lucheyschoe
Weekend Golfer
I play golf....very badly...... And Design on Xbox
Posts: 141
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Post by lucheyschoe on Jan 28, 2021 10:47:27 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
I'm a relatively new designer only having the game for about 5 months now and bought with the sole purpose of designing courses. I have finished and published 4. Only submitted one to TGC which got approved. I primarily learned from watching Canuk and B101 Youtube tutorials (THANK YOU so much for these. They have been incredibly helpful!!!) plus reading the forums.
I have vowed to make a course in each theme to get to know them, so I can see and feel the differences & benefits of each. So far I have done one in Harvest, Tropical, Countryside, Swiss and now working on a Boreal (In that order).
On my latest creation I am struggling with lighting and wanted to see If some of the more seasoned designers would be willing share some tips and tricks or suggestions. I’m nearing completion on new course that is sort of rugged - in the Boreal theme. For the Past 5 months I spent my time learning the tools. With this course, I’m working on hole routing/strategy and bunker sculpting along with everything I’ve learned from my previous courses. I’m loving this Boreal Theme as you have more options to manipulate the grounds to give it a unique look.
I have been playing all the courses in the Rookie Design challenge and Dream Team projects and loving them all so far. I am continually amazed at the skill the designers have and especially impressed with some of the Rookie courses. None of them look like rookie courses. It was amazing work by all.
I appreciate this forum community as it read through it for inspiration, tips, tricks and the occasional laugh.
Thank you again for your consideration in offering up tips.
~ Chris
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Post by richnufc99 on Jan 28, 2021 11:14:37 GMT -5
Some quick thoughts - Your lighting is combination of time of day, direction of the sun (orientation) and inclination (height of sun)... remember that players can change the time of day only when they play a round... watch out for really low inclination and midday time... if someone sets early morning or late evening they might end up in the dark
- Be careful with shadows on greens in bright sun...
- If you have trees near your greens and it’s windy then the shadows they cause move around violently which is really ‘off putting‘ (pun intended lol)
- Don’t overdo the low bright sun... or at least not on too many holes
- Try and set your sun direction early and consider it alongside your routing - they interact with each other
- After that it’s down to playing around with clouds fog and haze... also remember that the fog base height relates to your land height... so if you raise the whole plot you may need to raise your fog height.
- A reasonably low sun will enhance undulations in your landscape... higher sun and everything is ‘flatter’
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lucheyschoe
Weekend Golfer
I play golf....very badly...... And Design on Xbox
Posts: 141
|
Post by lucheyschoe on Jan 28, 2021 11:24:46 GMT -5
Some quick thoughts - Your lighting is combination of time of day, direction of the sun (orientation) and inclination (height of sun)... remember that players can change the time of day only when they play a round... watch out for really low inclination and midday time... if someone sets early morning or late evening they might end up in the dark
- Be careful with shadows on greens in bright sun...
- If you have trees near your greens and it’s windy then the shadows they cause move around violently which is really ‘off putting‘ (pun intended lol)
- Don’t overdo the low bright sun... or at least not on too many holes
- Try and set your sun direction early and consider it alongside your routing - they interact with each other
- After that it’s down to playing around with clouds fog and haze... also remember that the fog base height relates to your land height... so if you raise the whole plot you may need to raise your fog height.
- A reasonably low sun will enhance undulations in your landscape... higher sun and everything is ‘flatter’
Awesome Tips! Thank you!
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Post by 15eicheltower9 on Jan 28, 2021 11:33:28 GMT -5
Boreal is real finicky with the buried tree textures. If your going for that look experiment with clouds and overcast weather and inclination higher to avoid that white washed out look you get at some angles. Tagging tpetro in for this.
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Post by b101 on Jan 28, 2021 15:35:12 GMT -5
One thing I'd add is that lighting can affect colours of plants, grasses and trees. Bright, clear lighting can make everything very busy. One major reason a number of courses are in that cloudier lighting is to mute the colours which means you have fewer visual distractions. Play around with it and see what you end up liking.
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Post by lessthanbread on Jan 28, 2021 15:57:07 GMT -5
I will comment on the players being able to change the time of day and that could mess up the look if you set the sun in certain spots. I think you as the designer have every right to set the lighting exactly how you want it. Do not dictate your lighting choices because people might change it to anything other than default. The course should look the way you want it to look.
you will never get lighting 100% correct because there will always be people who prefer one way over another. My best advice would be to just play around with it. Move it around, change the weather, just really sink time into learning what all the sliders do until you get the look you're going for. Lighting is probably the most subjective thing in the designer. Some love the low blinding sun, some cannot stand it. You will never please everyone with your lighting choices, so just focus on pleasing yourself.
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Post by trailducker on Jan 28, 2021 16:56:34 GMT -5
just focus on pleasing yourself. Gross dude
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lucheyschoe
Weekend Golfer
I play golf....very badly...... And Design on Xbox
Posts: 141
|
Post by lucheyschoe on Jan 28, 2021 17:21:27 GMT -5
I will comment on the players being able to change the time of day and that could mess up the look if you set the sun in certain spots. I think you as the designer have every right to set the lighting exactly how you want it. Do not dictate your lighting choices because people might change it to anything other than default. The course should look the way you want it to look. you will never get lighting 100% correct because there will always be people who prefer one way over another. My best advice would be to just play around with it. Move it around, change the weather, just really sink time into learning what all the sliders do until you get the look you're going for. Lighting is probably the most subjective thing in the designer. Some love the low blinding sun, some cannot stand it. You will never please everyone with your lighting choices, so just focus on pleasing yourself. This my friend is solid advice. I heard a saying once about decisions being made by a group of people, trying to please everyone. “A camel is a race horse designed by committee. I’ve been playing with the lighting sliders and not liking the look, by trying to please what I felt most people would like. I’ll keep working on it, but may end up where I started on this course. Thanks again!
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Post by lessthanbread on Jan 28, 2021 18:24:09 GMT -5
just focus on pleasing yourself. Gross dude walked right into that one...
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