FlowScape: A Great App for Authors

I’ve been wanting to write a post about reader reviews, but I haven’t really gotten it to say what I want it to say. So I decided to find something else to write about while I hammer at that one.

That something else is a program called FlowScape by Pixel Forest Games. I found this a year or so ago, and it’s a fantastic addition to my art apps. FlowScape is a 3-D game (I view it more as a painter app) that lets you create beautiful landscapes with a few clicks of your mouse. And it’s cheap ($10 as of this writing). You can purchase it as a stand-alone or through Steam.

Yes, you need to make certain your computer can handle running a 3-D program, but if you have the specs, I recommend it. It’s an easy way to create a realistic-looking and unique landscape for things like book ads, video backgrounds and more.

FlowScape is easy to learn, even if you have no 3-D experience. Select a landscape type (some are hilly, some are mountainy, some have more ocean) and choose the type of rock you want as a base. Next, select grass or trees or rocks, change the size of the paint brush and how many iterations of the object you want, and paint. That’s it. If you’re into 3-D modeling, you can import models, but it’s not necessary to create a wondrous landscape (I stick to what’s already there).

FlowScape has several types of things to put into the landscape; rocks, grasses, trees, bushes, flowers, buildings, fences, bunnies, deer … there’s a lot of stuff. You can change the sky from dawn to dusk. You can make the atmosphere light or dark. Add fog! And it’s all done with a click from your mouse.

I use FlowScape images as backgrounds for many things, including book ads, book trailers and pictures for my World Anvil sites. It’s a handy tool for someone like me, who wanted the look and feel of a 3-D landscape but found modeling intimidating (that may change once I really start to use 3-D software, but I haven’t had the time to truly study it yet).

You can use the in-game camera to take a PNG, or use the video feature to film the landscape. If you have an Nvidia card, you can use Ansel to take snapshots of the scene. Perhaps not typical, but I use OBS (software used by streamers and those who record video) to film some of the landscapes I’ve created, which I then use as video backgrounds.

While you can import, exporting isn’t available, so more experienced 3-D users may find that frustrating. It has an easy learning curve, but if you have problems, their Discord is helpful, and they have a Reddit page.

There are galleries in the app, on Discord, Reddit, and Facebook, so you can get a feel for what’s possible with the program. People not only use it to create pretty pictures, they use it for things like dungeon maps. There’s a lot you can do with the game.

Below are some of the landscapes I’ve created, and how I’ve used them.

FlowScape has been an awesome addition to my art apps. I use it often. It’s a great way to quickly capture the feel of a place, be it a wide-open tundra or a castle ruin, a winter wonderland or a tropical paradise. FlowScape 2 is on its way, which will allow the creation of huge landscape vistas. Pixel Forest is the sole programmer, so if you purchase the game, you’re supporting a single person who has brought a lot of joy to many users.

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Shiobe Rising: The Wellspring Dragons Book 1 and Trouble in Tindrel: The Wellspring Dragons Book 2 are available in Kindle format. Lapis of Nicodem, a serialized dark fantasy, is available for free at World Anvil. Follow me, Kwyn Marie, on Facebook and Instagram. Check out my author website, and the Wellspring Dragons book site as well as the Lapis of Nicodem book site. And if you like what you see, buy me a KoFi!