Terraining Contest #9 - Cataclysm

[Belgarath]

pretty cool although i hate the square shit in the water and how the rocks go into the water on the left

 

[Dr. House]

WoW i join late anyway here is a wip of Durotar before Catalysm

 

[Pharaoh_]

CoBrA b, I agree with Belgarath and I would also add the fact that the horizon is way too plain. You need to raise the ground a bit and make some greater variation in the general terrain.

i_brg_doom, you should distinguish a playable terrain from a terrain piece to show off. The second one contains careful arrangement of the elements. So, simulating a scene from a World of Warcraft type terrain may not be your best choice.

 

[krisserz]

@i_brg_doom
I generally like the idea coz most of people for this contest create forest or human cities terrains. And you`ve decided to make horde terrain.
It needs just more work and I don`t think if the camera is set to right position.

 

[Dr. House]

hmm so what would be the good position? (if never been good with camera positions )

 

[De.Facto]

.. so any High-Res-Packs from hive and wc3c are allowed as well? (;

 

[Oziris]

.. so any High-Res-Packs from hive and wc3c are allowed as well? (;

Exactly.

WIP. I changed the atmosphere even more. Added some minor stuff. I think it looks better now. Does it?

 

[Pharaoh_]

Oziris, I think it looks really good now. Still though, you have stuffed up the area in front of the camera with ferns, yet the rest of the terrain is a bit more empty. I know the camera is more on the inside of a forest, but this clear descrimination of empty vs. brimed area looks unnatural.

 

[Dr. House]

I think this is going to be my terrain for the contest

'Durotar before the Catalysm the home place for Trolls and Orcs now its nothing else but a pit of fire where only the most evil creatures of Azeroth could live'

 

[Craka_J]

M0rbid

Final Submission

So now here is my final entry. First I though of skipping taking part in the contest, because it looked like I wouldn't have enough time to improve my entry enough so that it would be worth to participate, but then I decided to give it a try and rush the thing a little. So at some point this entry is not really finished, but I won't have time to deal with it in the next week, so here we go:
I decided to upload the two attached pictures as my final submissions, hope you like them!


"Long, long time these beautiful woods were a peaceful place to live for many forest creatures, only protect by the magic of the nature itself and the human priests of earth, that builded up temples full of magic at the roots of the mystic ancient trees. All was peaceful, but in times of whole world's destruction, a mighty Firelord decided to make the forest into his home. And he brought destruction himself, and the once peaceful forest is now replaced by a new, a different landscape, that only seems peaceful to its creator himself!"


Extra Credits go to CloudWolf for the realistic Firelord skin and HappyTauren for the awesome fire model!
And credits to all the model makers in the UTM!

Good terrain entry. The fog, sky, lighting, and terrain looks good in both of them, but since I am not too experienced with fiery hellish terrains, I'll just say it's good and focus on critiquing the 'Before Cataclysm' terrain, since I like terraining forest type areas.

1. Lighting - Though the fog kind of makes this a bit difficult, some custom lights might help it stand out a bit better, otherwise the brightness of the other terrain next to it (the after cataclysm one) takes your eye quicker. To be honest, forested terrains are much easier to add nice details and is generally more appealing because it's more probable and realistic than terrains affected by carnage because those terrains are less likely to ever happen in reality. Anyway, about lighting, I prefer to see sun flares and stuff like that, but since this is a dark atmosphere, that won't be necessary. Maybe just add light objects that throw shadows on objects and light up the image a bit so it looks more alive?


2. Trees - They're good because they look like a creative start. I like the big bushy idea on the top of the World Tree models. Though, the bushes look too low. And since the World Tree is a pretty short model for this scene, I'd recommend making the leafy areas of the trees look more realistic and nicer overall by placing more of those big bushes and have them take up more sky space.


