Got a "request"..

[Tough.Me]

Well, hello.

I dunno if this is gonna work out, but here goes..
I was hoping that someone could give me some ideas or some inspiration to making a terrain (WC3-realistic), or some sort of request.. You could, as an example post a picture of something, and then I'll do my best in making the terrain.

I'm doing this because i need training in terraining, and wanna be good at it..

I'm hoping anyone will help me with this

Second Terrain (Icecrown), Re-did almost entire terrain, and made a path with some "Frozen spider statues" and a Wall. Made the gate a bit bigger.. Tell me what you think about it. (Terrain still in progress)
Edit: Added a second, and a third picture with the "foggy sky"
Edit Edit: Fourth and fifth picture added.. I think its starting to look like something Added last picture for today..
In the 2 last pictures I've attached, the terrain is just about done.. Enjoy! (added effects to the walls so they look "magic enhanced")


NEW themed picture also added.. Tell me what you think, made it in about 30 minutes.. Also only WE doodads used ^^

 

[Fussiler1]

Icecrown citadel.
The Gate of Ironforge.
Plaguelands.
Undercity.

 

[Arcany]

Welcome to the terraining forum.

The great thing is that you can be very creative in your terraining, it shouldn't be too hard to get an idea yourself. Just make something, anything and we will give you some contructive criticism.

If you're looking for themes and practice check this out: http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/terrain-board-267/thw-terraining-challenges-challenge-1-a-143010/

The Terraining Challenges are a weekly practice to hone your skills.
Good luck and have fun terraining.

 

[Oziris]

Arcany, that is so not the place he should look on. Hello Tough.Me, i see your interested in terrains. There are allot of great terrainers on the Hive. They would be happy to help you! like me i'm going to show you some basic links!
The greatest terrains
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/terrain-board-267/legendary-terrains-65435/

A complete list of Terrain Galleries from users that are skilled.
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/terrain-board-267/complete-list-of-terrain-galleries-134047/

 

[Arcany]

Off-topic:

Arcany, that is so not the place he should look on. Hello Tough.Me, i see your interested in terrains. There are allot of great terrainers on the Hive. They would be happy to help you! like me i'm going to show you some basic links!
The greatest terrains
Legendary Terrains

A complete list of Terrain Galleries from users that are skilled.
Complete List of Terrain Galleries
Oh, okay; I'm sorry for pointing him out to a thread which was created for honing and practicing your skills under certain themes where he would receive help and feedback instead of pointing him out to a list of epic terrains which feature techniques he probably won't even understand let alone be able to actually use them in a terrain.

 

[Tough.Me]

Thx everyone for your support ^^

I'm gonna post some pics in a few minutes..

Landscape; Icecrown Glacier - "Gates of Icecrown Citadel" (Using ONLY blizzard doodads)

3-5 pics

Edit: Pictures uploaded!

 

[Oziris]

It's flat, could you some life out side. A nice sky, the fog seems nice. The rock wall is simply bad, looks like you just spammed it all around. Make a big wall of some nice walls by putting a wall on the ground and then putting another wall on the wall until you think it's ok!

Arcany, he was looking for inspirations and the Legendary thread is perfect for it.

 

[Arcany]

It's a nice try

I would advise you this hower: pick one angle and make the terrain look nice from that angle. Just post one screenshot of that angle, that is the way to go.

Try to keep the ''end of the world'' from showing, by puting something in front of that. The terrain is also flat, youse Raise and Lower to create a more realistic landscape.

The rock wall you have made is really lacking, you should put smaller rocks in front of it, vary them in size to make a more realistic mountainy rock wall thing.

The doodads and tile variation in front of the gate is very random and not very good looking, try to make a road leading up to it, use more and better tile variation and place doodads with thought.

The sidebars can be cut off using paint, and to remove the selection circles hit the Space bar
Good luck on improving the terrain

 

[Tough.Me]

Thx for the feedback

So what you're saying is, that i should, perhaps, make a real wall instead of glaciers connected to the gate?? If so, then what "walls" should i use for this??
And what do you mean by "place doodads with thought"??

 

[Hugget Sukker]

I assume these are pictures of work in progress. I can see where you are going. No need to strike down at terrain flatness and such just yet, since I can see this is not intended to look finished just yet.
I expect that you fill some more stuff into the almost flat area in front of the wall and gate. Try with the Crystal doodad in many different scales. Use it as you would make lumps of undergrowth in a forest. Place it in the rims of the ice ground texture. Put in some small and some large icecrowny environmental doodads, and capsulate them in the crystal doodad to make them appear frozen over in a cool way. These are just inspirational tips.
The wall is too straight imo. You should differ its segments more, in scale and location, to make it look more natural. Try pulling some of its segments out from the line by a little, and make some curves in it, so it's not just a long, spammy line of doodads.

I agree, the Legendary Terrains are great sources of inspiration. Also, in Arcany's link, you will find a picture by me called Ice Topping, and a picture by Arcany, both set in the icecrown theme. On mine, you'll see what I mean by using crystals as undergrowth, capsulation, and rimming ground textures.
When working on height level, I recommend using ground textures as a blueprint for the height. It looks really nice when you raise or lower a specific texture by a specific amount everywhere it is found. Makes the texture seem like a real layer of material, as if it weren't just painted on.
I can also recommend something like dead nature, dead, fallen trees for example, incapsulated in ice. This is possible with War3 doodads. Just tilt a Northrend Tree as much as you like it.
EDIT

And what do you mean by "place doodads with thought"??

