Assault on Trenth. City and surroundings

[Jaxilon]

Nice bunch of houses there Crayons

[Dain]

Are you talking the shape of individual houses or the shape of the group - e.g. grid stucture?
I can't help you on grids but I have a routine to generate random shaped houses. It's obviously pick'n'mix but if you can cut, scale, paste and rotate a transparent png artefact then would this sort of thing could be handy? Drop shadow would be your problem and (at the moment) the buildings have chimneys and roof slopes that are shaded according to the POVray scene used to generate them.
I can easily randomly rotate them so but then you have to choose the ones you want at the angles available...
Also available in different roof colour/textures and building sizes. They're a part of my 3D Town Generator thingy I'm working on. I can generate more if you like?
Attachment 28404

Well, I missed your reply ... that could have saved me a lot of time actually.
Your houses are gorgeous, I'll be happy to give it a try. How do we proceed?

any way, here is another update.
I worked on the river and believe it's better, probably to the best, but just better.
I still need to work on the city, add fontains, big market, piers, ships etc. I initially wanted to use only one colour for roofs inside the city, meaning the more consistent architecture and theme. But because some roofs get green with oxidation, I think I'll add more. What do you reckon?
I also need to update the cast shadow of the cliffs over this brand new river

The more I add, the more my computer is complaining. Jeeze, I'm going to kill it

[mearrin69]

Looking awesome, dude. Maybe too much wave on the river? And, we want docks!
M

[Sapiento]

Looks fantastic!

[Dain]

Looks fantastic!

Thanks, I try to push myself as hard as I can. Let's hope you'll think the same once the map is really finished

Looking awesome, dude. Maybe too much wave on the river? And, we want docks!
M

Thanks mate,
Yeah, a lot ripples on this water ... must be very windy around there, not good for holidays
I'll try to modify the weather

[Crayons]

Well, I missed your reply ... that could have saved me a lot of time actually.
Your houses are gorgeous, I'll be happy to give it a try. How do we proceed?)

It looks like it might be a bit late in the day!
Did you have a "play" with the sample png file I posted? Can you use images in that format, by (say) cutting and pasteing bits you want from it?
Is your image posted here at full size or reduced? - I can fit a lot more smaller buildings on a page if so. Basically it's about resolution...
The main issue is shadows. To keep shadows consistant I've rendered these with the "Sun" at the same angle as I approximated yours to be and done a whole load of buildings at different angles and at what variety of roof types I have at the moment.
I don't especially want to release the code for this just yet as it's part of a greater whole and I want to field that all together in one go. I'll drop out some routines from that code for the 2D community to use at that time. It all needs "tidying up" and making easier to use before then...

[Dain]

It looks like it might be a bit late in the day!
Did you have a "play" with the sample png file I posted? Can you use images in that format, by (say) cutting and pasteing bits you want from it?
Is your image posted here at full size or reduced? - I can fit a lot more smaller buildings on a page if so. Basically it's about resolution...
The main issue is shadows. To keep shadows consistant I've rendered these with the "Sun" at the same angle as I approximated yours to be and done a whole load of buildings at different angles and at what variety of roof types I have at the moment.
I don't especially want to release the code for this just yet as it's part of a greater whole and I want to field that all together in one go. I'll drop out some routines from that code for the 2D community to use at that time. It all needs "tidying up" and making easier to use before then...

Thanks for your help. I actually did try the package. At the end, it appeared to be quite nice, especially because of the big range of colours and shapes. But dealing with one house at a time was very time consuming. I've finally made up my mind and I'll use a quicker technique. The result may not be as nice as with your little houses but it's not too bad, I hope.
You'll tell me

I still need to do battle maps (or something similar) and your houses will then be more than welcome.
Can you adjust their size easily?

[Dain]

Another update, I'm getting closer to the final version now.

Thanks to the advice of mearrin, the weather has been changed and we have a far less windy region. No more ripples since they used to bring shiny/ glossy effects that didn't match well with the rest of the map, more .. let's say matt. I believe it has now a lot of contrast and gives ideas of depth when you look at them at 1:1 scale. Yet, I'll probably do something more about them, not sure what though.
The city is there now and houses follow reliefs rather than a more classical modern pattern. Despite they are all square based (a basic brush) I like them. I just try to refrain myself redoing the entire city with rectangle brushes. What do you think?
I've also done docks (don't pay too much attention at the texture, it's temporary) and 1 "barely OK" ships. I'll add some more along the piers and sailing, hopefully with a better aspect.

Is till need to work on the cast shadow of the cliffs and some small things here and there
Hope you'll like it.

[mearrin69]

Looking good. I especially like the areas south and west of the city. What about suggesting (at least lightly) some roads in and around (and to) those buildings to the north. I look at them and wonder how one gets there. Nothing highway-like...but maybe at least a trail to the home of anyone that's not a total hermit. Also, maybe some more small copses of trees in appropriate areas? You've suggested a very dry area overall but the farming area to the west looks quite lush and I don't see any suggestion of irrigation. Maybe greening up the rest of the map just a bit will tone down the need for an answer to the question? Just some thoughts. I really like the map!
M

[Dain]

Looking good. I especially like the areas south and west of the city. What about suggesting (at least lightly) some roads in and around (and to) those buildings to the north. I look at them and wonder how one gets there. Nothing highway-like...but maybe at least a trail to the home of anyone that's not a total hermit. Also, maybe some more small copses of trees in appropriate areas? You've suggested a very dry area overall but the farming area to the west looks quite lush and I don't see any suggestion of irrigation. Maybe greening up the rest of the map just a bit will tone down the need for an answer to the question? Just some thoughts. I really like the map!
M

Thanks for the comment,
Roads were indeed missing out. Done some narrow tracks here and there to link every pack of houses.
The more I look at the map and read the comments, the more I feel the map unbalanced. Everybody says the fields are great and this means to me that our eyes are mainly driven to the left side of the map. Something is therefore missing on the right side of the map to bring back balance and enjoy the map as a whole, ot just the fields and (maybe) the city.
Following your well-advised recommendation I've added some green to the rest of the map. I've also started to add more fields in the north and I'm thinking about adding some other in the south, but just a few. I believe it is for the best, even if I start to think that this map will never be finished as we always find something to improve
Keep up the comments guys, I love it!