3. Vegetation - Looks good. But I am using a 800x600 resolution on a netbook so I could be just mistaken by the tiny view I have of the terrain, so I'll just remind you what to do on the ground of forests to avoid further bad results:

• Shrubs are your friends. I prefer either the original WarCraft III shrub model or the animated version of it.
• Rocks come in handy too. Set their pathing to None and you will see that you can place them with easy around trees by roads, creeks, rivers, streams, lakes, everywhere! Just don't get too excited and place them literally everywhere. A forest should not look like the equivalent to a mountainside.
• Hills are very important. Flat terrains are always terrible, unless it's a playable map that may have a third person camera or the terrain's height affects the gameplay. Visually speaking though in screenshots, hills help bring that terrain out a bit more. Makes things interesting. Sometimes you can even use hills to hide places you were too lazy or didn't have time to throw extra terrain details into. It's probably best to use the last three "Raise" hill tools because hills that pop up with a big radius looks more realistic and smooth than smaller ones, IMO.
• Don't forget to smooth your hills! If you are too lazy to use Smooth a lot, then don't even make hills at all... pointy hills look like shit and smooth makes the life of terrainers way easier. Use it!!!
• For a final camera tip, when your terrain is done and ready to be submitted, place a camera in a position you find to be fitting to show off the best of your abilities and beauty of your terrain, then right-click on "Camera 001" and edit values. The FoV value can be very handy, and sometimes Roll too, when it comes to making the screenshot look more professional. I like to set the FoV value to 120, the maximum. The default is 70. You may have to work on the setup of your camera after this is done and once you choose to view that camera's view because it'll either be further out or deeper inward.

i_brg_doom

I think this is going to be my terrain for the contest

'Durotar before the Catalysm the home place for Trolls and Orcs now its nothing else but a pit of fire where only the most evil creatures of Azeroth could live'

To answer briefly and quickly, the before terrain is much better than the after terrain because there's more too it and isn't as simplistically made. Though despite how it's much better than after, there's still plenty of things you can do with it to improve the terrain overall.

BEFORE CATACLYSM FEEDBACK:
1. Sky & Fog - The choice of sky and fog color was well decided. However, the fog could have been intensified by maybe setting the values to 2000 and 4500 or something like that. Basically, bring the fog in closer and don't leave it just sitting in the background.


2. Flat... ish - The terrain wasn't necessarily flat, but it looks that way because the hills are very low in front of Orgrimmar and the tall rocky spires in the background forming mountains seems to make the height look uneven. I guess making some higher hills (my suggestion would be to make the hills more on the right side of the terrain) somewhere in front of Orgrimmar instead of focusing all the height in the background.


3. Scale - The scale of this terrain isn't done well-enough in my opinion. It's fine for an RTS maybe, but for a terrain to be represented for pure looks and not much gameplay, it's just too small everywhere. The rocks, gate, walls, house, and just about everything is just not large enough. However, you are pretty close and I can see you tried to avoid this critique by enlarging the trees and the houses. The thing is, units shouldn't be able to just barely fit through a door. Unless you're an adult trying to fit into a midget's house. Especially city gates! That should be the largest. Maybe increase the size of your background mountains, and while you're at it, position the camera further back and extend the foreground terrain (terrain upfront in the shot) since it feels like not enough is being revealed.


4. Tile Variation & Blending - A pretty good job. Though it doesn't look like Durotar from World of Warcraft due to the major differences between the look of the tiles and color scheme.


5. Environment - I doubt you're trying to recreate Durotar/Orgrimmar so throwing in some more dry-looking grasses, bushes, trees, and maybe even ferns will help throw more eye-candy and life into the scene. Though, your vegetation seems good enough. Next would be to place some more rocks and boulders around the land. Don't flood the terrain with rocks and bush though: plan your placement of each doodad!
____________________________________
AFTER CATACLYSM FEEDBACK:
1. Tile Variation & Blending - Very poorly done. I spotted only three tiles used and they are hardly 'blended' together naturally. It just looks like you used a site 2 or greater tile placement brush and went a little crazy in a couple areas with it. Use more tiles, and not just the three we see in this image.


2. Sky & Fog - No change whatsoever aside from getting a bit darker from time of day. You should have chosen a more sinister sky such as Lordaeron Red (or whatever it's called) and altered the fog to a different fog that blends with the fire, lava, and desert of the terrain all at the same time.


Overall the after cataclysm terrain is very poorly done, while the before terrain is better, but it's a decent terrain in general, so improvement is advised and crucial for your entry to make the top three. I am not making an opinionated review, I am merely informing you what needs improvement. Unfortunately, almost everything needs more work and effort in the After Cataclysm terrain.

