Cabin/House/Thing

[Green-Pilgrim]

Ok,

So after working on the Hexagonal Keep, I thought that I would try my hand at creating a house / cabin / thing. This time, however, I wanted to use a more realistic looking roof. So I knocked together what I'm calling a rustic house with a single dormer and a front porch. That didn't take too long and I like how it turned out.

Then I tried to attach a fenced-in yard in the back for livestock or something and that's when things got a bit more complicated.

house-01.pnghouse-02.png

Anyone have any suggestions or tutorials for making ground (in a backyard) look more...backyard...ish?

Also need help with fences.

Thanks.

-GP

[Tomalak]

What kind of animals are you imagining being in that area? Generally, a pen/pasture would be much larger than that. Then again, if this is a kind of house that will be repeated many times in a single village or city, then I think you've got a good one right there. All I would change is the shed in back ought to have a slant-roof to keep rain off, and the shadows are odd because they go in too many directions.

The big thing about 'backyards,' at least in the modern sense, is that they are cluttered. If there's no mess, then there's a walkway & a water feature, a picnic area, or a bunch of trees & bushes. So, try putting stuff in it!

[Green-Pilgrim]

Yes, the backyard will have a few more things in it. I need to figure out how to make the roof of the shed to appear to be slanted rather than flat. Any suggestions?

Ideally the whole thing will be repeated over and over again within a larger map area. This should be a small backyard for small animals like chickens or maybe a pig or a goat. Nothing too complex so it's more for a home kitchen garden and an out house.

Thanks!
-GP

[jtougas]

Thats a very nice little house. As far as your question, think about what you might see in a fantasy setting "backyard" the dirt texture is nice but you could put a layer of "marks and gouges" on top of it to make it look like there is a lot of activity there. It's a simple matter of drawing some random scraggly lines and dark patches and then lowering the opacity so that it's just barely visible. Animals make a nice touch as well. Chickens and perhaps a goat or two wouldn't be out of place. A few barrels and some hay here and there would also make it look more "lived in". Don't forget things like weeds and maybe a tree or two on the outside of the fence. Keep up the good work !!

*EDIT*

Here is a quick sample I made using your original image to give you some ideas.

house-02.png

[Bogie]

Agreeing with everything that has been said. I would add that having the pen be the exact same width as the house looks odd. There's nothing wrong with doing it that way, I just don't like how that big house/pen rectangle looks. JT's trees break that rectangle up nicely, and another option would be to pull the shed to the left so it isn't inside the corner, but outside of it, again breaking up that rectangle.

My other constructive criticism is that while I really like the house roof, when I look closer I noticed that you forgot to flip over the tiles on the upper half of the roof. The tiles face upwards and rain will run into the house.