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Testing out some new textures

I'm starting to work on some textures for what I plan to make into a fantasy landscape. I want to have a backdrop of mountains that are draped in flowering vines. I'm haveing a bit of trouble getting it to look the way I want it to, sooo I'm gonna ask you guys what you think of it so far.

Screenshot-4-2-1.jpg

I don't know if I like it or not. I guess I could darken up the greens a bit to make it blend into the distant terrain better, but if I do that then It would kinda kill the whole hidden glade effect. I don't know...what to you think?
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Comments

  • MeresimPMeresimP Posts: 2,134 Member
    edited March 2010
    can't see your picture?
  • JohnnywrJohnnywr Posts: 2,927 Member
    edited March 2010
    chellemh29, for some reason the landscaping and the colours you have there remind me of 1970`s YES album cover art. For a fantasy world therefore I think it looks great.
  • kellorkellor Posts: 3,209 New Member
    edited March 2010
    I love the idea of a fantasy world! I really like the texture, just darken it up a bit in certain spots, not th whole thing. If you put some more pictures up and put it on the exchange, maybe I will definitely download it. :D
  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Johnnywr-that is hilarious! I guess most fantasay art is done in the really vibrant colors, so I am drawing from that. I think I like makeing the textures more than actually useing them. :D I'm sure these will change alot before I am done.

    kellor- I have bairly begun anything here. Just testing things out for now...It may be done in about three months. :D I really don't think the grass in particular will stay that color. :D
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  • BSIReginaBSIRegina Posts: 5,110 Member
    edited March 2010
    I like the overall effect and feel the hues give that pattern. For some reason, though, when I looked at the lighter color the first thing I thought of was fungus. Fungus, of course, wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing in the right places. :D
    I think I like makeing the textures more than actually useing them.

    A you become more familiar with which settings to use for your paintings that will probably change. I only felt like I came in to texture painting last week, and that was after weeks of having done it. Ultimately you'll refine your technique and develop a style and get into your comfort zone. It just takes a bit of time and practice. :)

    I found that it also helped me to order my textures in a way that made sense, like dirt and rocks added first, followed by grass, then paints to use on top of grass for highlights and such. I didn't figure that out until I had already done a lot of painting, so I had to redo almost everything, but the end result was worth it. Now when I realize I need some dirt under where grass is, it actually makes sense that I'm basically having to dig through the grass to get it removed. It just didn't seem right digging through a layer of dirt to find the grass hidden beneath it. :lol:

    And the extra time I spent making sure they were all in proper order makes it a LOT easier to find a texture I want to use. There's no more thinking, "Hm, I think I stuck that rock right between those two grasses, now where is it?" :oops:

    When I add the textures I also left a couple of slots in each section with duplicate textures, then made sure to name them accordingly, like Rock-Open Slot or what have you so that if I decided later that I wanted another rock in the mix it could be added in the right order.
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  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Actually Regina, I don't think that is going to change. :D I love playing with and editing photos in photoshop. I do photography as a hobby, and most all of my textures are just photos I take and edit. Takeing those images and dusting them over a world is just a little bonus. The above photo isn't a working world, as of now. It is just a test of some newly created textures. It will change as things are redeveloped.

    I feel you on the developement of skills however. I personally find that blending the grass texture and the dirt texture together throughout the map give me an effect that I prefer to paining little lines together. The above photo is actually four different textures that have been blended together to create one landscape. I don't like to seperate things into individual slots, as I don't see that often in the nature photos I take. Things are blended together, meshed in some spots, and pulled apart in others. Those are the things I like to recreate.

    I also keep my textures seperated into differant groups. However I like to seperate them by the landscapes they are taken from. Pond and river scapes or rocky hills, or medows are some examples. That way I can find the textures that are taken directly from those types of landscapes, and use them to create a realistic effect.

    BTW- How many differant textures are you useing in your current map? There is alot of fuss over the eight texture limit. Sunset valley has ten I think. NOt sure about riverview. My horror world has twelve!
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  • BSIReginaBSIRegina Posts: 5,110 Member
    edited March 2010
    That eight-texture limit only applies to each bounding box, not the entire map. That's the only thing that will save The Shire from its two-dozen-plus texture glut. In The Shire, each bounding box has at maximum six textures and I try to use as many of the same textures possible wherever possible, like even though I was sorely tempted I didn't create different textures for the rocks on the hills to the south from the rocks to the north. :lol: So yeah, as long as you stick with no more than eight textures per box you're good, because only a single bounding box loads in the game at one time.

    Manual, Page 6, Terrain Editing:
    Add dirt, sand, flagstone, grass, concrete, and more! You should only add up to eight different terrain paints per chunk (section) of world to keep your world running smoothly. To see the sections of the world, go to View>Show Chunk Boundaries.

