Good morning/evening again everyone! I probably won't be joining this one either because of several busy days in the coming week, but will be with you for #4 again. That said, to quote the Mountain King... LETS GEDDIT ON!
Weekly Terraining Exercise #3
This week, the theme will be "These Dead Streets" (two cookies for the reference since I still have last week's). For a less abstract definition; I want a place, of any kind, where all hell has broken lose recently. The situation has now settled down, but what we're looking at is the aftermath. A zerg-infested town, a ghost city with remains of riots, a landscape destroyed by a violent storm, a Terran research complex with 'escaped' Zerg specimen... you name it. Quite curious to see what folks will come up with here.
On another note, PM me those suggestions! I can't come up with a good theme every week, so if there's anything you'd like to see, send it over and I'll consider putting it up.
I have already started on the basics for a map, so i guess i do like i did in my first attempt back in the #2 with that i mean i will post pictures as i do changes to it and during its progress for inspiration, critics and fun.
Here is a city under attack, or attacked were survivors struggle in the streets of the once peaceful city.
Threw this together in about an hour, any thoughts?
@Debe2233, I love what you've done, it has a really deserted feeling to it, have you tried putting some bloodsplats on the ground/on the side?
Thanks Zarakk, i did play around with some bodies and more visable signs of a battle, but in the end decided that slightly more empty look made it look a touch more sinister. I love the lighting in your shot the orange glow at the back really ofsets against the darky purple on the left, gives a great sense of depth. I really need to learn how to use lighting like that :)
@Reya One thing that came to mind is that you have the creep/webbed colonybuildings, have you tried to put a hidden creep tumour underneath them, and then limiting how wide it spreads with creepblockers? Could add a nice effect.
@Dracoknight, angles+lighting really improves a shot (comparing your green pics to your brown pics,) and I like the use of foreground objects, Somehow, I always enjoy pictures of this setting when they appear to look like the camera is looking from slightly behind something, Yes, it might be a tad bit green, but the green does give it a bit of a toxic-atmosphere which fit both the zerg, and makes the reapers mask fit in quite nicely
Well, the brown one is actually just a Editor shot with none changes to the lightning, or anything, just basic doodads.
however tried to make it a little darker, little less green, and made the survivors have a little more lights.
I really like what Debe and Zarakk have done. Debe's terrain is precisely what I had in mind for this, and I can very much see where he's coming from when he says that 'no blood 'n bodies makes it look more sinister'. Zarakks is... Awesome in the first place, but I can't decide whether it could be more perfect if the lightning was less over the top. When the detail is that small, I find I can never quite work it out. Regardless, awesome job.
@Reya; There's a bit too much hills, I reckon. Mostly, the thing that's dragging your terrain down, is that you can't seem to decide whether this is a road or a natural environment. What I mean by that is that you've done a little bit of both, which makes the result look more like a fine natural terrain with a completely out of place road through it. I reckon you should either lower the hills quite a lot, add a couple of houses and make the whole thing more citylike, or get rid of most of the streetlights and add rocks and plants, so it truely is a small road through a natural landscape.
@Draco; Your detail and camera angles are awesome, excellent even. Still, for some reason, it doesn't quite 'catch' me yet. I reckon you could make it better if it were a little less chaotic, with less stuff going on. Your terrain would be awesome for an action packed hero-defense map, but it's not quite the "post-storm lull" I was looking for. Not that that's bad though, I just reckon you don't grab the theme as good as the other landscapes.
Quote from Zarakk:
@Reya One thing that came to mind is that you have the creep/webbed colonybuildings, have you tried to put a hidden creep tumour underneath them, and then limiting how wide it spreads with creepblockers? Could add a nice effect.
----
I probably should think about adding in some general creep and i should probably go over the creeper trees also, it doesn't line up well on a few of them after you look closely.
Quote from Mozared:
@Reya; There's a bit too much hills, I reckon. Mostly, the thing that's dragging your terrain down, is that you can't seem to decide whether this is a road or a natural environment. What I mean by that is that you've done a little bit of both, which makes the result look more like a fine natural terrain with a completely out of place road through it. I reckon you should either lower the hills quite a lot, add a couple of houses and make the whole thing more citylike, or get rid of most of the streetlights and add rocks and plants, so it truely is a small road through a natural landscape.
----
After taking a long look at the overall design, i can see where your coming from. Original intent was a coastline city, which is why the street lights were there, but the buildings weren't behaving and so i just went crazy with the dead tree doodad which spawned the 'lonely road through the country' for me =P Ill probably rethink the scenario and make some updates.
