Help with "filling in" my map

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Posts: 4

Hi guys,

I am currently making a map of the Russian Steppe.

Unfortunately the Steppe is rather empty (as it is in real life of course).

I was hoping for some suggestions on how to add things to the map to fill it in while keeping it authentic.

It is a bit of a catch 22 - the steppe in real life is basically large plains of grassland with the occasional tree here and there. So how do you make a map with anything interesting on?

Ideas I have had so far:

River
Mud (anyone know a good mud spline? - I want to make a really muddy patch)
Elevated terrain
Road
Farm with crops
Fence around crops
Cottage on farm
Different types of grass (some green grass and wheat in other areas.
Line of trees along the boundary of the farm
Scrub - does anyone know if the Russian Steppe has scrubland? Any one know of some objects in the map editor that make nice scrub land?

Thanks for any help.

Posts: 2066

How about you put some small settlements (3-4 farms with stone walls and fences and crops etc) on either end of the map and let a river flow through certain aspects of the map?

You could add some elevation here and there. Perhaps a small lake with some trees somewhere? Perhaps a line of trenches near both farming settlements like rails and metal has?

Good luck!

Posts: 2742

Fishing ponds, marshlands and gullies to add to the list as far as natural things.

Also, areas cleared for construction of factories and associated equipment, factories in various forms of construction and disarray. You may not even need any actual factory buildings, but a wire fence and a field of concrete full of bricks and such would definitely work.

Quarries are another thing that could fit the theme (although probably best for OOB and map edges). It might flesh the map out more as far as a strategic implication for the battle that's taking place.

For impassable and visual areas you can utilize a number of the grasses to pretty good effect to create different sections of scrubland. (They don't destruct properly so they look weird lategame when they're swinging in the breeze amidst a burning crater.)

Posts: 4301 | Subs: 2

have you ever tried to open up relic's map in the worldbuilder?

it can tell you what kind of splines Relic used to fill up the map. Their maps might not be balanced but most of them are exquisitely detailed.

In this case, why don't you look at "Brody" from the ToW mission pack 1 (the one that came with the game). The map is not quiet Steppe as you describe it because from my memory it had quiet a few buildings. But the map would've looked fine even without them - Relic basically used some elevations, sandbags, fences and different grassland texturing to make it look varied.