what are some CMBO map design tricks for creating terrain features?

[dugfromthearth]

I have vineyards as rows of hedges.

The scenario I am currently working on uses a tall land bridge to make an aquaduct, and stone walls and rubble to make ancient Roman ruins.

I can make something like a waterfall just by using a big enough slope.

but what are some other things you can do - in particular with farms?

my friend suggested orchards by alternating rows of scattered trees with roads but it didn't look right to me. Although it might be because I didn't make a big enough orchard.

also any little details - are stone walls used more for some types of fields or locations and hedges in others? Should farms have small ponds on them? Is there a good way of doing barns and pasteurs?

[Slappy]

I generally use a checkerboard pattern for orchards. I think it gives a pretty effect. I also use a lot of walls and hedges sprinkled along, particularly along the sides of roads and to enclose small areas near buildings. I use tall light buildings for barns. It generally works well. I find pastures and such much easier in CMBB with the addition of the wood fence terrain which is more realistic for animal enclosures.

[Michael Dorosh]

You can do alternating types of crops by mixing fields of grain and "fields" of brush.

[dugfromthearth]

thanks

I also meant to ask for names/links to scenarios that have particularly good maps to check out.

[GJK]

Originally posted by dugfromthearth:

thanks

I also meant to ask for names/links to scenarios that have particularly good maps to check out.

Hi dug,

While your at The Proving Grounds, check out maps by theike and The Graeme, excellent work. ASL Veteran does bang-up jobs recreating maps from the old Advanced Squad Leader board game if you ever played that, FredRocker has some great map/scenario making skills as well. Europa and DDogg like to make massive assault type scenarios, so check theirs out if you want huge battles. Sorry if I omitted anybody, but those came to mind first.

[Berlichtingen]

Originally posted by dugfromthearth:

I have vineyards as rows of hedges.

Use rows of bocage instead. Hedges barely effect movement and provide almost no concealment... hardly what a vineyard is

[Slappy]

It depends on the month. In the winter, vineyards are just rows of twigs. Only in the late summer and early fall are they tall enough to provide good concealment to men walking upright. In all seasons, they offer almost no cover. I would go with hedges unless you want 100 year old vines in August. Either way, the problem remains that the rows are 20m apart. I've heard a rumor that CMAK will include a dedicated vineyard terrain so that you can hide among the Sangiovese and Nebbiolo vines.

[Panzertruppe]

Look at my scenario "Blood And Wine" at the Scenario Depot. Vineyards should have rolling hills and secondary "dirt" roads...and don't forget a "church" type building for the winery as they sometimes resembled the cathedrals of old.

Railroad tracks leading to a warehouse is good too because the wine has to be shipped.

As far as using hedges for the vineyards...they do restrict movement by slowing the AFV's down and look good. Using bocage makes movement more difficult but looks terrible as vineyards.

Add trees around the vineyards to make the area look like the vineyards were cut right out of the country and more natural.

Experiment...and go to sites on the internet to look at vinyards. ( I used pictures from "Paul Masson" vineyards in Saratoga, California for ideas and a picture of a winery from a bottle of "Black Cat" wine.

Enjoy

Bill

[Runyan99]

I like to make orchards with rows of light trees, with soft ground in between rows of trees. Surround it with a fence.

A brush tile near a house approximates a garden.

In rural villages and farms, I might include some fenced enclosures for cattle.

A small cattle pond or two does not hurt.

Another tip:

I hate to do elevations. They are a lot of work and hard to get 'right'. So, I like to random generate the map (possibly several times) until I get basic elevations I can work with, then I 'paint' important hills, rivers, woods, roads, etc over my random map. The little random features which remain from the computer generated map (trees, brush, rough, etc) help to add detail to the map, and the computer generated elevations give you natural undulations without any work.