First Time on the UTM...thoughts?

[rachael]

So, I've been helping my better half with the map we are making together by doing the terrain. As we've been making the map together and live in different timezones, I've been working on the terrain during the times he's asleep.
When we're both awake and he's doing the cool coding stuff, I've been trying to improve on my terrains. They all look "warcraft-y" for now, but this is the intention, given our map looks like that too. (So, don't expect something really HD from this! )

I've attached some images of my first time using the UTM 4.0 that I used to make a small, snowy area.

Any comments, recommendations on how to improve would be really appreciated! The help would mean a lot, hopefully it'll help me make some nice areas for Sky and I's map!

Information about Terrain and Screenshots

I haven't quite figured out lighting yet, but this is my first experiment with terrain fog and multiple weathers. I figured I'd take it one step at a time! The screenshots that I have edited slightly in a photo-editor just for fun have been watermarked in the bottom right, just to give them a slightly sleeker look.

 

[Oziris]

Hey, it looks nice, you're on the right path to making something moody and interesting but I noticed you mixed trees that are HQ and the ones from Warcraft, I would not recommend you doing so. I would instead replace the original Warcraft 3 trees with HQ ones, also add in more grass, rocks a few interesting details that will spice up the experience for the player.

Also the river looks extremely boring in sense that it is empty, you can add water streams on top of the water to make it more interesting, rocks, ruined pillars and etc...

Another thing I would work on is the terrain height levels, I suspect with all the trees, the location is somewhere in the mountains, to make it more realistic, try adding big cliffs, huge slopes, this will spice of the depth of your terrain a lot.

Finally, I would deepen the fog, usually when it's cold and snow, the fog is more present.

Hope my suggestions help you out in your further work, good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Celaquil]

Those angles are very artsy and neat,
but maybe you should show us some
wider angles so that we can better see
what there is to comment on.

Currently I see a relatively empty terrain
with few details except buildings, trees
and elevation. You should play around
more with foliage, shrubbery, tiles and
doodads.