an attempt at a city

[LonewandererD]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, the next update should be up soon, the latest district is more of a hassle than I expected.

@alizarine - The building had to be outlined with a black stroke because the land around the buildings was a brown colour so i had to make a clear divider between the land and the buildings or else the buildings would blend into the land. I have scaled back the beach abit so it's not so bright and noticeable but the overall effect is still there, I wanted to look like the sand was slowly dissapearing under the water. I fiddle more with these things as i go along.

-D-

[LonewandererD]

An update, finally...

This is the beginning of district 5, I haven't done any of the detailing for this district yet, I've only managed to put down the buildings, roads and cleared lands. I have done the special buildings and docks for this district though, the rest is still at a very rough stage. It's the largest of the 6 districts, which is why it's taking me so long, but now that the buildings are in place I should have more updates up sooner. This is the district of the upper class of warriors and so i wanted it look a little more important than the common quarters, or something like that. You'll notice that the main buildings are divided into three types, smaller buildings for the lowliest of the warriors (city guards, etc), larger buildings for the middle ranked warriors (proffessional soldiers and families with merchant buisinesses) and small manors for the higher families (the nobility). The three special types of buildings are the citie's bathhouse (the lower right buidling), the city administration building (the bottom building of the three clustered in the centre) and the upper market buildings (The other two buildings clustered in the centre).

Next on my to do list for this district its
- Creating more variation in the building colour
- Seeing that all the homes have access to a well
- Seeing that all homes have access to a merchant stand or shop
- Seeing that all homes have access to a yard or garden of some kind
- and seeing that there is plenty of trees and small areas of greenery to break up the mass of buildings

After all of this I don't think I'll be trying city maps for a good long time...

-D-

[Gandwarf]

Wow
The cliffs to the southeast are very well done, by the way.

[Jaxilon]

I agree, those cliffs are excellent! Talk about structure. This city clearly had a strong director behind it's design because it looks like it could be a military base.

[Yandor]

still amazing, keep it up, the end product will be absolutely outstanding!

[Ascension]

Yeah, you took my messy tut and really knocked it out of the park, LD. Still lookin sweet.

[LonewandererD]

So much done, yet so much still to do.

District 5 is now completed. District 5 is the Upper Warrior's District, home to the Warrior Caste who are the ruling caste of the Dal. Completion of District 5 marks the completion of the last, and largest, block of housing. Next I'll be moving onto the field in the top right of the map, originally this would have been a poor, run-down district to house the casteless people but I figured that the casteless would be so despised by the warrior castes that they would be driven into the forests and mountains, away from the cities. Now, to replace the housing district, I'm just going to put in several large fields to hold livestock for trade and to have areas that travelling merchant caravans can set up shot while they're trading with the city; it'll be so much simpler to do while still fitting in and serving some purpose to the rest of the city. It should aslo prevent the map from feeling too crowded by too many houses; it'll be full without being too full, if that makes sense.

More to come soon.

-D-

[LonewandererD]

Maps of small sections make for light work. I can now finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

This is the Beast Trade District, where animal products such as furs/hides, milk and fresh meat are purchased. The small compound of buildings in the bottom right of the screen is where animals are milk and where the hair of the "Tershi" beasts (which has similiar qualities to alpaca) is collected. The small compound in the top right is the butcher, since the Dal believe that raising animals specifically for meat is wrong only animals that are hunted or die naturally are sent here, which is why the area is relatively small. The two fields on the left are for holding the pack beasts and livestock of visiting merhant caravans. As can be seen from the tents a caravan has already stopped by, caravans actually get quite larger than this so this is probably a vanguard for a larger caravan or a small party sent to trade with the city with the intent of meeting up with the main caravan later.

Finally the small cluster of domed buidlings in the centre are the roofs for under ground ice houses which are very similiar to the Persian "Yakhchal". For more information on Persian "Yakhchal" follow this link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhchal . I got inspired by the idea of small underground ice houses that I've put them in several areas across the city and will put a few in the fortress and university areas. Am i putting too much thought into this map?

Next on my list is the Fortress which is going to be in the walled off area overlooking the cliffs in the bottom right of the main map. I'll put up plans for the fortress after I've done some more research.

-D-

[Yandor]

Sheesh D, still amazing work here, keep plugging away, cause its exciting to see something like this being put together, but all to often they'll bail on the project until a far later time... so keep it up, one of the best city images, or I guess the best city designs I've seen yet!!

[Ascension]

It's so much fun isn't it? Well at times. You really feel like your making the town come to life by designing buildings and placing them just so. Then ya put in a fence and work yard and boom, you've lost 4 hours.