[MAP MAKING] Tips and Tricks

Ithikial

Ithikial

FGM 2ND IN COMMAND
Staff member
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
4,720
Reaction score
2,700
Age
40
Location
Perth, Australia
A thread to post little tips and tricks you've discovered while placing tiles in the map maker. Good combinations? Or tricks to get that unique look?

Please share a description and pics below.

Update: As moderator, I may clean up the thread at a later date so only the information posts remain. Saves readers scrolling through pages of tips trying to pick them out one by one. Any wishes not to do this please let me know.
 
Last edited:
Gorgeous Marshes

The following picture is from my Joe's Bridge Scenario for CMBN that will be finished once the 3.0 upgrade comes out. I needed to create marshes with tracks through them (judging by some of the mud maps I had found with sources), that locals would use to get around between neighboring properties.

The result (Aris terrain mod):


And how the map tiles looks:


1. Start by placing swamp tiles across the area.
2. Place mud tiles for three tiles in the direction of dirt roads/paths will go through the swamp.
3. Place dirt road tiles in the middle of each mud tile as required.
4. Replace the mud tile directly under each road with a 'sand' tile. Add extra sand tiles at sharp corners where you would expect vehicles or carts would take 'short cuts' and cut the corner.
5. Add brush over all the mud tiles. This will ensure the swamp->mud tiles blend a little better.
6. Elevations - Add two elevations (2 m) to the road tiles so they are well above the lower point where the water has pooled. Ensure each mud tile is one elevation (1 m) above the swamp tiles. This will make the the scene look like earth has been piled into mounds to ensure a path remains dry but still looks like nature is trying to take over.

Other tips for swamps.
- Don't forget the odd tree to break it up a bit.
- Add fords and water tiles (with one elevation lower that the swamp) for where the water has fully reclaimed the area.
- Don't go great back to normal grass tiles. Swamp -> Mud -> Extra Long Grass. Water is water and things like growing fast where lots of it is around. :)
 
Where is the file I uploaded where you could see all the different objects in the scenario editor?
 
I thought I already did o_O
I'll do that again tomorrow after my nightshift.
 
Tips for Making 'Lived In Houses.'

Houses with a fence border alone doesn't really give off that lived in feel. How many houses with back yards actually have no trees in real life? (Quiet you Europeans in your high density cities :p ). Currently with what's available in the scenario editor there are two main options to spruce up a back/front yard; on map options and doodads in 3D preview mode. Doodads especially can take a very long time to place and get right. In the examples below, this scenario they are taken from took all day for me to cover the entire map, then go back and touch up to help make it gel. Adding doodads and touching up details on the map to make it feel 'lived in' adding that extra layer to the game and can help avoid a CM battle feeling like it's being played on a bland on an old fashioned tabletop. (Not that there is anything wrong with table top wargames. :D )

Map Options

- Firstly when placing a house ensure it is a little off the road unless there is a specific reason. Usually this is due to you copying directly from a map or some regions having very strange building codes that don't take into account cars and Panzers.
- Add fences and walls around individual properties. Keep them consistent in more built up areas as walls especially are generally built along whole streets at a time by a developer. Regional areas can be a bit more ad hoc.
- Add a tree or two, or maybe some shrubs around the house. Keep it a little bit more organised as gardens are usually planned. (Think of the housewives with the green thumb).
- If building off a historical map or GoogleMaps don't be scared to ignore it and go a little creative within the immediate space.

Example

Simple back yard 'pig trough' using mud tiles and a fence. Just need dead pig doodad... :rolleyes:

Doodads
- Be creative and and find the doodads that 'go together.' Crates, barrels and sacks for instance used in volume make a good 'supply depot.' Back yard vege patches usually come in groups, especially in this era as some families tried to use their lands for crops as food was at risk of being scarce. Back yard vege patches probably aren't going to have mountains of hay stacks laying around though.
- Place them in realistic places and think about where the occupants of the house would place them. Outhouses generally don't go next to the back door and smell up the house.
- Doodads can cross over or blend in with existing terrain features. Look at the pic above, in particular the house overlooking the backyard.

Some other examples...
An organised garden and work area. Obviously home to a green thumb.


The abandoned and run down house. Looks to be abandoned for some time and been used as a dumping ground for neighbors rubbish. Also appears to have been ransacked by a desperate group. Firewood perhaps?

- Don't be scared to go back into the map and edit the tiles to suit. In this instance I went back and added in extra tall long grass tiles to help give it that overgrown feel.
- Let the player fill in the blanks. If you look closely you can see a couple of tombstones in the back yard. Perhaps someone in the household was killed earlier and the family moved away?


These examples are from an unreleased scenario of mine that will be finished once CMBN V3.0 is released. Need those AI triggers. Lets hope with the upgrade or some packs we get more terrain options and doodads to tell more stories.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom