[Battlemap][Wilderness] Feedback required for my battlemap progression.

[phoenix81]

Here's my first encounter map I've created from multiple textures.

Terrain 001 - [Multiple Texture Mix].jpg

I don't know if I've done enough for the shading of the terrain heights.

Terrain 002 - [Terrain Height][Light Direction].jpg

Then, I've added some details: blood trails & patches, and something weird that might go out to look like webs.

Terrain 003 - [Details].jpg

Still pending are top-down trees to support the web.

Please let me know what you feel about this map progress. All feedback is welcome. I'll keep posting updates as I enhance the map.
Thanks.

[Edit 01: I've used two separate layers for the webs. A darker grey layer is embossed and appears like some sort of corrupted black roots on the ground. A lighter grey layer is supposed to appear mid-air hung up from trees that I still have to place on the map. These light grey patches use a drop shadow that blur out to create a dark area underneath & surrounding it. Also, the light grey patch is lesser than that of the darker one. Besides, they're most probably a place-holder for the actual web that needs to be done thoroughly in detail.]

[Edit 02: I believe this map is complete. Refer to reply #4 of this post.

Please feel free to comment your thoughts.
Thanks.]

[XCali]

Hi there!

Welcome to the guild.

I see your shadows are shaping up real nicely. I do, however, feel your third version is doing odd things, the patches of grey feels out of place, mainly because it ignores the shadows you start to add in the second version. It overlaps the hills and looks just pasted on. I would suggest taking them below your shading layer, I think.
Another thing you might want to consider is putting the blood layer either on overlay(any mode you feel would give the best effect) or to darken it some, especially at the edges. It is too bright.

Now, this is an optional thing, it is harder to get highlights right, so if you experiment with it and you can get it right then awesome, otherwise just forget this for now.
Where your LIGHT hits the hill face, add a subtle touch of either a lighter value of your dirt colour, or the grass colour. This is either on the topside of the hill(preferably) or just below the line. This gives the idea of raised elevation more cleanly.

If you have any questions, be sure to ask

[phoenix81]

Hi there!

Welcome to the guild.

I see your shadows are shaping up real nicely. I do, however, feel your third version is doing odd things, the patches of grey feels out of place, mainly because it ignores the shadows you start to add in the second version. It overlaps the hills and looks just pasted on. I would suggest taking them below your shading layer, I think.
Another thing you might want to consider is putting the blood layer either on overlay(any mode you feel would give the best effect) or to darken it some, especially at the edges. It is too bright.

Now, this is an optional thing, it is harder to get highlights right, so if you experiment with it and you can get it right then awesome, otherwise just forget this for now.
Where your LIGHT hits the hill face, add a subtle touch of either a lighter value of your dirt colour, or the grass colour. This is either on the topside of the hill(preferably) or just below the line. This gives the idea of raised elevation more cleanly.

If you have any questions, be sure to ask

Thanks for your feedback, XCali.

1. Terrain Height: I was trying the create highlights with the wrong colours. And everything was too bright and funny looking shapes. I'll try using the browns & greens.

2. Grey Patches: I guess I should have mentioned about the grey patches in the original post. With regard to those, there are two layers. A dark grey layer is embossed and appears like some sort of corrupted black roots on the ground. A lighter grey layer is supposed to appear mid-air hung up from trees that I still have to place on the map. These light grey patches use a drop shadow that blur out to create a dark area underneath & surrounding it. Also, the light grey patch is lesser than that of the darker one. Besides, they're probably a place-holder for actual web that needs to be done thoroughly in detail.

3. Blood: I totally forgot to apply the pass through mode for the layer group (GIMP) & the darken mode for the blood. Sorry about that. I was trying to place the layer inside the layer group. Thanks for letting know.

Again, thanks for your advice. Appreciate it.

[phoenix81]

I finally managed to add the highlights and shadows for the terrain successfully. I wasn't using Pass Through on the Layer Groups, and I had put those layer modes on Normal. The same goes for the blood.

I've also substituted the previous weird-and-odd-looking webs with tree branches that creep in from outside the map.

Here are possibly the final images for day and night tint (with and without grid).

Wilderness [Day][No Grid].jpg Wilderness [Day][Grid].jpg

Wilderness [Night][No Grid].jpg Wilderness [Night][Grid].jpg

Please let me know what you think of them
Thanks.

Website references for textures:
http://texturelib.com (for ground textures)
http://www.dundjinni.com (for trees & creeping branches)
http://texturer.com (for ground textures)

[XCali]

Nice progress! It is definitely a few steps forward from the last post The tangle roots are nice.

[Probis]

Those look great! I love the nighttime filter!

-Probis