Swift's bag of W.I.P map delights

[Swift]

First of all I want to say, compared to the other maps being released at this time, this looks awful compared to them. Also the screenshots aren't great because my PC doesn't render things at a certain distance, so it looks bare.


Mid. Looks bare, cover is off screen for the most part.

Mid power.

Southern VP.

Northern VP. Bit close?

Aesthetic shot of northern power.

North eastern base.

More pictures to come, just posting this quickly now whilst I have time.

I would love advice on splat usage, more layering, since the grass textures so far look mismatched in some places. Is it too light? Too dark? Can't judge to well on the positioning of VPS and points due to my pretentious screenshots, I know.

Also, it's my first map, so be mean, really, really mean. I need the feedback.

[Indrid]

Hard to give much of an opinion on playability with little idea of structure or layout, but we can examine it aesthetically.

- The lighting is too washed out and lifeless, though this could just be because you're doing the lighting last as I usually do.

- You could make some adjustments to make the terrain look more natural:
1) Avoid using vast swathes of grass sprites, as it tends to look quite odd surrounded by no grass. Pro-tip: always use grass sprites with a brush size of 1, and dab them on. You're using ferns mostly it seems which are technically plants, just applied like a grass - but the same applies. If areas are not man-made, subtlety is always best for aesthetics. Don't use only one type of grass, vary them.
2) Same for tiles, be subtle if it's not man-made terrain. The transitions are too harsh - use low strength tiles with a 50% feather and layer them on, especially with grass-like tiles. For the rock surfaces, you should edge them with splats/splines against the grass tiles to give a more natural transition instead of just going one tile into another.

This is the busy-work of making a map look good, and where most of the time goes. Details, details, details.

[Swift]

No I can't give a good screenshot regarding playability at the moment, I have playtested it a fair amount with soem friends of mine but there's loads to do.

The lighting came about because one of them told me it was too dark, so I made it much lighter. I experimented with some other hues but none of them looked right.

I've been trying to make the rock textures look natural, I just ahve no idea how to use the spline tool to make them look it. The aesthetic is all over the place and I've been splatting and resplatting so many times, just can't quite get a nice jungle effect. I'll attach some more screens soon.

Also haven't done the DDS image yet since I don't know what to edit it with/how. Oh well.

EDIT: Changed the map a bit, this is in lilac (World editor says blue-grey)

This one is tan:

[MaxPower]

And talkin about gras/ferns. Just try the method I use whenever I'm placing ferns, think like fern, where would i wanna hide/grow if I would be a fern, well mostly in shadowy corners or around other objects. I'm a fuckin fern for christs sake not some peasant gras that grows wherever it can. I'm a fern I wanna hangout with the big boys, the trees and that manmade stuff.

Also if you wanna know how to do a "jungle" look watch my videos about "Tharsis Forge" on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTDN7NK1OXA2v1ulNR0f3gTwAJMygHSGR this should give you a hint how to do a good looking jungle.

If using splats, us the optimum size button, otherwise they tend to look too pixelated.

[Swift]

Yeah I've been watching your videos Max, they're pretty, but much too fast to follow for me to glean anything from

[MaxPower]

Well I could do a slower version then or I could stream me working on the map the next time if you wanna see that that is

[Batpimp]

I prefer the brighter version.

more cover more splats! Lots of angles of attack are good.

[Swift]

I'll be updating the splats and grass on the map, as well as fiddling with lighting. In the meantime, here's the world builder file, couldn't upload here so this is a link. http://www.4shared.com/file/zFxNX1inba/ ... ecoms.html?

[Ven]

Well I could do a slower version then or I could stream me working on the map the next time if you wanna see that that is

i would love to see you stream a part and maybe talk about what your thoughts are/why you're doing certain things etc. you can always record it at the same time to post up to youtube later.

after playtesting swifts map a few days ago i can say that its quite playable, it could definitely do some tweaking but from the moment i started playtesting it to now, its gotten noticeably better and is actually quite fun to play on now.

[MaxPower]

Sure it would be best though if i would stream it and you would kinda moderate the streamchat or ask some questions of your own, maybe we could get some of the other map makers on board as well.

Meaning like a small Q&A-section if they have a problem or wanna improve on something.