In literature there is a meaning with everything. The same goes for painting, sculpting, music, etc. Ok, in art, everything has a purpose. And don't forget the words: "The designer knows that he has reached perfection, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away"

Means that you must have a reason before you put in something. The reason may be; I think it looks nice. Another important thing, is to be economical. Don't use more than you need. Search carefully for all the semi-nice stuff that obscures the really nice stuff. Minor flaws may not matter, but they can rip away the attention from the cooler features. So kill your darlings, to make room for prodigies.

I think the icy wall is a cool idea, as I'm not a fan of realism. My only problem is not that it doesn't look realistic, but that it doesn't look natural.

I hope this didn't confuse you XD

 

[Celaquil]

Am I the only one that finds this funny?

He is requesting us to request a terrain from him

Anyways, yeah do follow the advices already given to you. I would also advice you to download the Ultimate Terraining Map and use that when you are terraining, further information about the map and download can be found here:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/terrain-board-267/the-ultimate-terraining-map-3-0-a-45316/

Now, to finding something for you to terrain... I know! Lets find a WoW picture and let you make a MUCH better wc3 version of the pic ;P

Let see...

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/wowwiki/images/c/ce/Grizzhills.jpg

Try that one out.

 

[Hugget Sukker]

Am I the only one that finds this funny?

If that's what he wants. I think he just meant it in order to get inspiration.

 

[Tough.Me]

Im just gonna start off with a single terrain, Keiji ^_^ (Icecrown-themed)

I will post a new picture of the terrain in a few minutes, and remove the others in just a sec.. still not finished with it yet..

And remember.. This still is my FIRST time terraining, so i cant do anything that looks THAT great.. So dont post about something you need years of experience to create ^^

 

[Oziris]

Make a sky use the fogged one.
Go to: Scenario/Map preferences/Sky display/Fogged sky
You will find the scenario in WE, it's next to the File, view, layer.... ( didn't really know how to say this )

 

[Arcany]

The angle you used in the first pic makes a good screenshot and this would be a good foundation to further work on.

You have already received good constructive criticism to keep you going on this, but I've attached this pic to fully illustrate some sugestions.

And remember, there is much more you can do besides just placing doodads. You can raise/lower them (Shift+Page Up and Shift+Page Down). And place them upside down etc. by placing negative values in Maximum Pitch/Roll angles. Keep the creativity going ;D

Also, make a nice sky either through the easy way as Oziris sugested or through the use of a campaign screen; although this is a more advanced technique:

1) Go to Object Editor
2) Create a custom doodad
3) Go to Art: Model File
4) Look though the categories such as Units, Doodads etc. and hit the Game Interface categorie.
5) Find a custom campaign screen such as the Undead one.
6) Place the custom doodad ans you will see a sky apears above the model
7) Sink the model into the ground until only the sky is left

That is pretty much it, feel free to ask if you have questions about the method.

 

[Tough.Me]

Well, Arcany.. Any suggestion to what i could use as a tower ?? The was really helpful to me, and thx for the picture ^^ a great, yet easy and understandable way to get it done right

Edit: Added some new pictures again, new terrain in front of the gate, 2 BIG obelisks >.>

 

[Arcany]

Give me a sec and I'll craft some towers.

 

[Oziris]

Arcany that ''advanced technique'' is kinda bugged! when you move the sky/doodad the editor crashes and it really isn't advanced at all >.>

 

[Hugget Sukker]

Looks good. Maybe you could stuff in some arcane effects under the arches, to make them look like some kind of magical devices, reinforcing the walls with magical protection, i.e. adding imagination food and context to the decoration. You could make these from Buff or Ability models.
With spiders and all, it's beginning to look like a Spider Kingdom thematic. For mountains, you could mix the Webbed Spires from the Underground doodad category, with Ice Claws and others to match the spider theme.
Also, raise the road SLIGHTLY above the sorrounding terrain, and if you like, you could also put some fences up around the road; low, thin wall doodads, for example.

But really. Maybe we shouldn't guide you so straight anymore. Maybe you just need to unfold yourself now ;o)

Edit: Good that dirt area is lowered, and the ice comes unto the edges of the road. Maybe this needs more snow. Even, some snow might cover some of the road, but be careful with that! Snow is ofc clumps that lay atop things, so snow will look a bit like the ice bumps you made out of ice in the last picture. Ice behaves differently. It is too stiff to make ice-covered bumps out of the ground, as if the ice were bendable. It's up to you, ofc. But if there were to be ice on a bump (contrary to a plateau), it'd look better with doodads, because then you could create a sprinkled flakes effect of sorts... don't know which model, unfortunately

 

[Tough.Me]

I'll try adding some effects to the arches along the wall when i get home later today And i see your point in the ice bumps.. Will change that right away..

I don't think I'll add a fence along with the road, because I think it would seem odd in this terrain :/ because of all the spider things

But thx anyway, will try doing some of the stuff you told me

Edit: Does anyone know if you can turn off the purple boxes that shows when you place some doodads??

 

[Hugget Sukker]

In Object Editor - Doodads
"Editor - Show click helper" <-- set it to False

Also, pressing V will show map in Game View, in which click helpers don't show.