Terraining - Waterfalls

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
Reaction score
716
Making waterfalls

Purpose: This tutorial introduces how to make a beautiful winter scenary and a flowing waterfall.

Frozen Throne Required

Getting Started

Make a new map, using Ice Crown Glacier landscape, 64x64. Choose initial tile snow. Now, untick enforce water height limits.

heightlimm.gif


Step 1 – Making the waterfall base

Start by selecting “increase cliff (one)” tool, and making a big, 1 layered and curvy waterfall base. Try not to make it too wide - it has to have 2 layers more.

Picture_1.jpg


Now add another layer on the first one. And finally, add the third layer. You should see something like this:

Picture_2.jpg


Step 2 – Adding the water

For step 2, start adding shallow water on the layers. Try not to delete all the edges, which surround the water. Also, try to avoid very squary looking places (altough they can be hidden). To get rid of most of the squary places, make your river 1 square wider than you want the final product to be, then use the Apply Cliff: Same Level tool to move over the river, making the cliffs go 1 square over the top of the water.

Picture_3.jpg


If you see this, then you have done everything correctly.

Step 3 – Getting rid of the edges squarness/adding enviroment

As you can see, the waterfall edges are square like and ugly. Start hiding them with doodads. I use icey rocks, some trees, floating ice and other doodads which fit the snow theme and look nice. Also, use icey waterfall on the transitions to make the waterfall effect cooler.

Picture4.jpg


Final Touch

For final touch, I add a polar bear, lost in the ice cold water, trying to hunt down some sleepy fish. Also a lone wolf on the mountains.

For better overall looking, set the global weather to Northrend Snow, which spices up the in-game looks.

Picture5.jpg


Picture6.jpg


Another waterfall, different landscape, same tehnique:


sametehnique.jpg
 
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Drake Aran

Guest
There's a known bug with the water because it goes up (crazy, uh?). See your last image, for example.

Anyway, good job. It may be useful, especially because the "bug" can be easily avoided. Check THIS
tutorial for more infos.

Anyway, good job.

EDIT: Lol! I've written "Anyway, good job" two times! Well, if you didn't understand, I really appreciate your job :D :cool: :nuts:
 
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Drake Aran

Guest
@ Stavious: No, it should be moved in the tutorial section.

@ Andrewgosu: Np :p You really have a great sense for terraining!
 

stavious

New Member
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24
Ok I get it. :eek:
Great terraining abilites. Wow, I'd like to see some of our maps. Do you put that much effort into every part of your map? Must be great. :D
 

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
Reaction score
716
Well.. I try, but if I have a big project (map sized 256x256) then it takes alot of time and patience to get it right.;)
 
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Drake Aran

Guest
Andrewgosu said:
Well.. I try, but if I have a big project (map sized 256x256) then it takes alot of time and patience to get it right.;)

Yeah...it's really a torture. I'm currently making a 256*256 RPG with 1st person camera mode (in fact it's a system of fixed cameras) and it's really painful to draw every single object trying to make it fit best with the all the other doodas and decorations, keeping some walkable space for the units too. So, I have to agree when you say it requires a lot of patience and effort.
 

stavious

New Member
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24
Andrewgosu said:
Well.. I try, but if I have a big project (map sized 256x256) then it takes alot of time and patience to get it right.;)
Yeah, that's what I thought, that's why I never really put too much effort into terraining before.
But when you make a beautiful terrain like the ones you made for the tutorial, the problem is that later the players can't actually walk there and therefore don't see it (unless in cinametic mode of course). Thus when you want to make a beautiful place for people to walk in you can't make it too crowded with doodads and objects and all. :eek:
 

Andrewgosu

The Silent Pandaren Helper
Reaction score
716
stavious said:
Thus when you want to make a beautiful place for people to walk in you can't make it too crowded with doodads and objects and all.

Yes, true. But you can make a beautiful scenary without overcrowding it with doodaas and units are still able to walk there, if you really want. (The Waterfall isnt the perfect example of it, but yea).;)

The areas where players walk and fight should be more detalied than the ares what players normally dont see. (Exepnt when black mask and fog of war have been disabled)
 

turondo

New Member
Reaction score
1
looks great, but you need to smooth the edges more in your last few pics, you can see how squarish and choppy it still looks, using the smooth tool makes it smooth and more realistic :D
 

Kenito

I Helps Most Goodly
Reaction score
42
Nice tutorials. Most mapmakers nowadays have the WORST terrain, ever. I take it you turned off "Enforce Water Height Limits" to make this (I just skimmed over the tut)? Either way, the points where the water meets the snow are too jagged and squarelike. When I get that problem, I use the raise tool around the edges, to make the land slope nicely out of the water, instead of something so jagged. That, or add on shrubs and other riverside foliage.
 
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Dessar

Guest
Ooh, this is old, But I tried it. I had a problem, I made the 3 layers of cliff, then I put shallow water.. and it went all the way to the ground, through the 3 layers, not at the top...?

Image:
untitled1copytb9.png
 
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