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Thread: August 2010 Entry : Brushy, Kansas - 1873

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    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
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    Default August 2010 Entry : Brushy, Kansas - 1873

    I reckon somebody'd better keep Ravells company on this challenge. I don't have such a great track record with these so far but figured I'd give it a go.

    So. Campaign starter. A couple of always-DM friends and I recently got together and started playing Deadlands...which is an absolute blast, especially when you're playing with folks that want to tell a story - not bicker over the rules and power game.

    Brushy, Kansas is my kick-off location for a Deadlands (or other Wild West) campaign. Maybe the PCs are from Brushy (which has a whopping head-count of 43 men, women, and children) or maybe they're from somewhere nearby. Coffeyville is only about 40 miles away so Brushy, though small, is not completely lost in the wilds.

    Kansas is neutral territory in the continuing War of Northern Aggression (okay, my PC in the Deadlands game is a Confederate calvary officer so you'll have to forgive me the anti-Yankee talk) so there's plenty of opportunity for North-South scuffles in the lands surrounding Brushy. The indians in these parts sometimes get up to interesting things as well...in particular, they often hire on as scouts and skirmishers for the CSA. Oh, and, I hear tell there's some sort of mad scientist type up in the hills north of town. He's usually makes himself scarce but sometimes comes into town to pick up some weird gadget or some such that he's ordered from Smith & Robards. And then there's the old cemetary...but folks don't talk about that too much.

    Yeah, you get the idea...

    Anyway, I've sort of been wanting to do an Old West town ever since I first took a peek at the RPG Citymap Generator (yeah, and Viking and African...but maybe someday). A while back I generated several towns and sort of liked the shapes in the one posted below. So I took that into photoshop and cleaned it up a bit (and rotated it) and then made the shapes into layers for buildings, water, etc. My current progress is posted below. I haven't done much of anything with the buildings (except cleanup) so that's next on my agenda. I'll likely texture them the same way I did the ones in my Haibianr docks map...but with more detail like dormers, chimneys, etc.

    Critiques and comments appreciated. Thanks!
    M
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    Community Leader Immolate's Avatar
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    Oh, this is great stuff! More!
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    Nice! If you'd like some reference on a Kansas town from that era, look up pictures of the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita. Many of the buildings there are preserved historic buildings from across the state that were relocated to the museum; they should give you adequate reference for your roofs.
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
    http://www.bryanray.name

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    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
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    Thanks, and thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.
    M

    Edit: BTW, hopefully those refs include boardwalks in front of buildings, hitching posts, etc. I was sort of hoping to add a lot of that kind of stuff to give it a western feel. The choice of Kansas is totally random. Also, I just counted up the buildings and I think I may have to revise upward my population estimate. I had originally said 103 and I might go back to that. Don't know why I made it so low!
    Last edited by mearrin69; 08-15-2010 at 12:47 PM.

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    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
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    I just like the fact that it's different than what we always get. Western....see, now that's just cool. It's neither fairies nor lasers. Vive la différence. <-- (google translate, I don't really know French)
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
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    Ewww...I mean "Howdy, pardner. Don't mind if'n I do!"

    Been researching Old West stuff. Had sort of forgotten about the interesting roof styles of commercial buildings (with the vertical front piece). I'm thinking KS gets snow, though, so some of the flat roofs I'm seeing probably wouldn't work there.

    I've only done a little work on this, mostly to stuff that's probably undetectable, BUT I wanted to post an update to get your thoughts on the "sign boards" behind the text. What do you think? Too goofy?

    This map, when done, will stand alone and I'll probably use it (or convince the Marshal to use it) for gaming...but for this challenge I think I'm going to end up compositing it with some text that'll describe the town and inhabitants, give some plot hooks, etc. Thinking about a "wanted" poster style of thing.
    M
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    Yep, in areas that get snow, you'll see peaked roofs behind the sign boards. If you take a look at the Google maps satellite view of the museum, you can clearly see the peaks, and the sign boards are casting shadows out into the street. You can also see the boardwalks there. As I recall, the first building up usually got a porch, then those that went up to either side simply extended their own porches to meet the existing structure. Do note that that map shows a lot more trees than would probably have been present in the 1800's, though. The prairie isn't kind to tall trees, and they tend to only grow near the rivers. When I was growing up, my idea of a forest was what most people would call a copse. I still get a little awestruck by the sheer number of trees I see here in Colorado.
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
    http://www.bryanray.name

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    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
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    AH. I hadn't even thought of looking at Google Maps. Awesome idea...don't know how I didn't think of it. I was really drawing a blank on how to do this so that'll help. Thanks!
    M

    Edit: Oh, man. What great stuff. Thanks again for the tip. BTW, Wichita looks *desolate*. I know it's winter but...
    Last edited by mearrin69; 08-16-2010 at 02:45 AM.

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    Nice map. Always loved deadlands which version you playing? Also you should check out Dundjinni's user site they have some really nice iso old western buildings. Always wanted to use them but current group only plays d&d grrrrr.

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