SC2Mapster Forums

TwoDie Author

Battle.net

TwoDie

#792 EU

Join date: Apr 30, 2010

Location: Lithuania

Reputation: 7

Posts: 296
Projects: 8

Teams

Last login: May 19, 2013

#1 Jan 31, 2013 at 21:24 UTC - 0 likes

Need your opinion people about map landscape, texture colors palette. Want to create survival map where Terrans want colonize the planet and defend from Zergs. Got idea to create craters where you can build up with natural defences at some point and having problem with showing of where is the holes, passages. Any suggestions how to improve it?

DrSuperEvil Moderator

Join date: Dec 19, 2010

Location: United Kingdom

Reputation: 146

Posts: 7,223

Last login: May 19, 2013

#2 Jan 31, 2013 at 22:09 UTC - 0 likes

You lack any doodads like small rocks etc. look at the cliff edges in the campaign, there blizzard uses doodads or raises the terrain height at the edges to give them a less round look. Otherwise nice mix of textures.

From a tactical point of view I would need to see the whole map.

Contribute to the wiki (Wiki button at top of page)

Considered easy altering of the unit textures?

http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/tutorials/20772-data-actor-events-message-texture-select-by-id/#p1

http://static.sc2mapster.com/content/attachments/15/252/Screenshot2011-04-17_09_16_21.jpg

For my public assets look here!

http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/data-assets/46733-the-assets-of-evil/#1

ezbeats Regular Shmoe

Join date: May 09, 2010

Location: United States

Reputation: 0

Posts: 374

Team

Dapper Mappers

Last login: Feb 12, 2013

#3 Feb 01, 2013 at 03:16 UTC - 0 likes

My only input based off what you've got thus far would be to maybe try to change the cliff type look for where its stone / stone (grey areas) vs the brown / dirt areas.

Ex) first pic, bot left has a 'stone' area, maybe use some stone / grey doodads to try to hide / fake the cliff type to make it look like its more seamless with the texture around it. I always enjoy a survival map and hope you finish it!

If life's a bitch, better make everyday your wife!!

TwoDie Author

Battle.net

TwoDie

#792 EU

Join date: Apr 30, 2010

Location: Lithuania

Reputation: 7

Posts: 296
Projects: 8

Teams

Last login: May 19, 2013

#4 Feb 01, 2013 at 21:42 UTC - 0 likes

Well about doodads i cant really rely on rocks cause using custom terrain Type that is not linked up to any of originals so will have some work to be done to make it work and look nice meanwhile done some new lighting and some new screens, landscape. Still dont sure is it good for replayability and at the same time is cool to play on (done only small portion of the map).

Newbie4life Regular Shmoe

Join date: Jan 26, 2013

Location: Canada

Reputation: 2

Posts: 16

Last login: Mar 13, 2013

#5 Feb 01, 2013 at 22:23 UTC - 0 likes

Seems like you're not completely finished but as super said, it can use some fluff to make it look natural, although I am terrible at nature scenes, maybe someone else can help you with that?

Personally though, if I were wanting to start a colony, intent on defending against the zerg, I'd not want to start on lower grounds but higher grounds. Possibly atleast medium height with all military installation protecting the choke points, with the civilian infrastructure on the valley/crater/lower area. To use an extreme example, if the terran where to start a base on the first pic of your second post, they would have to build their defense on the top of the ramp but the wide area around the ramp will allow it to be surrounded/flanked easily. Not only that but the buildings below the defense will be in easy shooting range from ranged attackers, which makes the defenders useless.

If you want to take it up a notch, try making the colony near natural resources such as water and vegetation, having readily accessible food or water makes colonization much more easy.

Mozared Moderator

Battle.net

Mozared

#266 EU

Join date: Jun 06, 2010

Location: Netherlands

Reputation: 199

Posts: 3,948
Projects: 13

Last login: May 19, 2013

#6 Feb 01, 2013 at 23:20 UTC - 0 likes

Quote from TwoDie: Go
Well about doodads i cant really rely on rocks cause using custom terrain Type that is not linked up to any of originals so will have some work to be done to make it work and look nice meanwhile done some new lighting and some new screens, landscape. Still dont sure is it good for replayability and at the same time is cool to play on (done only small portion of the map).

I'm not sure if I'm getting your point, but are you saying that because you use custom textures your rocks look out of place? If so, then I'd very much suggest taking the effort of getting in some custom rock textures too. If you're already going the distance in getting custom regular textures, this shouldn't be such a leap and it will greatly improve what you can do with dirt/rock-themed terrain.

Quote from Newbie4life: Go
Personally though, if I were wanting to start a colony, intent on defending against the zerg, I'd not want to start on lower grounds but higher grounds. Possibly atleast medium height with all military installation protecting the choke points, with the civilian infrastructure on the valley/crater/lower area. To use an extreme example, if the terran where to start a base on the first pic of your second post, they would have to build their defense on the top of the ramp but the wide area around the ramp will allow it to be surrounded/flanked easily. Not only that but the buildings below the defense will be in easy shooting range from ranged attackers, which makes the defenders useless.

