I should already know this by now as long as I've been forging, but I don't. lol.. I know the bad spots, but I'm looking for the best spot on Forge World for frame rate. I have an idea for a map that may eat a big budget. Do you think the coastline on the southeast side of Montana would be the best?
The higher the location the better. At the same time though, using natural geometry to cut the amount of object usage could prove to be more beneficial in the end.
Where ever, Just make sure you don't build anything beside, or inside the waterfall. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES.
Not aesthetically though, as far as I believe. Every block is brightened like a 4x4 tall. I don't know what's worse between that and a few awkwardly shaded pieces.
A lot of Forgers I know like building on or near the sandbar connecting the island to the cave. There's some nice, mostly consistent lighting there. I also recently build a map off the shore of the Canyon, which I found to be a nice location as well for lighting (though there was a spot that turned a few pieces very dark, much to my chagrin). Zatherla mentioned the waterfall, but I would also avoid the Coliseum like the plague. I can get some mild frame drops in there with just a few building blocks laid down. The lighting in there is **** to boot.
Lighting above the barrier is all very bright. It makes maps look internally consistent but can detract a bit from atmosphere - no more dusky-brown blocks, no more dark areas anywhere. I built a map up there and liked how it came out, but since then I've mostly built under the barrier and lived with light-mapping quirks in exchange for natural scenery and light differentials - like my newest map, which has a very clear light side and dark side.
The skybox is great if you're going for a CE kinda feel, but the washed out lighting is a bit much for me. I think this topic has officially become, "Which area in FW has the best lighting?" since which area is best for framerate (skybox) has already been answered.