A new directión

[AmarilloQL]

Well i registered yesterday to this forum and i post some of my battlemaps in another thread, i was looking a lot of works of members and i reallize that im very far of a good map, so i make this map using more custom tools.

I made the building in Dundjinni and the background in photoshop whit textures of cgtextures.

I want to upgrade my skills so i will appreciate any kind of comments

pruebataverna.png

[HereBeLions]

Hi Amarillo! I'm not much of a cartographer myself, but I can offer you a few pointers.

The first thing I notice is the flagstones - they are huge. Compare the size of one of the flagstones to the width of the door; the average door is about 2.5' - 3' wide, a bit bigger than the width of a person. By that measure, some of those flagstones are up to 6' in length, which makes the building look a lot smaller than it actually is. You can fix this by shrinking and duplicating the texture you used for the stones, to make them smaller in comparison to the door.

Another thing I'd recommend, just to unify the final image, is to make a layer in Photoshop above everything else, fill it with one colour, and lower the opacity to 5 - 10%. It can be any colour you like, but it'll bring all the colours together and make them look like they're in the same scene, rather than a bunch of separate elements.

[Jacktannery]

Amarillo, I really like your map. I like the colours and the simplicity, and your lighting is good. I also like that the map is original and unique - it does not look like other people's maps, which is a very good thing.

To me it looks a little bit small - have you reduced this map to upload (unnecessary if you saved it as a .jpg instead of .png) or did you draw it that small? If the latter, I recommend making your next map much larger in terms of pixel size (not in terms of final scale).

I really like how you have made your road. I love the twisted and bent paving stones, it makes the road look sinuous and realistic. However, there is an obvious seam in the middle of your road that you need to touch up (use the clone tool if you are using Gimp or Photoshop). Also the fading out at the edges of the road does not really work here - consider making it not fade.

Good work overall, and I look forward to see more of your maps.

[Meshon]

I too like the roads. I was trying to accomplish something similar, and it's not easy to get the roads looking like they were built as roads. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

cheers,
Meshon

[AmarilloQL]

tavernaprueba2.png

This is a new one whit the corrections gived for you, its better or worst?

[HereBeLions]

That's looking really good now! I love the indication of lighting with the little glows aronud the torches, that's a really neat touch.

[Jacktannery]

Amarillo - interesting changes! When I look at the two in quick succession I feel I'm hallucinating, or on mushrooms.

The new map is very dark - I think I prefered the outdoor lighting on the first map. In terms of scale the second map is better overall as the flagstones are correct in relation to the building. Seam is still present but less obvious (you could improve this further I feel) and the road edge transparency is still problematic but its not the end of the world.

But the most noticeable thing on the map to me is the very good quality shadow on the NE chair. Superb work on that and great attention to detail - bodes well!

The only thing left that's wrong with your map now is the size of the front door. It's too big for the frame - such a door could never be closed.

[AmarilloQL]

taverna prueba3.png

Now i improved the lighting and shadows. I tryed to paint light details in the objets and the cobblestone near the lamps.

muestra1.png

muestra2.png

muestra3.png

muestra4.png

[AmarilloQL]

Damn i dont realize the proportion of the door ! XD

taverna prueba4.png
more critics plz?

[Meshon]

The road is looking even better. As was mentioned, your attention to detail in the light and shadows is top notch. I'm looking forward to trying some of this out on my own maps. I would be interested in knowing how you make the shadows. Do you hand-paint them, or use some other process?

cheers,
Meshon