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[Hero_Lief]

Tips for Terrains

-Tips for Terrains-

I've had quite a few problems with my terrains back when I did them often, and so here are some things that you might want to do.

-Don't try to use all the doodads you can.
This makes your map look squeezed, and that won't make people want to play it.
This also makes your map randomly detailed. Not good.

-Don't use high cliffs and tons of ramps.
If you want a good mountain that is fairly high, then I suggest raising the terrain alot, but smoothly so that the unit's feet aren't in midair, and then put pathing blockers around it. Then, make the way up to the mountain a different type of terrain, so that if your mountain is like grass or rock, make this path up dirt or something.

-Don't evenly put in trees.
Put trees at random intervals, otherwise your ashenvale forest might look like the King's Garden. Place trees at random intervals, and be sure to NOT use the mass tree creation tool. Use the two smallest creation tools that you can (preferably the smallest one (one tree)).

-Don't make throne rooms too royal.
I frequently had trouble with this. Put a throne, and a few guards, and make sure there is plenty of room to walk. Also, make it a grand door, but not too grand.

-Save frequently.
I know this sounds like the most obveous tip ever, but you really should do this as often as possible. If you use WEU, UMSWE and others frequently, then you should save every time you get a small part done. Theese editors tend to have fatal errors more frequently.

-Keep towns as towns.
Don't make towns huge. Make them with 5 or so houses, small wooden fences, a few fenced-in animals (try to avoid these), and 2 or 3 medium crop fields. You should make scout towers here as well, and a few trees, and MAYBE a small garrison/barracks. If you do make a barracks, then put TWO AT MAX training targets, and ONLY if you use archers. Also be sure to have a tavern- In medieval times, all towns had these. And be sure to make villagers- 5 to 10- and make sure only a few kids. Seriously, kids usually stayed inside, away from undead arrows. (Seriously. Picture this: Five kids coming out of their house and running up to an undead necromancer and saying "HI! I'M FOUR!" Then, the necromancer is like "dmn comps" and he slaughters them with his most powerful spell, just for the cool effects. Seriously, that shouldn't happen.)

-If you make many different terrains (ex. ice, rock, forest, and desert), be sure to have reasonable transitions.
Seriously, this is the biggest problem with noob terrainers. They put tons of forests and ice RIGHT NEXT TO A BARREN DESERT. Have some natural transitions. Maybe one or two trees and grassy dirt, then some very light grass with more trees, and so on.

-If you use custom world editors, BE SURE TO CHECK THE BOX IN THE OPTIONS THAT ASKS IF YOU WANT TO MAKE BACKUPS.
This is a huge problem, especially with maps with JASS and GUI spells. CREATE BACKUPS OR ELSE YOUR MAP WILL BE SCREWED.

-Always think about your terrain BEFORE you make it.
This way, you know what goes where, and then you don't make last minute details that make it look squeezed.

-NEVER, EVER, EVER USE THE SQUARE PALETTE FOR WATER/LAND
Squareness doesn't make it look natural - It makes it look man-made.

-If making a terrain that will never be on B.Net, use custom models.
Use them like hell. Especially high-res doodads like trees and crates. And use sky backgrounds. Don't care about the 4000mb limit- Remember, this map will never even be put up there.

More will be added when I come across more problems.
Feel free to compliment and add.
--------------------
Hero_Lief
The one and lonely.

 

[Gilles]

Not bad tips. Although I highly disagree with you on the last one. There's no point in trying to make your map large. And placing high-res models in wc3 would look awful. You would have to make everything high-res, and I have yet to see any of those get finished.

Edit: That was a really terrible title for the thread.

 

[PurgeandFire]

Not bad tips. Although I highly disagree with you on the last one. There's no point in trying to make your map large. And placing high-res models in wc3 would look awful. You would have to make everything high-res, and I have yet to see any of those get finished.

Edit: That was a really terrible title for the thread.

I think he meant for Terrain Showcasing. But RPGs for High-Res are usually phail unless there is a competent lag-free coder doing the job. Even then it would probably still lag a bit.

But pretty good tips. Too bad you can't rename the thread.

 

[ady_illidan]

good tips
+rep

 

[Hero_Lief]

Thanks for the rep, addy.

Yeah, too bad I can't.

 

[DungeonM]

I disagree with the rule reguarding the use of the square brush, especially in reguards to height variation. I also disagree highly with the use of high-res doodads, the majority of them look very "waxy" and lose the saturation and color that is ever so present in every Blizzard game.

 

[Parkietje]

Good tips, don't agree on all of the though...

 

[Hero_Lief]

Well, some aren't always agreeable, but they are all tips to keep in mind.

DungeonM,
Why do you disagree with the square?
Also, high-res doodads aren't always good, but they are if you're doing a terrain purely for a showcase. Ex., the blizzard trees are way too low-def. They branches are flat, the texture is too even, and the tree trunk ending is usually shown on cliffs.

 

[[Death]]

Also, high-res doodads aren't always good, but they are if you're doing a terrain purely for a showcase. Ex., the blizzard trees are way too low-def. They branches are flat, the texture is too even, and the tree trunk ending is usually shown on cliffs.

That's why we use custom trees, not necessarily high-res ones. See: elveswood.mdx

That tree is also even inside the game, just attached to one of the gluescreens.

 

[Hero_Lief]

Thanks [Death], I'll take a look at that.

 

[DungeonM]

DungeonM,
Why do you disagree with the square?

I use it while modifying height as it gives off a slightly different effect than the circle that I find to be a bit more desirable depending on what I'm doing. I wouldn't use it too much with tile variation though.

 

[~Void~]

I use the square for plateaus mainly.

 

[Hero_Lief]

DungeonM,
Agreed.

~Void~,
I usually do, with a few bits off of it to make it look more natural.

 

[~Void~]

I agree with the bits part unless I want to put a building there. Then I don't bother because the building covers it all up anyways.

 

[Hero_Lief]

Augh, bump.

Void,
Yeah, true, but sometimes the building would sink down if you don't make it fully flat which could even show because it has to be flat even where the model isn't which can get annoying.

Of course, you could always just make it a flying doodad and raise/lower it, then put pathing blockers around it. =p