Hommlet

[rlucci]

I like everything, except for the shadows. They indicate that the sun is high in the nrothern sky, and this jars the most for me with the majority of some maps.

I never really thought about that before. I see your point, but I would think that this would screw with the illusion of depth. I'll have to try this...

I just rendered my rough terrain with the sunlight coming from the southwest and my brain seems to be to be able to interpret the depth illusions just fine. Okay. I'll try my next map with southerly lighting, then.

[Redrobes]

I looked at this map earlier and like many many aspects of it. Esp the 3D feel to the river banks etc. The shadows are strong. I don't mind that but I always find it gives issues when you try to add extra icons to the map or try to blend this map in with a bigger area. Maybe neither of those two would be an issue. Certainly strong shadows are unusual and it does bring out depth in the landscape.

The one area that does jump out to me is the way all the buildings are quantized to 45 degree angles. Can you position them with other angles or is that a software limitation. All the terrain and water look quite natural that the exacting nature of the building lines lend a kind of CAD like sterility to it that is a bit of a shame.

[NeonKnight]

I never really thought about that before. I see your point, but I would think that this would screw with the illusion of depth. I'll have to try this...

I just rendered my rough terrain with the sunlight coming from the southwest and my brain seems to be to be able to interpret the depth illusions just fine. Okay. I'll try my next map with southerly lighting, then.

No prob, like I said, it is my personal pet peeve

Have you tried to indicate the digging of the foundation for Rufus's Keep (Area 30), and the dwarven stonesmith camp?

[RobA]

I quite like this map for a few reasons.

I like the way the shaded relief effect is emphasized by the cast shadows, especially those cast by the cliff north of the river.

I really like that using simplified building shapes produce shadows that again hint at the terrain, like the one cast by building 7.

Lastly, the shadows help indicate the height of various buildings (like the tower, 30).

I don't think this would work well the buildings were denser, and/or wrapped by a wall. It would end up (while realistic looking) too busy. Softening the shadows might help visually (though at this scale shadows cast by the sun would be hard edged).

A question - how much exaggeration of heights (for both buildings and terrain) did you use?

-Rob A>

[su_liam]

It's kind of a convention to shade maps as if they are lit from the northwest or upper left corner. Don't know why, but the illusion seems to work better that way. Lit from the south, which makes sense in the northern hemisphere, high points tend to look like indentations. I don't know the psychology of that, but hey. That said, I really like this map. Could have been a good entry for Wild West Town. I'm guessing the 45 degree bias is from the original Village of Hommlet map.

[Carnifex]

It's kind of a convention to shade maps as if they are lit from the northwest or upper left corner. Don't know why, but the illusion seems to work better that way. Lit from the south, which makes sense in the northern hemisphere, high points tend to look like indentations. I don't know the psychology of that, but hey. That said, I really like this map. Could have been a good entry for Wild West Town. I'm guessing the 45 degree bias is from the original Village of Hommlet map.

I agree... I've always done maps with light coming from the upper left corner. If there's a light source in the picture I change the direction of the shadows to match that light.
See, for example, the temple map from the Fantaseum-Spring08. It's indoor and the shadows still comes from upper left corner (in this particular map I'd adjusted shadows to the light from the windows - but it still looks ok with the shadows).

[Badger]

Great map... I especially love the 3d one as it does look like a place to set up miniatures ... good job, I like it.

[GenkiBob]

Though a bit late to this thread, if anyone is still looking for the village in 3D, you can find it for Sketch-Up in the 3D Warehouse here:
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/mod...age-of-Hommlet

[rlucci]

A question - how much exaggeration of heights (for both buildings and terrain) did you use?

Some. Not as much as I thought I did (I kept futzing with the settings in Bryce until I was happy). Here's a quick perspective render from my saved file for an idea on how much...

[RobA]

That's sweet! The little buildings even appear to have shingles on them!

-Rob A>