Greyfrog Design Map Theory Part 2 - Designing with Displacements
When utilizing the design creation process I have described, creating a visually balanced map is easier than ever. Once you have decided upon the theme, general setting or idea I would like to introduce you to a style of map design i rather enjoy. I call it 'sand-boxing'. This is where you create a cube and hollow it out and inside becomes your sandbox. To fill up and detail to your hearts content.
I will begin by making a cube: 1024x1024x1024 then make it hollow with wall thickness of: 16 This hollowed out cube s a perfect construct for test areas or final maps.
I call them sandboxes because in the sand box anything was possible. The sand was really roads and my imagination was the limit to my fun. The theme and design style must be your statement, not everyone perceives in the same way so it is up to you to make your vision.
Imagination statement...
Fog swirls around the gravestones in the boggy forest. - Anonymous
I have chosen a theme, but now what? What is next? If your thinking this, I'm really not sure what to say except continue reading.
We come to stage two of the design process. Deciding on the skill set to design with, choosing the few that always make you say, 'Hey there, nice map.'
The second thing I am going to do is create the displacements that will be our ground cover. A swampy forest with some high ground for the grave site. We are going to want to create them smaller for better look to the terrain. I'll show you exactly what I mean.
In this next area you will use the select button and the clipping tool.
Within the construct, from the inside to the inside, create a cube. Don't overlap brushwork, fill the area inside the construct only, there is no need to drag it out into no mans land.
I created mine 64 high and placed it flush to the bottom.
The next step is to chop this one into sections, and create a group of perfectly separated brushes that will line up and look great with the displacement feature. Select the clipping tool, and cut this brush into 4 equal parts.
You will more than likely need to adjust your grid settings to cut the brushes in the exact center, which is marked by the 'x' in its center. once you have cut this piece into 4 equal parts i want you to cut it again down the centers to create 16 equal parts.
Yes i said 16.
The next step is to form the terrain. I enjoy the Terra-forming aspect of Hammer. Almost soothing how easy it is to make a sand dune or a garbage pile.
Once you have opened up the texture application click on the displacements tab, there you will see all of the options available for Terra forming your displacement.
The next part involved with our displacement terrain is the manipulation of the vertexes. Using the 'Paint Geometry' tool we can begin to mold out landscape, up or down, front or back, even side to side. this matting of vertexes is a great way to add realism, depth, shadows, and just plain eye candy to your designs. Now, as before explained, the brushes we created our displacement with are all equal dimensions, this is for ease of work. As the displacements, once created, will line up with the surrounding brushwork much cleaner if we use this technique.
It is good to keep things within a realistic eye when dealing with displacements and adding noise or manipulating the vertexes. Less is more, especially if you want to keep your displacement looking smooth and un-stretched. I use a larger area and a steep amount of movement to get started with. Then i tweak it all to perfection with a smaller radius and distance. I'm sure you'll find the right way for you on your journey.
I have continued on in my creative process and let my creative juices flow. based on the theme of a tombstone with swirling fog, in a bog i have designed with displacements, a few prop_static, and some custom brush work, a setting fitting of the description.
So as I leave to write another tutorial, hopefully have shown all of you how to design, using the techniques shown, a well themed map, with a subtle detail like displacements you can have a beautiful map.
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