Cinzienne (large, late-medieval city)

[GreatWhiteNorth]

If I might ask Arsheesh, which colors were you concerned about? The buildings?

[arsheesh]

If I might ask Arsheesh, which colors were you concerned about? The buildings?

Sorry, guess I should have been more specific. Yes I meant the buildings. The other colors look very natural.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Kiba]

Watching the city progress and this DEFINITELY looks like a metropolis that's stuffed to the gills! I can't wait to see all those weird in-progress colors turn into realistic ones!

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Before tackling the rooflines and shading of the buildings, I wanted to also nail down the aesthetic I was looking for with surrounding farmland. I'd like to hear opinions about my resultant conundrum. I've tried out two different styles for the crop rows of the farms, and I'd like to know what you think about which one looks more real or natural (at least with regard to the map). One style is much closer together, the other has rows farther apart. Here's an actual pixel example, with farmhouse in the upper right corner.

Crop Row Questions.jpg

Personally I lean towards the close rows option, but perhaps once the rest of the details are added (dirt, paths, trees, hedgerows, etc) the other will look better. In any case, what do you think?

[Korash]

I like the one at bottom middle. I would suggest that you vary/delineate the rows a bit, because they look too ...modernly straight. Here is a view of a farm I got from google earth at about what I think is the same scale.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Thanks for weighing in! Were medieval farm rows not straight? I mean, obviously not as straight as rows created by a tractor, but how uneven were they?

[Korash]

Given that back in the day furrows were done 1-3 at a time and with a horse or ox pulling the plow with a human stumbling around behind steering the whole affair, the rows would be as straight as they could make them. Which would not be AS straight as dozens of rows done with a plow pulled by a tractor with the human guiding it sitting in the cab...The one I like seems to be a bit too close to a modern farm. Otherwise I like the colors and feel. The clarity of the rows would also be modified by what the crops are and how far along is the growing season. Maybe not even noticeable for the growth...

[Larb]

From what I've read medieval fields were usually long narrow strips (so that the ox pulling the plough can make as few turns as possible). And they ploughed from the outside in which pushes dirt towards the centre. That is why you ended up with this sort of landscape after many years of farming.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

So from a technical standpoint, how can I improve the look? Basically the way it's constructed so far is that I have a brush (in Photoshop) comprised of 6 or 7 circles in a row, and just drag in to draw in the rows. Do you think playing with the jitter controls will improve the look, or do I need to take a different approach, such as drawing them individually?

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Ok so I tried a few new things with the next set of crop rows. When it comes to the rows, which field looks the most natural?

Also, while I'm figuring out exactly how to draw the rows, I've put them on hold, and started working on trees as well, so feel free to comment there too.

Crop Row Questions 2.jpg