*** July10 Challenge Voting - A Convergence of Power ***

[Gamerprinter]

Montana, where men are men, women are scarce and sheep are nervous...

Yeah, I goofed, and didn't notice VOTE 2, so I only voted for Sap's map, but my second would go to Crayon's if I'd been paying attention (strange, I've never missed a second or third vote, until this time!) Though my map turned out fine, it lacks the extraneous detail of other maps among the entries. Again, I don't do this for the win, but the challenge for myself, and that I need this map for my next publication - so it works for me fine, and its a style I plan to extrapolate on with other maps in the same publication.

All the entries were great this month, though I think Jax's map could have included more labels, a compass rose and what not to give it a more 'mappy' feel. RE's is great normal entry, SAP's has a medieval-steam punk look to it, something I never design for, but looks good here. Mmmmmpig's trees still look rock-like to me, but that's its only discrepancy. Good luck on the winner.

GP

PS: besides, I don't crave badges, I crave REP! I've sat on the same REP for too long...

[Immolate]

You got some love from me GP. I think maybe the notice to vote for >>>TWO<<< was too subtle, don't you think?

[Ascension]

My first vote went to mr ham as his looked the most mappy. I then voted for Jax cuz I like his waves...which has nothing to do with looking mappy. Sue me Sap's was very strong and I should have probably voted that way. GP's stuff is great but his lines look kind of sterile, no character, and that should probably be third...the coloring is sweet and all the other stuff to go along with a good-looking map (I don't know how he does it, some sort of creative mine that he can tap into anytime he wants). RE's looks like something from a video game and looks awesome but not altogether mappy and same for Crayons. Very tough vote, I almost got out the coins and flipped them. Tried to rep my votes but can't so I'll have to owe you guys. I hope that we can expect such high quality all the time. Nice work all around.

[RecklessEnthusiasm]

Well, my first vote went to Sapiento (as always, his maps are just amazing) for the amazing and consistent detail on everything, and the creative take on the challenge. The colors and clarity remind me of 8-bit games, but when you zoom in, the craftsmanship really hits you.

GamePrinter got my second vote for the brilliant use of tools to create a really impressive effect--I am going to have to try using Sketchup and then 'inking' by hand. It looks amazing. I didn't like the drawing of the druid on the bottom left, but it didn't ruin anything for me.

Jaxlion - I really like your style but as mentioned in your thread, when you zoom in the lines look almost like... I don't know... sloppy paint? If there was some way to maintain the really neat 'painted' effect you use, while making the lines crisper with more definite edges, I think it would take your work to a whole new level. There might even be a simple photoshop filter you could apply to clarify everything.. hm.

Mmmmpig- I feel like this might have been my favorite, if not for a couple facts: The monochrome just didn't do it for me, and the simple layer effect to achieve the bevel on the rounded roofs seemed a little too exact (pc generated) in comparison to the really awesome hand-drawn quality of the rest. Like I said in the WIP thread, this has an "rpg map" feel (and impression of usability) that none of the others had, which gave it a special place in my heart.

Crayons - what can I say about your awesome work that hasn't already been said? Really amazing work, practically professional quality. Only two things prevented me from voting for you: the layout of the final image, while awesome in that you could focus and zoom in on different parts, seemed fragmented and somehow busy. Also, for a fantasy map, the 3d style doesn't seem a perfect fit: maybe playing up the steampunk elements would have made it seem more consistent? Other than that, this was absolutely amazing, and I am jealous of your mad, mad skills!


I would be open to hearing your criticism, mmmmmpig!

[mmmmmpig]

I will spend some time tomorrow writing up some detailed crits. Thanks for the feedback everyone, and thanks for the votes whomever voted for me... so far. There's still time, right? A guy can dream can't he?

[Sapiento]

I voted for Gamerprinter and for mmmmmpig. Both are outstanding maps. GP has again produced a wonderful hand drawn map, a place you can imagine for a visit. And mmmmmpig's map has a really good old-looking feeling. Bravo to both!

[mmmmmpig]

Okay, here is the deal. I am going in order of how people are listed in the poll,

Keep this in mind for all of these crits. They are only meant to help and not to hurt. The crits and comments are just my own personal musings. They hold no weight what so ever.

First up:
Jaxilon, Dimensional Nexus:
Let me start by saying that I love the concept of this one. The tower coming out of the ocean floor to create a nexus of energy. The issues I have with it primarily lay with the cleanness of the “mapped” portions of the map. The levels of the tower are a bit difficult to read. The exterior information is really well done, but the interior is muddy and difficult to read. Clean up that stuff and you are cooking with fire.

Second up:
Crayons, Solour Nexedifice of Kharaghan:
The scope of this one is out of sight. The engineering is over the top. Wow… I am in awe. The presentations of the different insets is where the map starts to hurt just a bit. Now I am not positive as to what I think would work best for that presentation, my initial thought is to have the main piece of the map (the one that runs through the center from top right to bottom left) take up the entire page and remove the teal and yellow background. Then I think you could just differentiate the other insets from that background a bit more. The issue with that is that I think it would be a bit too brown. I would love to see a video capture exploding fly through as a movie map.