-Kobas-

Time has come for me to add my Final Submission, so here it is!

"Hold me tight and don't let go,
In your ear I'll whisper a song.
When embers die,when morning comes,
I fear this city will be gone.

An avalanche of scarlet death,
Consuming everything we knew.
For you I'd go to hell and back.
There's nothing that I wouldn't do."

Credits

Arathi Rock -> takakenji
Green Trees -> Nasrudin
Eerie Fog -> sc_freak
Plants -> xXm0rpH3usXx
Waterfall -> Ultimate Terrain Map v3.0 (Author unknown)
Sun Flare -> Ultimate Terrain Map v3.0 (Author unknown)
Dead Trees -> Mc!
Moon -> Thrikodius
Fire -> HappyTauren

Also I want to say thanks to CHA_Owner, Pharaoh_
and Belgarath for ideas (first picture) within comments!

This is a pretty nice entry. The before and after terrains look alike enough as far as geography and some doodad placement goes, the atmosphere feels right for both of them, and you used the UTM to your advantage. Some of the major issues is mainly with the glowing everywhere and how you seemed to illuminate things that maybe should not have been illuminated, or at least not as brightly. In both terrains, I say you did a good job on object placement, but as always, I spotted a few things that could have been changed.

BEFORE THE CATACLYSM:
1. Tile Variations & Blending - Using a variety of tiles is important in any terrain you work on, IMO. It keeps the scene from being too boring and repetitive to something more eye-grabbing and interesting. However, it is extremely important to use the tiles in both a logical (realistic/natural) and enjoyable fashion. Throwing every tile you have at your disposal in a tiny area is always a bad idea; it usually just looks like you randomly used one of each tile and randomly scribbled around the terrain. I'm not saying you did that, but knowing how to mix and match your tiles properly will equal a pretty terrain as the end result. To get down to your situation, you used a good enough amount of tiles maybe and you blended fairly well. The problem is, your roads stick out a lot. It's tough to counter and I am not sure if I can provide a valid enough solution/suggestion, but using more dark grasses and dirts may help bring out the grassier areas instead of just the roads which pretty much highlight the divided areas of the terrain. An alternative for the Sunken Ruins road tile you used may be Village Dirt Rough. Just a rough guess. It's dark and should blend with the other tiles pretty well, so they'll all mingle together happily.


2. Sky & Fog - Good sky. I can tell the sky is just a moon doodad with the sky turned off (K key is hotkey) but nonetheless, it looks good and fits what you were going for. The fog on the other hand... while it is satisfyingly fitting, it feels pretty dull because of the faded black fog you used. But I know you're just trying to use the fog as an asset to make the atmosphere feel more believably nighttime, so I guess I can't complain too much. Personally, I would probably prefer a darker fog or a different colored fog altogether. But fight to keep the nighttime theme. It looks peaceful and is accomplished pretty well IMO, which is a total opposite of the cataclysm, so overall good job here. I'm just being picky!


3. Lighting - As we've already established, this is a nighttime theme terrain, so it makes sense for the evening lanterns and whatnot to be on so it makes sense why the viewer can even see any of the terrain at all. While it looks nice at first, when you concentrate on the terrain, it's actually a bit overdone or underdone in this terrain. I see a lot of sun flares and it's especially overdone in the waterfall: it looks like a glowing crystal or something more than water. However, aside from how you over-placed this effect around the map, it looks pretty nice by itself. The light is dim but bright enough to glare and light up the area and it fits the theme too as well. Plus, flaring type of effects usually look nice in showy terrains anyway. My advice would be to tone down the amount of sun flares you used by getting rid of useless ones/ones that were put in bad spots/ones that grab the eye too much. For example, get rid of the flares on the more left of the image. Oh and of course, I noticed you didn't light up just lamps, so not sure if your placement was random or if it was supposed to make sense at all, so add some lamps and put a flare by where the light should be coming from and you should be doing better in this area.


