Week #12 - Stronghold 2

[Lord_Chris 251]

Your challenge for this week is: Use the Stronghold 2 editor to create a non-functional, scenery based map with rivers, waterfalls, hills and cliffs.

 

Useful resources

 

• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/156-guide-to-placing-waves
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/65-bridges-over-canyons
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/39-how-to-make-ruins
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/239-making-hidden-pathways
  

 

Note: Your entry must be attached to this topic by Midnight on Saturday to be counted in this challenge (21/3/16 23:59). If no entry is attached (via .zip. then your entry will not be counted! The results will be revealed on Sunday.

 

Good luck everyone!

[Tokamaps 27]

I'll participate :)?

[EaglePrince 230]

Just one question... I can make this as a kingmaker map, and leave everything blank, right? Or this has to be a scenario? Hopefully, I could make it kingmaker, and later to convert the map into scenario map with no estates, events, etc?

[Lord_Chris 251]

For now, the map can be any type of map. Later on in another challenge you'll edit it and turn it into a specific type of map.

 

Let me know if this didn't quite answer your question.

[EaglePrince 230]

Thanks, Chris! I shall make a kingmaker blank map (landscapes only), as I do have two ideas for kingmaker maps. One "downside" of those ideas is that both of them are about balanced maps - one completely balanced, and the other one would be completely balanced when played in teams of two. Still, it will be possible to make a good scenario as well on those maps. :) I hope I'll make it till Saturday. :)

[Floki 0]

how to attach file ? or i need use 3party programs? to upload it??

[Lord_Chris 251]

To attach a file you need to use the full editor - use the "Post reply" link at the top right or bottom right of a page.

[Floki 0]

Here's my map, haven't made map for years dam i lost some of my skills :D, but i made one map its not very good but its not bad either.??

[MRT] Nature1.rarFetching info...

[EaglePrince 230]

Nice map, Floki. I don't know if I have told you that before, but you are one of those map makers that show how good Stronghold 2 editor is, and by the map you also show how this editor is not just a tool for making maps that people are going to play. To me it seems that, for you working with this tool is just like painting a picture. You are one of those map makers.

 

And indeed, that is all about this map editor - if one wants to make a map quickly, and still to be nice as well, he will have a bad time, but if one is in the mood to make a good map he will enjoy working on it, and the result can be great. That's why I made that comparison.

 

Here is my entry as well.

 

EDIT: I didn't know that one can make sea waves going in different directions - onto the peninsula from different directions. I like how the direction of the waves changes smoothly. I didn't try that before. Just to be clear, I don't mean on the waves at the shoreline, I mean on the waves on the sea - the direction of the water.

map for contest EaglePrince.zipFetching info...

Edited March 25, 2016 by EaglePrince

[Floki 0]

Well you kinda right because when i was kid i just loved to make maps, i was making them all my time, at start they where really bad and simple, but still i was making maps, i made much of them, some got out to daylight some not. Now, i started this map with all my experience form past, it was peace of cake i made it in one evening. because those hundreds of maps that i made before helped me to reach that level.

? ?and now, today i am learning digital art because i love illustration, and am sure everything started in stronghold map editor :D?or maybe in sandbox when i was little kid, i just love create, only problem am i bit lazy person, but anyway, now am living that moment that i ?mention before about struggle to learn, so now am drawing and drawing and trying to reach that level when make art would be easy as stronghold 2 map. :P?

[Tokamaps 27]

Eagle prince, you can make sea waves into different directions by clicking on the wave symbol in the toolbar and then hold the right mouse button and slowly push your mouse in a ring.

 

my entry is going to come anytime today.

 

by the way EaglePrince, how do you think about my maps?

Edited March 26, 2016 by Tokamaps

[EaglePrince 230]

Yes, I knew about that option, and I have used it before, but I just didn't know it works so smoothly.

 

Looking forward to see your entry. :)

 

EDIT: I didn't read your message carefully enough, I did not know that actually. :) There is an article from above in which the same or similar thing is described though, but I haven't tried that yet.

Edited March 26, 2016 by EaglePrince

[Tokamaps 27]

This works really great and smoothly.

[Lord_Chris 251]

This article explains everything you will ever need to know about waves ;)

 

http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/156-guide-to-placing-waves

[EaglePrince 230]

That's the article I said i was reading yesterday. Indeed a good article, and I like how waves can be used for waterfalls and rivet streams. :)

[Tokamaps 27]

so, here is finally my entry :)

 

i dont think its a match to flokis, but okay ;)

week 12 scennery.zipFetching info...

[EaglePrince 230]

Very interesting landscape, Tokamaps, though I was expecting nothing less. :) It is very good landscape despite what you may think. There are lots of details I like in your map as well - you know how to make those rocky areas, but those greener areas as well - such as that part near the coast on the cliff where you have several trees and some green grass, that part looks really refreshing.

 

Besides that, I like how you put those branches below your bridge - near the waterfall. It looks really cool - just like those branches got stuck there. That geyser also looks really good - though I'm not sure if it's a geyser or actually a volcano. Also, the wooden bridge is interesting, but I wasn't surprised to see something like that on your map, and I like how you used those tunnels to look like mines. :) That is another great idea.

