I think the hills look OK, you definitely appear to be getting the hang of doing them.
Maybe its just me, but I still think what these maps need is some kind of texture for the grass, etc. it just appears "flat" (for lack of a better word). Not sure what you can do in CC3 as far as that goes. Or hell, just ignore my ramblings and leave it the way it is.
It all depends on the look you're trying for.
With or without the texturing these are still nicely done.
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
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CC3 can do textures. Actually, I am already using a standard texture for the background
But I don't think I am gonna change the background. I don't want my maps looking too realistic (like photo-realistic)
Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.
Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...
Personally, I kind of like the grass the way it is. I tend to not like the photo-realistic look either. I think that this look has a nice, artistic feel to it.
That yellowish one looks really good. The deal with the hills fading out when zoomed in is that you're probably reducing the opacity on the whole layer or blurring it out too far. What you're looking for is a smooth transition from flat to slope so you're initial thought was on target there but use an airbrush tip set to a low opacity and use a more painterly "brush stroke" to build up the dark color so that it won't fade out. One of Pyrandon's tutorials explains it much better than I am.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Originally Posted by Ascension
Note sure if CC has brushes like that. One thing I have done a bit in the past with Fractal Mapper is to create several slightly bigger layers with the lower ones being bigger than the ones above AND make the lower ones a bit more blurred and more translucent. This gives somewhat of a fade effect in a program that does not have direct brush effects such as Fractal Mapper without looking "too" bad. Granted, it is by no means the best, but it might be something CC3 can do fairly easily.
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Good idea, done that myself a time or two, forgot that CC3 might not have a brush (doh).
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Thanks for the comments and tips guys. I am certainly not done with experimenting with hills
Anyway, I started another large city, because I am a sadomasochistic. Not Concetron or Sirilion large, but still large. WIP of Westdiep (Westdeep) below. I will give a city description when the map is done.
I have cut and pasted this map together, at some places the pieces don't match. I will fix that in the next version.
Still, I think this map is going to rock. This is the first map I am working on that I am truly happy with. (Sure, there is always room for improvement).
Last edited by Gandwarf; 10-10-2008 at 08:14 PM.
Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.
Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...
Still looking Great!
Well, another one bites the dust.
Westdiep is a large fortified town located on the northern shore of the lake and lying between the great cities of Miston and Concetron. It can be considered the bread basket of the north of the Valley. There's a lot of agriculture going on and the harbor and river see a lot of traffic from grain barges. Only Blauwhaven has a larger harbor.
The city has seen a lot of fighting as the wizards from both Miston and Concetron wanted to control the area. There are watchtowers on both river banks and a large castle of the hill overlooking the town. The city walls also protect the islands as the lake will sometimes freeze up during the winter.
The rulers of the city never allowed large concentrations of houses near the city walls (or on the hill where the castle is located), but nowadays people are starting to settle on the shores of the river.
The Alliance maintains a large militairy presence in the city, although not as large as in Meerzicht which is located just east of Westdiep.
Last edited by Gandwarf; 10-12-2008 at 06:10 PM.
Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.
Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...
More great work, keep it up!
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
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