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Hillside streams


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Yeah, I know, water, "she's a flat... like a pan-cake". But the map I'm working on has several streams (4) running downhill (from 130m to 95m or so) in a valley.

So since I can't have water, I'll need some combination of terrain tiles and/or vegetation to suggest the presence of water.

And rather than invent the wheel again, I thought I'd ask first to see what others might have some up with for a similar situation.

Thanks in advance.

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Yes, your best bet is to open a map like Bimmer's in the editor, see if you like it in 3D preview mode, and then and see exactly what was used (tiles and elevations).

I find swamp tiles make good ditch, creek, gully, and small river beds when you need a water feature like this but can't use real water or shallow ford tiles due to the elevation restriction.

But the key is variety -- so the swamp tiles can and should be studded with tiles of mud, and rocks. Then paint some brush here and there along the banks. Then, depending on the kind of real-life location you're modeling, add a bit more foliage along the banks -- the various A,B and C bushes, maybe a tree here and there.

For elevation, you need at least a 2m difference between the sides and bottom of the creek to make a noticeable gully effect. And you would need to lock the elevations a lot along the bottom and the sides to get the effect, otherwise it will just be a slope and not look like a water-cut channel.

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I like to use light forest tiles mostly (with bushes/trees) plus dirt and rock tiles sparsely scattered throughout my stream/creek. All about 1 meter lower then the surrounding terrain. When choosing how to represent it you have to remember that each tile is going to be 8 meters wide and that which ever tile you use will make that stream look biggg. If you are trying to show a larger stream that not isn't easily/quickly fordable, mud or marsh is a good choice. Then "outline" it with light forest/vegetated tiles. If you are trying to show something more along the lines of a creek (maybe a meter wide, can splash right through it) light forest with vegetation is more then enough to get the effect and desired look. Take a look at streams on Google Earth, use street view if you can. The defining aspect of most streams is that they are surrounded by dense, heavy vegetation, especially in uncultivated areas.

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