 

Both of your maps look really great! Now, when it comes to someone who has no chance for winning - that is me. :p On the other hand, I wasn't making anything like your maps. You made small maps - just as a scenery, and just what we were asked to do. I was working on my map, I thought it's going to have beautiful landscape, so I decided to submit it. Still, it is perhaps one of the best maps I have ever made. :)

[Floki 0]

oh stop it you tokamaps :D, really amazing map and more detailed than my one, good work man. next time ill have to work harder that i could compare to your maps :P?

[Floki 0]

how much time we still have? i might update my map if contest ends at gmt +0 time zone, so 2hours left??

[EaglePrince 230]

I assume it is GM+0 time zone. :) Lord Chris is from Great Britain, but also when we say "it's ending in 24:00" and don't mention anything else, then it is assumed it's 24:00 at GMT+0, which is 1:00 in Germany and Serbia.

[Floki 0]

Nothing much, just fixes.?

[MRT] Nature.v1.1.rarFetching info...

[MRT] Nature.v1.1.zipFetching info...

Edited March 27, 2016 by Floki

[Tokamaps 27]

ok, cool!

[Lord_Chris 251]

Thanks for all your entries everyone! Very close to the deadline there @Floki, but glad you managed to get an update in just in time! :D

 

In future, when we mention "midnight", I mean midnight by the default time on the forum, which is (as the clocks have just changed here, GMT +1). If it confuses you, the forum time is up-to-date, open it in another tab viewing as a guest and that should hopefully help you.

 

I'll take a look at these entries now! Good luck everyone!

[Lord_Chris 251]

There really is some competition this week! Each map is unique and brilliant in its own way and since they are so vastly different they are very difficult to compare. I've decided to give you all 3 points because all of your maps are to the exact same standard. They really are good! Again, as usual, graded in no order other than the order submitted ...

 

• @Floki - 3 points
  
• @EaglePrince - 3 points
  
• @Tokamaps - 3 points
  

 

@Floki

 

Your map was very well detailed and contained a lot of additional extras which I was very impressed with. I had not prepared myself for what I was about to see! The ruins I did not expect, and I was extremely impressed with them. It is very clear you spent a long time landscaping this map and it shows it very clearly, everything is positioned perfectly to look realistic while not being over-powering. You mentioned that you hadn't made maps in a long time and lost some of your skills - I completely disagree, the landscaping on this is just as good, if not better than other maps I've seen from you.

 

Another feature which immediately stood out was the waterfall and this impressed me a lot as well. I liked the different layers it contained a lot, they looked and behaved very realistic. I also liked the shrub placement near the stream. There were some amazing details here, such as the small ripple effects in the water. Though only a small map, it really makes up for it visually. It really is a great map!

 

@EaglePrince

 

This is a fantastic map! You really seem to like having wide open spaces on a map, and so do I. I see you've also built on the feedback I gave you last time regarding the terrain, it's much better now. I noticed all the added extras such as the weeds, small stones in the rivers and shrubs, and they are very well placed. I particularly liked the tree placement, it looked very natural, I liked it a lot. When I keep talking about "randomly generated maps", this is the kind of thing I have in mind - perfect Kingmaker maps; large open spaces to fight and build, while not sacrificing the landscaping, extras such as the stones and shrubs, and the bridges help to connect them all together. You've used the bridges over canyons trick which looks very nice.

 

I mentioned I liked the tree placement, but what I like about it so much, is that it's not just a forest, e.g. trees placed all in one area. You've taken the time to place each tree individually so that the user gets the maximum effect from seeing the trees like that. It looks so much more effective than a typical forest because it looks like a perfect ambush ground. Not only that, but by having more trees over a large area they aren't all squashed together. I really liked this map!

 

@Tokamaps

 

There are some excellent features on this map which makes it stand out to me. Probably my favourite feature is the tunnels on the far right of the map. It really looks natural and impressive, as if it goes under the mountain into some kind of mine. Another feature which I really liked was the floating bridge in the middle of the map. This actually worked as I checked with some troops. I think I remember you posting this in your mapping tricks thread. It's a great trick and I like the result very much. Another one of the features which stood out to me was the volcano - I was very impressed with how this was constructed and was continuously smoking. Another feature which I particularly liked was the ruins on top of the hill over the bridge. It clearly represented some kind of old fort or watchtower which had been destroyed and I liked it a lot.

 

The paths intertwined with each other perfectly, and there were numerous good mapping tricks used. I see you also used the bridges over canyons trick, which looked fantastic over that waterfall. The boggy marshland to the left hand side of it looked very realistic and the terrain blending over there was perfect. This is a fantastic map, which really uses the Stronghold 2 editor to its best to create a stunning masterpiece. I really liked the features this map contained!

 

Results

 

Because each of you all received 3 points, there is no clear winner through that, but I believe I have found one. This was a very difficult decision. Had I been able to award all three of you first place, I would have done so. It really was much closer than you thought, it was very difficult to decide which map should win, because they are so vastly different but also because they are all so good. I looked for over an hour and a half, and I could not find a single flaw in any map, they really were all that good. After a long time thinking, I can now reveal that the winner for this week is ... ! Congratulations, [user]floki] on winning on your first competition!

 

Thank you and [user]tokamaps] too for handing in your submissions! This really was a close call!

[Floki 0]

yeye my first victory ^^, thx for eagle and toka, when i saw your maps i had to update my one! good work everyone, looking forward for more sh2/shL contests.

? ? ?I got one suggestion, for one of weeks: stronghold legends invasion map, i haven't made any single of those maps in legends so that would be very interesting and new experience for me and everyone.?

Edited March 27, 2016 by Floki