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Gameplay and World Building


Making the right atmosphere[]

Getting the atmosphere right for a world can be the hardest part, and the most technical. At its most complicated it can involve altering weather, water color and other files using s3pe. At its most basic it can be building up a consistent and logical pattern of flora, and placing lots in aesthetically pleasing spots. The best way to handle this is to plan carefully, and to get lots and lots and lots of reference pictures. Simple terms in a google image search can be all you need, eg 'Suburbia', or 'Middle Eastern', or 'Paris Streets'. Creators should always build up a large collection of photos and pictures that evoke the mood, the look, that they want to capture. Then they should experiment in CAW, perhaps even in small prototype worlds, getting that look to appear. Creators shouldn't just rush in figuring they'll capture the right atmosphere it in the first draft. It's a draft. World builders should work slowly towards the right look, using all the techniques at their disposal.

RuralTownSources

Source photos for "Rural town"

Geometry and Sculpting[]

It can be difficult to get a world's landscape looking realistic. Practice in Create-a-World on prototypes before each world. Try to get a clear understanding of what you can do. One-off results aren't good enough, creators need to be able to reproduce the same (or similar) results over and over again.

Before you start sculpting your first official draft in Create-a-World, always consider two things:

(1) How big does this world need to be to serve its purpose and satisfy its audience?

Don't start too small or too large. If you're making a dense city to share with other plays, aim for a small or medium world so that more users' computers can potentially run it. If this is your first world then maybe you want to start small. There is a lot of sculpting, painting and organising involved in massive worlds. How many lots do you want in your world? Do you plan to populate it. All these factors influence how large a map you should start off with, so think carefully.

(2) Where do I want the sun to rise and set?

This is important to planning you lighting. How do you want the sun to fall on your world? Check this by using the View > Time of Day command in Create-a-World. Consider where the sun is coming up and going down before you start sculpting, because this will remain relatively fixed after you have begun. Do you want your beach town to get sublime sunrises? Position it appropriately.

Colours & Textures[]

Colours[]

Textures[]

Finding great textures can be difficult, but the right choices and careful painting can yield extremely beautiful and surprising results.

Lighting[]

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