June/July Lite Challenge Entry - Celtic Hill Fort

[Gidde]

I like the new houses much better than the round ones.

[Seraphine_Harmonium]

I like the new houses much better than the round ones.

...The new ones are round too...

[Blaidd Drwg]

Looking good!
One nitpick: isometric can be tricky in the sense that it's hard to tell sometimes whether objects are positioned behind eachother or above. See this picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IsometricFlaw_2.svg
I have that problem a bit with the part of the hill with the castle on it and the lower ground behind the hill. Maybe you could push the woods back a bit by making them a bit lighter/more vague? Like atmospheric perspective used in paintings?

EDIT: hmm, it could be due to the grid as well. Because it continues through the pallisade, it gives the impression of flat ground. Maybe if you got rid of the grid in the background, it wouldn't be confusing anymore

[Seraphine_Harmonium]

Looking good!
One nitpick: isometric can be tricky in the sense that it's hard to tell sometimes whether objects are positioned behind eachother or above. See this picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IsometricFlaw_2.svg
I have that problem a bit with the part of the hill with the castle on it and the lower ground behind the hill. Maybe you could push the woods back a bit by making them a bit lighter/more vague? Like atmospheric perspective used in paintings?

EDIT: hmm, it could be due to the grid as well. Because it continues through the pallisade, it gives the impression of flat ground. Maybe if you got rid of the grid in the background, it wouldn't be confusing anymore

I could probably manage to fade-out the grid in the background, while leaving it intact on the foreground below the hill. Do you think it would help if the forest was blurred somewhat?

[Ghostman]

The new houses do look to be better aligned to the horizontal plane than the earlier ones.

As for the height effect, maybe just use a different color for the gridlines on the hilltop?

[Hai-Etlik]

To me the grid on the flat ground but not the slopes doesn't work. I'd either go with no grid, or, if you are up to it, trying to make the grid fit the terrain, something like this:

[Gidde]

...The new ones are round too...

True; I should have been more specific. I like the more complex ones as opposed to the only-round ones


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[Blaidd Drwg]

I could probably manage to fade-out the grid in the background, while leaving it intact on the foreground below the hill. Do you think it would help if the forest was blurred somewhat?

Hmm, well. It took another look at it and I think Hai-Etlik has a very good point with the warped grid (I have no idea how to make one; maybe you can use his or download one somewhere?). Added benefit: it makes the slope more pronounced/visible.
Also, I think the problem is not so much the grid as the pallisade at the bottom of the hill. When it runs around the back of the hill, it disappears completely, giving the impression that it is either underneath the hill and fort (which is impossible) or that the slope of the hill is vertical there and the pallisade is built against it. Maybe if you show the tops of the wooden poles peeping out above the hill's edge, it will set the hilltop apart from from the woods behind it.

I'm not sure if you understand what I mean. I find it a little difficult to explain. I could do a sketch if you like?

[Seraphine_Harmonium]

To me the grid on the flat ground but not the slopes doesn't work. I'd either go with no grid, or, if you are up to it, trying to make the grid fit the terrain, something like this:

The idea in principle has occurred to me, but I am with Blaidd in that I have NO idea how to create that kind of warped grid.

I think the problem is not so much the grid as the pallisade at the bottom of the hill. When it runs around the back of the hill, it disappears completely, giving the impression that it is either underneath the hill and fort (which is impossible) or that the slope of the hill is vertical there and the pallisade is built against it. Maybe if you show the tops of the wooden poles peeping out above the hill's edge, it will set the hilltop aart from from the woods behind it.

I'm not sure if you understand what I mean. I find it a little difficult to explain. I could do a sketch if you like?

No, I think I get what you are saying. And I could try showing some of the slope in the background, to have the palisade show up behind.

[Hai-Etlik]

The idea in principle has occurred to me, but I am with Blaidd in that I have NO idea how to create that kind of warped grid.

Well, I wrote this little Ruby program to make that image.

require 'matrix'

def height(x,y, r1, r2, h)
  r=Math.sqrt(x**2+y**2)
  return 0 if r>r2
  return h if r<r1
  return h*(1+Math.cos(Math::PI*(r-r1)/(r2-r1)))/2
end

# Isometric Projection
def project(x,y,z)
  sr3=Math.sqrt(3)
  sr2=Math.sqrt(2)
  m=1/Math.sqrt(6)*Matrix[[sr3, 0, -sr3],[1,2,1],[sr2, -sr2, sr2]]

  v1=Vector[x,y,z]

  v2=m*v1

  return v2[0],v2[1]
end

puts "<svg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">"

r1, r2, h = 175, 450, 100

(-10..10).each do |i|
  x=i*50
  d=(-50..50).map do |j|
    y=j*10
    
    z=height(x,y,r1, r2, h)

    project(x,y,z).join ','
  end.join ' '
  puts "<polyline points=\"#{d}\" style=\"fill:none;stroke:black;stroke-width:3\" />"
end

 
(-10..10).each do |i|
  y=i*50
  d=(-50..50).map do |j|
    x=j*10
    
    z=height(x,y, r1, r2, h)

    project(x,y,z).join ','
  end.join ' '
  puts "<polyline points=\"#{d}\" style=\"fill:none;stroke:black;stroke-width:3\" />"
end
puts "</svg>"