Author Topic: Some hills and other duplicated crap (pagestretch woops)  (Read 898 times)


Just thought I should share some pictures of this build I made awhile back, I grew more interested in terrain with v21 approaching. I posted these in a Hogwarts build thread, and got a few nice replies so I figured to post these to the gallery for your eyes to see.
 And yes I know the bounderies are ugly, I couldn't think of much else to put there and I was aiming for just expanding up, not out. If this becomes popular or I feel like expanding it further, I'll be sure to fix it. And once V21 comes it will be the baseplate for a lot of my server ideas. The brickcount is 9323








Some quotes I got about the build
You, my friend, will be appreciated by the whole v21 community.
terrain looks alright.
flat boundaries look really bad
I can drive a Jeep right through them
They will cast a huge shadow over the map
#v21


Constructive criteria is okay, x/10 is fine also.

Your terrain needs work. The boundaries between flat and ramped are much too clear and not much gradual shaping is visible. As a first attempt for terrain this is good, but you'll need to consider a few more things to improve.

  • All your sloped sections are sloped at an exact, consistent angle which does not look good or reflect real life.
  • The edges between flat and sloped are too clearly defined and need graduation.
  • The cliff sections are relatively flat and shows consistent angle, once again unrealistic and ugly over such large areas.
  • Sloped sections are 100% ramps and therefore unable to be built on. Not too significant a problem, but notable.
  • Layers on the cliff and in the river canyon are easily discernable and perfectly parallel. Ideally they should not be as easily identified, or switch around in level randomly.
  • Patterns in terrain is a no-no. Have you ever seen regular rolling hills, sloped cliffs, or water boundaries in real life?

It just happens so that I'm working on a terrain guide to post in General Discussion, and this is an excellent example of things that you should and shouldn't do. Points on the sloping down from the ledge next to the river, as well as the attempt to gradualize the interior cavern walls. The main bad things about this build is the extent of flat areas and their sharp boundaries with the sloped areas.

Fixing is a little hard to describe with just words; if I have the time or am in the mood, I'll detail it here. Otherwise, look out for my terrain guide which will hopefully be posted by the end of this week, if all goes well.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2012, 05:12:18 PM by Conan »

welp, no one bother posting because Conan just posted everything anyone could say about this.  :cookieMonster:

welp, no one bother posting because Conan just posted everything anyone could say about this.
N-Now-now you SEE HERE, ever since that one build Conan made, the only posts he have made are about terrain!

welp, no one bother posting because Conan just posted everything anyone could say about this.  :cookieMonster:
sorry if i stole your thunder lol

i just take terraining seriously and hate seeing bad terrain. This is decent quality in most respects; I probably am a little too harsh since I don't like ramped terrain much, except for those few who manage to use it beautifully.


-clip-
Thanks for the help, I'll keep that in mind when I build more terrain builds. I intended this build to just be a 'what it would look like' as ramps, and also it was just a work on thing which had no porpose, so I was free to do whatever and make it as ugly as possible.
 I know that a lot of things are parralel and copying, but it was just easier for me, and even though you could say it was sloppy cheap work, it just made the build more of a fun activity then a stressful project.
 But thanks, i'll keep what you said in mind.

yeah, its kinda hard balancing beauty with simplicity. many a time I have questioned myself if my terrain will fit this TDM/CTF/build style and/or playability. It also gets tedious the better it becomes.


I guess its just a choice between "do you want to have fun with this" or "are you trying to show off stuff"

I intended this build to just be a 'what it would look like' as ramps, and also it was just a work on thing which had no porpose, so I was free to do whatever and make it as ugly as possible.
don't put yourself down, the river and the cliffs look nice and work well even though the style is extremely simple. Another thing I forgot to mention (look at me rant again!) is coloration is very important in making terrain convincing. If you scrapped the magical green moss that somehow covers the first 20 feet of cliff completely, and added a few more shades of grey, it would look great.


also i kinda stole the general design for a tdm I started working on today :I



on another note could I use this as an example for the terrain guide I'm working on? It won't all be bashing your build.

*shakes fist at walls confining a terrain build

-aaa-
Yeah, you can use it if you want, I don't mind if it's "This is what you shouldn't do!" I'm glad I'm making an example.
 And I wasn't putting myself down, hah, just noting that I could have done more if I wanted, but I was on a free play of just building up.
    I'm sure if I added like, trees and buildings and some more randoms I could disguise the whole copying terrain.
*shakes fist at walls confining a terrain build
yes I have to agree but then again I was just cutting things off. If I wanted to continue this (which you guys are slowly making me want to do) I'd actually out a cliff there. It would probably just be a 4x random cliff since I don't want to bother with slants any further.