Cemeteries

Article created by Talon Karrde (Woad Creations)

Making a good’n’spooky cemetery may be something of a challenge to do in Empires, what with only a handful of objects suitable for the task. Yet, it is actually rather easy once you know a few effective ways of mixing objects together. There are pretty much three major parts to a good cemetery: the atmosphere, the terrain and the objects within. Each will be discussed in this article.

Atmosphere
You want the atmosphere to be as spooky as possible. This means that its best for the cemetery visit to be at night (preferably the darkest possible). Mist is also nice, but remember that since mist migrates, you’d better make the cemetery visit early on in the scenario. Spooky sounds, such as some sort of haunting whispering or something, may also be good, depending on whether or not you’re making a fantasy scenario.

Terrain
The terrain should generally be somber and remind you that you’re in a place mortals would rather not visit. This would probably mean darker terrains such as dirt, and dead terrains such as grass dying. Trees should all be more or less dead. Also, there should be some hills and/or small cliffs, but exactly why will be discussed later.

Objects
You can get some nice crypts/tombs by experimenting with different objects. You can mix tombs together to form large crypts, you can add statues to corners, you can make real tombs by placing them so they appear built into a cliff wall, with a door on front. In my opinion, at least some of the crypts should be placed on hills. Take a look at the screenies for possible crypt/tomb ideas.

Below are some final result screenshots taken before mist was added. I was too lazy to take new ones after the mist was placed so they lack mist.

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