December Entry: Pirate Caverns - The old lighthouse

[Redrobes]

This looks fun so I think I'll have a stab at it too. Four hours is kinda tight but I have some ideas that ill try out and ill submit whatever I have at 4hrs but ill prob continue if I cant squeeze it in.

I say its tight because id like to try to do a 3D cutaway of a hillside showing the caverns. I have been caving just a handful of times and the interesting thing in real caves is the way they link up with steep shafts and waterfalls and so on. Id like to try out an idea that has been talked about between a few of us on another board where we start with a fractured block and try to run a eroding river through it until it cuts out all of the caves. Thats not really feasible because I don't have a volumetric app like that but I will try it with height fields and overflowing caverns. The obvious drawback is that I wont be able to have vertical pitches but hey, its hard to map those things anyway.

There are a few more reasons why make a play on this. Pirates and sea mean islands and I have my Instant Islands app which can produce something in a few seconds. Also, I keep whittering on about how fast ViewingDale is so its time to bet against my kudos. My texture compositor is pretty geared up for sea and beaches so I think that will be quite quick too.

I'll finish with an image but upload the 3D maps so you can play with the result in my free 3D map browser. I might be able to turn the resulting map into a set of files to use with the demo version of ViewingDale and then you can try it out yourselves. I mean, there was not a single mention of it before I joined.

The chances of me getting a 4hr straight run with no interruptions are zilch so I have downloaded a stopwatch app. I'll produce a lot of WIP shots, posts and write ups which I wont bill against the 4 hrs. It will be 4hrs working on the map.

I dreamed up a good back story so ill write that up and sketch up some general ideas and plans about how I am going to attack it.

Three entrants already - excellent ! I reckon the pen and paper guys will do well here. Digital has benefits but its rarely faster.

[Redrobes]

The back story

[Naryt]

The back story

Mmmmm...forbidden literature, I love it! Oh, wait...that's a 403 error when I click your link.

[Redrobes]

Yeah thats real odd. I just got 403'ed myself and it popped me to a kind of proxy which was also 403'ed but now its not doing it anymore ! I just took a peek at the log and I can see several people can see it and you and I cant (or couldn't...) but I don't see any reason for it at this point. Maybe my ISP is messin about with the access right at that point. Its not forbidden to everyone tho.

Try it in a mo, PM me if its still bad and ill have to dig further + ill post the text inline instead.

[The Cartographist]

Redrobes-- I, too, was thinking of mixing a lighthouse on a peninsula with a pirate cavern underneath. BUT you posted your general idea first, so I don't want to take it and be accused of "copying". While my back story is drastically different, the fact that it contains a lighthouse and a cavern makes me leery of pursuing it. Additionally, I was going to do a "side-view" showing the elevations of the various caves.

If you do NOT want me to pursue these elements in my map, please say so, and I can change the concept. If you do not mind, please tell me that as well. I'm going to hold off moving forward until I hear from you.

[NeonKnight]

Yeah, the whole "I don't want to seem like I am stealing etc.", aspect is why I am not going to post anything/read others backstories etc. I really don't want to give my ideas to anyone, and I don't want to get them in return.

That said, I may have posted the fact I am doing old school maps, but I will also not ppst anything until December 30th or thereabouts

[Redrobes]

Oh I really don't mind what people post even if similar in nature. The map is going to be different and you are going to use different tools. The tools I am about to use are not released yet !. It would be interesting to compare similar ideas anyway. Its not like were going into pitch battle here and there is no big jackpot prize - just a bit of ego and I have enough of that already

I am going to post WIPs as I go with a lot of method / tutorial on how I am going about it. In a sense I wanted to post my ideas early so that I can plan and think about my map knowing that my declaration of intent is already in so nobody can think that I am copying but I don't see the issue here.

The ViewingDale sound bite is "Share the Vision". Thats about being able to share the maps (visual vision) via its net connection and download content as well sharing the ideal (prophetic vision) of zoomable high detail large scale mapping and is why I have the crystal ball with map in it as my logo / avatar.

I have a pretty firm idea of what I want my map to look like but I have never tried out a few of the techniques that ill need to get there. I might have a test or two just to check that its even possible before I start on the map. If it works then it will be totally awesome. If it doesn't then ill just look like an idiot.

[Redrobes]

NeonKnight - I think the deadline is 26th Dec. At least thats what the sticky contest rules reckon. So don't be late and miss it.

[Redrobes]

Right, lets start on this...

First up, I have drawn the rough contours for the map. We need a peninsula that forces the water into it instead of dropping down the side of it. That would be an unusual relief to generate that but I reckon that two hills either side of the river and then the peninsula in front should do it. The thieves guild can then dam it and divert off to the right.

I have done this with contours for the cliff, hill and sub sea. They are not uniformly spaces. Since the cliff is 250 feet height I will shade with 2' per gray scale where mid gray is sea level. The top of the cliff, and the sub sea will need to be smoothed a lot to blend it together but the cliff will have to be done separately.

[Redrobes]

So filling in the contours, using a wide median filter in PSP to remove the contour lines, and then applying some judicious blurring I get these below. I am at 21mins 15secs now. 1/6th the way through my time allocation. Phew this will be close. Edit -- actually thats 1/12 isnt it. Not quite so bad...