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Thread: Creating city map with height differences

  1. #1

    Wip Creating city map with height differences

    Hello everyone. Been a member for a while but this is my first post. Anyway I am creating a city map, my first, for a story I am writing. The problem is I don't know how to go about showing elevation differences that reflect the terrain. Any ideas would be great.

    I for whatever reason am unable to upload files here or on photobucket. I'll post a pic of what I have when I can figure out what the hell is wrong.

    Thank you.

  2. #2
    Guild Adept
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    It depends on the style you use. For a (pseudo)realistic style, a simple use of bevel and emboss in photoshop works quite well for me.

  3. #3

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    @ascanius - you need to make 5 posts first before you can link off-site content (kind of SPAM protection for the site.)

    It would be hard to make the best suggestion for you, not knowing what software you are using. There are many ways to create a sense of height in terrain. For buildings its a bit more difficult, but hand created shadows is a great way to imply height in buildings. I don't mean drop shadows, though that can work for the immediate, but only if all buildins are the same height. Photoshop/GIMP lets you use bump maps to simulate height for terrain. I use stacked beveled shapes extensively to imply height. Again it depends on how you work, and what software you use.
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  4. #4

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    Ok. I'm using the latest gimp. I have the terrain worked out already and it is very clear about the height differences from small inclines to very steep cliffs. To do this I used hundreds of lines, spaced out for gentle slopes and thickly layered for vertical drops. It's kinda like a drawing version of modern topographical maps. I don't really like the bevel, looked at it and wasn't thrilled, never thought about stacking it. Gonna look into the bump map. Thanks for the help. Now I just need to get three more posts then I have a feeling i'll get a bit more help.

  5. #5
    Guild Journeyer darkseed2012's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ascanius View Post
    Hello everyone. Been a member for a while but this is my first post. Anyway I am creating a city map, my first, for a story I am writing. The problem is I don't know how to go about showing elevation differences that reflect the terrain. Any ideas would be great.

    I for whatever reason am unable to upload files here or on photobucket. I'll post a pic of what I have when I can figure out what the hell is wrong.

    Thank you.
    I would suggest taking a look at my gallery on here. I have some maps based on USGS Topo and late 19th century fire insurance maps. Most people on here usually shaping to show the terrain as it would appear. Look through the maps on here and try some of the techniques. All I can say is try styles out and see what works for you and develop something that works for you.

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