Playable terrain help?

[oWnMeH]

Hi! Been lurking around these forums forever without creating an account, but now, as im starting to terrain, I thought it could be good to have one. And here I am!

Im working on some sort of mini-dungeons map, and I feel it's hard to fill out the areas so they don't look so empty / boring.

Might just need some creeps, but if you got some tips of what I could add / remove (doodadwise) to make it look better im all ears.

BTW, Im quite happy with the island, but do you think the trees look to much alike? ( just one model )

Updated with a new part of the map! The Outer parts of the Castle.

What would you place in these areas? And are there are other window models then Window01 ( like only window model on hive ) that you know off? It looks crap on these walls..

 

[Kino]

BTW, Im quite happy with the island, but do you think the trees look to much alike? ( just one model )

Yes, they are too much alike.
You could mix up a few deciduous trees and bare trunks for variation.
Undergrowth could be a little more clustered around the trees and not randomly in the open.

 

[Deleted member 212788]

In my opinion, the cellar actually looks better. to make it more interesting, you could give it a more underground feel by adding archways over the the corridors here and there. Also, since it's a basement, you could try to replace some of the water bits with storage area - e.g. filling it with shelves, barrels, crates and etc. I'd also recommend breaking up the linear corridors with one or two more open areas.

As for the island, the trees seem a bit too small if you ask me. I'd suggest also altering the elevation a bit, maybe one of the sides of the island could be a cliff?

Lastly, try to avoid using blizzard cliffs for natural environments. the ones you've used in the cellar actually fit pretty well. May I ask where you got them from?

 

[oWnMeH]

@Kino Thx for the tips, another problem is that I have a hard time finding other trees that fit well thogether with the ones I use.. Hate when they look too different. Do you know of any "tree sets" that match together good ( except for B2M and other mega high res ones?

@DSgamer Thx for the input, working on it right now.( storage areas and the cliff thingy ) not sure about archways since they block the sight abit, and since it's playable thats bad. but I'll test it out. The Cliff tile is from Cloudwolfs Diablo 3, think it's specifically made for that map, but since it's open source and he said anyone could mod it, that's the place to find it.

Some WIPs of the changes is coming soon.

[CastleCellar is updated]

 

[Deleted member 212788]

Looking much better. The B2M High Res tree textures can actually be optimized thus reducing the file size, if that's what's troubling you. I can also suggest adding a 2nd layer of the cellar, under the initial one. It's use is only decorative. Basically, fill it with smaller paths, maybe make parts of the original level go over it in a bridge like fashion. You can fill it with statues, tons of props. Basically anything that might reinforce the feeling and theme you're trying to create.

 

[Talavaj]

Looks simple but pretty, the last pic is neat. Is it a multiplayer map ? You can "phase" doodads in and out so they don't obscure the view. Essentially you can "phase" entire parts of the level in so they become walkable while the top portions are phased out but you would need to make a quite extensive pathing blueprint.

Also my pack has a few windows, maybe give a try with those.

 

[Kino]

@Kino Thx for the tips, another problem is that I have a hard time finding other trees that fit well thogether with the ones I use.. Hate when they look too different. Do you know of any "tree sets" that match together good ( except for B2M and other mega high res ones?

Afaik the same model is fine, just vary the heights and widths to a greater degree.

 

[SA Dashie]

^ and colour would be nice to.