This is what I was thinking, but I didn't want to comment on it because lower ground defensive positions are not impossible or all that uncommon in military situations afaik and I figured the OP might have his reasons for preferring this set-up.

Newbie4life Regular Shmoe

Join date: Jan 26, 2013

Location: Canada

Reputation: 2

Posts: 16

Last login: Mar 13, 2013

#7 Feb 01, 2013 at 23:33 UTC - 0 likes

True, maybe make the terrain all heightened, lowered, texture making a pseudo cliff so those on the high ground doesn't gain vision advantage? Or maybe just fix it with a trigger? Understandable the lowered defensive encirclement is plausible but I figured spreading out your resources on a perimeter when zergs usually swarm and tend to be in bigger numbers is disadvantageous. Granted though, the zerg could be newly arrived or discovered before the terran fully finished colonizing etc so thats all up to the op.

TwoDie Author

Battle.net

TwoDie

#792 EU

Join date: Apr 30, 2010

Location: Lithuania

Reputation: 7

Posts: 296
Projects: 8

Teams

Last login: May 19, 2013

#8 Feb 02, 2013 at 08:23 UTC - 0 likes

@Newbie4life: Go

Well zerg is modiffied, they will have melee ranged units at the most of the game, maybe some ranged at late. So the craters defending part isnt really a huge disadvantage for defenders. It most just will block vision whats happening around, or they coming or they dont, you just wont know.

@Mozared: Go

Used custom Terrain Type, Set for whole map so it isnt linked up with textures like of rocks, cause textures is switched by the Name of Texture Set is used in map and my Custom texture set doesnt have it so it uses default stuff of model with what texture set to it.

So if adding at elast half of doodads in such quantity as in image below it really wont make gameplayable, of some lag i guess taht makes these doodads?

EDIT: Again remaking everything from scratch..

Last edited Feb 02, 2013 by TwoDie

Mozared Moderator

Battle.net

Mozared

#266 EU

Join date: Jun 06, 2010

Location: Netherlands

Reputation: 199

Posts: 3,948
Projects: 13

Last login: May 19, 2013

#9 Feb 02, 2013 at 11:33 UTC - 0 likes

@TwoDie: Go

I literally have no idea what you're talking about. How do you equate rocks with a different texture to your map being laggy? And even if using over 9000 custom textures, I doubt there's not one rock texture that doesn't fit in with one of them?

TwoDie Author

Battle.net

TwoDie

#792 EU

Join date: Apr 30, 2010

Location: Lithuania

Reputation: 7

Posts: 296
Projects: 8

Teams

Last login: May 19, 2013

#10 Feb 02, 2013 at 12:10 UTC - 0 likes

@Mozared: Go

Heh, seems like serious misscommunications we have here.

Not textures to Rocks, But ingeneral Doodads rocks!!!! If adding such detail like in picture on the map there will like 5k doodads!!!!

Rocks textures for example now uses agria rock texture, because i DONT USE Original Terrain Types Like Marsara, Char or any other that have their unique ID that is used to switch depending on their Unique ID texture to use!!!! Still no hope? Fuck it then!

Last edited Feb 02, 2013 by TwoDie

Mozared Moderator

Battle.net

Mozared

#266 EU

Join date: Jun 06, 2010

Location: Netherlands

Reputation: 199

Posts: 3,948
Projects: 13

Last login: May 19, 2013

#11 Feb 02, 2013 at 16:20 UTC - 0 likes

@TwoDie: Go

For starters, you're not gonna get near 5000 doodads with an average sized map. If you do, you're talking about a maximum size map which will never be fully visible and probably filled with players - at that point 5000 doodads is fine as long as they're equally spread out over the map.

Second, you're saying your problem is that you DON'T use ANY of the regular tilesets, meaning the way the rocks look doesn't fit, right? If so, I'll have to refer back to my previous post: if you have the resources to make a completely custom tileset, you should also be able to make a custom doodad rock texture, and I'd suggest you'd take that effort.

TwoDie Author

Battle.net

TwoDie

#792 EU

Join date: Apr 30, 2010

Location: Lithuania

Reputation: 7

Posts: 296
Projects: 8

Teams

Last login: May 19, 2013

#12 Feb 02, 2013 at 17:10 UTC - 0 likes

@Mozared: Go

Well tileset is not totally custom, its more custom collected, and some Ground Textures are tweaked in 3rd party tools. And making new textures for the rocks isnt really what i would want to do, but still will leave as option.

0001
0002

Bilxor Regular Shmoe

Join date: Dec 31, 2011

Location: United States

Reputation: 8

Posts: 389

Last login: May 11, 2013

#13 Feb 09, 2013 at 13:39 UTC - 0 likes

@TwoDie: Go

Where'd you get that tileset? Zomberium? make it yourself? I'll help you retexture the rocks if you share it lol

SC2Mapster.com

Development > Terrain

Terrain, need opinion.