Third up:
Mmmmmpig, Nexus of Earth:
Here is the problem with this piece. GP and Ascension are correct that the trees indeed do look rocky. The page tiling does not match up with the cartouche that is used. The style of the regional map in the corner doesn’t match the overall style of the main map. The main map should have labels on it. I should have taken the time to create a rendering of the temple elevation. Good color scheme, overall, but some issues.

Fourth up:
RecklessEnthusiam, Nexus of Fire:
There are tons of great texture on this map.I love the idea of it and the layout of the final version. There is a lack of scale for this map, meaning I have no sense of how large areas are. The other issue that I have is the color associated with the map. The mapped area is too dark. I understand that it is a volcano, but I think the relief and elevation of the area is lost due to the relative flatness of the colorscheme. Also there are some little graphic artifacts associated with your title on the parchment portion of the map. Some little red and white pixilating here and there.

Fifth up:
Gameprinter, The Menhir Dance of the Ui'Iliad:
The style of the map is really well done. I think some knotwork rosettes on the corners might have helped the overall aesthetic of the map. That way you are pulling in more of the style of the inset map into the overall feel of the composition. Consistency is something that would really pull this up to another level. By that I mean, the inset map has a double gold border, the text area has a single red outline and the main map does not have any outline to speak of and the overall composition has a single red outline as well… That is some seriously knit picky stuff though.

Sixth up:
Sapiento, The Air Nexus Station at Sanz:
The style and make up of this map are really incredible. I love how the background buildings fade away to, umm… well… the background and the main buildings really stand out. The weakness in this particular map is the marginalia. You have some pretty large empty areas in the marginalia of your map. Also with the hand drawn look of the main map area, I think the lettering does not entirely match, might want to look at a more fluid calligraphic script like Freebooter or something like that. Great stuff though

Great stuff all around though. Seriously knit-picking for me on these to come up with credible crits. Well done folks.

[Jaxilon]

Thanks mmmmpig, very nicely done. I even think I know what you mean =P

[Gamerprinter]

Thanks, Mmmmmpig! Since this will be a series of maps, I am sure as I go along I'll find a better border design, rosettes and other design features that work best. Then I'll go back and edit the previous maps to accomodate the same style. So for the competition, it works for now, but by publication I'm sure it will be tweaked some.

GP

[Crayons]

Okay, here is the deal. I am going in order of how people are listed in the poll,

Keep this in mind for all of these crits. They are only meant to help and not to hurt. The crits and comments are just my own personal musings. They hold no weight what so ever.

... Second up:
Crayons, Solour Nexedifice of Kharaghan:
The scope of this one is out of sight. The engineering is over the top. Wow… I am in awe. The presentations of the different insets is where the map starts to hurt just a bit. Now I am not positive as to what I think would work best for that presentation, my initial thought is to have the main piece of the map (the one that runs through the center from top right to bottom left) take up the entire page and remove the teal and yellow background. Then I think you could just differentiate the other insets from that background a bit more. The issue with that is that I think it would be a bit too brown. I would love to see a video capture exploding fly through as a movie map.
[

All very valid, thanks! Mind you I'm not sure if I'll take this one any further unless someone wants it for some publication purpose or other (unlikely!).
The whole "border" thing was rather "rushed" - not just in my time but also computer time. In order to keep renders manageable they were all done at 1600x1200px. (The longest render was the cutaway view which took a bit over 20 hours to finish!) The border needed separate 8 renders and then stitching together in PSP X. It was something I've not tried before (along with a bunch of other things here). The border was rendered as a bevelled gold plate with the holes in it attached to a flat surface with the inset images image_mapped onto it, essentially re-rendering the rendered images. This should have provided some reflections of the images in the bevelled border, which it did, but not really all that obviously. Once all 8 border renders were stitched together the inserts were then cut out and the originals pasted in. It almost worked ! Probably to make it work better would need a thicker (in/out of screen) border and different angle of bevel.
Anyway, yes, the whole "how to present this" was a serious issue.
The brown-ness was vaguely planned, I wanted to have the buildings mostly made of "local materials" as one would expect, so the general effect is sand and sky (not enough of that tho) - gold and tan and blue. I only really wanted the Entropic Temple to look out of place. That colour plan actually came out stronger than I expected (my expectations are always low! ) so I was pleased there. I wanted it to "feel" hot and dusty - it's really up to viewers to decide if I succeeded.
I'm not here to "sell" the 3D method to anyone, it's just my preferred tool. The joy of it is that you don't have to be able to draw worth a bean (although I can draw a bean) and most of all, it presents lots of little challenges and projects along the way and surprises you all the time! Apart from an hour or so in PSP X stitching, all this is text input and a couple of tiny image_maps.

And now a little "almost secret" I spotted too late!
Some of the observant among you will notice that in the three renders of the park area the trees are in different places. (This is obviously me not nailing down the random factor there).
I am fully prepared to explain this.
What you are looking at is a park composed of the Legendary Wandering Trees of Karaghan. Water is so scarce in the desert that the trees themselves have evolved to migrate, at need, in search of it. Held in captivity by small walls, the Wandering Trees dither about aimlessly and provide the ideal focus for priestly meditation. The Karag Tree Liberation Front, however, deplores such treatment, especially the practice of limiting such vegetation in pots!

I'm afraid a "fly through" is highly unlikely! Sorry.

cheers!