4. Trees & Vegetation - Good job here. Only issue really is the lack of variety of trees. They're all the same tree model or tree variations but you need to remember to mix in some other trees that also blend with the other trees and vegetation. For example, Pine trees and Palm trees do not blend at all. However, the placement of the trees is quite good and so I won't complain much here. Just use more different tree models (two more wouldn't hurt I'd think) and we're down to vegetation (bushes, vines, shrubs, grasses, etc.). A lot of vines and basically anything that can be listed under 'vegetation.' But despite the fact you placed a lot, it still looks good. Do not tone this down, I'm just saying it looks compact. Though I guess some areas could be tweaked a bit due to clutter. In fact, I think you should add more vegetation in the background by the trees. Mix in some grasses and bushes and mushrooms, all that shit, in the forest, behind it, and in front of it! Looks good so far though.


5. Rocks & Boulders - You placed way too many rocks around the waterfall and at the top of it, you closed it off with rocks, so technically that waterfall shouldn't exist unless that was your attempt to create some sort of cave or whatever... in which case, you failed at it. Remove all that annoying glow, use waterfall doodads to extend the length of the waterfall until it flows off the side of the screen and you're good there. Back to the rocks, it just looks way too cluttered. It kind of blends, but the fact that you placed so many ruins any chances of blending as well. My advice is use 'Rocks - Ashenvale' and 'Rocks - Sunken Ruins' instead of whatever you're currently using, avoid the dark blue/green color tint, and pretty much work on redoing your rock formation because at the moment, it looks improper to say the least. Sorry. I'd tell you what to do exactly, but this is your terrain entry, not mine.


6. Scale - I don't really care much about this in this terrain because you seemed to do fine with the scale between the forest trees and the units. The only main issue is how the buildings' doorways are too small for the majority of the units. But it doesn't really matter. Scaling it up any further will make the buildings become a focal point and I don't think that'd be a good idea... but who's to say you can't experiment with it!

____________________________________
AFTER CATACLYSM FEEDBACK:
1. Tile Variation & Blending - Very good job here. In fact, I don't think there's much I can suggest. Maybe add a tad more lava tiles? Maybe not. Looks good!


2. Sky & Fog Well chosen. It mixes well with the fire, lava, terrain style, and theme, thus creating an even nicer looking chaotic atmosphere. Good job here as well!


3. Trees & Vegetation - Being that this is pretty much the aftermath of a hellishly destructive force impacting the landscape, it makes sense that there isn't a whole lot going on with vegetation. However, the forest was pretty damn dense in the Before Cataclsym Terrain, so I personally think there should be more trees, at least in the background. Other than that, it's good enough for me.


4. Lighting - Overdosed a bit on the glowing and fiery effects, but you pulled it off nicely by mixing it together in a more controlled manner instead of just throwing it everywhere. Unfortunately, you did use it too much, even for such a destructive environment you were going for. Again, the waterfall is really bright... and red? Why? Then at the bottom/middle-ish of the waterfall is the brightest. My guess is you were trying to turn the waterfall into a lavafall or something like that. That's not an easy task and you did not accomplish that, so maybe just remove the glows on the waterfall and turn it into a really dried-out dead area instead. The foreground looks good too me. Looks like hell is rising from the pit of the little valley or whatever that is. Either way, it's fitting and am surprised this doesn't make me feel like you used too many fire doodads... just too many glow doodads.


5. Scale - It's tough to even consider this since there's so much damn glow, fire, and fog, so in the end scale doesn't really matter at all, but you did make the trees relatively the same sizes so that's a plus.

Hope my advice helped. It was more general advice than direct advice for your terrain since my tiny screen made it difficult to pinpoint everything.

 

[Jaret]

So sorry, but I gotta skip this terraining contest, 'cuz of a School problem and of course 'cuz my map is... well... Dead.

 

[Dr. House]

that review whas good +cookie

 

[L_Lawliet]

Looks a little simple\Blizzard-ish to me...

i agree dude.. i think i'm gonna change my submission.. can i?? the map was horrible so i'm gonna change it..