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to write your opinions =)
@Dracoknight
Its amazing what a little lightning can do, the greenness is 'a-ok' in my opinion. I can see what Mozared is talking about when he references the theme however. Your camera angels are fantastic *thumbs*
@Zarakk
You have a good grasp on detail, however I'm the type of person who struggles to imagine whats going on outside the picture you've painted. I don't get a sense of "aftermath" in this picture, i just see zerg habitat =(
@debe
Probably the closest one to nailing it, pretty much everything has been said already. I will add that it reminds of Steven Kings "The Mist" =P
Have to admit i kinda lost sight of the shore there, as i progressed on the map i just wanted to find new ways of doing stuff on, and i kinda lost the theme and just went on with what i thought were awsome, however i dont know if i can make one based on the theme until #4 since i actually got a few offers on map making lately plus school starts.
Now that is pretty damn awesome. I opened up the second pic and nearly had chills running down my spine. It feels as if it's taken straight from the intro of a horror movie. My only comment is that the second pic (I don't really like any of the other pics, save for the first and last one) has a bit of a visible 'map ending' if you pay close attention to it. You could probably cover this up and add a few more bushes. Aside from that, job very well done.
Now that is pretty damn awesome. I opened up the second pic and nearly had chills running down my spine. It feels as if it's taken straight from the intro of a horror movie. My only comment is that the second pic (I don't really like any of the other pics, save for the first and last one) has a bit of a visible 'map ending' if you pay close attention to it. You could probably cover this up and add a few more bushes. Aside from that, job very well done.
A reason to why i post more than one screenshot at a time, you never get a true potensial out of a single picture in a 3D enviroment.
In fact i tried to get it to be as close at pitch black in the lightning as possible without reducing the sceenry.
but, thank you
Added:
I also made the map to go against my habit of putting in too many doodads, so my goal was to use as few doodads and use the lightning effect to make the most out of them
A reason to why i post more than one screenshot at a time, you never get a true potensial out of a single picture in a 3D enviroment.
Not really, it depends on how you approach a terrain.
You're creating the terrain first and once you're finished you look for good/fitting camera angles.
The other way would be to first imagine a picture of how the end product should look like and then make a terrain that looks as close as possible to your desired picture. That way you can terrain for a specific camera angle without "wasting potential", it tends to lead to a better end product actually.
@ Dracoknight
1: Very cool. I love all the fog and green/toxic clouds... reminds me of Half Life or something.
2: The world's scariest gas station in the world!
Haha, and the garage looks like a face. xD
Really though. I love that pic with just the cargo truck, and the dead marin. *shivers*
@ Debe2233
Awesome! Looks like a real town somewhere, or something from a FPS level. I like the weather effects. It would benefit from some creepy shadows, though, I think.
@ Zarakk
O.O
Damn... that's... just so cool. How on earth did you get the lighting to look so nice?
I dunno how well it fits the theme though, TBH.
@ Reya
I like it, especially #1. Very creepy forest-y. The fires look a bit random though... perhaps you could focus on a smaller area, or concentrate the flames a bit more?
@ Redfox777
It's kinda hard to see the water in your pics. That really takes away from the effect. I'd like more of a focused/zoomed in shot on a boat or something, so it's more recognizable.
Overall though, a very cool setting, and I love the concept!
-
Now here's my crappy attempt. :]
This is my first map outside of just messing around, so I had a hell of a time with it. Figuring out how to adjust the lighting... set up creep... overlap doodads... move the camera... view the weather effects... view the skybox... take screenshots.... I think it turned out alright though.
My concept was "the fall of Tarsonis." Inspired by Raynor's nightmare from the game.
I have to agree with what sabulum said, the water, for some reason, is losing its effect. I'm not certain but i think maybe its simply too reflective, perhaps it needs a blue-er hue or something, i don't know =(
@dracoknight
Second attempt is just as good as the first imho. Your camera shots again are awesome. Perhaps you should just be a photographer =P
@Sabulum:
Thanks for the feedback mate =)
I liking the layout of yours, most of everything (especially the creep) seems well thought out. I love the skybox (why didn't i think of that? =P) and the mist/fog effects, subtle yet present. I would like to point out that the skybox needs a bit more blending in though. Particularly in the first picture it looks like the structures just stop and then there's skybox =P Id think about extending the area a bit and adding in more doodads in the background to help give your shots more depth. Overall though i love it.
