What sky is the best?

[Jaska]

I have serious problems on selecting the best sky on two maps. @Eradrop has made too much too cool skies, heh! Also one @Mechadon's sky here.

 

Here are the options:

Farmlands:

 

 

Mountain village:

Up

Down

 

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by Jaska

[Jaws In Space]

#5 goes with Mountain village quite nicely I think.

[leodoom85]

For Mountain Village, #5-#6-#11 goes well.

For Farmlands, I think #1 and #3.

[Memfis]

Most of these don't work at all in my eyes. If you already have a detailed backdrop made of sectors and objects, you don't need the sky to have elaborate mountains as well. That's just messy and hard on the eyes, plus tiny sector mountains look funny when you see huge realistic ones at the same time. A simple sky with some clouds and stuff would work much better than these visually busy ones I think, and it would create nice contrast.

[Eradrop]

I think you should choose a sky with a light source (moon or sun), and make for your building shadows against that light source, it will make the sky more combined with your map, since your map has the same light every where.

If not... like memfis said, choose more simple sky without many detailes, will work excellent in my opinion

Edited July 21, 2017 by Eradrop

[40oz]

id probably agree with memfis that some of these mountains only diminish the effect of your sector terrain by being much bigger and majestic than what you've created already. I'd recommend a sky-only sky with overcast clouds and stuff, kinda like Plutonias E1 sky.

 

maybe some rolling hills might keep you looking like you're on a floating island, but those huge mountain ranges are sucking all the energy out of your hard work.

Edited July 21, 2017 by 40oz

[Jaska]

Here's some new shots

 

Edited July 22, 2017 by Jaska

[Memfis]

I like the last two! Nice view.

[esselfortium]

The scene itself looks great, so it looks great with most of those skies, but I think my favorite might be this one:

 

The mountains in the background are pretty big but not so much that they completely dwarf the structures in the map, and the fog cast over the distant mountains helps enhance the scene's sense of perspective and scale, helping the map feel like it fits into a larger world.

[Ru5tK1ng]

I like the patterns and colors of the clouds overall, but the main problem, as previously stated, is the mountains. They just look really blurry and ugly. The first skies you posted would work with another map if you just fixed the mountains. Though, making them smaller as you have is a good route too because it looks like there are islands rather than mountains in the distance which fits better with the type of map you're showcasing.

[Demon of the Well]

Of the skies which use the large mountains, I'm most partial to the one with snow-capped green mountains and the green/brown overcast above. The color scheme of the sky meshes well with the colors in the dominating textures in the map below, giving a more stylized 'painted' look where the distinction between firmament and sky is not entirely clear, though I can see where some might feel the mesh is too close and blurs the actual landmarks too much for navigational purposes. I also like that selection because it gives me the impression of a somewhat colder place--something like a small city on the edge of an alpine lake a little ways below the treeline--which is uncommon in Doom outside of maps that fully commit to an ice/snow theme, which tend to turn a mite visually dry more often than not, regardless of author skill (IMO).

 

Of the skies without much in the way of mountains/terrain, I quite like the very first one in the second post, with the red sky and duskfire in the strands of clouds. Sort of like how I feel about the green mountains above, I like this one because it immediately gave me more of a definite sense of location for the city below, this time something like an island town in the Caribbean or maybe the South Pacific. A mite campy in terms of travel brochure imagery, perhaps, but such a setting also arguably gives you a freer hand with some of that lava I see in the background.

[Jaska]

Some options...

http://imgur.com/a/aGpgr

[RightField]

Am I the only one who thinks the mountains are great and like the earlier revisions the most. It's something I haven't seen before in a wad and that's a good thing. Following the "rules" is pretty much the worst you can do for creativity, you're already talented enough, you don't need a second opinion. (yet)

Edited August 5, 2017 by RightField

[everennui]

#1

I agree. You don't need a second opinion. In fact, our opinions are way too uniformed to probably be useful.

Edited August 6, 2017 by everennui