Okay. There are actually reasons why I haven't done some of those things you say. It's not because I'm retarded and have absolutely no sense of anything related to aesthetics, as you may think. (Although I may sounds very angry, I'm not. This is the underscore jargon, not the anger jargon, so don't be scared, or think that I hate you)
1 - I cannot set it to night time, because these are mini-caves that are supposed to be entered during the game. PM me if you know of any system that can turn day/night cycle off and change time to night for a single player ONLY when he/she looks at those caves, but leave it running normally for other players, etc. (Remember the map is outdoors and indoors at the same time. I may not have been too clear about that before, sry.)
2 - I can't use ruined stuff, because the mapmaker told me not to make any remains or signs of civilization, only wilderness (but he may make an exception in this case, so I will ask him).
Have now worked on larger stones and stone arcs. Those were some of the things that I got to first, after ppl mentioned things that needed improvements. Larger stone doodads is a very good idea, not because of how they appear and hide cliffs (CUZ BLIZZARD CLIFFS LOOK FABULOUS YAAY!!!), but because it will help keeping down the doodad count, by using fewer, but larger doodads for certain things.
As for what you call "ice doodads", I think the webbed stalagmites fit ok in. Escpecially after I have now changed their tinting a bit, and made funny, flat variants of them, that go for ground textures in some places. Give me a day, and you'll see the new pictures at some point.
I don't want to be a jerk but the blizzard cliffs just wont do. Making a cave with doodads around is a challenge yet a great improvement from the Blizzard cliffs. Better luck next time.
You're not a jerk. But what you say is something that I've heard a thousand times now, and unfortunately, I don't agree. It's really a matter of taste, and nothing more. I'm not from the High-Res "New Gen" school, and if I make those cliffs with rocks or something, it's not gonna look very good IMO.
I personally think that Blizzard's original maps looked great except for some minor doubtful things, such as massive unrealism. But those aren't mistakes by Blizzard, definitely. Those maps were well-made, well-terrained, even the melee maps, and even though they never used doodad cliffs. Things were unrealistic, but they looked Blizzardish and very, very cool IMO.
It's also a matter of MAP CHARISMA. If you want everything as epic, legendary, and snobbish as possible, Blizz cliffs won't do. But I'm not into that really. I don't want to be hostile against those who make the cool terrains that use doodads for cliffs, for example. Just trying to underscore everything that I associate with the thoughts you present me to over. I love those steep cliffs more than anything. They're much more detailed than anything you can make with raise/lower, and much more well-crafted than any doodad construction you can make. I think it's just that terrainers are too proud of their own inventions to realize Blizzard's original charm anymore. I'm sry, but for once, I prefer default over customized.