The thing about gaming is that it tickles a number of seemingly disparate interests. One of those interests is miniature 3D terrain. While miniatures gaming is its own universe, for different reasons (mostly having to do with kids), I'm basing a 3D terrain project on Battles of Westeros, a hex-based board game.
I've always had to reconcile hexes in a game's graphic design. If they're unsightly and wreck amazing design work, I can't deny their usefulness in making games more playable. They're a necessary evil. So, the primary challenge of this project is to make the hexes more subtle. I'll borrow an idea from the computer graphics of WorldWorks Games: I'll use terrain itself to mark the hex spaces.
Here's the proof of concept:
In the photo above, the corners of a hex are done in light-green grass. It's a bit more pronounced in the rock area near the bottom of the photo. It doesn't look natural. When it comes time to do this for real, the hex corners will have to be done with varying terrain types. While I like how the above turned out, when I focus on the hex corners, they look a bit like spray-painted turf.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was to make -- even though this was my third try. The rock features are dry-brushed wall spackle. Everything else is Woodland Scenics and Games Workshop right out the box.
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