diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Map/Map.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Map/Map.cs
index 3767d51456..719e8eec89 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Map/Map.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Map/Map.cs
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		[FieldLoader.Ignore] public List<MiniYamlNode> PlayerDefinitions = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
 
 		[FieldLoader.Ignore] public List<MiniYamlNode> ActorDefinitions = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
-		[FieldLoader.Ignore] public List<MiniYamlNode> SmudgeDefinitions = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
 
 		// Binary map data
 		[FieldLoader.Ignore] public byte TileFormat = 2;
@@ -268,7 +267,6 @@ namespace OpenRA
 			PlayerDefinitions = MiniYaml.NodesOrEmpty(yaml, "Players");
 
 			ActorDefinitions = MiniYaml.NodesOrEmpty(yaml, "Actors");
-			SmudgeDefinitions = MiniYaml.NodesOrEmpty(yaml, "Smudges");
 
 			MapTiles = Exts.Lazy(LoadMapTiles);
 			MapResources = Exts.Lazy(LoadResourceTiles);
@@ -445,7 +443,6 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("Players", null, PlayerDefinitions));
 			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("Actors", null, ActorDefinitions));
-			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("Smudges", null, SmudgeDefinitions));
 			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("Rules", null, RuleDefinitions));
 			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("Sequences", null, SequenceDefinitions));
 			root.Add(new MiniYamlNode("VoxelSequences", null, VoxelSequenceDefinitions));
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/SmudgeLayer.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/SmudgeLayer.cs
index 6239d63d5a..ff5013f7b0 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/SmudgeLayer.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/SmudgeLayer.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ using OpenRA.Traits;
 
 namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 {
+	public struct MapSmudge
+	{
+		public string Type;
+		public int Depth;
+	}
+
 	[Desc("Attach this to the world actor.", "Order of the layers defines the Z sorting.")]
 	public class SmudgeLayerInfo : ITraitInfo
 	{
@@ -36,6 +42,33 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 
 		[PaletteReference] public readonly string Palette = TileSet.TerrainPaletteInternalName;
 
+		[FieldLoader.LoadUsing("LoadInitialSmudges")]
+		public readonly Dictionary<CPos, MapSmudge> InitialSmudges;
+
+		public static object LoadInitialSmudges(MiniYaml yaml)
+		{
+			MiniYaml smudgeYaml;
+			var nd = yaml.ToDictionary();
+			var smudges = new Dictionary<CPos, MapSmudge>();
+			if (nd.TryGetValue("InitialSmudges", out smudgeYaml))
+			{
+				foreach (var node in smudgeYaml.Nodes)
+				{
+					try
+					{
+						var cell = FieldLoader.GetValue<CPos>("key", node.Key);
+						var parts = node.Value.Value.Split(',');
+						var type = parts[0];
+						var depth = FieldLoader.GetValue<int>("depth", parts[1]);
+						smudges.Add(cell, new MapSmudge { Type = type, Depth = depth });
+					}
+					catch { }
+				}
+			}
+
+			return smudges;
+		}
+
 		public object Create(ActorInitializer init) { return new SmudgeLayer(init.Self, this); }
 	}
 
@@ -85,28 +118,21 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 			render = new TerrainSpriteLayer(w, wr, sheet, blendMode, wr.Palette(Info.Palette), wr.World.Type != WorldType.Editor);
 
 			// Add map smudges
-			foreach (var s in w.Map.SmudgeDefinitions)
+			foreach (var kv in Info.InitialSmudges)
 			{
-				var name = s.Key;
-				var vals = name.Split(' ');
-				var type = vals[0];
-
-				if (!smudges.ContainsKey(type))
+				var s = kv.Value;
+				if (!smudges.ContainsKey(s.Type))
 					continue;
 
-				var loc = vals[1].Split(',');
-				var cell = new CPos(Exts.ParseIntegerInvariant(loc[0]), Exts.ParseIntegerInvariant(loc[1]));
-				var depth = Exts.ParseIntegerInvariant(vals[2]);
-
 				var smudge = new Smudge
 				{
-					Type = type,
-					Depth = depth,
-					Sprite = smudges[type][depth]
+					Type = s.Type,
+					Depth = s.Depth,
+					Sprite = smudges[s.Type][s.Depth]
 				};
 
-				tiles.Add(cell, smudge);
-				render.Update(cell, smudge.Sprite);
+				tiles.Add(kv.Key, smudge);
+				render.Update(kv.Key, smudge.Sprite);
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ImportLegacyMapCommand.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ImportLegacyMapCommand.cs
index b64cfe17c9..1c0b73a4cb 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ImportLegacyMapCommand.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ImportLegacyMapCommand.cs
@@ -273,14 +273,40 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UtilityCommands
 
 		static void LoadSmudges(IniFile file, string section, int mapSize, Map map)
 		{
+			var scorches = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
+			var craters = new List<MiniYamlNode>();
 			foreach (var s in file.GetSection(section, true))
 			{
 				// loc=type,loc,depth
 				var parts = s.Value.Split(',');
 				var loc = Exts.ParseIntegerInvariant(parts[1]);
-				var key = "{0} {1},{2} {3}".F(parts[0].ToLowerInvariant(), loc % mapSize, loc / mapSize, Exts.ParseIntegerInvariant(parts[2]));
-				map.SmudgeDefinitions.Add(new MiniYamlNode(key, ""));
+				var type = parts[0].ToLowerInvariant();
+				var key = "{0},{1}".F(loc % mapSize, loc / mapSize);
+				var value = "{0},{1}".F(type, parts[2]);
+				var node = new MiniYamlNode(key, value);
+				if (type.StartsWith("sc"))
+					scorches.Add(node);
+				else if (type.StartsWith("cr"))
+					craters.Add(node);
 			}
+
+			var worldNode = new MiniYamlNode("World", new MiniYaml("", new List<MiniYamlNode>()));
+			if (scorches.Any())
+			{
+				var initialScorches = new MiniYamlNode("InitialSmudges", new MiniYaml("", scorches));
+				var smudgeLayer = new MiniYamlNode("SmudgeLayer@SCORCH", new MiniYaml("", new List<MiniYamlNode>() { initialScorches }));
+				worldNode.Value.Nodes.Add(smudgeLayer);
+			}
+
+			if (craters.Any())
+			{
+				var initialCraters = new MiniYamlNode("InitialSmudges", new MiniYaml("", craters));
+				var smudgeLayer = new MiniYamlNode("SmudgeLayer@CRATER", new MiniYaml("", new List<MiniYamlNode>() { initialCraters }));
+				worldNode.Value.Nodes.Add(smudgeLayer);
+			}
+
+			if (worldNode.Value.Nodes.Any())
+				map.RuleDefinitions.Add(worldNode);
 		}
 
 		// TODO: fix this -- will have bitrotted pretty badly.