Improvements for the Culling of Stratholme

[Dagren]

I don't think this mission need HUGE changes from the Reforged version, but I think there could still be many little improvements, mainly for the details and to make it more consistent to WoW. I've managed to merge 3 maps starting from WoW Stratholme, Culling of Stratholme (CoT) and Culling of Stratholme (Reforged), with some minor variation for consistency, I've also wrote down each kind of unique place seen in WoW (for doodads purpose) and this is my final sketch.

The layout of the city is not very much different from Reforged at the end, but the southern part of the map needs a revamp while the city itself should pay better attention to famous places such as Silver Hand Bastion, Faol's Chapel and the Town Hall (with magistrate Barthilas as the city administrator). I also placed Arthas base further west because it makes sense that it is between the (player controlled) towers and because in the other areas there are country houses that have already been delivered infected grain and will spawn zombies attacking the base.
I would keep the lost orcs seen in Reforged somewhere in a hidden woody area.
Furthermore the southern part, the wilder one, should be abundant with mushroom decorations, as they are very present in the CoT instance of the Culling and are a clear indication of the future that awaits for this area - Plaguewood.

UPDATE Improvements summary:

• Revamp the southern area outside of the city to fit geographically
• Add Plagued country houses and village (if that stuff fits in the borders of the map)
• Southern wooded area should get plenty of little red mushroom doodads near trees
• Add back the zoo like in the original game (in a zone unseen in WoW, don't forget to move here Filson the Rat!).
• The households should have their typical orange (in some cases reddish) roofs, same for unique buildings like Faol's Chapel
• A new custom model for the Bastion of the Silver Hand based on its look in WoW and a better placement
• Despite the odds the city should feel more alive, after all Stratholme is the second most populated city of the kingdom:

- Citizens harassing and/or lynching grain courier and food merchants, then turning into hostile zombies
- Kids and their matron barricading inside the Orphanage (indestructible) while player's units pass nearby
- Angry citizens outside townhall and a living magistrate Barthilas (model needed)
- More infected militia defending the townsfolk from our actions
- Replace the goblin merchant with a more human looking market stash (should be placed in the market row area)

• The terrain of the whole map, city included, should be less flat
• Overall better doodad usage

Screenshot gallery from WoW (CoT and Vanilla instances)

Outskirts of Stratholme (road with plagued country houses)

Main Entrance of the city

King's Square (city entrance, 1,2,3,4)

Festival Lane (5,6,7,8,9,10 and angry citizens on the verge of lynching a grain courier)

Faol's Chapel before and after (18)

The first alley attacked by the Scourge (11,12,13,14)

Market Row (15,16)

Crusader's square with facade of Bastion of the Silver Hand Bastion (23) in the different timelines

The Gauntlet - after only (17,19,20,21 and northern fountain area)

 

[Footman16]

This looks really good, one thing I think the reforged Culling of Stratholme needed was just better doodad usage, the city could be made to look a lot better imo, similarly with Dalaran.

 

[YourArthas]

It would be great to add back the zoo on top of those

 

[Dagren]

It would be great to add back the zoo on top of those

You are right, it was present in the original version and since it isn't seen in WoW it could be put in one of the areas not seen in WoW (in yellow)

 

[Ethenil]

I love this. I like the expansion of the area outside the city as well. I wonder what asset will be used to make the Bastion?

 

[Symphoneum]

I love this. I like the expansion of the area outside the city as well. I wonder what asset will be used to make the Bastion?

I guess the WoW model could be used as a concept for a custom made model (in Blender perhaps). Or it could be ported, as long as the port is high quality. Unfortunately it’s harder to do convincing ports of WoW buildings for reforged, they end up feeling flat.

 

[Dagren]

I guess the WoW model could be used as a concept for a custom made model (in Blender perhaps). Or it could be ported, as long as the port is high quality. Unfortunately it’s harder to do convincing ports of WoW buildings for reforged, they end up feeling flat.

Sadly in WoW the building is just a facade like in western movie sets, it's supposed to be bigger than the depicted one.
Btw in addition to the massive presence of little red mushrooms in the southern wooded area, I realized that one trait that sets Stratholme apart from Stormwind is that all roofs of city structures tend to be orange or reddish. Also, the city is not completely flat as shown in Reforged.

 

[Symphoneum]

Sadly in WoW the building is just a facade like in western movie sets, it's supposed to be bigger than the depicted one.
Btw in addition to the massive presence of little red mushrooms in the southern wooded area, I realized that one trait that sets Stratholme apart from Stormwind is that all roofs of city structures tend to be orange or reddish. Also, the city is not completely flat as shown in Reforged.

That’s interesting, I didn’t know it was a facade. I do think using it as concept art for a custom model could work, you’d just have to take more liberties with the structure.

 

[Khazmo]

Although I would say that we don't need to adhere 100% to WoW as it's also a scaled down version of the city, I can't really find anything to fault with your design. Nice work.

Also, the zoo is a must!