Camping Loop

[Deverezieaux]

Hi gang, been holding off making anything since Alpha 20 is on it's way and I'm sure I'll have to fix my existing POIs. That said I decided to work on something relatively simple and am putting together a camping loop. Still a work in progress, but it shouldn't take too long. It's a large area, but relatively simple.

[Deverezieaux]

Here's the "final" version of the camping loop. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gldveH2NKBvz0k38JhWi2aRofoqqov32/view?usp=sharing

 

I'm not thrilled about the end product. Since I used the random tree helpers throughout it, it changes every time you reset for a quest. In theory that's fine, but sometimes the random trees work great, sometimes not so much. Using trees to define a POI may not be the best idea. I'll let you guys decide for yourselves.

[Crater Creator]

Interesting.  I'm currently working on a mostly-underground POI, and I've been grappling with how the surface should look.  This example reminds me just how much difference the trees can make.

[Deverezieaux]

I could have made it using standard trees instead of the random helpers, and have it look good every time, but then I'd have run into the biome issue. Unfortunately there's no perfect solution. Most of the time it looks okay, but occasionally the trees will be too thin, or too full.

[BFT2020]

20 hours ago, Deverezieaux said:

I could have made it using standard trees instead of the random helpers, and have it look good every time, but then I'd have run into the biome issue. Unfortunately there's no perfect solution. Most of the time it looks okay, but occasionally the trees will be too thin, or too full.

I am not as talented as you guys are, but would adding some other elements (like rocks / boulders) help to make the area more consistent?

[Crater Creator]

Some boulders are good for variety.  I find they're overused, though.  At least where I've lived, you don't get that many boulders sticking out of the ground like you see in Navezgane or RWG, even in the wilderness.  As for making more organic rock outcrops out of stone blocks... well it theoretically works, but I for one hate messing with terrain density to achieve smooth results.  We need a smooth terrain function.

[Deverezieaux]

I thought about adding some varied terrain height, maybe a small pond to add some variety, but messing with terrain always seems to look chunky and unnatural. Using the add and subtract terrain tool hasn’t proved to be very effective for me either, and since I didn’t want to make this a huge POI like my last one I pretty much just settled with the final product. I thought about making this a whole campground, with hiking hills and fishing ponds, boat launches and like. I should mention that this is the first POI I’ve done that doesn’t have a dungeon path, simply because it’s too flat and open for that. I’m interested to see how the developers handle the rural terrain stamps they’re using in A20.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Deverezieaux (see edit history)