Ok, with some suggestions from Jack and another read of Larb's tutorial I came up with this version of the Hexagonal Keep.
I took Jack's advice an changed the color of the keep's roof to make the lower version darker and added a shadow line. I think that -really- helped. It gave the keep's levels actual dimension. I may go back and keep blurring them because the shadow line kind of looks too bold.
I've added buildings into the layout to fill out a lot of the empty space and added in a paved walk between the towers and the keep. I gave the buildings different colored roofs mostly so I could tell the difference in their function. (Brown buildings for barracks and living quarters, etc.) I'll probably go back and try and give them a more realistic wood or slate shingle roof but that's after I finish the design and such.
Foliage was added in the nooks and crannies of the grounds as well as smoke from the chimney to give the map a bit of life and animation.
So at this stage I'm running into a few more questions that I'd like everyone's advise on.
1. Background and Exterior:
I picked a generic background tile that seemed 'grassy' to build things on. That's great but I think the surroundings need a bit more life. My first thought was to start filling the space with trees but that doesn't exactly look right.
Then I thought about the ground immediately outside of the walls. Would it be the same color as the rest of the 'grassy' area or it would it be discolored for some reason. So I experimented with a few blurred layers of dirt to give it the illusion of blotchy ground.
That's not looking exactly right so I tried an experiment with adding shades of greens and browns as sort of mossy ground cover to soften the harshness of the brown/tan lines.
It..."kinda" works. Suggestions?
Again, any overall comments would be welcome. I like where this is going but I think I can make it better.
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