Another Digital Resurrection: Fortified Grid City

[a2area]

This is based on an idea i drew a long long long time ago (1989-ish)... to see how many people could "comfortably" fit into a square mile.. back then i called it "suburban gridloc" but this rendition will be a more pleasant take on the basic grid theme.
Here is the original scan as well as the WIP

I guess it's my new project now.. i decided to do something with it yesterday and i'm suprised at far it's come already. I never use those seamless textures you see around that look kind of cool because they don't usually fit with the style map i'm making.. so i figured I'd go texture crazy on this one.. Still a long way to go so there is no need to let me know something is not looking right.. there is still a lot to do before it makes sense spatially (like check how big a boxcar is?!) and there are a lot of textures laying around that i'm just checking out.... I don't think any one thing is actually finished.

The actual document is clearer than this as i had to downsize my jpeg quality to upload.

[Larb]

Star Fort! Well, those kinda defences. It certainly looks impressive! Can I ask what technique you use to make your regular flat grassland?

[Ascension]

The grass look like a combo of 2 patterns and a bump map. Just add bison pattern is a fave of mine and Steel General, the field pattern is in the elements section (it might be in a link to an offsite website). And there is also a bumpmap but I'm not sure which pattern it is from. Lookin go so far A2A.

[a2area]

yep.. good eye Ascension!! Just Add Bison is correct! (0:
http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/packs/index.htm

Also "red earth" is the road texture and there might be some "common ground" in there too..

There is a bump map from part of a wilbur map i made for something else and the fort is just a bunch of bevel/emboss layers and tons of masks going on here.. it will come together nicely i should think.. i am liking the forest in the lower right along the creek... and i like the train track a lot! All of the buildings wont have the same cross pattern either so it will look more random with trees in the courtyards etc. and a lot more forest in the surrounding area to kill some of those blurry textures which aren't really the right scale for the map.... but they add nice colors.

I'm very pleased considering i didn't really have any plans for where i was going with it.. just started with a little bevel and embossing and then i got sucked in.

Why does it say "VOTE NOW" instead of "SAVE" when i edit my post????

[Daelin]

Another stunner from the legend himself! :O

This is just a whole barrel of awesome! I love all the little details, like the drop shadow on the aqueduct and layered look of the two central buildings. I tried something similar to this a while ago with my Orichalcacia city map, but gave it up because I couldn't quite get the storied buildings right. I'll have another go at it, and see if I can get something even close to as cool at this.

The grid layout is certainly interesting, but it seems a little too perfect and ordered to me. Also, I'm a little confused about the time-line. There is city walls and an aqueduct, but there is also train tracks? But these are only minor grievances, you know, 'cause this looks totally great!

[a2area]

Still doing a lot of experimentation and getting a feel for the scale and all that good stuff. And remember, WIP... (0: only about 4 hours of work in it so far. Dont be too harsh on it timeline wise, i'll iron out the kinks.. It is on a planet where the height of tech is about 1850 (in many respects at least). Obviously the tracks were added to this town much later than the fortifications but perhaps there is still a valid reason that the walls are kept up. I just added the aquaduct for "neat-0" factor. Plus, maybe it's convenient for them?

As for the perfection of the town's grid, that will not remain quite so intact but it's easier to create the entire grid in one fell swoop then subtract and modify the buildings later. There will also be random villages outside the gates as well as within partitions of the fortress and between the walls which will give it a different feel altogether.. I will have to add rail tunnels to exit the fortress.. as well as add dedicated roadway gates. Gotta kill some of that overwhelming yellow-green hue with some variation in fields and more forest etc.

The two buildings in the center are just made up of (mostly) the same square smart object with a bevel and drop shadow effect then duplicated, scaled and rotated over and over. You can drag it and scale it any which way and the effect will stay true to the light source. Stacking them worked out pretty nicely too. The town needs a market street i think.. and some community farm plots within the walls.. barns.. animal pens.. hmm.. lots to do. How big would a chicken be at this scale? (0:

why don't i have an avatar? i guess i'd better make one, huh

[Sapiento]

This map is awesome!