[Discussion] Seeking feedback on detail-oriented terrain

[Pr0nogo]

Using years of Brood War terraining experience and blizzard's own campaign maps for reference, I'm developing detail-oriented terrain for campaign missions and I'm seeking feedback. I'll be posting screenshots of my efforts, along with a brief write-up of the biome and the intended effect of the terrain pieces. You don't need to be a cartographer to post feedback, either - I'm looking for any constructive input that will allow me to create great terrain. If I'm on the right track, I want to know that so I can stay on that track; similarly, if I'm doing something wrong, I'd like to correct that mistake as soon as possible.

Please let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Aiur - Lonely, overgrown temple

This out-of-the-way temple is perfect for a band of insurgent protoss to hide out. With nature enveloping the structure in the centuries since the Aeon of Strife, the location of this old shrine was soon forgotten by much of the Conclave, allowing trespassers and squatters to have free reign over the temple grounds.

The inspiration came from the desire to create a believable hideout for a group of dissident protoss. As they are a grim reminder of the loss the protoss race suffered during the Aeon of Strife, the Conclave is unlikely to have retaken many of their ancient temples, even centuries after the conflict's conclusion - but a lack of groundskeeping has come at a cost. The temple is overgrown, its effigies in disrepair and its foundations riddled with flora and fauna. While not quite a respectable place to call home, the shrine's central courtyard is shrouded in trees and old statues, creating a thick fog that further improves the secrecy of the region.

As this map is my current focus, I'll continue updating the thread with additional screenshots as I complete more areas. Thanks again for taking a look and seeing what I have to offer. I hope to use the feedback I gain here to improve my terraining capabilities. Cheers.

 

[Pr0nogo]

Here's an updated shot of the base in the first image.

 

[Pr0nogo]

Someone pointed out that flags and banners could be useful in reinforcing the setting. As a result, I've begun adding flags to certain areas. It's just a shame that I can't apply my own decals to them.

Another recent focus of mine has been making sure that the transition from temple to jungle is as seamless and believable as possible. There's a lot of visual storytelling with the crumbling walls and statues, but I want to start off with clear borders where the temple was constructed, and then work my way backwards with the ruined, overgrown themes in order to create a realistic feel. In other words, rather than simply constructing an overgrown temple, I want to construct a temple, and then create the vines and the foliage and the ruins, so that it seems more genuine.

This is an example of where the temple starts to recede and the jungle starts to take over. There's a clear separation of where the temple was constructed, and where the jungle was left unpaved and untouched. My objective is for players to be able to 'see' how and where the jungle began invading the temple, so to speak.

Another concern of mine is performance. My computer is more than capable of running the game at max settings, but I'm unsure of how to properly optimise the map for gameplay, aside from upsizing doodads and using less of them in general. If any of my terrain draws any red flags for people who are more knowledgeable than I about such things, please let me know what I can do differently.

I've also completed some work on the complex.

A close-up shot of the first structure.

And the second.

The main goal here was originally to provide an implied entrance into the temple, but I couldn't find any doodads that would suit that purpose. I'll continue looking and hopefully stumble onto something that I can use. Of course, if anyone has any recommendations, feel free to make them known.

Thanks again to everyone who's posted so far. I look forward to everyone's feedback.

 

[Dr Super Good]

One should always make functional terrain first (map out the areas and purposes) and then add detail around that. It would be horrible if you spent all this work making the terrain to find out that gameplay needs something else.

Anyway it looks very good. It would not be out of place in a MMORPG or FPS.

 

[Pr0nogo]

As this is the first legitimate terrain piece I've created in SC2, I'm still on a learning curve, but I understand what you mean and will keep it in mind. I appreciate the feedback! Please let me know if there's anything I can do to improve it further.

 

[Pr0nogo]

With more work comes more screenshots.

The southeastern courtyard is overlooked by statues that, while old, remain intact, for the most part. Nature has begun eroding both them and the natural cliffs that reside beyond.

A recent installation, this landing pad serves as a dock for any of the dissident faction's vessels.

One of the two canals that run underneath the temple grounds has been claimed by nature, although the water contained within still flows.

This structure houses the entrance to the underground. If the door still had power, it would allow travel throughout the bowels of the temple.

I'm still iterating on certain doodad selections and trying to figure out pathing/performance, so as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[Pr0nogo]

A new area of the map has been completed - a distant shrine more thoroughly enveloped by the thicket.

On the approach to the shrine, a riverbank gives life to the jungle

The shrine itself is pictured here - a once-great place of worship that has fallen into ruination since the Aeon of Strife.

A direct shot of the shrine.

Worth noting, too, is that the lighting was changed between the last set of screenshots and this set. It's a cloudy day in this part of Aiur, what with all the rain, and I wanted to represent that more directly with the lighting. Please leave any feedback you have for the terrain - I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

 

[Avex]

God, I wish we could actually make this sort of stuff on Ladder.

Your detail work is very impressive. If you want some help with contrast and blending I would recommend the Shakuras City Debris Splat and Korhal Platform Grime Splats. I find these are effective in creating darker shadow/gradient effects between two manmade materials or manmade to natural materials.

 

[Pr0nogo]

I've been using the Shakuras splat in order to better illustrate that transition, especially underneath structures and ramps. I'll consider using them to add variety to the terrain - I just hope it won't affect performance.

Hopefully I'll have more to show soon.

 

[Br3akth3w1nd]

Do you use lightning effects? I found those to be insanely cool in my map. Maybe you could team up with a guy that writes code and make an awesome map. And about the flags, you could probably extract the model and edit it with your own symbol. I did that with one of the models, tho it was a long ago and I remember it was a rather painful process due to me being a total noobie in that.

 

[Avex]

Seems like he's just using the default "Aiur4Temple" light set.

 

[Pr0nogo]

In the first few screenshots, Aiur4Temple was what I used. I'm using a modified version of the ShakurasCity light set.