Edit: perhaps you could think about modifying the height of the terrain also to make it a little more engaging, perhaps a bit of height in the background might help mesh it in also =]
Good morning/evening again everyone! I probably won't be joining this one either because of several busy days in the coming week, but will be with you for #4 again. That said, to quote the Mountain King... LETS GEDDIT ON!
Weekly Terraining Exercise #3
This week, the theme will be "These Dead Streets" (two cookies for the reference since I still have last week's). For a less abstract definition; I want a place, of any kind, where all hell has broken lose recently. The situation has now settled down, but what we're looking at is the aftermath. A zerg-infested town, a ghost city with remains of riots, a landscape destroyed by a violent storm, a Terran research complex with 'escaped' Zerg specimen... you name it. Quite curious to see what folks will come up with here.
On another note, PM me those suggestions! I can't come up with a good theme every week, so if there's anything you'd like to see, send it over and I'll consider putting it up.
Last week's WTE can be found here:
http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/artist-tavern/6716-weekly-terraining-exercise-2-to-be-king-you-dont-need/
I have already started on the basics for a map, so i guess i do like i did in my first attempt back in the #2 with that i mean i will post pictures as i do changes to it and during its progress for inspiration, critics and fun. Here is a city under attack, or attacked were survivors struggle in the streets of the once peaceful city.
My attempt :)
Thanks Zarakk, i did play around with some bodies and more visable signs of a battle, but in the end decided that slightly more empty look made it look a touch more sinister. I love the lighting in your shot the orange glow at the back really ofsets against the darky purple on the left, gives a great sense of depth. I really need to learn how to use lighting like that :)
Thought id try my hand at one of these, would love to hear some criticism
And here is take no.2
Added different lightning ( somehow a little too green, but too lazy to change atm ) added fires, added more of everything
@Reya One thing that came to mind is that you have the creep/webbed colonybuildings, have you tried to put a hidden creep tumour underneath them, and then limiting how wide it spreads with creepblockers? Could add a nice effect.
@Dracoknight, angles+lighting really improves a shot (comparing your green pics to your brown pics,) and I like the use of foreground objects, Somehow, I always enjoy pictures of this setting when they appear to look like the camera is looking from slightly behind something, Yes, it might be a tad bit green, but the green does give it a bit of a toxic-atmosphere which fit both the zerg, and makes the reapers mask fit in quite nicely
Well, the brown one is actually just a Editor shot with none changes to the lightning, or anything, just basic doodads. however tried to make it a little darker, little less green, and made the survivors have a little more lights.
I really like what Debe and Zarakk have done. Debe's terrain is precisely what I had in mind for this, and I can very much see where he's coming from when he says that 'no blood 'n bodies makes it look more sinister'. Zarakks is... Awesome in the first place, but I can't decide whether it could be more perfect if the lightning was less over the top. When the detail is that small, I find I can never quite work it out. Regardless, awesome job.
@Reya; There's a bit too much hills, I reckon. Mostly, the thing that's dragging your terrain down, is that you can't seem to decide whether this is a road or a natural environment. What I mean by that is that you've done a little bit of both, which makes the result look more like a fine natural terrain with a completely out of place road through it. I reckon you should either lower the hills quite a lot, add a couple of houses and make the whole thing more citylike, or get rid of most of the streetlights and add rocks and plants, so it truely is a small road through a natural landscape.
@Draco; Your detail and camera angles are awesome, excellent even. Still, for some reason, it doesn't quite 'catch' me yet. I reckon you could make it better if it were a little less chaotic, with less stuff going on. Your terrain would be awesome for an action packed hero-defense map, but it's not quite the "post-storm lull" I was looking for. Not that that's bad though, I just reckon you don't grab the theme as good as the other landscapes.
My favorite is Debes, i'm already working on mine.
Can anyone point me to a tutorial on how i can make waterfalls, i will really apreciate it. thanks.
Quote from Zarakk:
@Reya One thing that came to mind is that you have the creep/webbed colonybuildings, have you tried to put a hidden creep tumour underneath them, and then limiting how wide it spreads with creepblockers? Could add a nice effect.
----
I probably should think about adding in some general creep and i should probably go over the creeper trees also, it doesn't line up well on a few of them after you look closely.
Quote from Mozared:
@Reya; There's a bit too much hills, I reckon. Mostly, the thing that's dragging your terrain down, is that you can't seem to decide whether this is a road or a natural environment. What I mean by that is that you've done a little bit of both, which makes the result look more like a fine natural terrain with a completely out of place road through it. I reckon you should either lower the hills quite a lot, add a couple of houses and make the whole thing more citylike, or get rid of most of the streetlights and add rocks and plants, so it truely is a small road through a natural landscape.
