Terrain
Template
Terrain consists of all non-character graphics and non-building graphics.
Each terrain chunk is contained in a 1 X 8 grid, with each cell in the
grid being 46W X 56H in pixels.
= 46W X 56H
Here is an example of some varied terrain:

The first four
images (from left to right) are flat ground. The fifth image is a
rock formation. The sixth and seventh images are the lower and upper
halves of a cave tree.
Building Hills
and Pits
To build a basic hill or a pit, you will need to construct 13 images
that will eventually be put together as shown:
To construct these images, use this template:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
 |
First, create or
find an image that contains the basic look and feel you like. Next,
use the template to overlay the image. In this example,
the white area was masked (made transparent), and the template was
layed on top of the terrain image. 
Then,by removing the mask and all stuff outside the template, you
will end up with a image like this:

Now you have the
basic shapes, but without the proper shading, the images are "flat."
Shading will give the images the illusion of depth.
Unshaded Eastern Slope
|
Shaded Eastern Slope
|
|
|
|
In Avernum, the
light always comes from the East. So, the slopes that receive Eastern
light (images 1-2, east part of image 8, west part of image 9, image
10), need to be lightened in certain areas (around the middle). The
slopes
not
receiving
direct
light need
to
be darkened
in certain areas (images 6-7, west part of image 8, east part of image
9, image 12). Images 3-5 and 11 should be darked entirely.
Slope Shading on Hills
|
Slope Shading on Pits
|
|
|
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Finally, when it's
all put together (and a few extras are added):

Shading is tricky
to accomplish! Examine this graphic sheet from Avernum III:

It should give you
some idea of exactly where to lighten and darken the images.
Building
Mountains
Mountains are another
special graphics sheet case. You need 10 images as this template shows:

Here is an example
of a finished mountain:

You will also need
to code the following terrain definitions:
begindefineterrain 430; //you can use any number that isn't used by the game // mountains clear; //forgot to put this in, empties previously used values te_name = "Mountain"; te_which_sheet = 500; //number of the graphic sheet to use te_which_icon = 0; //icon from that sheet te_height_adj_pixels = 24; //move stuff on this terrain up 24 pixels te_ed_which_sheet = 688; //sheet for editor icon te_ed_which_icon = 57; //icon from that sheet te_second_icon = 5; //second icon to use for top half te_second_icon_offset_y = -55; //Moves the second icon up 55 pixels
//Avernum remembers values previously entered for the next terrain
//This way you only have to enter values which are changed
begindefineterrain 431;
// mountains
te_which_icon = 1;
te_second_icon = 6;
te_ed_which_icon = 58;
te_special_property = 25; //gives this terrain the 'hill' property
//Considered optional since characters can't really climb up them anyway
begindefineterrain 432;
// mountains
te_which_icon = 2;
te_second_icon = 7;
te_ed_which_icon = 59;
te_special_property = 26;
begindefineterrain 433;
// mountains
te_which_icon = 3;
te_second_icon = 8;
te_ed_which_icon = 52;
te_special_property = 19;
begindefineterrain 434;
// mountains
te_which_icon = 4;
te_second_icon = 9;
te_ed_which_icon = 53;
te_special_property = 20;
Special thanks to
Jigga for providing the basic terrain information, to Arancaytar for providing
the templates and information for making hills and pits, and to Mark Kennedy
for the mountains! |