 

[CoBrA b]

This'll probably be final. Even if it isn't I'll just update this post. Without further ado, I give you:

The Flood of Alanar

Lore:
The city of Alanar, a small city nestled in the forests beside a large bay, was a prosperous city. For, towering behind it, was a great, mystical machine, with the power to control weather. With this machine, the citizens of Alanar ensured that their city was always graced by the warmth of the sun, and only the lightest of rains. Storms never came to Alanar. Yet what the citizens of Alanar did not realize was that, the more they defied nature, the greater her fury would be when it finally came. And, slowly but surely, the weather machine began to lose power, while, just out of sight, a terrible storm was forming.

Credits:
City Building 1&2 -- HappyTauren Source: Hiveworkshop
High-res Rock (Felsen 2) -- B2M
Alpha tile -- MadseN

All other models are either in the UTM or contest sanctioned models thread.

Enjoy!

 

[Mr. Bob]

Would it be ok if I just made a massive terrain model and imported it into WC3?

 

[Ardnived]

I doubt it, a large part of skill in terraining, I think, is utilizing the doodads into the right positions and sizes.

 

[teh.fellow]

Hey i saw this contest and thought about this screen here i actual made for u guys, would be fun for me to do a 2nd fitting one for the contest.

The point is there are some models on the screen i made by myself.
Rest is from the high res pack would that be ok?

otherewise you wouldnt see the 2nd picture,
Hm how would that piece of city would look destroyed hm ?

 

[Oziris]

Cobra_A let me guess how did you make the water, you made the doodad cloud flat? Anyway, it's good.

 

[Dr. House]

This is my terrain as it looks now

 

[Craka_J]

Very big improvement, i_brg_doom. Good job. It's not perfect, but it is definitely better than before; especially the After Cataclsym Terrain.

 

[Dr. House]

Thanks anything else i need to change ?

 

[Oziris]

I_brg_doom, I think of adding a whole new background into your terrain, city or something. It looks really empty now.

 

[Dr. House]

in both of them or only the one before catalysm?

 

[Oziris]

Both. Btw, I've noticed you changed the camera angle a bit. Whats up with that? It should be the same IMO. You cant make it really good because you made it to close to the ground. You should zoom out in both terrains. But that's only my suggestion.

 

[Dr. House]

ok sure and about that background you mean behind that gate?

 

[Oziris]

ok sure and about that background you mean behind that gate?

That's exactly what i mean.

 

[Craka_J]

I agree. Also, work on the interior of the adobe houses as well. Throw some furniture in there! And I believe I can see right through the interior wall and see the mountains behind it as well. Might want to cover that up some how.

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

A little late to be entering, but here's my first (early) WiP

WiP

 

[Oziris]

A little late to be entering, but here's my first (early) WiP

WiP

Late? Not at all. You have more then a month left. Looks interesting, cant wait to see after Cataclysm.

 

[Adiktuz]

Here's my first WIP!!! Please comment, I'm really not good at terraining...

 

[L_Lawliet]

2nd WIP:

EDIT:
Rock tile spammed with true rocks and grass.
Re-angled the camera.
Added a sun and a house.

the only problem is the water..i can't find other ways to change it.

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

Well looks good so far, but I'm not too sure about how that rock tiles been stretched....

Btw, I'm starting to notice almost every terrain follow the same pattern - some place is a big lush forest, then something horrible comes through and the entire thing burns

 

[Adiktuz]

can someone check out my WIP (above L's post)? Thanks!!!

anyway WherewolfTherewolf, your terrain looks both magical and modern, nice...

 

[Belgarath]

Well looks good so far, but I'm not too sure about how that rock tiles been stretched....

Btw, I'm starting to notice almost every terrain follow the same pattern - some place is a big lush forest, then something horrible comes through and the entire thing burns

mine was flooded yo
the b2m rock tiles look pretty cool imo, not so sure about the water - might want to use the main menu water though it has HORRIBLE clipping, or you can just replace like 5 or 6 water tiles and have good timing on shots

 

[L_Lawliet]

@WherewolfTherewolf: rock tile will be fixed..haha mine won't burn ..)
@Adiktuz: dude.. i was wondering.. how did you created that thing?? the rock formed into a.. i'm not quite sure about it (uhh..).. but it's a pretty good work you got there

 

[L_Lawliet]

@Belgarath: damn! that was my problem, i just ignored it.. i'll try to fix the water..

