don't used dead or fall (brownish) trees.. Is that bad?

No, I tend not to use them either.

The forest looks pretty good, perhaps a little more variety in terrains would be good. Dirt often looks quite nice with forests.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

Here's a pic of the whole map.

[This message has been edited by Big D (edited 03-18-2009 @ 12:44 PM).]

Hey.. the screenshot (of the whole map) looks good... could you tell more about the scenario?

Well.. I call it a country map. dropped down 8 players. (7 ai) and then destroy them over and over... and theres a lot of other stuff like trees and water. It has no triggers or anything. It's like when you're bored and want some quick action. XD

The map is constantly "Evolving" eg minor changes etc.
Right now, the player is Huns and there is a feudal age frank town ripe for plundering. =D

There's not much sense of economy. just 99999 in all resources.. It's for action.. not gathering. Though there's hundreds of trees to chop if you want to. XD

Player 8 uses the "verden" ai (comes from TC cd I think) wich prevents them from resigning (somehow). That's why player 8's base is furthest away from the player's base, so if the others resign :P you can keep attacking them until only smoking ruins remain.

[This message has been edited by Big D (edited 03-18-2009 @ 01:03 PM).]

Looking good, but try to do more terrain mixing in the roads and more eleveations in the mountains. The map looks pretty square, but if it is your intention to be like that, it's ok, don't listen to me

the forest needs more terrain mixing.

I recommend placing trees individually from the GAIA units tab. That way you don't have the leaves under every tree unless you put them there. The mapshot looks cool, but I'm guessing that there's no terrain mixing, so if you want tit to be better add more different terrains. I find that using all the dirts and grass3 makes a pretty good base for most area types, except for deserts and snowlands.

Truth is. In about a week, I threw the map together because I wanted a reasonably looking map to play on. Thanks for the replies.

Yes, the forest looks really good. It has a very green feeling to it, and I like it. I can only agree with the rest though about more terrain mixing.

The forest looks good, although you might want to remove the gold there.. Just for the more realistic approach.

Edit: Was talking about the first screenshot

[This message has been edited by Dead_End (edited 03-19-2009 @ 02:16 AM).]

The roads are pretty straight and you should also mix the water around more too :P

It looks good so far, but it also definitely needs some work. I wouldn't call myself an expert at map design, but I have a few comments to throw out there. First off, in regards to the regular screen shot: It lacks direction. There are waaay too many trees to navigate through, especially in a B&D or FF scenario. I also like that the trees are spread out, but when you're not placing trees in solid blocks, you really want to use the Gaia > Other tree objects instead of terrain trees. This way, you don't get those tacky leaves beneath the trees that'll get spread all over the place when you put dirt terrain next to them. Also, as a designer, if you're going to have so many trees in an area, it's better to place them one-by-one as units. It makes going back and reediting the map a lot less painful.

Building off of what I said about direction, I think you need to sit back and try and think about what you want to do with the map before you start with the editor. Think about things like "What is this forest supposed to do for my campaign," "Why is the forest here in the first place," and "What area in the world am I trying to model this forest after" are a few good questions that you want to have in mind when you mess with the editor. Now, I'm not saying that you need to print out a whole mess of real life pictures to base your scenario off of, but thing tend to turn out a lot nicer when you have a model to base your work off of.

Have a goal in mind when you sit down with the editor. Your picture lacks this idea. It just seems a bit messy, in my opinion. If I was a player and I was sifting my units through the forest, I'd be too frustrated to enjoy the scenery. I can't image how difficult it'd be to navigate through there and that really knocks a point off of playability for me. Plus, with the sporadic tree placement, God knows where the player could wonder off to that you don't know about. I suggest you clean up the area a bit and let the player take in their surroundings without worrying about which way their unit is accidentally going. If you're trying to make a crowded forest, don't be afraid to set up a border of trees surrounding a path. Toss a few bunches of trees nearer to the path and away from that tree "border" to give the feel of an overgrown forest. Don't overdo it with those green flowers, though. They tend to make things look cluttered when they're overused.

Moving on, never, ever create "blocks" of terrain. Ever. In your mapshot, I see a lot of straight edges to the roads, forests, and shorelines. No, no, no, no. I cannot stress this enough. Even if a road or forest is built or cut down that way, they will never remain "straight" for long. Roads wither, shorelines recede, and forests become overgrown. Delete bits and pieces of a road to make it look worn. Take away a few trees here and there so that they aren't arranged in a straight line. Maybe the tide is larger on one side of the shore than it is the other. Make sure that your water shows this. Straight lines in the editor when it comes to terrain looks unrealistic and bland.

When it comes to trees, don't be afraid to throw some away from that tree "border" that I mentioned before. Small patches of trees look nice together, especially when you add additional Gaia objects to the mix. Don't forget your jungle trees; if you rotate one enough, you'll find two trees that look conspicuously like bushes that you would find in an actual forest. Don't be afraid to use those, too. Your roads shouldn't be surrounded by thick lines of straight forests that don't allow the player to travel off the path. Even if there isn't something story related off the roads, let the player explore and search around your map anyway. Don't always use water and trees to block off the player. Sometimes you just have to let them look around. A map is boring if all you see is a road surrounded by shores and tree lines.

All and all, the biggest issue that I see with your maps is the your "blockiness." Your towns and major locations seem to be arranged in a nice, neat grid. Don't let this happen to your maps.

I hope I was helpful more than I was harsh. Hopefully my blocks of text and rambling helped you in some way.

Great explanation, Hathor. I don't think I have anything much to add to that.

Your forest shot looks lovely, D, just spruce it up a bit by taking the aforementioned advices you deem fit. When it comes to placing trees, stay away from the terrain button, if you know what's good for you. It requires more time placing them down one by one but I assure you it's worth it. You'll be safer from editor crashes and dull-looking blocks of trees.

Always plan ahead before you decorate your map aimlessly with gaia objects. Think about what to put and what to not put. Or what not to put (God, I hate my grammar). Do you often find gold mines scattered around in a forest? In a random map perhaps, but in this case, I think not. Make it beautiful, but keep it realistic. A few dead trees are the way to go, living things do wither and die eventually after all.

Experimenting to your heart's content is the key. You don't have to nod your head and do every single thing advised to you, because people may have different views and tastes.

[This message has been edited by Andanu Trisatya (edited 03-19-2009 @ 08:01 AM).]

Wow that was a big read. XD

Yes it is blocky... I'm like a borg, or living computer XD
Thanks for the input.

[This message has been edited by Big D (edited 03-19-2009 @ 10:17 AM).]