Taking Advantage of 3-D

[Fister]

It will be some time before this map/project is anywhere near complete but I thought I would share. It helps to show that I am not just a forum lurker merely learning all I can from the talented persons who contribute here, I also try to contribute a little something as well.

My inspiration for this map concept comes from a city established in the bowl of a non-active volcano as presented in The Shackled City Adventure Path. The center of the city will contain a lake with concentric rings of streets and building rising steadily to the outer walls. I was intrigued by this city design because I thought it would be challenging and kinda fun to portray in the 3-D medium of Sketchup.

[Robbie]

Very nice indeed! I can't wait to see the end result...I'm a 3d artist myself and I love seeing what other people do to brign 3d into mapping. Nice...repped.

[ravells]

I love the gatehouse! I dabble in 3d work and am looking forward to seeing the rest of it. Bryce 5.5 is being given away free by DAZ, so that might give you some good options as to a textured terrain.

Ravs

[RobA]

Quick Question-

Are the horizontal lines on the building walls texture, or actual surface lines?

-Rob A>

[landorl]

The gatehouse looks pretty nice. It is a little hard to get a feeling for the shape of the land without texture to it, but that is something that can be added as you go along.

The concept of the city is pretty interesting.

[RPMiller]

This is going to be a neat project to watch unfold. Sketchup is quite the program.

[NeonKnight]

OOOoooooooo to have more free time to learn it (i have just too much on my plate to learn it).

[Fister]

Quick Question-

Are the horizontal lines on the building walls texture, or actual surface lines?

-Rob A>

The horizontal lines on the gate house are meant to imitate slabs of stone that make up the walls of the gate house. I haven't decided if they will stay or go as of yet. Perhaps slight coloration changes in the stone texture will be applied to convey this idea. I do have the option to remove all outlining lines from the model before export to a 2-D image.

Additionally, texturing will be one of my final steps because it tends to slow down the application. I agree that texture is needed. Terrain generation seems to slow the application down significantly as well, so it too will have to wait.

Thanks for the interest and comments, it makes the clicking away more worth while.

[Fister]

Here is the updated city with each of its levels supported with arches or plain stone walls.

The upper levels include government buildings and the wealthier persons with wealth decreasing quickly toward the lower/center levels. Additionally, crowding will increase, building materials used will be of lower quality and the building sizes will be decreased as well.

[kalmarjan]

Good work so far.

The only crit I really have is that there does not seem to be a way (unless it is underground) to traverse the different levels of the city. How are you planning to incorporate that in?

Sandeman