changinng the orientation of textures?

[Heavymeds]

I have a problem that I'm trying to solve on an encounter map that I am making for my gaming group. In the map, I have a major, paved road that I am trying to figure out how to texture properly. The problem arises because the road isn't running vertically or horizontally and the texture i want to use isn't really suitable for slanted orientations. Does anyone know how I could either rotate the texture or, generate decent looking cobblestone that can have an arbitrary rotation? Oh, and I'm using Gimp.
Here is a picture of the very much unfinished map just for reference.
roadside_ambush.png

[Lukc]

I would think there is some way to apply the texture to the layer, say "rasterize it" or something like that, and then rotate the layer itself ... but I PS myself, so can't say what the Gimp terminology would be.

[Ghostman]

1. Create a new layer.
2. Set the height of the new layer to be somewhat greater than the height of the image canvas.
3. Paint a straight vertical road on that layer, from the bottom to the top, and texture fill it.
4. Apply rotation on the layer so that it's angled at a desireable angle.
5. Move the layer so that the road is positioned where you want it to be.

(NOTE: this is a rather ineffective way to accomplish the desired result, but it's the easiest to explain. It would be more efficient to fill and rotate a floating selection.)

[Midgardsormr]

Just fill the layer with the texture entirely, rotate it to your desired angle, then use the road shape as a mask. Not only will that solve your problem, but it's also a non-destructive way to work, allowing you to alter the shape of the road later on without having to retexture it, and you can even touch up the edges easily to fix cobblestones that were cut in half by the mask.

[Heavymeds]

Thanks for the replies, I guess filling a layer and then rotating it is kind of obvious in retrospect.

[ravells]

Just as a matter of curiosity what would you guys suggest for a 'wiggly road' which went in more than one direction? Probably best to use a brush for that sort of thing?

[Lukc]

I'd hand brush it, maybe use a pattern overlay and fade it a bit with some masks or something ... but I kind of suck at automating things in photoshop!

[Midgardsormr]

I think if I were doing a cobblestone road like that, I'd make or find a non-directional cobble texture: round stones spreading in every direction, so that orientation didn't matter. Fill a layer with it, throw on a mask, paint in the wiggly road, then touch up the edges. Come to think of it, though, a sandy verge would be quicker and eliminate the edge problem. I'd have to experiment to come up with the most effective way of doing it, but off the top of my head, I think copy the mask, then a find edges filter, and use that as a mask on a sand texture. Copy the sand layer and mask, blur the new mask, and set the copy's blend mode to Dissolve to get some sand scattered over the stones. Maybe treat the blurred edge with some noise to introduce variation in the width of the scattered sand.

That's just guesswork, though. I'd have to actually fire up Photoshop and try it to know how good a solution it would be.