I was doing some exterior designing and thought I might share a few tips. This might be old news since NWN 2 is starting to be ancient, but I know designing exteriors is not easy. Something looks good, but when you switch your camera angle you will go "oh what the, oh, jees, that's not good, oh, what, no" or you are happy with the layout, but when you test it everything is HUGE or tiny.
1. Turn your camera a lot when you work with the terrain tools. Player will see the landscape from all directions, and so should you when you're working on it.
2. To get a proper sense of the scale add some NPCs standing around the area (at least the part where player will be moving in). This will prevent a lot of too steep hills and such.
3. Don't follow an ordered pattern when creating natural areas. Generally the more random your first draft is, the easier it will be to make it look like real terrain. Just... try to avoid flat surfaces as much as possible, unless there is a clear purpose for that in your area.
Reaaaally general, I know. Still, I thought I would throw these out there.
From my own experiences, I agree entirely with what you say here. And any advise, is always welcome! So, thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteLance.