January Entry: Haevenstadt Harbor

[Greason Wolfe]

Well, after a rather dismal "tutorial" on converting FTPro results over to Terragen (one which I am currently re-writing, btw) I decided to put my own words into practice as part of this month's challenge.

As a new WIP, Haevenstadt Harbor is going to be an adventure in and of itself, especially since I've decided to work it up mostly in Terragen with a little help from PSP and FTPro. This is going to mean developing several layers, all rendered from specific angles in Terragen, then masked to create the overall scene. The fact that the area, as a whole, is dominated by sea cliffs, reefs, shoals and natural jetties hasn't made things any easier, but I am managing some slow and steady progress.

Haevenstadt Harbor (pronounce Hie-ven-stahd) is centered along a 300 mile stretch of coastline that is quite similar to the coastline along the northwestern portion of the U.S. and Canada. It is particularly treacherous for sea-going vessels and offers few areas for beaching during fall and winter storms. Haevenstadt Harbor is one of the few exceptions with a cove that is naturally protected and a lower portion of the town that is close enough to sea level for the building of docks and warehouses. With the exception of Lower Haevenstadt, the coast is dominated by sea cliffs, some rising as high as 300 meters before the land begins to level off. Even with that leveling, however, things aren't easy for travelers in the area, and as they move further inland, they encounter the Sturengard Mountains.

I still have a number of details to work up for the region, but figured I would start with a rough, regional map that is looking into Haevenstadt Harbor from a northwestern view point. The image is still in its roughest stages, but if you look closely, you will see a flatter area nestled in at the base of the harbor representing Lower Haevenstadt. This image, once it is fully detailed, will probably end up as a corner image for the overall map which will be a zoomed in version of Haevenstadt and its immediate surroundings. Given the nature of the project, I am suspecting that I will finish it up just in time for the challenge. Well, at least I am hoping to finish it up just in time for the challenge, whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

GW

### Latest WIP ###

[Greason Wolfe]

Welp, a little bit of work accomplished since my last post. Now our point of view is from the west and I've given it a little color to better identify everything. Still not perfect as I have to work the elevations a bit, and I'm intending to add some strata coloring to the cliff faces. I may also have to rework my surface layers some, just to get the correct feel to everything, but hopefully this gives a better idea of what the terrain is like. In any event, it is a little bit of progress towards the final destination.

### Latest WIP ###

[Redrobes]

Interesting - will be keeping an eye on this. Ground seems a bit bumpy at mo - unnaturally rough to my mind but will see how it goes and comment later on.

[Hoel]

I think it's not the roughness, but the uniform roughness. You should have some larger features like ridges and mountain ranges. The base layer of hills shouldn't be flat, if you know what i mean.

[Steel General]

Definitely will keep an eye on this one.

[Greason Wolfe]

Interesting - will be keeping an eye on this. Ground seems a bit bumpy at mo - unnaturally rough to my mind but will see how it goes and comment later on.

I think it's not the roughness, but the uniform roughness. You should have some larger features like ridges and mountain ranges. The base layer of hills shouldn't be flat, if you know what i mean.

A matter that I am fully aware of. It is still in the rough stages at this time and hopefully (assuming I have time today) I will be tweaking both the elevation model and the surface maps to reflect erosion and cultivation in some areas. I am also planning on laying out the major roads and rivers, but again, it might be later this evening before I have a chance to work on things because the #$%^ idiots I work with have, as is often the case, screwed things up again and guess who they call to fix them . . . .

[Greason Wolfe]

Okay, I did manage to get some work done, not as much as I'd like, but it's still a little progress. I am going to have to backtrack a bit, however, since I've lost some of the hard definition along the sea walls, but I have managed to smooth out some of the roughness (no, not all of it yet, it is a slow process of editing the base image and then modifying the Surface maps) and pushed some of the elevations a bit higher. The snow looks odd right now, but it's only serving as a marking point for now. I'll probably tool with this again later in the evening, after I've had some rest.

### Latest WIP ###

[Redrobes]

Its looking a lot more terrain like now. Well done.

[Greason Wolfe]

Well, I finally got a little time off, and managed to accomplish something with my challenge project. Did a little rework on the elevation model, hammered out most of my Surface Mapping and even managed to get a little wave action going. As far as the regional map goes, it is just about there. Going to be working on Roads, Rivers and Lakes in the next phase, along with tweaking the Surface Maps (where they need to be tweaked) and maybe even accomplish a little place naming somewhere along the line. Then it will be down to the nitty-gritty of actually working on the harbor itself.

GW

P.S. The only area I'm not liking at the moment is where the terrain coloring shifts from the lighter green to the darker green. From just south of the harbor and moving up to the north, it seems too "straight" so I'll have to work on that some.

### Latest WIP ###

[Nomadic]

Very nice, it does remind me of puget sound a little bit.