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Thread: Old ladies lament :)

  1. #1
    Guild Novice
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    Post Old ladies lament :)

    Hello everyone. In RL I am granny, [well a great granny really but please don't tell, it makes me sound old!] I'm a full time carer for my mum who is in her 80's and has Alzhiemers amongst other things, so my days can get a little boring. I brought my family up on LOTR and stories like it. Some years ago my youngest son introduced me to online gaming and I'm an unabashed, 2 account holding World of Warcraft player with various lvl 90's. [I'm so proud lol]. Raiding has become impossible because of mum's condition, also because our benefits are being sliced away I can no longer afford the game . I am missing the many friends I made in that world. So to find a new way to keep occupied I've taken to writing stories for my friends and family. This has morph'd into an interest in mapping to go along with them. I bought CC3 for this reason. Unfortunately because my PC skills are almost non existent, I am hoping you guys will take pity on me and guide me through my many mistakes and inabilities. I am also looking forward to making new friends. Please bare with my noobness lol x

  2. #2
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor Korash's Avatar
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    And who says you can't teach old(er) dogs new tricks.

    I may not be a grandad yet, but the grey beard says I could be.....not sure if it is the age or proof that I have a 17 year old daughter....and I bid you Welcome to the Guild, The Mappiest Place on the Web.

    Here you will find all sorts of help in your mapping endeavors, be it Tutorials, Advice, Congrats, or just plain Praise . We are a very friendly bunch, so don't be shy about posting what you are working on in the WIPs (Work In Progress) (see "Advice" above), because that is where you will receive all sorts of comments and critiques as well as answers to any questions you may have about the map or even the program you are using. The other links I gave can give you inspiration, guidance or even incentive to get something done, even if it is out of your comfort zone.

    Have fun down the rabbit hole that you just jumped into.
    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

  3. #3

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    How delightful to "meet" you! I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, but pleased you have found your way here. You sound like an interesting person - both dedicated and ambitious. I hope you find what you are looking for here!

  4. #4
    Guild Novice
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    Thank you for your kind welcome I will take full advantage of your advice. Think I can beat you on the grey scale though,
    as my eldest grand daughter is 22 yrs old ! lol

  5. #5
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor Korash's Avatar
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    Yuppers...beaten
    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

  6. #6

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    Welcome to the Guild Solandre! Looking forward to getting to know you better. This really is a great community and if you stick around I think you'll find a wonderful new home. I have not worked with CC3 myself, but we have some wonderful artists here who have and have created a handful of tutorials on the topic. I myself use GIMP, a free to download graphics software. It might not be a bad idea to download it as well since, even if you primarily use CC3, it is always handy to have a graphics software to be able to add finishing effects. At any rate, best wishes on your new quest.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh

  7. #7
    Guild Novice
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    Sorry for the late reply, I've been a little bust of late. My sister is getting married so I have been busy helping out with the arrangements. Thank you for the advice. I have looked at it but I'm a little scared of using it. MY youngest son says I only have to look at a PC for it to implode lol. I have even tried taking basic PC courses but I'm hopeless. So I lurk about here hoping someone will give out ABC instructions lol.

  8. #8
    Guild Expert jbgibson's Avatar
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    Welcome, Solandre! ABC, eh? How 'bout this: Aim, Bravery, Computer?

    Aim - what's your aim with mapmaking? You said to illustrate stories; fair enough, but beyond that tell us what style(s) you want to shoot for. That can be both a short goal of something that looks doable with some gumption and experimentation, but also what you really like and wish you could attain, one day. Helps to be shooting for something. Give us links to some maps you want to duplicate the style of - here on the CG or elsewhere.

    Bravery - sounds like you already have a goodly portion. You get a lot further by just jumping in than by tiptoeing around the edges of an endeavor. Once you have an aim I bet there's one or more tutorials you can use to step, step, step your way to some degree of success. Have you rummaged in the tutorial section here? Some may be intimidating if you doubt you can even get to the first step, but keep looking and reading. Looking through ones that use software you don't have could still teach some terminology or some general processes. A few of the REALLY good cartographers here disclaim any artistic ability ... one can do a decent job just by following a recipe. Then since you have the blessing of ample time, you can then do the practice-makes-perfect routine. You haven't said - do you already have a sense of design, of composition, of art? Or are you approaching this as a mechanic, a technician? Either way has advantages.

    Computer - tell us a bit about what you have as tools. We totally get the "must go for cheap" angle - many of us are in that bind. But how capable (or not) your machine is, could make a difference in what we suggest you try next. We could also point out where a really small investment might yield big dividends. Does the mentioned implode-diagnosis son do your technical support, or are you on your own? There's ways to, um, insulate one's equipment from a tendency to blow up electronics and software :-). By the way, an acknowledgement that one makes mistakes is a BIG boost to learning, particularly if you can roll with it instead of bucking it. I tell people at work that in learning by trial and error I can progress really fast, because I can make ten times as many errors per hour as some folks :-).

    We'll give you some more ABC's once you have given us some feedback on the first set :-).

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