    Although the part about View should be changed to View>Show Bounding Boxes.

    I wasn't necessarily meaning you'll prefer painting to playing with images later on, just that I think you will find your comfort zone with painting in C-A-W, and once you do you'll enjoy it much more. :D
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  • ParyPary Posts: 6,871 Member
    edited March 2010
    I love the green, I think its perfect for a fantasy setting. Soon as I saw the picture I thought - Elven Glade.
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  • ameliuh321ameliuh321 Posts: 3,767 New Member
    edited March 2010
    This looks phenomenal! Your worlds are all outside-the-box which is GREAT, considering how few types of world creators are. And I don't know any that can match you. :)

    Keep this project going. I love it and your horror world.
  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Regina-I think alot of the stink about the amount of textures is atributed to file size. I guess if someone is useing ea textures, then that would make alot of sense. I think my eyes about poped out of my head when I saw some of those file sizes. I think it would take like eight of my own textures to equal one of ea's. :D I actually do like painting terrain. It's one of those things that I go over and over and over though. The above isn't a great example as it is a texture test rather than a paint job. I take groups of textures, and paint them together to see how they look in groups. This is how I am able to better break them up into subgroups. Basicly the best shots taken in the field make it into the open plains subgroup. Silly I know, but It makes it easier for me to pull out the textures I want basied on the landscape of choice.
    Party- Yes! Thank you! That is it exactly! Now picture cascading waterfalls in tiers over the rocks, leading to a lake surrounded by flowers. I still think I'm going to darken up the grass a bit, and make the flowers in the vines pop more, but still, I'm glad someone can see it!
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  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    ameliuh321- You got me while I was typing! Thank You so much for your kind words. Your making me blush. :D I'm really glad you like the textures, and these textures will combine into a large map (landlocked cuz elves live in the woods. :D) eventually...
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  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    This is the same flower texture with the colors darkened. Don't mind the grass...it's not staying. :D


    Screenshot-3-1-1.jpg

    better or worse?
    yhCWXCP.gif
  • BSIReginaBSIRegina Posts: 5,110 Member
    edited March 2010
    Ooh, yes, I love it darker and with the flowers. So pretty!
    Regina-I think alot of the stink about the amount of textures is atributed to file size. I guess if someone is useing ea textures, then that would make alot of sense.
    Yes, I resized all of the textures I had exported from the game to 512x512, then any I make are that size as well so they are each only 342 kb. I about choked when I saw one texture in the EA stuff that was several megs in size. They provide everyone with these HUGE textures, then have the nerve to leave the 100-second time-out on the Exchange. Bright, EA. Very bright. :lol:
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  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Thanks! I think I like it this color better too. I'm sure I will tweek it a bit, but overall It pops better than the light color does.

    I did the same thing on my computer with the ea textures. What kills me about the size is that none of the files have the amount of detail that would warrent making them 1024x1024. If someone is really trying to make a difinitave landscape using only ea textures, they could easily reach numbers in the 10 to 20,00's on textures alone. Given that the average decent world size on the exchange is around 20 to 24mb, someone who is really trying hard, doesn't stand a chance. I agree, ea really dropped the ball on that one.
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  • Rockermonkey999Rockermonkey999 Posts: 1,953 New Member
    edited March 2010
    I personally prefer the first one, looks more dreamy imo.

    You should upload it :D.
  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Rockermonkey999- I really like the lighter colors on the first texture too. The only problem I can forsee with it would be the need to use the pale grass texture for blending. Because this is going to be a large map I'm afraid that to much pale coloring would eventually create a washout effect. I still need to test on a broader scale before making a decision.

    I may eventually upload some of my textures. Not before I am satified with the way they look in game though.
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  • Rockermonkey999Rockermonkey999 Posts: 1,953 New Member
    edited March 2010
    maybe you could do a nice blend in with rocks or something and sort of ease into a darker shade? I believe there's an opacity slider, might be wrong though as I haven't used CAW in a long time.
  • chellemh29chellemh29 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited March 2010
    Yes there is. I use it often. :D It's just that some colors don't mesh well, and some refuse to blend all together. (at least not attractivly) Darker grass atached to mint green vines just doesn't seem to look right to me. I haven't made any decisions on the matter thus far however. The whole reason for posting these here was to get some feed. I do think the lighter greens give off the aura that I want the world to reperesent, but the darker color just seems to pop out more against the land scape. I plan to make about fifteen to twenty new textures for this world, so I may actually come up with a grass texture that will work with the lighter greens...then I could use both! :D
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  • BGateGWayBBGateGWayB Posts: 3,828 Member
    edited March 2010
    The second one does look very nice and gives it that vine feel. The first gives it a magical type feeling. I'd stick with the second one try to put it on a more broader area and see how it looks on a larger area then you will be able to tell more if you like it or not.
    BGateGWayB
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