Haevenstad Harbor and the Ydisian Coast

[Vandy]

Hi, Greason Wolfe.

Am I to understand that the images you're showing in your last two posts are from Terragen? Are you using v0.9.43? (That is the version I use.)

I'm quite interested in what you're doing with your Terragen files.

Regards,

Gary

[Greason Wolfe]

Am I to understand that the images you're showing in your last two posts are from Terragen? Are you using v0.9.43? (That is the version I use.)

I'm quite interested in what you're doing with your Terragen files.

Regards,

Gary

Yes, that is what I am using for the time being (registered version for higher resolutions but the method can be applied in the unregistered version as well) and I'd be glad to share the methods. Besides working on this project, I'm in the process of re-writing a rather poor tutorial I did on the process a short time ago. All in all, I'm using FTPro to generate the basic elevation files (with a grey-scale coloring scheme) then using FEO to import them into Terragen. Not having much luck with SOPack though, but am working on it.

As long as I don't have any major disasters at work, I should be posting the first few steps (and some detailed explanations regarding a few of the problems encountered) in the next two or three days over in the tutorials sections. I'm not an expert at it, but I am managing to hack my way through it.

GW

[Greason Wolfe]

I did a little work with the cliffs over the last few days. Well, mostly it was some experimentation during what little spare time I managed to snag. The overall goal was to give the impression of vegetation creeping down along the faces as well as some water line vegetation. Don't know that I am one hundred percent happy with it yet, and I am still considering the strata effect as well. It's not bad as it is, but I think it could be better.

GW

[Steel General]

Pretty neat stuff GW!

If anything seems a bit 'off' it's the color of the vegetation - seems kind of bright (almost pastel-y) to me.

[Greason Wolfe]

Pretty neat stuff GW!

If anything seems a bit 'off' it's the color of the vegetation - seems kind of bright (almost pastel-y) to me.

Yeah, the coloring is a bit overpowering while I work out the slope and elevation limits. Once I've got those set, I'll re-work the coloring to tone it down some and (hopefully) build up a bit more texture. The sad part is, I probably could have finished this by now if I'd done it by hand, but I am just too darned stubborn to give up on the Terragen rendering until I know, one way or another, that the whole thing can or can't be completed in Terragen.

GW

[Ascension]

That's lookin pretty cool GW. Are you gonna try to add in some buildings? TG frustrates the heck out of me so I gave up on it a long time ago (the export never looks like what's on my screen...it always comes out overly blue with funky bits along the edges), but this goes a long way toward re-inspiring me.

[Greason Wolfe]

That's lookin pretty cool GW. Are you gonna try to add in some buildings?

That is my plan, eventually. Not sure what approach I am gonna take on it just yet though. Adding them into the existing elevation file is a pain in the arse, but would look better as far as scaling and shadowing go. Building them up as a separate elevation file would give me better control over them, but the scaling and light shadows might go awry.

TG frustrates the heck out of me so I gave up on it a long time ago (the export never looks like what's on my screen...it always comes out overly blue with funky bits along the edges), but this goes a long way toward re-inspiring me.

Are you talking about the rendered picture or the bmp export for editing terrain?

If you're talking about the render, it might have been a Gamma problem or an "atmosphereic" problem. They still whoop my backside every once in a while when I forget to tweak them along with the lighting conditions.

If, on the other hand, you are talking about the elevation file itself (as exported by FEO) one of the tricks I use is to not generate an FEB file to go with the export. It means having to adjust the low and high elevations every time I re-load the elevation file into TG, but it keeps the outside editing more controllable. As a side note, there is, supposedly, a way to use Wilbur with TG (via Firmament), but I haven't explored that side of things just yet, one of my future projects, perhaps.

GW

[Ascension]

The render. I'll spend an hour getting my terrain just right then another hour making sure that the vegetation looks good and when I render it, it looks awesome, but when I save it and open it up in PS it looks all bluish with chunks around the edges that cannot be stitched together.

[Greason Wolfe]

The render. I'll spend an hour getting my terrain just right then another hour making sure that the vegetation looks good and when I render it, it looks awesome, but when I save it and open it up in PS it looks all bluish with chunks around the edges that cannot be stitched together.

Hrm . . . That's odd, but it does sorta sound like a Gamma problem of some sort. I'll have to think about it for a while and see if I can simulate the same problem at my end and come up with a solution. And I only wish I could spend an hour here and an hour there. I'm such a perfectionist, at times, that it takes me forever to get things just the way I want them. I'm doing better with this project since I am bouncing back and forth between different parts and not getting overly frustrated with one thing in particular.

Anyway, I've actually managed to get quite a bit done today (in a perfectionist sort of way) though most of it has been experimentation. The promenade between the lower portion and upper portions of the town refused to cooperate when I tried building the switchbacks along the cliff face, so I went with the straight slope plan, masked it out and applied a different strata effect to it. With this last render, however, I noticed that my primary strata is peeking through the water, so I'll either have to adjust the strata elevations or darken my water a bit, not sure which way I will go on that just yet. So here's the latest render . . .

GW

P.S. If you still have an example of the problem, feel free to post it here, that way I'll have a better idea of what you were dealing with.

[Greason Wolfe]

So while I was at work, I set up a full sized render of the entire area just to see what it would look like. Of course, with my slow connection, I wouldn't even think of trying to upload it here, but I will upload a scaled down version. Mind you, I still have some work to do on the inland elevations, most of which need to be raised to some degree. And I haven't really laid out any rivers, lakes or roads. For the most part, I just wanted to get a feel for what it looked like on an overall level.

As for perspective of the shot, the camera was set at an altitude of approximately 3.8 kilometers with a pitch of -84 degrees along the north/south axis, and positioned about 200 meters due south of the central point of the land mass. The area visible in the shot is approximately 7.5 kilometers by 7.5 kilometers.

I'm definitely going to have to dial down the reflection spread of the sun at some point, and I did rework the promenade area some, but I'm still not sure if I am happy with it just yet. It's being almost as stubborn as I am.

GW