Ennedi plays Shosaloza

[thundercrack83]

WOW!

Huge update, Ennedi! And the area looks absolutely gorgeous! The piers and the boats, and that highway right along the cliff--amazing! I can tell it's going to be a great month here!

[Asimov]

 
wow
Fantastic pictures, it looks absolutely realistic, a great compilation of Nature and the City. And the Bridge is awesome. One thing I suggest, add some Electrification-Poles along the Rail track, that would add some nice details to them.

[ryalmighty1]

Incredible sculpting! This is almost up there with Dedgren, Jeronij and Darmok's level of skill!

[Ennedi]

Hello to all,

The next update needs some work yet, but I would like to make a little diggression in the meantime

But first - replies:



@patfirefghtr: Thank you very much Pat you are always a nice guest here!

@sebes: Thank you too, these roads could be even better if somebody could make a long turn for highway
Of course I had to modify the terrain a bit before placing roads, but my main goal was to don't damage this beautiful map

@meldolion: Thank you for spending a while here, I saw your map and I'm sure you have a lot of work with your region!

@iamgoingtoeatyou: Hello Hotdog, nice to see you, take care about your jaw

@figui: Thank you, it was my intention to make a nice place to visit 

@stocktons_pimp: Welcome in Shosaloza and thanks for compliment!

@bat: Thank you, I'm glad you like it!

@rooker1: Thank you, I will try to make something interesting for you 

@Jmouse: Hello Joan, as always nice to see you! These roads are an addition, the most important thing is to make a nice place for you to visit (I remember about my promise, a tourist offer for you will be ready soon  )

@Danthe: Thank you Mariusz, good to hear you like it!

@Tarkus: Hello Alex, very nice to see you here and I'm very glad of your compliments! Yor opinion is very important for me - you are a truly master of transit network  I have a lot t learn about them and I think we will meet many times in future - many advanced transit networks are planned in Shosaloza main cities (also RHW, many Puzzle Pieces and Big Dig)  But I'm afraid I will make you tired of my future requests

@Shadow Asassin: Hello SA, thank you very much for nice words  but to be honest I'm not sure what you mean saying this doesn't feel like Shosaloza (is it bad, or good, or normal - at least I am somebody different than other Shosaloza makers  ) And of course I will prepare the region view next time

thundercrack83: Hello my friend, I don't know if it will be a great month, I only know it will be a lot of work

@Asimov: Thank you, these first compilations were quite easy, the real challenge (from the Nature point of view) will be the main urban area And thank you very much for your suggestion, I forgot about these poles, I will show the result next time

@ryalmighty: Thanks a lot, but these are Masters, and I still learn But I'm very glad you like it

So I can return to my diggression 

Working on this uneven terrain I often see beautiful views of particular objects/areas, but looking at the same thing from another point I see it looks completely uninteresting, or simply bad.
The object is not all. Robin (rooker1) has a very interesting quotation in his signature:

I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.
John Constable (1776 - 1837)

So today I would like to say something about shade and perspective (light is something too difficult for me yet  )
I must emphasize I haven't any education, knowledge or talent in drawing, painting, computer graphics and so on. So I would rather like to encourage you to express your opinions about this theme.
Some of you have artistic talents - it can be easy seen in your creations. Maybe you would like to tell someting about your experiences, share your knowledge and give some basic tips for the rest of us?

My observations are simple and unprofessional, but maybe some of them will be interesting. In fact, all this work is trials and errors process.

1. Landscapes and the perspective.

We have 4 viewing directions, 5 zooms and only one viewing angle. I think Maxis creators adjusted it carefully. Too big and too little angle would be bad in many situations, what we have is the most universal solution (in my opinion). But at this angle many pictures look flat.

At the picture below the terrain is sloped and we look at it's surface almost perpendicularly. It is a nice valley, but it looks flat.



Let's change the viewing direction and look at the same terrain from the side:



For me it looks better, and for you?

Looking for interesting landscapes I noticed that it is very good to have clearly visible first and second plan. If I can create it, I achieve the feeling of depth.
How to do it?
We can place our observation point at the top of the hill and then look down to the valley. At the first plan we will see a fragment of the hill. Because of the perspective we can achieve interesting effects on the slope. When we will add terrain textures, the result can be very nice.





We can also make the first and second plan using water:



Looking again at the picture above you can see shadows showing the seashore shape.

Shadows are the next great tool. They can show the slope direction and gradient. Using shadows, terrain textures and terrain contours in the same time we can emphasize the terrain shape.





2. Roads and perspective.

Roads in SC4 are only orthogonal or diagonal. How to add some variety to them? Fortunately we have slopes
Using slopes we can add ostensible curves to the real ones.
This is a good example



(I modified this picture a bit, I will return to this theme at the end)

But using slopes to make nice roads is not easy.
Here is a windy road. It looks quite nice from this direction:



But from another direction it doesn't look good. It would look very nice if the slope wouldn't be such steep



Conclusion: Not every slope is helpful, too steep is bad

Look again at the picture above. The curve marked green looks OK, but the curve marked red is horrible. And they were built in the same manner.
Conclusion: You must carefully plan your roads and provide your viewing direction.

3. Buildings and perspective.

As for the first and second plan - you canuse high objects (skyscrapers, towers) to create the perspective. For those who built on slopes I have a little tip:

These pictures are from my old region (I haven't good examples in Shosaloza yet). The town centre is higher than the harbour, but it wasn't enough visible when I created it. So I added the terrace using a waterfront pieces. The most important thing here is the vertical surface. It shows th level difference. Stairs do the additional work.





4. Last few days I saw two interesting things: Chrisadams' picture with modified perspective (in the "Show us..." thread, and then in the Pictures Competition) and Danthe's panoramas in his MD Isengard. It was an inspiration for me - thank you guys! 

