Any tips to make a good looking rock terrain

[MortisCausaDonatio]

I started a new map yesterday.
I made this rockwall to decorating but I not really satisfied with that.
http://imgur.com/DBvev3E

Can you give me some tips how can I improve, because I would like to make more spaces like this in the future.

Thank you

(also sorry for my bad english)

[snapshot]

You can always get some prefabs for Doombuilder , and import them to your map .

[Kappes Buur]

In vanilla DOOM format mapping, use a combination of sectors with varying heights and brightness,
similar to what you have done already but with more variety.

In Doom in Hexen format or UDMF(ormat) you can do something similar but throw in slopes.
Or, even better, use vertex sloping.

[Quineotio]

Like Kappes Buur said, you can use varying height and brightness, and you can also use a different, contrasting rock texture to break up the main one, like maybe have some black or grey rocks in various spots. The main thing to keep in mind is contrast. If you want your scene to be interesting you need to have contrast between the elements in the scene.

You have lava on the floor in that picture, so how about making the lava sector(s) much brighter than the surrounding rock so that it looks like it glows. That would automatically make the room more interesting.

[Coraline]

What I do is create a 3D modeled terrain as an OBJ and import in 3DGE Builder (or GZDBuilder) and tweak until it looks natural. Of course, having vertex based slopes (or line based, even) is the only real way to make it look good.

[Jon]

Generate some randomness with a WadC script.

[Jonathan]

Natural-looking cave environments aren't easy to make in an engine like Doom's, but they're not impossible. Here's a screenshot of a similar environment created in Minecraft:

http://i.imgur.com/BHmzbfg.png?1

Source

Some things to note:

Geometry

Caves created by lava or water are not square. They are more tube-like and egg-shaped, with the lava filling a low slice of the egg. This means the walls should curve inwards at the top and bottom. Since you can't use slopes (unless you're using ZDoom) that means steps instead.

By the looks of your screenshot, you are doing this already, but the walls are still quite vertical, and overall the chamber still feels rectangular. Try to make it more curved on each of the x, y and z axes. Make the steps of the wall shallower and wider towards the top and bottom, and steeper and narrower towards the middle.

Lighting

This is your biggest problem at the moment. The lava should be the brightest thing in the room. Remember, it is emitting light, everything else is just reflecting the light it emits. Therefore, the further things are from the lava, and the more obstructed the path of the light to them, the darker they should be.

You can see in the Minecraft shot that the lava is the brightest, then the wall parts closest to it, then the ceiling close to the lava falls, and the parts of the wall and ceiling furthest from it it are the darkest.

It can be difficult to produce this kind of lighting in Doom, but not impossible. A lot will depend on the map format and port you are targeting, as this will determine the sorts of editing effects you can use. In Boom compatible engines, there are linedefs that can be used to transfer the ceiling or floor lighting of one sector to another, which are very useful for situations like this where the floor should be much brighter than the ceiling.

[MortisCausaDonatio]

Thanks for everybody

I think I need to practice things like this

[Breezeep]

Just draw a bunch of random lines to form a bunch of random shapes. That's how I do it. Also, lighting and texturing is important as well.

[Kappes Buur]

That reminds me.
You could split linedefs up into numerous segments and then use GZDB's Randomize Mode, to make the layout really interesting.

[gemini09]

I can offer some tips while I'm impatiently awaiting my own help..

For example;



if this were a DOOM-map, it would be beneficial to locate a "UAC base" at the bottom of the canyon, because that would allow for rock terrain walls on the sides with height- and lighting-variation.



Unlike the canyon, this one doesn't have any lighting contrast on the mountain-walls, but it does have something else that draws attention, which would be the faces. Underneath there is "detail" to "break things up", being the green bushes that give contrast to the scenery --- and not to forget the bright blue sky.

There isn't much height- or lighting-variation here, but you have lots of other detail instead, like water, paths, bushes and trees:



As for methods in the map editor, I treat most of my maps like the canyon image above, so I use rows of sectors towards the inside of the canyon, and each with an adjusted height and lighting level.

HUNdebLeonidasX said:

http://imgur.com/DBvev3E

Can you give me some tips how can I improve, because I would like to make more spaces like this in the future.

Since the floor is full of liquid, it would be natural in the situation of making a map to add detail like a waterfall or in this case a lavafall.

Since you've already used up that detail already where it's falling from a pipe on the roof, then we're no longer able to add falling lava from the walls, in a sense.

So you need something to break up the monotony of the red rockwalls.

As an example;



You know when you're in a car on the freeway at night, and those light poles give a steady pulse of "non-dull moments"? I think the example above follows the same principle.

Also, have a look at "dictionary.com" if I used an unfamiliar word if you'd like to.