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"Winterizing" a game map


Mike Nagel

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All,

I mostly use Designer to create mopboards for wargames. I've been working on a low-level design (one game piece represents one soldier) during World War 2. Not being a professional graphic designer, I'm self-taught and mostly grab textures and designs from other sources, along with adding shapes where needed.

I have no problem creating maps for scenarios that take place during clear weather. The quandary I'm in is in creating versions of those maps during winter months. The biggest issue is in putting "snow" on trees.

I'm attaching a "before and after" conversion that I've done. I've placed "snow" by applying a "Hard Mix" blend to the trees using the Flood Fill tool at 15% tolerance and a "Snow White" (255,250,250) color fill. Sometimes it takes a couple of clicks to get the white color to appear clearly.

My question: is there an easier way to do this, or am I being too much of a perfectionist?

Thanks!

 

Half Map 08.png

Half Map 08 winter.png

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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@Mike Nagel

I am no expert on graphic design, but I have a couple of comments on the realism of the result.

It looks as if you have added the snow to the tree in green leaf. Snow is most likely to come in winter, when the trees are bare. It could come in autumn when they are yellow or brown, but most unlikely green.

You have added a uniform layer of snow to the lawns such that the detail in the path edges still shows. Even a thin layer of snow would tend to obscure such detail.

Snow tends to arrive on the wind. You have patches of snow on the roofs facing various ways. It is likely that the snow patches would mostly be facing the same way, into the wind.

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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John,

Thanks for the feedback. Your comments speak somewhat directly to the issue I’m having: is there a relatively easy way to adjust the color of bitmap images so that they look “snowy.”

The goal is not to completely redo each map so that it looks realistically “wintery,” but to adjust the existing maps as the positioning of a map’s features is more important to play than how realistic a they look.

There’s an unwritten “six-foot” rule in gaming (mostly using miniature soldiers, but still applicable here) that states that the depiction of the action should look good enough from six feet away to be recognizable.

So, getting back to your comments, I could probably crank down the fill tolerance to 5% and adjust the color of deciduous trees randomly to red or orange, but once I try to apply the snow effect using the same process, wouldn’t those changes be overwritten? Unless there’s a way to “spray” the snow effect on top of the trees?
 

Thanks!

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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Until December 2022, using a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10 in England. From January 2023, using an HP laptop running Windows 11 in England.

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12 hours ago, William Overington said:

Does this help at all?

Not to me at all!

@Mike Nagel

I wonder if something like this would work:

  1. Create a mask based on the red and yellow leaves.
  2. Generate a 'snowy' effect using a Perlin noise filter using the snow colours you mention.
  3. Use the mask to clip the snow pattern and feather  the edges.

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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My attached video shows one way to quickly add ‘snow’ to the map. (In the video I forgot to select a brush and just used the one already selected. You should select one which looks ‘right’ for the job – experiment with different brushes to get different effects.)

You can add as many ‘snow pixel’ layers as you want, depending on taste, and can use a mask on individual ‘snow pixel’ layers to get a more subtle effect.

You will need to use a lot more care, time and effort than I did to ‘erase’ the snow using the mask(s) to get a good effect.

An alternative to the above is to create the ‘snow pixel’ layers and then keep Alt key pressed down while creating the mask. Then you can ‘paint’ the snow on using a white brush rather than ‘erase’ the snow with a black brush as shown in the video.

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Garry,

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Thanks! Now I just need to figure out how to refine it. Ideally I'd like to place a mask like that just on top of the woods terrain rather than the entire map. I need to study up on how to use masks.

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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@Mike Nagel Welcome to the forums!  If you want a quick and dirty way to add snow, here is another way to do it.  Not as neat and precise as yours, but definitely snowing!  You can delete any of the pixel layers within the "Snow" group, to make things less intense.  If you would like to try, here is my "generic snow layers " document which you open in Photo, then add your own image below it.  (Made a macro of this, then deleted it.  Going to try again.)

generic snow layers.afphoto

 

 

 

 


24" iMAC Apple M1 chip, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16 GB unified memory, 1 TB SSD storage, Ventura 13.6.  Photo, Publisher, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.3.
MacBook Pro 13" 2020, Apple M1 chip, 16GB unified memory, 256GB  SSD storage
,  Ventura 13.6.   Publisher, Photo, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.1.1.  
 iPad Pro 12.9 2020 (4th Gen. IOS 16.6.1); Apple pencil.  
Wired and bluetooth mice and keyboards.9_9

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JM,

Also very cool ... thanks!

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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1 hour ago, Mike Nagel said:

JM,

Also very cool ... thanks!

Here is an Asset for the generic snow.  If you import that into your Assets Panel in Designer (or Photo), it has the added attraction of being able to be placed in a small area or the entire image  — in case you want snow on portions only.  Also the Erase Brush Tool (in the Designer Pixel Persona) set to a Masking brush, can very selectively delete bits and pieces of the snow where you choose. 

generic snow.afassets


24" iMAC Apple M1 chip, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16 GB unified memory, 1 TB SSD storage, Ventura 13.6.  Photo, Publisher, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.3.
MacBook Pro 13" 2020, Apple M1 chip, 16GB unified memory, 256GB  SSD storage
,  Ventura 13.6.   Publisher, Photo, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.1.1.  
 iPad Pro 12.9 2020 (4th Gen. IOS 16.6.1); Apple pencil.  
Wired and bluetooth mice and keyboards.9_9

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JM,

Thanks much!

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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@Mike Nagel  You are very welcome!  I hope you enjoy the forums as much as I do.  I have learned so much from so many helpful and knowledgeable people!!


24" iMAC Apple M1 chip, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16 GB unified memory, 1 TB SSD storage, Ventura 13.6.  Photo, Publisher, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.3.
MacBook Pro 13" 2020, Apple M1 chip, 16GB unified memory, 256GB  SSD storage
,  Ventura 13.6.   Publisher, Photo, Designer 1.10.5, and 2.1.1.  
 iPad Pro 12.9 2020 (4th Gen. IOS 16.6.1); Apple pencil.  
Wired and bluetooth mice and keyboards.9_9

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I loved Creaturehouse Expression! I mourn it's passing, murdered by Microsoft.. I still have version 3. The cover of v3 of the User Guide with the fairy with the pink crumpled papery wings was just exquisite.

I don't know the rules of gaming, but have you considered the free 'Snow' asset that come with Affinity Photo, perhaps downsizing it, selecting an area of it and making a Snow brush with which you could set the spacing and then paint? You could save several white dab versions as .pngs and import them into the brush so that there is a more varied brush stroke. I use this method all the time to create my brushes...

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Del,

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

I still have CE loaded on a virtual Windows box, since the Mac version of CE is long gone. I occasionally need to crank it up to export an old file and boy is it slow! Still, I got a lot out of that software and it wasn't until I got AD and its pixel persona that I felt I could let CE go.

Designer is the best replacement for CreatureHouse Expression!

macOS Monterey, Affinity Designer 1.10.5 Photo 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mostly Designer and Publisher)

CPU: 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1867MHz, Graphics: Intel Iris 6100 1536 MB

 

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