So I made some experiments and here is the first result:





What do you think about it?

Edit: If you want to tell something about the perspective and other visual aspects of our work, and if you have any pictures to explain your ideas/opinions, feel free to put them here! Or maybe it would be good to make a separate thread about such things - tell me please

[Filasimo]

i gotta say ennedi you got one hell of an MD going here i love the highway along the mountainside and such great job and i cant wait to see what else you got in store! 

[Danthe]

Hello Adam, it's my answers for this matter:

1. in first, both conceptions is ok and looks very good;
in second, picture with adding terrain looks better;
in third, for me shadows is too much extensive in some trees
2. slopes road is hard making. First, need terrain soften and to builid road for fragments. If slopes is to large, need modify terrain (alt+ctrl+shift and LMB for God Mode). 
3. slopes looks good, stairs and seawall stressed this. It's good conception
4. Perspective gave a intresting effects, it's not exaggarate. But panorama is too small, you need use a more pictures, that it was most wide

Mariusz

[thundercrack83]

For someone who doesn't have any professional artistic training, you're certainly doing a fantastic job, my friend! And your building on the slopes continues to impress!

[Jmouse]

That's a very interesting way of approaching the question of terrain, Ennedi, one which never occurred to me. I'm afraid mine is not nearly as calculated. I know what looks right to me and what doesn't, but I never stopped to wonder why. However, I think your illustrations of the different concepts are fascinating and will probably change the way I look at the landscape.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and I think you're doing some really fine work here.

Until next time...
Joan

[Tarkus]

Adam, another fantastic update here.     Those are some very enlightening points you made about in-game perspective and slope.  It's definitely something that becomes particularly apparent in more mountainous regions, and you really seemed to have mastered it.  The modified perspective/panorama shots look just brilliant as well.

And thanks for the compliments about the transit end--you seem to have it pretty well figured out yourself.  Don't worry about making future requests of me on the transit end--seeing what you've done here with this region, I'm actually kind of curious as to what you have in mind. 

-Alex

[bat]

Another fantastic update, Ennedi! Beautiful looking pictures of that areas!

[tooheys]

Ennedi, you do beautiful work, the last couple of updates include some of the most eyecatching pic's I have seen 

Your use of the terrain and vegetation is as good as it gets. And the towns blend in beautifully. Awesome 

Cheers

Dave

[rooker1]

First of all, great idea and awesome pictures to go with it.

I agree with alot of what you said.  I often find myself creating my region and I get alot done and than I turn to a different angle and now nothing looks right.  Destroy and try again.     As often as I can remember, I now try to look at all the diferent angles as I am building.  But as you have pointed out in your pictures, everyone can now see how important it is.  Even when taking pictures for one's own MD, it is very important and makes all the difference in the world to find the right view. And by this I mean trying to be as artistic as you can be.  Foreground, middle and back ground, all these can determine whether or not a picture is eye catching.  Obviously, what's in the picture is the most important.  But when you can make someone look at the picture for more than a couple of seconds, I think you have really achieved something.  I find alot of people just take pictures of their MD and show them with no thought (IMO...... and of coarse, and I could be totally wrong)  I'm not sure if anyone has noticed yet, but the way I sign the end of my post is my grading system.  I won't go into that, I think I'll just leave that up to the reader and keep it a mystery.   

I think you could take back some of what you said about yourself though.  You seem to me to be very artistic and have quit a bit of knowledge on SC4.  I know for a fact you have a very good opinion and lots of people here respect it.  Your MD is very well replied in and view, the statistics prove that. 170/1439, not bad in my opinion. 
You can always stop by my MD and critique all you want.
So keep up the awesome work and did do something I found very interesting, thanks my friend.
I can't wait to see what you have for us next.



Robin   

[sebes]

Some of you have artistic talents (...)

And I would say you are one of the most talented yourself!

Thanks for sharing these ideas. The results and reached effects is way beyond what I would ever be able to reach myself.   

[TheTeaCat]

Oh my goodness  Amazing update 

The way you explain everything is ... well it makes me think why didn't i think of it. Definitely worth the award this month. I think you've just raised the bar with this most excellent MD


TTC

[Schulmanator]

So many delightful pictures! The town is great but the terrain looks fabulous! The rocky land leaps off the screen and the water is so invitng it makes me wanna take a plunge. Top notch work!

[beskhu3epnm]

Ennedi,

It seems as though you create these images with such ease. I urge you to continue to spread your methods to us lowly commoners!

Overall, the perspective you have on getting the right image to show the people is what makes this MD one of my favorites (I only comment on 2 or 3). Every image seems to have been properly planned out. It's a fine art, which is why you don't see MD's by me!

And what makes it easy? You are one of the best terrain builders (trees, flora) out there, so finding the images to display is very easy.

Keep this going, the word is spreading...

[Pat]

Adam wow!!!!!!!!!!! that is all i can say and ooooh btw i bet you cant wait for the new PW to be out? cause i know i cant....

[Shadow Assassin]

<snip> ...to be honest I'm not sure what you mean saying this doesn't feel like Shosaloza (is it bad, or good, or normal - at least I am somebody different than other Shosaloza makers) And of course I will prepare the region view next time.

In a good way, of course. It's something different, and is probably closer to what the makers intended for that map. And that's a great thing, in my book.

[capo]

Amazing work Im seeing in this MD! A big  for your last update. What a great idea to include a tutorial in your MD, spreading your wisdom. I can definitely say I learned quite a few things after checking this MD and I already got the "itch" to start up SC and apply what I have learned

[jplumbley]

Man, I have to say... I wouldnt want to drive down that slope after a snow storm.... talk about a bouncy ride if you missed your turn.