 

[Adiktuz]

@WherewolfTherewolf: rock tile will be fixed..haha mine won't burn ..)
@Adiktuz: dude.. i was wondering.. how did you created that thing?? the rock formed into a.. i'm not quite sure about it (uhh..).. but it's a pretty good work you got there

I got the idea from the Terrain Hall of Fame, I saw somebody made a giant robot and the other a forest rock golem...

it was supposed to an ancient defender of that area... something like a forest spirit, formed by combining rocks and bushes... I was thinking of adding a head but I cannot find a good idea for that...

Thanks for the comment... ^^

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

K, a little update on my terrain, added some more flashy lightning stuff, more details, etc. etc.

Teaser

hmmmm, the quality of some of the models is a bit clashing and the boxes in the front look odd in the light, I'll work that out.


Edit:
hmmmmmmm, I'm thinking more pipes are in order

 

[Belgarath]

your water's not clipping it just looks bad

 

[Deolrin]

the first terrain was horrible and it was too blizzard-ish for debode so... i made a new terrain.. give me some feedbacks.. thanks

photos by sequence..
terrain base--> 1st WIP

Hmm. Looks better. You should use the UTM water tile imo. Also I think that spamming the hell out of those cliffs with rock doodads would make ti looks better or something..

 

[L_Lawliet]

@debode
@Belgarath

thanks for the feedbacks, very well appreciated .. wait for the 2nd WIP.

 

[L_Lawliet]

K, a little update on my terrain, added some more flashy lightning stuff, more details, etc. etc.

Teaser

hmmmm, the quality of some of the models is a bit clashing and the boxes in the front look odd in the light, I'll work that out.


Edit:
hmmmmmmm, I'm thinking more pipes are in order

damn!.. looks awesome.. can't wait for the cataclysm..

 

[Oziris]

L_Lawliet use the edit button, don't double post. WherewolfTherewolf, the background looks empty! add something there.

 

[Dr. House]

This is how my terrain looks on the moment tell me what you think plz and what i could inprove.

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

Well it's just a personal opinion but I truly despise the Lava and Lava Cracks tiles bliz made, they look so unlava-y, also the way the bend with the ground looks unnatural (not your fault, just another reason why I don't like the lava tiles).

 

[elredir]

@ i_brg_doom i would have an suggestion ...but its almost a total remake of the map.You could zoom out the camera so half of the city would be visible.In the background you could the cleft of shadow and in the post-cata swirling rays of shadow would shoot to the sky out from the cleft.You could ad some towers while they are destroyed by meteors and maybe a hole in the front wall of the city made by an meteor.
And finally i would suggest making the cliffs with the barrens rock cuz it looks kinda weird with now.

 

[L_Lawliet]

guys. i've posted my second WIP on page 29.. thanks

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

Looks good. but I'm pretty sure you just used the Arathi rock multiple times and didn't vary it at all - the texture on that rock doesn't work very well in the lighting too.

 

[-Kobas-]

guys. i've posted my second WIP on page 29.. thanks

Change Art - Max Roll Angle (degrees) from 0 to 360
Change Art - Maximum Pitch Angle (degrees) from 0 to 360

Look at your terrain now!

EDIT:

This is how my terrain looks on the moment tell me what you think plz and what i could inprove.

inprove = improve
Btw:

I think that your terrain look empty, I mean it is Orc Town (City, whatever)
how you make it now it looks as something strange happen! It looks scary (creepy)! You can add guards to walls, also try to make merchants, place large Kodo Beast just outside gates (You can replace it with giant skeleton for apocalypse), Add troll, tauren, ogre, orc, large number of different units, make that city ALIVE! You should understand what I want to say!

What I say for first I can say for second one, you must add smoke, more fog, create destroyed towers (I forgot to tell you that above), weapons on the ground, destroyed houses, dead animals!

You don't need sky in second picture, use very dark fog and make night, with epic lightning and special effect (I can see that my Volcano teach you something (Sry maybe not you but I can see my work there )) it will look awesome!

Just fire and empty wall don't go!

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

Hmmmm, I can't decide whether or not to have that light in the background and I need some advice.

Numbah 1

or

Numbah 2

I really want the darkness to contrast the light of the generator which makes the first one look better, but then again I want the details to show from the background making number 2 look better.