View Poll Results: Please vote for 1 entry

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  • Lost City of Ubar by anomiecoalition

    7 46.67%
  • Cataclysmo by Fury

    1 6.67%
  • Sector 883 Exile - Bottle Nebula Improvements by jbgibson

    5 33.33%
  • Terra Incognita by LindaJeanne

    2 13.33%
  • BlackWater world by gen

    0 0%
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Thread: *** August / September 2012 Lite Challenge Voting: Before and After ***

  1. #1

    Default *** August / September 2012 Lite Challenge Voting: Before and After ***

    This month's challenge may have been a bit too daunting, there were 6 starts and 4 finishers (although Gen's entry was unfinished I've posted it up as a choice as it looks good and deserves some rep!).

    We leave it to the voters to decide for themselves whether the entries fulfil the spirit of the subject challenge, which this month was:

    You need to draw at least two maps, (displayed as a single composite image)* one before an event (or series of events) and one after. Everything else is up to you.
    Some beautiful looking entries were submitted. So please give rep to all those entries you feel are deserving.

    PLEASE VOTE FOR 1 ENTRY


  2. #2

    Default

    Nice job guys, this sounds like a challenging challenge indeed, and there were some great entries.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh

  3. #3
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
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    I'm going to say that for me Cataclysmo does the better job of portraying a distinct difference, as opposed to Ubar. While as a single map the before Ubar is great, the after looks more like fog-shrouded than decrepit and crumbling. Well, other than the gaping djinn-hole. If the story had it eerily preserved, blanketed by a mist (sorry - perpetual sandstorm?) or mysteriously out of phase with reality I'd buy the after look better. While dim, all the elements still look intact.

    With Cataclysmo, I can easily imagine the forces out of control. If I suspend disbelief enough to accept low-temp lava, then boiling seas that don't cool from currents is OK too :-). In any case, the colors and texture do a grand job of portraying an angry island, done wrong by its unlamented rulers. A few lava encroachments on the built-up areas would've been even better... Though I guess the color of the New Settlements indicates blight welling up between city blocks.

    Both Terra Incognita and Blackwater would've been contenders for me, if more completed. I hope both of you polish them off! LindaJeanne, about all you'd need is a bunch of labelling to tell a story between the two main maps. And gen, a simple un-ruined capital on a similar second version would've sufficed -- you've got an effective look going there. I like the crumbling pile. Though I guess if you'd wanted a really cheap other-period you could have removed the ruins altogether and shown an unbroken swath of forest - call it a couple of hundred years even further along :-).

    I guess a lot of folks are busy this month? Really the theme needn't have been daunting - I have done before/after kind of portrayals with 60-80 % of the base mapping staying the same.

  4. #4

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    Thanks for the comments! I was also a little disappointed in the Ubar after picture for the same reason. I think what annoyed me the most about it though was that it was largely a technical error that results from the fact that I have only been using photoshop for the last 2 months (though i've learned an impressive amount in that time thanks to the wonderful tutorials on this site). So, I was originally at a complete loss at how to depict a sand covered ruin. In arriving at the final product, I merged all of the different building layers (i.e. 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor) so I could more easily see how subtle changes in effects altered the image. I only realized much later that if I had kept them distinct, I would have been able to do a lot more manipulation (i.e. It became exceedingly difficult and time consuming to try to make subtle height differences between the floors once they were all on one layer).

    So...the lite challenge served its purpose for me - I produced a map that I really like and I learned a lot in the process (especially to save a lot more versions of my map and keep layers separate if at all possible). I'm particularly grateful for all the helpful comments and criticisms along the way - and eagerly look forward to the next one.
    *Most of my Maps can be seen in full resolution on my blog*

    *I've made some of my maps into full adventures available for download at DriveThruRPG.com or Paizo.com

    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License unless stated otherwise in the thread.

  5. #5
    Professional Artist Cunning Cartographer's Avatar
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    The two that were in it for me were Terra Incognita and Lost city of Ubar, whilst Cataclysmo has the deeper story (and I do love a good story), for me the technical differences between the two maps other than seemingly a different hue, the map doesn't seem to have changed at all. I really like the maps for Terra Incognita, but unfortunately it was the lack of story here that let it it down a little and for me the information that was trying to be portrayed probably wasn't done as well as it could have been (I think given more time then this could have maybe done).

    So my vote goes to Lost City of Ubar, whilst the second map feels more like a "ta da, it's gone!", I think the initial map was executed well and the story told me everything I need to know.

    Good job to all!

  6. #6

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    Very very difficult to pick just one. I voted for 883 in the end. I thought Ubar was great but it's a town map and a greatly executed one. Terra Incognita was very nicely done with such smooth, clean lines and good colours (there's a typo on it though!). And the cataclysmo one showed a good contrast between before and after though it seemed a bit too "busy" in places. Blackwater was a great map but there was no before or after so I couldn't really judge it.

    I liked the formal presentation-like style of 883 and how it told a sort of story. Great work as usual everyone!

  7. #7
    Guild Journeyer LindaJeanne's Avatar
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    Yeah, what text is on my map was added literally after my company had arrived, as I was rudely scrambling to finish up while my S.O. entertained our guest. So the story aspect never made it onto the map: either through the text (which is almost entirely absent) or through the maps themselves (which don't highlight the relevant differences properly -- it all blends together and the significant bits don't stand out).

    But I learned a LOT while working on this. Spent a lot of time figuring out how to do various things, which is why I ran out of time .


    For me, it was neck-and-neck between Ubar and the Bottle Nebula. I loved BlackWater, but since there was no before/after, I didn't think that I could fairly vote for it for the challenge. And I loved the Cataclysmo story, but like Yospec, I didn't really see the difference in the maps themselves, other than the ocean changing color.
    Last edited by LindaJeanne; 09-18-2012 at 06:09 PM.

  8. #8

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    That's the best thing about the challenges, they push you to learn stuff. I've not done many but the recent ones have taken me out of my comfort zone and I think that is something everyone benefits from even if you get no votes. I mentioned your typo because I seem to notice everyone else's more than my own (I noticed one on ashenbrook cave a few weeks after voting had ended... =P) and I seem to make many.

  9. #9
    Guild Expert rdanhenry's Avatar
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    Bottle Nebula was an easy choice for me: Distinctive before and after (plus stages of after), enough story to explain the changes, well-executed, and a perfect reason to have a before and after map internal to the map itself.

    Blackwater wasn't finished. Changes in Terra Incognita lacked any story (map-internally anyway, which is all I count when judging). Cataclysmo seemed like it was just the same map twice with a change of color. Lost City of Ubar was pretty good, and would be my runner-up, but lacks the neat internal logic of Bottle Nebula (why make a map of hole in the ground?) and was just overall less cool than engineering a nebula.

  10. #10
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
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    Congrats, anomiecoalition ! May the sands of time NOT engulf your other projects, and may you not tick off any malvolent djinni-types.

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