New Shamaar: A CAW Tutorial! - Part 1

<<<---Tutorial: Introduction                                                                                 Tutorial: Part 2--->>>

****Disclaimer: I am not in any way a "professional". I just want to pass on some tips and tricks I learned from painfully documented trial and error. As always, click for larger images****

For this world, we will start off with a modest map that will be easier to navigate. I chose a "Small" map, but if you'd rather start off with a medium or a tiny, that's perfectly fine. You could even start off with a large, but I really don't recommend that. Size does matter in the beginning stages!

A picture of the prompt you will see when opening a new world. You don't have to use the same numbers as I did, just make sure they match!

Now, notice how my "SmallFlatMap200" coordinates with the 200 underneath "Maximum Height"? This is important. If you leave the maximum height on 100 and select a 200 map, your map will be underwater, sort of like a pond. And if you select a 300 map with a maximum height of 100, your map will look like an ocean! Of course, these won't lead to serious graphical errors as far as I know of, but I think it would still be easier to just make sure the numbers match up.

Those simfaeries don't like outsiders. Patch up the land!

All I did here was trace the borders of the world with the "hill-steep" tool, the strength/size/falloff I used are all on the right-hand side. The mountains aren't done yet (obviously), but this way we have a base to work off of when we're ready to do them. You don't have to have a land-locked world, but I just wanted to try one out. You can only live off of sandy beaches for so long. ;)
Tip: Be patient, gentle, and don't keep the mouse in one place for too long!
Overall I traced the borders twice: one for the edge, and one for the actual mountains. Now, we look at sidewalks!

Sidewalks are by Regina

I just put in random textures for the road, since I won't be using them. The sidewalk will be their main form of transportation. Maybe a few will teleport. ;)

But before we place the sidewalks, let's edit some terrain, hmm?

Around and around in circles we go...

What I've done here:

1. Used the gentle hill tool to raise terrain slightly
2. Used the flatten-gentle tool at full-strength to flatten out the surrounding area
3. Minimized the size of the brush to create a "falloff"

I went on to do that around the rest of the mountain base (on this side)

Voila!

What? It still doesn't look right, you say?

Psh, everyone's a critic.

Better?

I used the gentle smoothing tool to smooth around the edges, and I left the ridges in the front as they were. I painted them with a retaining-wall terrain by Regina. I like it, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it in the longrun.

For now I will bid you all goodnight. I'll work on Shamaar a little more before going to bed, and I'll update you guys tomorrow on how things turn out! :)

<<<---Tutorial: Introduction                                                                  Tutorial: Part 2--->>>