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Thread: Holy Crap...What have I got myself into?!

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  1. #1
    Guild Member dlaporte7271's Avatar
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    Wip Holy Crap...What have I got myself into?!

    So...I've been led to the guild by Arsheesh...and then once I got here to introduce myself I got told to "go big, or go home" by Korash...so...here goes. I don't have anything to present yet...other than my idea.

    First of let me lay out my general plan:

    I have a campaign world that has been through a devastating calamity. Here's a pic of a world similar to what I have in mind

    http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets...ken_planet.jpg

    Let's put aside the scientific discussion of whether such a world could possibly exist. Let's just say that it is held together by the will of the gods. If you are REALLY interested in my back story I'd be more than happy to lay it out for you...or you could get a general idea by visiting my obsidian portal campaign here:

    http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/violent-skies

    Anyway I think there are a few things about this world that will be a bit different than a classic fantasy map. First...somewhere between a third and a half of the globe is simply gone. The impact has broken huge chunks of the crust into space and the debris floats in orbit around the remains of the globe.

    Second...There are really no massive oceans left. I would like there to be some remnants of oceans...but I imagine that what is left would be the beds of former oceans, seas and lakes. So...I'd be mapping what was once ocean bottom.

    Third...There will be impact craters

    Fourth...the remaining half of the globe will still retain some semblance of "normal" appearance...forests, rivers etc....but with some indication of the effects of the initial devastation...volcanoes...impact craters...effects of earthquakes etc.

    Fifth...the time frame for the story is about a thousand years after the "breaking" as it is referred to in the campaign, so the effects of erosion and weathering will have had some impact on the terrain.

    Sixth...there is an entire region of "edge" and the new "face" of the planet to consider.

    Seventh...I imagine I could be sending my PC's into the field of debris in orbit so mapping some of the field or some of the larger rocks is in the future.

    Phew...I'm sure there are more things to consider...but that's plenty for now.

    When all is said and done, I'd like to have a single world map...perhaps in a globe form as well as a flat map. I'll have maps of important regions and major cities and the like. The landscape is also dotted with the ruins of the former civilizations that once thrived there.

    If you have any thoughts on the best way to start I'd be all ears. I'm a TOTAL beginner as far as digital mapping is concerned...I can draw a fair enough "rough" map of what I've got in mind. I've already downloaded GIMP and I've taken a look at a few of the tuts....I think I like the look of your maps Arsheesh...for the world map....I could see using more freehand, artistic maps for some of the regional work.

    Waddaya think??

    dlaporte (aka Dave)

  2. #2

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    Interesting idea. Here are some things to consider:

    1) You may want to have the gods keep the seas there. If they can hold the planet together, this should be a trivial task . Otherwise, you get into some Dark Sun-like environmental issues. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but make sure it's what you want before you go there.

    2) You may want to look at Spelljammer, the old 2nd Edition AD&D setting. This world seems right up its alley.

    3) If you're going to have continuing impacts, then it's really implausible that you'd have a civilization. This may be another job for the gods .

    John.

  3. #3
    Guild Member dlaporte7271's Avatar
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    Thanks John...As my campaign is centered around flying cities and flying sailing ships...I'm already leaning towards the "spelljammer" type theme, though I'm really after something that feels more like swashbuckling during the age of sail (only in the skies)...rather than delving too deeply into space travel. That will be an element much further down the road.
    ( I absolutely loved spelljammer btw)

    There will still be SOME ocean/sea...but I imagine that global sea levels suffered a dramatic drop when a great volume of water was lost...I am not going for the desert world at all...so the gods ARE doing their best to preserve what they can...problem they have is that it's another "alien" god that has caused the damage and they are in a struggle that prevents them from turning their full attention to rebuilding. There are no further impacts...I was mentioning impact craters because I would like them to become some of the elements of the map.

    Thanks for the reply.

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    A fascinating project, I like it. Certainly a challenge. My not-so-experienced approach would likely be to hammer out the equirectangular projection of the planet with a grey/black region, or even green screen like shooting a movie, where the missing piece is. Then transfer that into an Orthographic globe projection. Take that back into Photoshop or GIMP for the artsy fartsy elimination of the chunk of planet. Portraying a missing section in equirectangular... sounds like a challenge, glad you are the one doing it! But I look forward to the finished product, should be cool.
    Upon the Creation of the World the First Dragons cast their seed in the light of a Sun and a Thousand Suns, beneath the Moon and a Thousand Moons, on a World and a Thousand Worlds.

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  5. #5
    Guild Member dlaporte7271's Avatar
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    Thanks for the feedback...and for introducing me to the term "equirectangular!" I hope this thread will become a reference as I work so any advice is welcome!

    Thanks again

    Dave

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    Guild Member dlaporte7271's Avatar
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    First draft: I used an idea found in a tut by dhalsimrocks to draw continental plates. Here's the first attempt. Not sure I like my random continents...but it's a start...I may go through this process a number of times before I come up with something I like.

  7. #7
    Guild Member mozltovcoktail's Avatar
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    Woof! That sounds tough!

    My only advice is to be prepared to backtrack a lot. I'm also very new and am working on my first non-tut-based map, and there's definitely a lot of exploring that needs to happen pretty much every step of the way.

    Have you done non-digital art before?

    Good luck! I'm excited to watch your progress.
    Last edited by mozltovcoktail; 04-27-2012 at 10:28 PM.

  8. #8
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor Korash's Avatar
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    I did NOT tell you to go big or go home.....I was asking you a question...

    The implied suggestion was that there is nothing wrong with dreaming BIG and working towards that dream...and it does sound like you have plenty of that ahead of you. A very interesting idea and will love to see what you come up with . I will be keeping an eye on this

    Have some rep for dreaming BIG and good luck on your endeavor
    Art Critic = Someone with the Eye of an Artist, Words of a Bard, and the Talent of a Rock.

    Please take my critiques as someone who Wishes he had the Talent

  9. #9
    Guild Member dlaporte7271's Avatar
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    Sorry Korash...sorry I took a little liberty with your post...still I took it as a challenge...thanks for the kick in the pants and the encouragement.

  10. #10

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    Your gods can defy gravity to keep the world together, and basically defy all known fundamentals of physics to keep civilization alive, but not make whatever hit the planet evade it?

    I am curious what cultural influences there are from living on a world with an actual end.
    Last edited by s0meguy; 04-28-2012 at 09:22 AM.

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