----
After taking a long look at the overall design, i can see where your coming from. Original intent was a coastline city, which is why the street lights were there, but the buildings weren't behaving and so i just went crazy with the dead tree doodad which spawned the 'lonely road through the country' for me =P Ill probably rethink the scenario and make some updates.
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to write your opinions =)
@Dracoknight
Its amazing what a little lightning can do, the greenness is 'a-ok' in my opinion. I can see what Mozared is talking about when he references the theme however. Your camera angels are fantastic *thumbs*
@Zarakk
You have a good grasp on detail, however I'm the type of person who struggles to imagine whats going on outside the picture you've painted. I don't get a sense of "aftermath" in this picture, i just see zerg habitat =(
@debe
Probably the closest one to nailing it, pretty much everything has been said already. I will add that it reminds of Steven Kings "The Mist" =P
Have to admit i kinda lost sight of the shore there, as i progressed on the map i just wanted to find new ways of doing stuff on, and i kinda lost the theme and just went on with what i thought were awsome, however i dont know if i can make one based on the theme until #4 since i actually got a few offers on map making lately plus school starts.
This particular topic doesn't really play to my strengths but I want to join the party so here we go.
I dedicate this one to any victim of any flood of any type...ever.
Midnight Rescue
I gave the theme another go..
Now that is pretty damn awesome. I opened up the second pic and nearly had chills running down my spine. It feels as if it's taken straight from the intro of a horror movie. My only comment is that the second pic (I don't really like any of the other pics, save for the first and last one) has a bit of a visible 'map ending' if you pay close attention to it. You could probably cover this up and add a few more bushes. Aside from that, job very well done.
A reason to why i post more than one screenshot at a time, you never get a true potensial out of a single picture in a 3D enviroment. In fact i tried to get it to be as close at pitch black in the lightning as possible without reducing the sceenry.
but, thank you
Added:
I also made the map to go against my habit of putting in too many doodads, so my goal was to use as few doodads and use the lightning effect to make the most out of them
Not really, it depends on how you approach a terrain. You're creating the terrain first and once you're finished you look for good/fitting camera angles. The other way would be to first imagine a picture of how the end product should look like and then make a terrain that looks as close as possible to your desired picture. That way you can terrain for a specific camera angle without "wasting potential", it tends to lead to a better end product actually.
@ Dracoknight
1: Very cool. I love all the fog and green/toxic clouds... reminds me of Half Life or something.
2: The world's scariest gas station in the world!
Haha, and the garage looks like a face. xD
Really though. I love that pic with just the cargo truck, and the dead marin. *shivers*
@ Debe2233
Awesome! Looks like a real town somewhere, or something from a FPS level. I like the weather effects. It would benefit from some creepy shadows, though, I think.
@ Zarakk
O.O
Damn... that's... just so cool. How on earth did you get the lighting to look so nice?
I dunno how well it fits the theme though, TBH.
@ Reya
I like it, especially #1. Very creepy forest-y. The fires look a bit random though... perhaps you could focus on a smaller area, or concentrate the flames a bit more?
@ Redfox777
It's kinda hard to see the water in your pics. That really takes away from the effect. I'd like more of a focused/zoomed in shot on a boat or something, so it's more recognizable.
Overall though, a very cool setting, and I love the concept!
-Now here's my crappy attempt. :]
This is my first map outside of just messing around, so I had a hell of a time with it. Figuring out how to adjust the lighting... set up creep... overlap doodads... move the camera... view the weather effects... view the skybox... take screenshots.... I think it turned out alright though.
My concept was "the fall of Tarsonis." Inspired by Raynor's nightmare from the game.
@redfox
I have to agree with what sabulum said, the water, for some reason, is losing its effect. I'm not certain but i think maybe its simply too reflective, perhaps it needs a blue-er hue or something, i don't know =(
@dracoknight
Second attempt is just as good as the first imho. Your camera shots again are awesome. Perhaps you should just be a photographer =P
@Sabulum:
Thanks for the feedback mate =)
I liking the layout of yours, most of everything (especially the creep) seems well thought out. I love the skybox (why didn't i think of that? =P) and the mist/fog effects, subtle yet present. I would like to point out that the skybox needs a bit more blending in though. Particularly in the first picture it looks like the structures just stop and then there's skybox =P Id think about extending the area a bit and adding in more doodads in the background to help give your shots more depth. Overall though i love it.
Edit: perhaps you could think about modifying the height of the terrain also to make it a little more engaging, perhaps a bit of height in the background might help mesh it in also =]
<3