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Thread: [Region 1][Map 09][Town 01] Darkovia

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  1. #1

    Wip [Region 1][Map 09][Town 01] Darkovia

    OK, I said I was out, but I've got a week to play with (client's out of town on business, so I'm temporarily free.)

    Plan is to do a hand-drawn 3/4 view of a castle town. I've always been dismayed by city/town maps because you can't see the beauty of the structures, only a bunch of roofs. But a 3/4 view will let you see it.

    I want to keep the town fairly small, so I don't have to draw too much in such a short period of time.

    In order to get the perspective right, I created this in 3D using Nendo with the intention of tracing the outlines, then filling in the detail in pencil/pen. I'll probably do some subtle coloring in Xara to finish it.

    Anyway, my 3D sketch to make my tracing from...

    The rear area of this castle town will have a pinnacle of rock with Castle Darkov at the top, accessed by a winding road leading from the street at the far right of this map view, rising to the castle over the center rear of the town...
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  2. #2

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    Looking good, GP. I had not heard of Nendo before but it looks like a great little 3d programme. I'm in complete agreement with your frustration about town maps suffering because the roofs are usually pretty boring and it's hard (I think shadows are the only way to do it) to emphasise varying heights - hence the decision in Stormlit Cloister map to get rid of the roofs altogether.

    I briefly flirted with the idea of an isometric view, but then got very scared when I saw how much work and artistic ability was involved!

    Which CWBP map is Castle Darkrovia in?

  3. #3

    Post It's in mine...

    Darkovia is in my first regional map, Qashya Mal. It is almost due north of Calishem, at the end of the steppe and the foothills of the Vahlvoska mountain range. Its the center of the Bloodstone Gem Market and the site of the Nosferatu Boyar-Prince, Casimir Darkov.

    I'll plan to create a rich story with the Prince's rise and fall into his current state and state of affairs.

    GP

    Nendo was originally developed by the Japanese Game company Squaresoft, under their flagship 3D app Nichimen Mirai (Mirai meaning - New Dawn.) Nendo was the subdivisional 3D modeler within the Mirai product. Nendo means "Clay". Its a very easy to use modeler, I use for almost all my 3D modeling needs, then export to .3ds or .obj format to use in my other 3D apps.

    This view is a screen capture within Nendo.
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  4. #4

    Post Looks good.

    Cities are a real pain getting the detail but not spending forever.


    Can you compare Nendo to Sketchup?

    I notice that in the free version it disables saves and exports...


    Sigurd

  5. #5

    Post Nendo is easy and great for organics

    Izware Nendo (who owns it now) offers the app for $49

    Compared to Sketchup which free - no comparison. However as a subdivisional surface modeler, I think Nendo is great.

    No other 3D modeling app gives me as much freedom to create organic models, animals, plants, monsters - the smooth capability after you model at a lower number of faces creates smooth and rounded shapes with great success.

    Really I'd use Nendo to create my complex shapes and models then import to a more complete rendering application like Sketchup.

    GP
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  6. #6

    Post Thread jack...

    Thread jack on myself...

    Here's a complex, organic 3D model I created a few months back. It was modeled in Nendo, then exported to old Raydream Studio where I textured and rendered it. I used it as a map object in an overhead view, but here it is in an isometric view.

    The Aboleth...
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  7. #7

    Wip Back to the June Challenge...

    OK, let's get back on topic. I traced my 3D perspective isometric view of the Castle town of Darkovia and started to color it in.

    Once I complete this, I will hand-draw the mountain, mountain access road, and Castle Darkovia. Couple more days to finish this up, but I'm knocking this out.

    I figure the size of this town is small enough, with several distinct structures that making it a useable map for RPG use, despite not being a miniatures battlemap.

    Some back story: The Mountain Town of Darkovia is 789 years old, as old as it's sovereign - the Boyar-Prince Casimir Darkov (Nosfertu Vampire.) Having grown from the rustic outpost community and bloodstone mining claim into a wealthy, independant walled town second in importance to Calishem in western Qashya Mal.

    Bloodstones are a "blood red" gemstone with the power of holding 50% more arcane charges when used in the creation of magic items, thus are a greatly sought after commodity by jewellers and wizards worldwide. Prince Casimir has a monopoly on this rare arcane enhancing mineral.

    Having secured his down by location, defenses, defense forces and his own dark legends as a Lord of the Undead and established lucrative contracts with the leading merchants in Calishem, the Imperial Mongol House and outside connections across the continent.

    The town is largely wealthy guildsman, merchant, jeweler, and military officer residents, primarily upper middle class and noble class, with a housed working staff. Buildings south of the Stirgloi River, beyond the walls of town, contain the lower classes of the community.

    Gold Weighers, Goldsmiths, Jewellers, and Usurers (Money Lenders) dominate the rich economy of Darkovia.

    The mines which produce Bloodstones are worked by slave forces, purchased from Mongol tribes own slave stock, these serve the Prince's thirst as well, as he does not prey on his own citizens (not generally anyway.)

    WIP so far...

    ### Latest WIP ###
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  8. #8

    Wip Next WIP

    I finished coloring in what I'd already drawn and scanned. I placed some initial labeling. I plan to create the mountain, castle and access road tonight.

    WIP so far...

    ### Latest WIP ###
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  9. #9

  10. #10
    Community Leader jfrazierjr's Avatar
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    Very nice. I smell another badge/compass thingy coming your way...
    My Finished Maps
    Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
    My Tutorials:
    Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
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    Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

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