Trees are one of the basics when filling a map up – it’s an easy way to remove dull and empty spaces. However, with the help of this guide you can turn plain forests into something special and different – something that stands out and adds that + to the map design. There are many ways to create different types of mixed forests, or special trees – have a look at some of them below.

Mixed forest

In the below picture I have mixed 3 types of forest – Tundra, Pines and Oak forest. Using the smallest brush setting, place down some oak trees, and then some pines and tundra trees afterwards. Also, don’t make the forest too thick, which is unrealistic IMO. Real life forest trees aren’t packed that close together as well. So leave some empty spaces between the trees, and make it somewhat look like this:

Mixing tundra trees with snowy pines give also a nice effect.

Special Trees

Special trees include cinematic trees, Tamarisk tree, the Hesperides tree and Gaia trees. They aren’t used often, but they can create a nice effect:

Trees you didn’t know about

Using the enlarge feature (press K when you selected an object) in the Titans, you can create weird looking trees such as this enlarged tundra tree:

Try experimenting with different trees and enlarge them or make ‘em smaller. They can really give nice effects:

Swaying Trees/Forests

You can even make swaying trees using the Walking Trees. Now make sure you block them so they cannot move (you can use the invisable walls for example to close them in) and place them in a bit of thick forest, so you can hide their roots. It now looks like wind is blowing through the forest. The only problem is when the animation turns 90 degrees, but nevertheless it’s a nice effect:

Tilted Trees

Using reyk’s Xeditor, you can tilt trees to various angles. This makes trees look even more realistic, or look like a meteor struck the forest:

You can also tilt them at a 90 degree angle, so they “lay” on the ground as logs.

You should now be able to create realistic looking forests, just mix some different trees in and add some stones or whatever to make it look perfect.

I hope this guide helped you. Comments or tips are greatly appreciated!

- PhatFish