How to draw height differences in a city map or a dungeon

ChrisDSA · July 2017

Hello!

I beg your pardon. My English is very bad.
I hope you understand my questions.

I use the Dungeon Designer 3+ and the City Designer.
I get along well with the program.
But I'm looking for an option to draw down slopes in dungeons and cities.

I live in Quedlinburg, which is a city that still has 2100 original buildings from the Middle Ages. A dream for role players.
So I know two things quite certain:
1. Old houses are never rectangles.
2. Ancient cities have no level ground.
Castles stand on mountains or even on cliffs.
Hills rise in the city. Sunken roads and ramps serve as defenses.

I have found no way to depict this in the cards.
Likewise, I do not have a chance to draw differences in height in dungeons or maps of interior rooms, which are smaller than a whole floor.

I hope there is a good solution for my question.

Dungeon Master Gaz · July 2017

Hi ChrisDSA

Welcome to CC3+!!

There are many ways you can create the effect you're looking for. I use bevel effects and multiple sheets to do what you want to achieve.

First I create the sheets like this

GROUND LEVEL - this is the ground floor of the map
BEVEL LEVEL - This is where the hills/cliffs are drawn
HIGH GROUND - this is the surface on top of the hills/cliffs
HIGH STRUCTURES - This is where the building on top of the hills/cliffs go

Of course, this is just a basic example, and you can name the sheets as you wish

To start I draw the City like in the example below

Dungeon Master Gaz · July 2017

Then I use the Drawtools to draw a shape of the hill or cliff on the BEVEL LEVEL sheet like this...

Dungeon Master Gaz · July 2017

Next I draw the surface on top of the hill or cliff on the HIGH GROUND sheet like this...

Dungeon Master Gaz · July 2017

Then I add a Bevel, Lighted effect and a Edge Fade, Inner effect on the BEVEL LEVEL sheet.
An Edge Fade, Inner effect on the HIGH GROUND sheet
and move the original building symbols underneath the hill are re-located to the HIGH STRUCTURES sheet.

With all the elements on the right sheets, and the effects turned on, you get something like this...

It's a very basic example, but I hope it helps

DMG

Dogtag · July 2017

To add to DMG's information above, the Bevel, Lighted effect also has a Smoothing setting that you can adjust to round off the edges of the bevel and give it a more hill-like appearance.

Dogtag · July 2017

Sometimes, the simplest solutions work too. For example, the image below is just a very quick example of a hill made with a lighter colored grass and then, on a separate sheet (SHADOWS HILLS, or whatever) I drew a black half-moon shape. The shadow sheet has an Edge Fade, Inner effect with an inner opacity of 33%.

[Image_9074]

Again this was a quick example.

Cheers,
~Dogtag

Dungeon Master Gaz · July 2017

Good advice, Dogtag!

I was impressed when I saw ChrisDSA's first city map, and look forward to seeing the maps he creates after a bit of help from everyone. Something to look forward to, I think!

DMG

Dogtag · July 2017

Yes, agreed!

ChrisDSA · July 2017

Many thanks for the help.
I now try the settings.
To practice I draw a fortified monastery that stands on a rocky elevation.
Of course, I'll show the result when it's done.
My only problem is now to draw a ramp, as an access to the castle.

Dogtag · July 2017

You can use the same techniques to make a ramp. The image below is from a sample map I created fairly quickly, using the shadow method I described above. I'm sure you can get a better result if you spend a little more time to get it to look the way you like. Likewise, I'm sure, if you use Dungeon Master Gaz's approach.

[Image_9092]

Cheers,
~Dogtag

Dogtag · July 2017

I'm not too keen on the hill shadow in this one but I'm actually fairly pleased with how the ramp shadow above turned out, to be honest. Note, however, that the shadow of the hill itself might seem a little off as it extends beyond the hill. It's probably not the best result, but I did do it in a hurry! However, I think it's a good illustration of how you can use the shadow to emphasize the shape of your hill. For example, if your hill has a more level top, then a flatter shadow along the ground may help sell that illusion (not completely flat, naturally, because the base of the hill still curves).

Cheers,
~Dogtag

JimP · July 2017

Looks okay to me.

Dogtag · July 2017

If you have the Jon Roberts Dungeon issue of the Annual, you can take a look at the FCW (attached), if it will help. Unfortunately, I did this quick example on the first map that opened in CC3+, which was made with the Jon Roberts Dungeon issue of the Annual. So, if you don't have that issue, none of the bitmap fills will display.

In any event, jslayton suggested a side-by-side comparison, of what it looks like without effects and with effects, might be useful. I agree. I added a light green line to the shadow sheet on the light-facing side of the ramp to give it a small highlight, opposite the shadow side.

[Image_9097]

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
~Dogtag

ScottA · July 2017

That's great. I've got a land ramp in my project but this is a better way than what I came up with. Thanks, as always, for sharing and inspiring, Dogtag!

HadrianVI · July 2017

This looks nice, Dogtag.

A ramp can also be made with a bevel, lighted entitiy. One just has to extend the entity that covers the top of the hill beyond the edges of the bevel lighted entity. This can also be done with two different "cover" sheets.

Jensen · July 2017

Hi ChrisDSA,
I am also new on City Designer and also struggle with this problem. Right now I´m trying a map for a city on a hill beneath a river. I made several attempts, tried several methods (bevel etc.) but the good old contour lines seems to work best for me. This is my current status, I still play with designing the landscape, I am far from beeing satisfied with what I have (especially with the part where the cliffs end) so I just made some quick-and-dirty walls and houses to show which size I`m aiming for.

Best, Jensen

P.S.: Deine Karte von Ginsterfeld ist ausgesprochen schön geworden!

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How to draw height differences in a city map or a dungeon

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