

The mod publishes your game data at the rates set in Options → Live data. The table shows the cost of each update and the share of the game's time it uses, so you can keep the game smooth on big maps.

Language

The app follows your system language on first launch; change it in Options → Language. The in-game window follows the game's language.

Known limitations

• A new line may show provisional parts (thin or dashed) until the game has computed its whole track.
• Town outlines are recomputed about every 2 minutes from the buildings.
• The installers are not signed yet (see Installation).

More to come

Ideas for the next versions, without promises: smartphone and tablet support, original game icons, a diagram generator, drawing on the map, and richer (cross-)filtering. Suggestions are welcome in the Issues.

Contributing and translating

• Bug reports and ideas: GitHub Issues.
• Building from source: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.
• Adding or improving a language: docs/TRANSLATING.md.

License

GPL-3.0 © 2026 Wilfried Lambert.

Transport Fever is a trademark of Urban Games. HQminiMap is an independent fan project, neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Urban Games.