And for the love of god, uploade the file to a normal webhoster or to your google drive if you do have google drive.

[Ven]

Sure it would be best though if i would stream it and you would kinda moderate the streamchat or ask some questions of your own, maybe we could get some of the other map makers on board as well.

Meaning like a small Q&A-section if they have a problem or wanna improve on something.

And for the love of god, uploade the file to a normal webhoster or to your google drive if you do have google drive.

sounds like a plan.

also, 4shared is a fine webhoster, you just need an account for it to actually use it.
i'll download it and put it on my dropbox if swift hasn't by the morning.

[Swift]

I didn't think you needed an account for it. I'll try the drive in that case.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5e ... YxSDA/edit <-- There's the Google Drive link. Complain at your heart's content, I need lots of feedback.

[Indrid]

You need to share the file before we can access it.

[Swift]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing

Should be better now.

[Swift]

Updated map in world builder a lot, here is the world builder scenario: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing

I'm not good with splats I do warn you, it's quite hard to make things look natural.

[Swift]

I've had a bit of a mess around with the grass, so here's some screenshots from the map with heavy grass first, and no grass afterwards. The lighting is Light Orange at intensity 3.000.

Used print screen so you might see a bit of artifacting.


Mid - grassy

Mid

Pipes and debris - grassy

Pipes and debris

Power - grassy

Power

VP - grassy

VP

[EDIT]: Mid of map now with ferns and lighting lower to 2.000 light intensity.
I did follow your advice for this Max, most of the ferns are put in shady spots, under trees or around other blocks of plants, but this particular picture doesn't show it off too well since mid has no trees.

[MaxPower]

Is it just me or does it take ages to load the pics?

[Ven]

Is it just me or does it take ages to load the pics?

i think its because they're 1080p.

[Swift]

Is it just me or does it take ages to load the pics?

i think its because they're 1080p.

No.

They're cropped down from 768p.

[MaxPower]

just use shift or ctrl + f3 in the worldbuilder and it creates a jpg for you. And use a fast picture hoster like imgur (even though it imgur lessens the details a bit)

[Indrid]

It's because you posted them in .PNG. It's a lossless format more suited to graphics, not screenshots or photos.

Anyway, you've overdone it with the grass imo. As I said, vast swathes of grass sprites never looks good (IMO). It looks more natural if you use them sparingly, dabbing them on gradually especially around places where you would not expect units to be stomping around so much. Also, more variety than two types. I think I used 6+ types of grass sprites for Kathari, Relic maps I think use at least three different types.

[Swift]

No more screenshots at this time because on my computer they don't come out so well with lots of the things degenerating at a distance so here's the world builder file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing

[MaxPower]

You have to upload all the files that belong to this map if we should check it out with the worldbuilder.

[Swift]

You have to upload all the files that belong to this map if we should check it out with the worldbuilder.

Oh I see well I'll do that then.

Sorry they aren't in a folder, I'm incompetant, you'll just have to bear with me:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3RSq5 ... sp=sharing

Also Max I discovered I wasn't hitting enter to create the Spline, which was the problem :/

[Swift]

Updated images: they're a bit dark unfortunately, I'll boost the light intensity, just wanted the ambience to match the rain which I was experimenting with adding. There is a fair amount of artifacting on the in game screenshots, so it does look prettier, honest

There are a few things I need to clean up yet: A few out of place splats from old cover, lighting, rain (if any) and the colour of the cliffs, which are too monotonous a grey.

[Indrid]

Well the lighting looks WAY better I think.

[Swift]

Well the lighting looks WAY better I think.

Glad you like it. Been working on aesthetic enhancements.

But a couple of screens now of some major balance overhauls concerning attacking and defending the naturals. I'll be playtesting this on Thursday hopefully.

Note to all who want to know about layout: I'll post the layout of the map very soon when I know how to edit DDS files.

Southern VP: New approach.

Southern VP: Old approach + moved the VP.

Northern VP: New approach + moved VP.

[Swift]

"Latest auspex reveals sir, and we've spotted traces of intelligent life..."



Could it be? After all this inactivity, something useful might actually be in the works? You'll have to wait and see...

[Swift]

Another pretentious screenshot. Hooray!

[sterling]

I like the style of this. Looks a bit more evil and sinister than the usual ice and snow maps...