The colors look really awesome torstan and I agree that the inset helps. I'm still a little confused by what is what, but it nevertheless is a beautiful map. Best of luck to you and everyone else for the win!
Yes, I realised there was no way I could show how that all fit together without an inset sketch so that was a last minute addition. So it looks like 4 entries and the others are really excellent - GP, Steel General and an unknown UK entry who we should really invite over here. Definitely worth a look. Mine's certainly the least complicated. It'll be interesting to see how we all do (or if they even let my last minute entry through!).
Thanks for the comments everyone. I really wouldn't have got through this without the encouragement. Thanks also to RP - you were dead right about the stairs - they made no sense at all. That was a final change I was very happy with. This was my first attempt at placing the greyscale values first and then laying in the colour after. It seems to be a standard technique in digital art, but I'm not there yet. Definitely some more practice - on easier subjects than a dragon in an icecube - before I'm quite comfortable with it, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Right, off to the Finished forum and RR thumbnails with this!
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The colors look really awesome torstan and I agree that the inset helps. I'm still a little confused by what is what, but it nevertheless is a beautiful map. Best of luck to you and everyone else for the win!
Yes, I agree. It was harder than I thought when your walls aren't solid and you can't really use proper shadowsI should have bit the bullet and just gone with less of an attempt at realistic lighting (yes, I know, not a lot of realism in a dragon in an icicle).
This would have been an awesome isometric map - probably needs it for a really good feeling of height.
Edit: Just checked and it's up! It made it in.
Last edited by torstan; 03-02-2009 at 09:13 AM.
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Oh yea! Isometric would have really been awesome for this particular map. I just wish I could have offered better advice, but I can totally see the difficulty because I was lost trying to come up with suggestions that would have helped. The inset definitely helped. Maybe not including the distant ground would have helped? I honestly don't have any suggestions, but I think that an iso version would have definitely made it clearer.
Yep, unfortunately the rules of the contest were for a top down hex grid so that was out. Thanks for pointing out the particular issues though. It's definitely better for it.
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That's very cool, Torstan! Excellent work! I would rep you but I need to spread it around a bit more before I can do so again.
Cheers,
Tim
Paratime Design Cartography
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