Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: November / December 2012 Lite Challenge: City of Okktor

  1. #1
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    1,429

    Default November / December 2012 Lite Challenge: City of Okktor

    Okay, first I thought of my kids' rhyme:
    Roses are BLACK,
    Violets are BLACK,
    Everything is BLAAACK,
    'Cause I'm BLIIIIIND...

    ### SECOND-LATEST WIP ###

    Name:  Black.gif
Views: 630
Size:  719 Bytes

    But then a map of that garden makes pretty bland fare. Okay fuggetaboutit with the
    mapword Black.

    Then there's Broken. Well, same exquisite .gif serves to illustrate a broken CRT
    displaying a view of the Notorious Broken Coast.

    ### LATEST WIP ###

    Name:  Black.gif
Views: 630
Size:  719 Bytes

    Oh-Kaaaaay, that lacks something. Contrast, maybe. Lousy palette. The mountain
    symbols stink and I don't like the way I did the wave lines. Yuck.

    That leaves "eight" . I suppose I can do something with Eight. Octo, 8, ocho,
    huit, okto, VIII, eight, eight, eight... Hmmmmmmmmm.

    The City of Okktor

    Eight ways to reach the city on high,
    Eight routes get there, amid all the sky.
    First men came on burro back,
    The switchback trail laboriously hacked.
    Miners then honeycombed the peak,
    Their tunnels below still a path to seek.
    Of late a road reaches there if you
    Use a goatlike truck or car, tis true.
    The ladderrack rails of the Skybound Track
    In summer have trains with belching stack.
    The purists disdain that smoke-shrouded way,
    But how else to get from Beitong in a day?
    The back of the mount where the iron rungs run?
    An ascent of a week, and none of it fun.
    On the rare windless day, yes a zep can still dock
    To the Tower of Shree, but the wrecks below mock.
    Those winds and the dust of the westernmost plain
    At the sunset, betimes, make The Shadow-Road seen,
    As the peaks of far Nizor cast their long streaks of shade
    For the spirits of pilgrims to return, ere they fade.
    The eighth, too, is windborne, when the Willadoo blows,
    Then the flowers of graves from the towns far below,
    Dust a final display of color atop snow.
    Eight ways to arrive - so you asked, now you know.


    Yessssss, there's a map in that. Story enough for a map, map enough for a story.

  2. #2
    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    2,318

    Default

    I want some of whatever you were smoking when you posted this! Nice poem and I'm looking forward to seeing the map!
    M

  3. #3
    Guild Master Facebook Connected jtougas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Wales Massachusetts
    Posts
    2,813
    Blog Entries
    27

    Default

    What a great intro !! Now I have to come up with something (hopefully) as entertaining as that....
    I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....

    Finished Maps
    Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)

    Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.

  4. #4
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    1,429

    Default

    JT, you may not need to be entertaining - complete might be enough... I realize I'm aiming at an awful lot of targets, what with it being a city, on a mountainside, with an underground component, done in Inkscape, which I've never used (why, will become apparent) (why this needs it, not why I've never learned it). The contests are good for stretching oneself, so they say.

    Plastic Man could be my hero.

    Actually, if you look at Plastic Man, y'all can see I don't need to be smoking anything - the bent sense of humor comes with the territory.
    Last edited by jbgibson; 11-26-2012 at 09:37 AM.

  5. #5
    Community Leader Bogie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Maine, USA
    Posts
    7,632

    Default

    jb doesn't suffer from insanity, he embraces and enjoys it!

  6. #6
    Guild Apprentice
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    32

    Default

    I like your original concept best, just me humble opinion... but your latest WIP is quite nice too. I can really see that you pushed yourself in this challenge. And, the fact that you've done so much in such a short amount of time blows my mind!

  7. #7
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    1,429

    Default

    Amen, Bogie.

    Daemaree, how do you like the compressed version?

    --> . <--

    That's every line and color of the original, after what I call the neutron-star treatment. I'm still not satisfied though - the .000012 point type is way too hard to make out. Maybe it should be a serif font instead of sans-serif...
    Last edited by jbgibson; 12-04-2012 at 01:19 AM. Reason: Stupid autocorrecting computer thinks it can spell better than I.

  8. #8
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    1,429

    Default

    A bit less compression, and you can see the mountain peak this city is near:

    ### LATEST WIP ###

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Okktor.png 
Views:	759 
Size:	1.25 MB 
ID:	50373

  9. #9
    Community Leader Bogie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Maine, USA
    Posts
    7,632

    Default

    AAAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!! My Eyes!!! To Bright!!! To much Color!!! To much information!!!!!!!!!!!..... .. . . . . . .

  10. #10
    Guild Apprentice
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    32

    Default

    Hmmmm... I feel like it's missing something... maybe a compass... and a little more black... yeah...



    Looks good so far... which word will you be using?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •