I don't really have any rules beyond "does it look decent?", but here's a sample of my process (Sample map made specifically for this post, took about 15 minutes).
Basically, I use a lot of Unifom + Smooth on my height brush to quickly sculpt the landscape (and only use Blizzard cliffs for very specific features like chasms), then texture it appropriately, block off the pathing on my cliffs and add doodads/foliage where needed.
The cliffs under the bridge are still there, blocking anything that tries to walk across.
You'll probably need to either make the section of cliff under the bridge ends into ramps, or raise the level below the bridge so there is no cliff transition. Then hide the raised terrain so you can't see the cliff wall running the length of the bridge.
Looks like water. You can see the refraction and specular highlights.
And a bit more on topic: I like where the terrain's going, but I have to offer the same advice I give to everybody: Use some texture variation to blend the ground into your rocks and cliffs a bit. It makes them look like they belong, rather than just sitting there.
The longer answer - with data editing and custom cliff models it may be possible to make cliffs a bit smaller than default. But even then the size difference would be slight at best, you couldn't get the cliffs down to 0.5 or smaller due to the way they work (Cliffs are limited to a single terrain mesh grid-width in minimum size due to the way they interact with the terrain).
How do you turn off waves in the "Edit Water" menu? I'm not sure if they are actually waves, just the things that are emitted from cliffs/edges.
You have to use the Data Editor to turn off the waves.
Under the Water section, there are two entries called "Beach Shoreline" and "Cliff Shoreline", for where the water touches cliffs and soft beaches, respectively. Set those to "None" and the waves disappear.
Another update: things happening in my life right now may prevent me from being online for a while.
Maybe a short while, maybe a long while - but I won't be able to upload my current progress this week. It may be a few weeks or more before I show up again, so until then: Happy terraining!
So I went to just prep the map, everything went well except Tyrador Grass does not want to show up AT ALL. I have replaced all 8 textures, and Tyrador Grass, like I said... paints nothing on my terrain. I even redid the map from scratch and still, same thing... any ideas?
My failproof (so far) solution is to create a new Terrain Texture Set from scratch, add the 8 textures you want, then use Map -> Textures to swap the entire tileset to your new one.
As for my own terrain for this week... I've had all kinds of things happening and very little time to work on it. At this rate I highly doubt I'll have it finished before the next WTE starts, so I'll probably just post what I have done sometime tomorrow.
I tend to like "natural extremes" type terrains. Deserts, icy wastelands, jungles. That kind of thing.
For open space vs clutter - it really depends on the specific map/terrain. Sometimes lots of doodads crammed into every corner are good, sometimes leaving areas wide open helps to set the mood better.
I still have a LONG way to go on this one (not even half way done with initial doodad placement), but I figure I'll throw up a quick sample from the corner of the map.
This shot only has 5 of my 8 textures, but the rest are there in other parts of the map.
2 types of cracked dirt, 2 colors of lava cracks, 1 rock, 2 terran metal textures. And Bel'Shir bricks just to throw me off and make my life miserable. ;)
Also, this week I remembered to take screenshots periodically throughout development, so when I'm done I'll also post a progression slideshow so people can see how it was made from beginning to end.
Looks like a good start. My main suggestion so far would be to add a lot of plants - more dense near the trees than in the open grassy areas, but don't leave those completely empty either.
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I don't really have any rules beyond "does it look decent?", but here's a sample of my process (Sample map made specifically for this post, took about 15 minutes).
Basically, I use a lot of Unifom + Smooth on my height brush to quickly sculpt the landscape (and only use Blizzard cliffs for very specific features like chasms), then texture it appropriately, block off the pathing on my cliffs and add doodads/foliage where needed.
0
The cliffs under the bridge are still there, blocking anything that tries to walk across.
You'll probably need to either make the section of cliff under the bridge ends into ramps, or raise the level below the bridge so there is no cliff transition. Then hide the raised terrain so you can't see the cliff wall running the length of the bridge.
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@hawkerhurricane: Go
That screenshot doesn't really show enough to make a call. Need a wider view to see how it affects the overall image.
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Looks like water. You can see the refraction and specular highlights.
And a bit more on topic: I like where the terrain's going, but I have to offer the same advice I give to everybody: Use some texture variation to blend the ground into your rocks and cliffs a bit. It makes them look like they belong, rather than just sitting there.
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The short answer? No.
The longer answer - with data editing and custom cliff models it may be possible to make cliffs a bit smaller than default. But even then the size difference would be slight at best, you couldn't get the cliffs down to 0.5 or smaller due to the way they work (Cliffs are limited to a single terrain mesh grid-width in minimum size due to the way they interact with the terrain).
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You have to use the Data Editor to turn off the waves.
Under the Water section, there are two entries called "Beach Shoreline" and "Cliff Shoreline", for where the water touches cliffs and soft beaches, respectively. Set those to "None" and the waves disappear.
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I finally got my hands on my computer again (at least long enough to throw out one quick WTE).
When I started I wasn't sure if I could make it work, but by the end I'm at least content with how it turned out.
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I'm online again, briefly at least, so I figure now's as good a time as any to finally get my screenshots up.
The map hasn't changed any since 2 weeks ago when it was current, and given my limited computer access lately, it will probably never be completed.
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Another update: things happening in my life right now may prevent me from being online for a while.
Maybe a short while, maybe a long while - but I won't be able to upload my current progress this week. It may be a few weeks or more before I show up again, so until then: Happy terraining!
0
My failproof (so far) solution is to create a new Terrain Texture Set from scratch, add the 8 textures you want, then use Map -> Textures to swap the entire tileset to your new one.
As for my own terrain for this week... I've had all kinds of things happening and very little time to work on it. At this rate I highly doubt I'll have it finished before the next WTE starts, so I'll probably just post what I have done sometime tomorrow.
0
I tend to like "natural extremes" type terrains. Deserts, icy wastelands, jungles. That kind of thing.
For open space vs clutter - it really depends on the specific map/terrain. Sometimes lots of doodads crammed into every corner are good, sometimes leaving areas wide open helps to set the mood better.
0
I still have a LONG way to go on this one (not even half way done with initial doodad placement), but I figure I'll throw up a quick sample from the corner of the map.
This shot only has 5 of my 8 textures, but the rest are there in other parts of the map.
2 types of cracked dirt, 2 colors of lava cracks, 1 rock, 2 terran metal textures. And Bel'Shir bricks just to throw me off and make my life miserable. ;)
Also, this week I remembered to take screenshots periodically throughout development, so when I'm done I'll also post a progression slideshow so people can see how it was made from beginning to end.
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I used a random number generator to get my numbers.
This ...should be interesting.
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Looks like a good start. My main suggestion so far would be to add a lot of plants - more dense near the trees than in the open grassy areas, but don't leave those completely empty either.
Maybe some vines hanging off the wall.
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@Tolkfan: Go
Even more technically, it's the Teldrassil tileset, not just Darnassus. ;) (or Kalidar if you go by the names in the data files)
But since Teldrassil, Darnassus and Ashenvale all use the same texture set, I went with the name of the largest, most prominent one of the three.
Because honestly, who ever goes to Teldrassil/Darnassus?