Terraining FAQ?

This is the most blatantly overlooked aspect of mapping. I don't like to brag but i think, with all the help from campaigns (and possibly a little from pub and bnet forums) i have gotten very good at triggering, editing and all that other techinical stuff. But i still can't make terrain.

Can someone pls find/make a FAQ on how to make good-looking, realistic, balanced terrain with technicalities like how to set up pathing and LOS blockers and doodad placement and anything else you pros might deem important?

<as a response to the above thread, this is when i lose faith in my maps 95% of the time>

I might be wrong, since I don't know how uncreative people think, but I think you need to be creative. Terraning is almost no diffrent than drawing. You need to know compostion and variety.

Composition means the map should be balanced, don't confuse balance with symmetry. I would say "it just has to look right" but I don't know if uncreative people would know. Anyway all levels of terrain should vary, from ground textures to cliffs, then doodads. Don't make any or a lot of straight edges on natualral terrain (unless you want to make a ramp). Use the diffrent ground textures as a pallete. Mix a bit of dirt, with swirls of tall grass, mixed with some low grass. Stuff like that.

If you're going to make mountains, then make them diffrent heights, with diffrent levels. A good example of this is the credits on the main WC screen, where all the units pass over the bridge.

On that subject. Learn from the best ...Blizzard. Open some of their maps and look at it. Some of the stuff is amazing. An example, I almost never used river rushes (doodad) until I saw it on a blizzard map. Now the river on my map is graced by river rushes. Also put rock doodads on waterfalls. Terraining is fun, just don't get carried away with the doodads. Try and make it a challenge to make the terrain look good with cliffs, and ground textures. Then add the doodads to top the cake.

As for the FAQ. Ask more specific questions.

i understand what your saying but the main problem while i am terraining is mixing the technicalities with the drawring aspect of it i.e. pathing/balance... does anyone have anything to add about those?

also, what view do you guys use when your terrianing? the realistic game camera or the all-ecompassing mass-zoom-out?

To check your pathing just hit the 'p' button and it will show you how much space your units have to move in. As for balancing, I think that is rather subjective when it comes to terraining. There is a lot to be said for random looks. Personally, I shoot for realistic, based on what you see in the real world. I also do as SilentSpyder said and check out Blizzard's maps. You can get a good feel for how terrain is put together that way.

As for views. I use any I can get. Zoom, game camera, tilt. I check things from all angles... especially ramps and bridges. Heck, for some things I even look up from UNDER the map! emote_sweat

Bottom line, it's all a matter of playing around with it and getting a 'feel' for it. Make something YOU would like to see, then have someone else check it out for you too.

Yea zoom is pretty important. You work both ways, zoom in for detail, and zoom out to get a more broad view. Use pathing when you need it. By that I mean, create stuff by eye (without pathing on), and just guess stuff. After that put the pathing on and see whats passable and whats not, and make the changes as you see fit.