Your Advice and Opinion is Required

Ben_W00dy · August 2012

So i'm building a world and want most of it surrounded by cliffs. But i can't seem to get them to look "cliffy" enough, either that or i'm being to fussy. What do you think, how can i improve the cliffs, or do you think they look good as they are?

alexspoom13 · August 2012

It looks like you've made a good start.

They look a little high though. :shock: And perhaps a bit too smooth? There should be bits jutting out here and there, which you could perhaps add some shrubbery to to make it look like plants are growing out of the cliff face. To try that, set your brush size fairly small and using 'flatten terrain- gentle', drag little areas here and there, and then smoothen them out where you find necessary. It'll take some practice, but you've done well so far so I think you'll crack it. Good luck.

Ben_W00dy · August 2012

Yes, i was planning to add some plant life when i was done. And i'll try what you suggested, thanks

SimExpertJared · August 2012

Well, maybe you could add some shaping to the cliffs and not make them that flat and straight up! Maybe some rocks could go on the cliff then!

Ben_W00dy · August 2012

So i took your advice and this is how they look:

Nilxis · August 2012

I agree with Alex, it's too high and steep :shock: I would reduce half the height or even more, and also start the cliff a bit further

Chrisw9 · August 2012

Hi! From what I can tell, your 'cliffs' are just way too steep! They are like complete vertical walls! What you should do first, is smooth them over to give you more horizontal space.

I would smooth the upper region on the wall so that it doesn't deform the flat land you have closer to the base of your cliffs where your rocks and town are. You might want to start with Smooth - Gentle with a moderately low opacity say 20 - 30, and set your falloff to lower than that. This will make it smooth more slowly so you have more control over the form. If you use the Smooth option, it will plow that wall down, and fast! lol

Here is a pic from my world, this is a hill that I smoothed the vertical edges over.

To give it more surface area, I used the Hill - Gentle towards the bottom of the hill, and then smooth that over. That way, it doesn't look like a giant wall of land jutting out from the Earth.

Now if you are wanting more of a cliff effect, like this (Another pic from my world):

After getting your smoother wall of land, set your same low opacity and fall-off with also a small size, I like 3-7, and use Hill - Gentle. Then very gently, carve areas into your wall that look rocky, and gently smooth out areas and are jutted too high. Then, to give a great effect when the sun sets/rise, click Valley - Gentle and set it to Size: 1 Opacity: 2 Fall-off: 1 and gently carve small ridges into your rocks. It gives a natural, eroded effect and can make the rocks within your cliff more profound.

Here is one last pic to show you what I mean, I used this to create a run off-effect on one area of my small cliffs:

Additionally, playing with lighter and darker terrain paints help give more natural effects! I'm still working on this right now, but try not to use one solid terrain paint so that your rocks look more natural, and not so tiled or bland!

You also might want to consider Distant Terrains, that way you will have the same effect I think you want with your cliffs, but it will look more natural and it won't have to be right up on your town like that. Either way, hope this helps! Good luck!

The Sims Forums

Your Advice and Opinion is Required

Comments